memeorandum: Payment Where Payment's Due (American Prospect)

11:35 AM ET, January 9, 2012

Top Items:

Romney at Bain: Big Gains, Some Busts — Mitt Romney's political foes are stepping up attacks based on his time running investment firm Bain Capital, tagging him with making a fortune from the rougher side of American capitalism—even as Mr. Romney says his Bain tenure shows he knows how to build businesses.

Discussion: Taegan Goddard's …, The Caucus, Washington Post, Prairie Weather, The Enterprise Blog, Hugh Hewitt's TownHall Blog, ABCNEWS, Campaign 2012, The Raw Story and Washington Wire

New York Times:

Pro-Gingrich PAC Details Ads Against Romney's Bain Role — MANCHESTER, N.H. — Thanks to a $5 million donation from a wealthy casino owner, a group supporting New Gingrich plans to place advertisements in South Carolina this week attacking Mitt Romney as a predatory capitalist who destroyed jobs …

Josh Marshall / Talking Points Memo:

The Boffo Awfulness — In the preceding post I referenced this swift-boat-style ‘documentary’ on Mitt Romney and Bain Capital which the Gingrich-backing SuperPAC (Winning Our Future) has bought and will use as the battering ram against Romney in South Carolina. They've put up a trailer for it now which you can see after the jump.

Discussion: No More Mister Nice Blog, Campaign 2012, The Impolitic, Balloon Juice and Political Mojo

Reuters:

Mitt Romney and the Bain bomb — NASHUA, N.H. — Forget his specific rivals. The biggest threat to Mitt Romney is hitting now and set to fully detonate in South Carolina: it's the Bain bomb. — While conservatives look unlikely to unite around one alternative to Romney …

Discussion: CNN and The Politico

Pat Garofalo / ThinkProgress:

Romney's Bain Capital Made Billions While Bankrupting Nearly One-Quarter Of The Companies It Invested In — 2012 GOP presidential frontrunner Mitt Romney, who has a large lead in the polls heading into the New Hampshire primary tomorrow, has been taking heat from both Democrats …

Discussion: Washington Wire, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, The Raw Story and The Caucus

Bloomberg:
Romney Bain Leadership Attacked as Exploiting Companies for Cash

Discussion: ThinkProgress, The Caucus, Political Mojo, Los Angeles Times and Washington Post

David Brody / The Brody File:
Exclusive: Gingrich Tells The Brody File His Goal Is To Slow Romney Down And Expose Him

Discussion: Alan Colmes' Liberaland and Boston Globe

Mike Allenand Jim Vandehei / The Politico:
New Hampshire primary: The land of make-believe

Discussion: CNN, Poynter, New Yorker, ABCNEWS and Ballot Box, more at Mediagazer »

Meghashyam Mali / Ballot Box:
Romney tells voters he knows what it's like to fear getting a ‘pink slip’

Discussion: CNN, The Politico, The Mahablog and Politics

Quinnipiac University:

Romney Has Big GOP Likely Voter Lead In Florida, Quinnipiac University Poll Finds; Most Voters Say They Might Change Their Mind — With 36 percent of Florida Republican likely primary voters, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney has a double-digit lead three weeks before the nation's …

Discussion: GOP 12, The Hill, National Review, Hugh Hewitt's TownHall Blog, The Caucus, msnbc.com, Outside the Beltway, Naked Politics and Washington Post

Tom Jensen / Public Policy Polling:

Romney holding steady in NH — Mitt Romney continues to be headed for a comfortable win in New Hampshire. PPP's final poll there finds him with 35% to 18% for Ron Paul, 16% for Jon Huntsman, 12% for Newt Gingrich, 11% for Rick Santorum, 3% for Buddy Roemer, and 1% for Rick Perry.

Discussion: The Politico, The New Republic, Ricochet Conversations Feed, Outside the Beltway, The PJ Tatler, americanthinker.com, FiveThirtyEight and Washington Post

WMUR:

Poll Shows Battle For 2nd In Primary; Romney Keeps Lead — Huntsman Moves Into Tie With Santorum — MANCHESTER, N.H. — The top spot in the latest WMUR/University of New Hampshire poll still belongs to Mitt Romney, but the race for second and third place is very close.

