memeorandum: Military Cuts and Tax Plan Are Central to Obama Budget (Jackie Calmes/New York Times)

8:55 AM ET, February 14, 2012

Top Items:

Pew Research Center for the People and the Press:

Santorum Catches Romney in GOP Race — Obama Leads Both in General Election Matchups — OVERVIEW — Rick Santorum's support among Tea Party Republicans and white evangelicals is surging, and he now has pulled into a virtual tie with Mitt Romney in the race for the Republican presidential nomination.

Dalia Sussman / The Caucus:

Santorum Is Tied With Romney in New Poll — After his surprise triple victories in Colorado, Minnesota and Missouri, Rick Santorum has begun soaring among Republican primary voters, erasing Mitt Romney's lead in the race for the party's presidential nomination.

Discussion: GOP 12, Washington Post, Towleroad News #gay, Associated Press, msnbc.com and ABCNEWS

CBS News:

Poll: Rick Santorum takes slight lead in GOP race — CBS News Poll analysis by the CBS News Polling Unit: Sarah Dutton, Jennifer De Pinto, Fred Backus and Anthony Salvanto. — Rick Santorum has pulled slightly ahead of Mitt Romney in Republican primary voters' preference for the presidential nomination …

Discussion: The Moderate Voice and Daily Kos

Lydia Saad / Gallup:

Santorum Surges to Tie Romney — Race takes another turn as Santorum gains 14 points since winning Feb. 7 GOP contests — PRINCETON, NJ — Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum are now statistically tied for the lead in Republican registered voters' preferences for the 2012 GOP nomination — 32% to 30%, respectively.

Discussion: The Caucus, The Moderate Voice, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Weasel Zippers, Associated Press, Hot Air, Ballot Box, CNN, Firedoglake and Washington Post

Rick Santorum / CNN:
Protestors disrupt Santorum event, get arrested

Discussion: CBS News and Campaign 2012

Alicia M. Cohn / The Hill:
GOP Gov. McDonnell warns Santorum not to demean military women

Discussion: ABCNEWS, CNN, Politico, Boston Globe, GOP 12 and The Daily Caller

Democracy in America:
Romney's Santorum problem

Discussion: Salon.com, American Spectator, Jay Bookman, Vox Popoli, Eunomia and The Hinterland Gazette

Tucker Carlson / The Daily Caller:

Media Matters memo called for hiring private investigators ‘to look into the personal lives’ of Fox employees — A little after 1 p.m. on Sept. 29, 2009, Karl Frisch emailed a memo to his bosses, Media Matters for America founder David Brock and president Eric Burns.

Discussion: Betsy's Page and FishbowlDC

Dylan Byers / Politico:
Tucker Carlson takes on the media

Discussion: The Daily Caller, American Spectator, Mediaite, Big Journalism, RedState and Michelle Malkin, more at Mediagazer »

Vince Coglianese / The Daily Caller:
Inside Media Matters: David Brock's enemies list

Discussion: Power Line, Big Journalism, Politico, Ed Driscoll, Wonkette, Weasel Zippers, Washington Monthly and RedState

Bernie Becker / The Hill:

House GOP leaders drop demand that payroll tax cut be offset — House Republicans said Monday that they would offer a measure to extend the current payroll tax cut for the rest of the year, dropping a previous demand that the tax break be offset. — The move marks a sharp turnaround for GOP leaders …

Discussion: Politico, CNN, The Maddow Blog, Wall Street Journal, RedState and The PJ Tatler

Jennifer Steinhauer / New York Times:
House Republicans Yield on Extending Payroll Tax Cut

Discussion: The Hill, Washington Post and Prairie Weather

Jake Shermanand Manu Raju / Politico:
House GOP scrambles payroll tax cut calculus

Discussion: tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com, The New Republic, CNN and Swampland

Speaker:
Boehner, Cantor, McCarthy Statement on Payroll Tax Cut Conference Negotiations

Discussion: Washington Post, Washington Monthly, The Political Carnival, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, New York Times, Campaign 2012, ThinkProgress and Balloon Juice

ABCNEWS:

Political Punch — “Dogs Against Romney”? Democrats Say Unleash the Hound! — Tomorrow outside the Westminster dog show at Madison Square Garden at noon the group “Dogs Against Romney” will protest “to ensure pet lovers are aware that Mitt Romney is mean to dogs,” according to the group's press release.

Discussion: Weasel Zippers, The Daily Caller and The Raw Story

Rusty / Dogs Against Romney: For Immediate Release: Dogs Against Romney Press Event: Westminster Dog Show, NYC.

