memeorandum: More on the Postal Service — One point that came up repeatedly … (Josh Marshall/Talking Points Memo)

1:25 PM ET, August 12, 2011

Top Items:

8 From G.O.P. Trade Attacks at Iowa Debate — AMES, Iowa — A withering critique of President Obama's handling of the economy was overshadowed by a burst of incivility among the Republican presidential candidates who, in a debate here Thursday night, fought to stay alive in the party's increasingly competitive nominating race.

Michael O'Brien / The Hill:

Pawlenty: Poor straw poll showing would force me to ‘reassess’ — Former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty (R) admitted Friday he'll have to “reassess” the direction of his campaign if he finishes poorly in Saturday's Iowa straw poll. — Pawlenty said he could be forced to scale …

Discussion: Outside the Beltway and HotAirPundit

Alexander Burns / The Politico:

Mike Huckabee: Rick Perry timing ‘bad form,’ ‘tactical blunder’ — Mike Huckabee is giving a big thumbs-down to Rick Perry's campaign rollout, telling Fox News that the Texas governor's decision to announce on the day of the Iowa straw poll is a big “tactical blunder.”

Discussion: Iowa Caucuses, Washington Post, ThinkProgress, Hot Air, The Note, Ballot Box, No More Mister Nice Blog, The Caucus, Taylor Marsh, msnbc.com, Daily Kos, Campaign 2012 and The Raw Story

Scott Johnson / Power Line: Cruel thoughts on a weak field

Mike Allen / The Politico:
NEW SHERIFF: RICK PERRY RUNNING ON CHANGE - …

Discussion: The Note, Salon and USA Today

Kendra Marr / The Politico:
Tim Pawlenty in frantic spending blitz ahead of Ames

Discussion: Eunomia, The Note and Ballot Box

Frances Martel / Mediaite:
Tim Pawlenty And Rep. Michele Bachmann Rumble In White Hot Debate Exchange

Discussion: Wake up America, Connecting.the.Dots and Hot Air

Alexander Burns / The Politico:
Tim Pawlenty: Ames flop would force campaign to ‘reassess’ plan

Discussion: Taegan Goddard's …

Ian Millhiser / ThinkProgress:

Rick Perry Says Social Security And Medicare Are Unconstitutional — Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R) has, to say the least, a very odd understanding of the Constitution. He thinks Texas should be able to opt out of Social Security, and he believes that everything from federal public school programs to clean air laws are unconstitutional.

Discussion: The Agitator and Daily Kos

The Daily Beast:

Rick Perry on the Record — From scrapping Social Security and Medicare to immigration to Constitutional amendments, Texas Governor Rick Perry spoke openly last fall with Andrew Romano. — In Fed Up!, you criticize the progressive era and the changes it produced: the 16th and 17th Amendments, Social Security, Medicare, and so on.

Discussion: Washington Monthly, ThinkProgress, Opinionator, Mediaite, Hullabaloo, Daily Kos and Shakesville

Glenn Kessler / Washington Post:
Fact checking the GOP debate in Iowa

Discussion: Taegan Goddard's …

James Taranto / Wall Street Journal:

John Roberts Is No Fool — The White House tries to put one over on the Supreme Court. — “The White House . . . has quietly altered its website to remove the references to Jerusalem being in ‘Israel,’ ” the New York Sun reports. It sounds like another make-work Keynesian stimulus: dig a hole, fill it up.

Discussion: The Jawa Report

Paul Krugman / New York Times:

The Hijacked Crisis — Has market turmoil left you feeling afraid? Well, it should. Clearly, the economic crisis that began in 2008 is by no means over. — But there's another emotion you should feel: anger. For what we're seeing now is what happens when influential people exploit a crisis rather than try to solve it.

Discussion: emptywheel, AMERICAN FUTURE, Daily Kos and Prairie Weather

Lydia Saad / Gallup:

Democrats Enjoy Slight Edge on 2012 Congressional Ballot — Twice as many voters say Tea Party endorsements are a negative rather than a positive — PRINCETON, NJ — Gallup's first measure of the 2012 congressional elections shows Democrats leading Republicans, 51% to 44% …

Discussion: Firedoglake, The Hill, The Daily Caller, The Political Carnival, Talking Points Memo, TPMDC, Daily Kos and Hotline On Call

New York Post:

JetBlue flier who ‘peed’ on girl could be axed from US Ski Team — By GORDON BOCK in Warren, Vt., and DON KAPLAN in NY — He probably just pissed away his Olympic dreams. — The drunken JetBlue passenger who treated a sleeping 11-year-old girl like his personal potty is a member …

Discussion: Runnin' Scared, New York Magazine, Gothamist, Gawker and The Jawa Report

Tommy Christopher / Mediaite:

Newt Gingrich Brawls With Fox News' Chris Wallace Over Debate ‘Gotcha’ Question — While his fellow GOP presidential candidates were busy zinging each other, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich livened up Thursday night's Fox Presidential Debate by throwing some haymakers at moderator Chris Wallace.