Discussion: CNN, ThinkProgress, Ballot Box, GOP 12, ABCNEWS and Swampland

Walter Shapiro / The New Republic:
This Is the Most Boring New Hampshire Primary Ever

Discussion: ABCNEWS

Benjy Sarlin / 2012.talkingpointsmemo.com:
TPM2012 — Carl Paladino Trash-Talks The Entire GOP Field (Except Newt)

Discussion: No More Mister Nice Blog

CNN:
STATE OF THE UNION WITH CANDY CROWLEY

Discussion: Weasel Zippers

Sam Stein / The Huffington Post:

Mitt Romney Campaign Disavows Pro-Gay Rights Flyer From 2002 … GOP Debate , Mitt Romney , Republican Debate , Video , New Hampshire Primary , Romney Gay Rights , Romney New Hampshire , Mitt Romney 2012 , New Hampshire Primary 2012 , New Hampshire Romney , Social Issues , Politics News

Discussion: ThinkProgress, Brad DeLong and Towleroad News #gay

Laurel Ramseyer / Firedoglake:
Republican Sen. Steve Litzow Announces Support for Washington's Marriage Equality Bill

Discussion: Seattle Times and ThinkProgress

New Jersey Online:
N.J. Legislature to introduce bill legalizing gay marriage

Discussion: Towleroad News #gay and Box Turtle Bulletin

Jeffrey M. Jones / Gallup:

Record-High 40% of Americans Identify as Independents in '11 — More Americans identify as Democrats than as Republicans, 31% to 27% — PRINCETON, NJ — The percentage of Americans identifying as political independents increased in 2011, as is common in a non-election year …

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, The Politico, Questions and Observations and National Review

Morgen / Verum Serum:

HalloweenGate: White House Covered Up 2009 Halloween Party Hosted by Johnny Depp & Tim Burton (With Near-Exclusive Photos) — As is often the case, the cover-up is worse than the crime: … The White House is going to spin this as “old news”, but it's not old news if it's never been reported.

Discussion: Fox News, The Politico, Weasel Zippers, Big Journalism, Big Hollywood, The PJ Tatler and Atlas Shrugs

Alex Spillius / Telegraph:
White House ‘covered up’ Tim Burton-staged Alice in Wonderland Halloween party

Discussion: Big Hollywood, Big Journalism, The Gateway Pundit, blogs.telegraph.co.uk and New York Post

David Kotok / Business Insider:

An Alarming Development In China That Everyone Has Missed — “I think this move is a sign of weakness and will only increase the likelihood that the winds of change from the Arab spring will reach China. The Chinese middle class, while enjoying their new wealth, will eventually demand …

Josh Lederman / Ballot Box:

Media mob chases Ron Paul from campaign stop in New Hampshire — MANCHESTER, N.H. — A campaign stop at a New Hampshire eatery unraveled into a bit of a circus when the media scrum chasing Ron Paul apparently became too much for the 76-year-old Texas congressman to handle.

Discussion: CNN and The Politico

David Carr / New York Times:

The Media Equation: At Current TV, Keith Olbermann Is Trapped Inside His Show — When I saw the story last week about Keith Olbermann and Current TV lawyering up, I couldn't help thinking, My, that was quick. — It was just six months ago that I wrote an article for The New York Times Magazine …

Discussion: Wonkette and The Atlantic Online, more at Mediagazer »

Marisa Guthrie / Hollywood Reporter:
Keith Olbermann Agrees to Anchor Current Election Coverage (Exclusive)

Discussion: The Daily Caller, Mediaite and New York Magazine, more at Mediagazer »

Bill Keller / New York Times:

Just the Ticket — THE beginning of a new year is a time for resolutions, and Hillary Clinton's admirers are already busily, lovingly resolving on her behalf. On one sideline, her friends tell me that after a few years of hyperactive globetrotting what she really needs is to put her feet …

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, Connecting.the.Dots, NewsBusters.org and Prairie Weather

Paul Krugman / New York Times:

America's Unlevel Field — Last month President Obama gave a speech invoking the spirit of Teddy Roosevelt on behalf of progressive ideals — and Republicans were not happy. Mitt Romney, in particular, insisted that where Roosevelt believed that “government should level the playing field …

Discussion: Questions and Observations, ourfuture.org/blogs_chrono/*, Prairie Weather and Daily Kos

Katrina Trinko / National Review:

Christie Squares Off with Occupiers at Romney Rally — Exeter, N.H. - It was a rally for Mitt Romney, but it was Chris Christie who brought the hundreds of attendees to their loudest cheers in the cavernous high school gym. — “We can no longer put up with the most pessimistic man I've ever seen …

Discussion: Washington Post, The PJ Tatler, americanthinker.com, Ed Driscoll and Nice Deb

Kevinliptak / CNN:
TRENDING: Christie takes on protesters chanting at Romney rally

Discussion: Hot Air, The Gateway Pundit and The Politico

Thomas Erdbrink / Washington Post:

Iran court sentences accused American spy Amir Mirzaei Hekmati to death — TEHRAN — An Iranian court on Monday convicted an American man of working for the CIA and sentenced him to death, state media reported. — Iranian authorities allege that Amir Mirzaei Hekmati, a former U.S. Marine …

Discussion: News Desk and americanthinker.com