Hilary Leila Krieger / Jerusalem Post:

Obama set to okay Egypt, PA aid despite tension — Palestinians to see only slight roll back despite unity deal with Hamas; Egypt aid to remain at 2012 level. — By REUTERS/Larry Downing — WASHINGTON - Despite recent tensions between the US and Egypt and a new Palestinian Authority government set …

Discussion: Washington Free Beacon, Ricochet Conversations Feed and Israel Matzav

Susan Cornwell / Reuters:
Obama proposes $800 million in aid for “Arab Spring”

Discussion: Rush Limbaugh, LifeNews.com, Weasel Zippers, The Gateway Pundit, Atlas Shrugs, Politico, Jihad Watch and The Hill

James Pethokoukis / The Enterprise Blog:
Obama's ‘rosy’ budget scenario doubles down on class warfare

Discussion: Bloomberg, Campaign 2012, Doug Ross, National Review, Sister Toldjah, Firedoglake and American Spectator

Wall Street Journal:

Apple, Suppliers Test Tablet With Smaller Screen — By By LORRAINE LUK in Taipei and JESSICA E. VASCELLARO in San Francisco — TAIPEI-Apple Inc. is working with component suppliers in Asia to test a new tablet computer with a smaller screen, people familiar with the situation said …

Discussion: Mashable!, The Verge and Engadget, more at Techmeme »

Wall Street Journal:

Verizon, AT&T to Sell 4G iPad — Verizon Communications Inc. and AT&T Inc. will sell a version of the coming iPad that runs on their newest fourth-generation wireless networks, according to people familiar with the matter, as the battle to cash in on big investments in mobile broadband heats up.

Discussion: Engadget and The Verge, more at Techmeme »

David Frum / The Daily Beast:

Norquist: Romney Will Do As Told — Is Mitt Romney so weak he won't be able to stand up to Congress? — Grover Norquist, head of the Americans for Tax Reform advocacy group, speaks at a session entitled “Scrap the Code: Towards Pro-Growth Tax Reform” at the conservative Americans for Prosperity …

Discussion: Crooks and Liars, Washington Monthly, Booman Tribune, Balloon Juice, No More Mister Nice Blog, Daily Kos, ourfuture.org/blogs_chrono/*, Eunomia and The Political Carnival

Igor Volsky / ThinkProgress:

Republican Women Senators Breaking Ranks With Party, Come Out In Favor Of Obama Contraception Rule — While GOP senate minority leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) has pledged to fight the Obama's administration's modified regulation requiring health insurers and busnisses to offer contraception …

Discussion: Washington Post, Firedoglake, The Impolitic, emptywheel, The Raw Story, Pundit & Pundette, Daily Kos and The Maddow Blog

Bianca Vazquez Toness / WBUR:

WBUR Poll: Brown, Warren Running Neck And Neck In Senate Race — BOSTON — A new WBUR-MassINC poll shows U.S. Sen. Scott Brown and Democratic Senate candidate Elizabeth Warren running neck and neck. Forty-six percent of people polled said they would vote for Warren compared to 43 percent for Brown.

Discussion: The Huffington Post and Hotline On Call

Mitt Romney / detroitnews.com:

Romney op-ed: Taxpayers should get GM shares' proceeds — Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney campaigns in Portland, Maine. The candidate contends that the Obama administration should sell its ownership in GM and return the money to taxpayers. (Robert F. Bukaty / Associated Press)

Discussion: Campaign 2012

Lornet Turnbull / Seattle Times:

Gregoire signs gay marriage into law — With Gov. Chris Gregoire's signature on Monday, Washington joins six other states and the District of Columbia in allowing same-sex couples to marry. — OLYMPIA — Surrounded by applauding gay couples and with media from around the country looking on …

Discussion: The Maddow Blog, THE ASTUTE BLOGGERS, ACS Blog, Outside the Beltway and Taylor Marsh

Igor Volsky / ThinkProgress:
BREAKING: Washington Governor Signs Same-Sex Marriage Bill

Discussion: The Political Carnival and Booman Tribune

Associated Press:

Justice Breyer robbed at West Indies vacation home — WASHINGTON (AP) — Justice Stephen Breyer was robbed last week by a machete-wielding intruder at his vacation home in the West Indies, a Supreme Court spokeswoman said Monday. — The 73-year-old Breyer, wife Joanna and guests were confronted …

Discussion: Politico, CNN, iOwnTheWorld.com, Mediaite, The Hill and The Caucus

Josh Rogin / Foreign Policy:

Clinton: We need Assad's consent to put troops in Syria — Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu had a clear and unified message coming out of their meeting in Washington, D.C. Monday: They are looking for a political solution in Syria …

Discussion: US Department of State, Israel Matzav and The Gateway Pundit

Paul Bedard / Campaign 2012:

Privately, Obama sees recovery 1-2 years off — Follow on Twitter:Follow @SecretsBedard — The public President Obama, bubbly in his reelection campaigning about a recovering U.S. economy, isn't as optimistic in private, telling a select few that it will likely take up to two years for any recovery to click in.

Discussion: Hot Air and Weasel Zippers

Geoff Mulvihill / Associated Press:

NJ Senate OKs gay marriage bill in milestone vote — TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — New Jersey lawmakers gave their blessing to legalizing gay marriage for the first time Monday as the state Senate passed a bill that would allow nuptials for same-sex couples, despite Gov. Chris Christie's insistence that he will veto such legislation.

Discussion: American Prospect, The Huffington Post, Politico, Washington Monthly, Truthdig and The Raw Story