memeorandum: Mitt Romney no stranger to tax breaks, subsidies (Matea Gold/Los Angeles Times)

11:10 AM ET, January 13, 2012

Top Items:

John Hinderaker / Power Line:

What Really Happened In Gaffney? — The Left is carrying out a coordinated attack on Mitt Romney's business career. One sees exactly the same allegations, often phrased identically, whether you look at the Daily Kos, the Associated Press, Slate or Think Progress, or listen to Newt Gingrich or Rick Perry.

Discussion: Don Surber, Spartanburg Herald-Journal, Los Angeles Times, Washington Post and TBogg

Glenn Kessler / Washington Post:

Four Pinocchios for ‘King of Bain’ — Your Browser DoesNot Support IFrames. … — Voice-over from “King of Bain” video promoted by a pro-Newt Gingrich super PAC, “Winning Our Future.” — Newt Gingrich, meet Michael Moore! — The 29-minute video “King of Bain” is such an over-the-top assault …

Discussion: Hot Air, Outside the Beltway, Taylor Marsh, PolitiFact, US Politics, The Moderate Voice and The Week

Ashley Parker / The Caucus:

New Romney Ad Defends Candidate's Record at Bain — GREENVILLE, S.C. — Mitt Romney's campaign plans to release its latest television ad in South Carolina Friday, geared to combat the growing attacks — from both Republicans and Democrats — on Mr. Romney's career at Bain Capital as a corporate buyout specialist.

Discussion: Washington Monthly, ThinkProgress, The Moderate Voice, News Desk, GOP 12, New York Times, Freedom Line Blog, Connecting.the.Dots and Wonkette

msnbc.com:

First Thoughts: Best of times (and worst of times) for Romney — NBC's David Gregory talks to TODAY's Matt Lauer about whether fierce attacks on Republican presidential frontrunner Mitt Romney will backfire against his rivals or stop what seems to be Romney's inevitable march to the nomination.

Discussion: ThinkProgress, Faith in Public Life, Politics, Taegan Goddard's …, Wonkette, The Hinterland Gazette and Washington Monthly

Matea Gold / Los Angeles Times:

Mitt Romney no stranger to tax breaks, subsidies — Bain Capital profited from a steel company that got them, and he used them to attract business when he governed Massachusetts — A Steel Dynamics plant in Butler, Ind. Bain Capital, the former private equity firm of Mitt Romney …

Discussion: The Political Carnival

Andrew Sullivan / The Daily Dish:

Yes, Romney Could Lose — [Reposted from earlier yesterday.] — I just watched the Bain documentary featured below and being broadcast throughout South Carolina by Newt Gingrich's SuperPac in full. It's loaded with out-of-context quotes and heavily biased; it focuses on the specific human suffering …

Discussion: No More Mister Nice Blog, The Strata-Sphere, The Moderate Voice, Liberal Values and Saint Petersblog

Anjeanette Damon / Las Vegas Sun:

Sheldon Adelson distancing himself from documentary attacking Mitt Romney — Las Vegas casino mogul Sheldon Adelson's $5-million donation to supporters of Newt Gingrich may have helped fund distribution of a brutal anti-Mitt Romney video, but he's not necessarily endorsing its message.

Discussion: PJ Media, ThinkProgress and CNN

Kevinliptak / CNN:

Colbert for president (again) — (CNN) - Faux-news host and comedian Stephen Colbert announced Thursday night he was launching his second run for president in South Carolina. — “I'm proud to announce I plan to form an exploratory committee to lay the groundwork for my candidacy …

Discussion: The Politico, The Atlantic Online, Election Law Blog, The Hill, The Hinterland Gazette, Saint Petersblog, The Political Carnival, Ballot Box and Indecision Forever

Eamon Javers / CNBC:
Romney's Former Firm Bain Advised Obama on Auto Bailout

Discussion: National Review, Hot Air, Riehl World View and The Politico

Peter Wehner / Commentary Magazine:
The E.J. Dionne Vote in South Carolina

Discussion: Campaign 2012, Power Line, Ricochet Conversations Feed, Hot Air and Washington Post

William Galston / The New Republic:
Why Romney's Bain Problem Could Kill His Candidacy

Discussion: Washington Post, CNN and Opinion L.A.

Brian Stelter / New York Times:
Colbert for President: A Run or a Comedy Riff?

Discussion: Media Decoder, Tales from the Trail, PopWatch, The Moderate Voice and The Stir By CafeMom, more at Mediagazer »

ABCNEWS:
Mitt Romney and Bain: How to Unite the Conservative Base with One Easy Attack

Discussion: The Huffington Post, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, ourfuture.org/blogs_chrono/* and Hot Air

Mike Allen / Reuters:
Stephen Colbert to explore run for president in South Carolina

Discussion: Washington Wire, The Politico, CNN, The Atlantic Wire, Los Angeles Times, Media Decoder and Indecision Forever

New York Times:
PACs' Aid Allows Romney's Rivals to Extend Race

Discussion: ABCNEWS, The Caucus, Balloon Juice, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Ballot Box and Daily Kos

Dan Primack / Fortune:
Gingrich's ‘Bain bomb’ fizzles

Discussion: We Party Patriots, ourfuture.org/blogs_chrono/*, FiveThirtyEight, 2012 Decoded, Iowa Caucuses, The Political Carnival, Bangor Daily News, JustOneMinute, Feministing, The Mahablog, The Buzz Florida Politics Feed and The Daily Dish