Discussion: The Politico, Pundits Blog and AMERICAblog News

Conor Friedersdorf / The Atlantic Online:
The Defining Moments of the GOP Debate

Discussion: Washington Post and Eunomia

Josh Marshall / Talking Points Memo:

More on the Postal Service — One point that came up repeatedly in our discussion last night about the crisis in the postal service is that the USPS is apparently subject to a regulation that requires it to pre-pay pension and health care obligations 75 years in advance, something that is required of no other government agency.

Discussion: ThinkProgress

Joe Davidson / Washington Post:
Postal Service proposes cutting 120,000 jobs, pulling out of health-care plan

Discussion: Pajamas Media, News Desk, Talking Points Memo and The Strata-Sphere

Igor Volsky / ThinkProgress:

All The Anti-Gay Rhetoric From The GOP Presidential Debate...In Under 2 Minutes — The GOP presidential candidates reiterated their opposition to same-sex marriage during Thursday's debate in Ames, Iowa, even as the majority of Americans now support marriage equality and 11.4 percent …

Discussion: Washington Blade, Holy Bullies …, The Strata-Sphere, Guardian, Towleroad News #gay, Shakesville and Pam's House Blend

Dan Amira / New York Magazine:

The Mystery of Herman Cain and the Donna Summer Lyrics — One of the weirdest moments of last night's Republican debate probably slipped completely under the radar for most viewers. This moment occurred in Herman Cain's closing statement, when the former pizza-chain CEO recited a favorite inspirational quote:

Discussion: Mediaite

Josh Boak / The Politico:

S&P: Skeptics fueled downgrade — A Standard & Poor's director said for the first time Thursday that one reason the United States lost its triple-A credit rating was that several lawmakers expressed skepticism about the serious consequences of a credit default — a position put forth by some Republicans.

Discussion: ThinkProgress, Washington Monthly and TPMDC

Michael Cooper / The Caucus:
Fact Check: The Republican Debate

Discussion: Weekly Standard and White House Dossier

Frank James / NPR:

Romney's ‘Corporations Are People’ A Gift To Political Foes — All right, so we think we understand what Mitt Romney meant when he told some hecklers at the Iowa State Fair Thursday that “corporations are people, my friend.” — Anybody these days fortunate to have a 401(k) retirement plan …

Discussion: AmSpecBlog, ThinkProgress, Online NewsHour, TPMDC and Fox News

Scott Keyes / ThinkProgress:
Rand Paul Rushes To Romney's Defense: ‘All Of Us Are Corporations’

Discussion: Rebuild the Dream, Detroit News and Under The Golden Dome

Geoff Earle / New York Post:

NY turns negative on Bam — WASHINGTON — President Obama might need to start taking a few more campaign trips to New York — and not just to raise cash. — A stunning new survey gives the president a negative approval rating in the Empire State for the first time, with just 45 percent approval …

Discussion: No More Mister Nice Blog, The Lonely Conservative and JammieWearingFool

Katie Mulvaney / Providence Journal:

Anti-gay marriage group loses appeal of R.I. court ruling — BOSTON — A federal appeals court panel Thursday rejected an anti-gay marriage group's bid to block its need for compliance with Rhode Island campaign disclosure laws. — The National Organization for Marriage …

Discussion: Law Blog and Good As You

Steve Benen / Washington Monthly:

Ten-to-one isn't good enough for the GOP — I'm still working my way through the transcript of last night's debate for Republican presidential candidates, but there was one moment that clearly stood out for its significance. It wasn't a zinger or an attack; it was a response all of the candidates offered by raising their hands.

Discussion: Daily Kos

Oren Yaniv / NY Daily News:

Woman sues for sexual harassment at People's Choice Realty; Their response? She's too ugly to touch — A 23-year-old lesbian says the Brooklyn real estate office she once worked in is a den of deviants where raunchy sexcapades were the norm. — But the bosses she's suing say she's too ugly to harass.

Discussion: Joe. My. God. and Gothamist