Binyamin Appelbaum / New York Times:

Inside the Fed in 2006: A Coming Crisis, and Banter — WASHINGTON — As the housing bubble entered its waning hours in 2006, top Federal Reserve officials marveled at the desperate antics of home builders seeking to lure buyers. — The officials laughed about the cars that builders …

Discussion: The Atlantic Online, The Awl, Paul Krugman, THE CUNNING REALIST, Real Time Economics, Wall Street Journal, Firedoglake and Eschaton

Zachary A. Goldfarb / Washington Post:
Fed's image tarnished by newly released documents

Discussion: CNBC, Hot Air and Economist's View

Eric Platt / Business Insider:
BUSTED: Fed President Made An Unbelievably Dismissive Joke About The Housing Bubble In 2006

Discussion: ThinkProgress, The Atlantic Online, Crossing Wall Street, Free exchange, Calculated Risk, Brad DeLong and FT Alphaville

Arthur S. Brisbane / The Public Editor's Journal:

Update to my Previous Post on Truth Vigilantes — I have appended a note statement from Jill Abramson, the executive editor, responding to this post. — First, though, I must lament that “truth vigilante” generated way more heat than light. A large majority of respondents weighed in with …

Discussion: RedState, Don Surber, Weasel Zippers, The Reaction, ThinkProgress, Hugh Hewitt's TownHall Blog, Balloon Juice, ECHIDNE of the snakes, Unfogged, Sky Dancing, Washington Monthly, Boing Boing, The Raw Story, Mediaite, The Huffington Post, Shakesville and Daily Kos, more at Mediagazer »

Charles P. Pierce / New York Times:
The End Of Truth

Discussion: The Mahablog, Firedoglake, Booman Tribune, Hullabaloo, Viking Pundit and New York Times

Jim Romenesko:
NYT public editor on reaction to Truth Vigilante post

New York Times:

U.S. Warns Top Iran Leader Not to Shut Strait of Hormuz — WASHINGTON — The Obama administration is relying on a secret channel of communication to warn Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, that closing the Strait of Hormuz is a “red line” that would provoke an American response …

Discussion: The Atlantic Online, Questions and Observations, Tikun Olam, Outside the Beltway, Ricochet Conversations Feed and Battleland

Toni Sandys / ABCNEWS:

Rick Perry Lists 3 Departments He'd Cut, But Adds One, Misses Another — BLUFFTON, S.C. - Oops he did it again. When asked to name and provide the number of federal departments he'd eliminate as president, Texas Gov. Rick Perry managed to list three, but they weren't the three agencies …

Discussion: The Hill, Mediaite and The Political Carnival

Buzzfeed Politics / Politics:

Book Depicts Cranky Obama On Baghdad Visit — The then-candidate “didn't want to take pictures with any more soldiers. — President Obama at a recent Pentagon briefing. — (Getty Images / SAUL LOEB) — Michael Hastings' new book, The Operators, jabs at what could be a vulnerable spot …

Discussion: The Daily Caller, The Gateway Pundit, Weasel Zippers, Atlas Shrugs and The Moderate Voice

Mark Meckler / Across The Fence With Mark Meckler:

NYC Gun Charges Dropped. Now I Can Speak Out. — On December 15, 2011 at approximately 5:15 a.m., I was at LaGuardia International airport preparing to check in for a flight out of the city. During a routine check-in, I requested a firearms declaration form from the ticket agent.

Discussion: New York Post, Samizdata.net, The Politico and The Daily Caller

Chris Rawson / TUAW:

Most of Apple's $82 billion cash stockpile is ‘trapped’ overseas — Apple may have enough cash on hand to make Scrooge McDuck's money vault look like a kiddie pool by comparison, but according to SeekingAlpha, most of that cash is effectively trapped overseas.

Paul Krugman / New York Times:

America Isn't a Corporation — “And greed — you mark my words — will not only save Teldar Paper, but that other malfunctioning corporation called the U.S.A.” — That's how the fictional Gordon Gekko finished his famous “Greed is good” speech in the 1987 film “Wall Street.”

Discussion: Campaign 2012 and Prairie Weather

Wall Street Journal:

Bank of America Ponders Retreat — Bank of America Corp. has told U.S. regulators that it is willing to retreat from some parts of the country if its financial problems deepen, according to people familiar with the situation. — Executives at the Charlotte, N.C., financial giant put …

Discussion: Deal Journal, naked capitalism and The Big Picture

David Nakamura / Washington Post:

Obama to propose combining agencies to shrink federal government — President Obama will ask Congress on Friday for the power to shrink the federal government, proposing a first step of combining several trade and commerce agencies under a plan that the White House said could eliminate …

Discussion: Daily Kos and The Hill

John Agar / MLive.com:

Former GVSU student Derek Copp's lawsuit against Ottawa County settled for $144,000 — GRAND RAPIDS - Former Grand Valley State University student Derek Copp, shot by police during a drug raid at his off-campus apartment, received nearly $144,000 to settle his lawsuit against Ottawa County.

Discussion: Associated Press and The Agitator

Bloomberg:

Apple IPhone Sales in China Stores Suspended — Apple Inc. (AAPL), whose skill at hyping new products helped make it the world's most valuable technology company, became a victim of its own success after a botched introduction of its iPhone 4S in China led it to suspend sales.