memeorandum: Fewer U.S. companies planning to hire; Europe looms: poll (Jason Lange/Reuters)

12:00 PM ET, July 16, 2012

Top Items:

Romney's Bain Yielded Private Gains, Socialized Losses — By Anthony Luzzatto Gardner 2012-07-15T22:30:01Z — Mitt Romney touts his business acumen and job-creation record as a key qualification for being the next U.S. president. — What's clear from a review of the public record during …

Discussion: Firedoglake, The Mahablog, Daily Kos, Balloon Juice and msnbc.com

New York Times:

When Did Romney Step Back From Bain? It's Complicated — When Mitt Romney was running for governor of Massachusetts a decade ago, Democrats went before a state commission to demand that he be struck from the ballot. Their argument: After taking over the Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City …

Discussion: CNN, ABCNEWS, Washington Post, Marbury, The Caucus, Guardian, The Page and American Power

CNN:

Facts don't support Obama's charges against Romney — Editor's note: David Gergen is a senior political analyst for CNN and has been an adviser to four presidents. A graduate of Harvard Law School, he is a professor of public service and director of the Center for Public Leadership …

Discussion: Balloon Juice, Fortune and The Huffington Post

Paul Krugman / New York Times:

Policy and the Personal — A lot of people inside the Beltway are tut-tutting about the recent campaign focus on Mitt Romney's personal history — his record of profiting even as workers suffered, his mysterious was-he-or-wasn't-he role at Bain Capital after 1999, his equally mysterious refusal …

Discussion: Newshoggers.com, Prairie Weather and Paul Krugman

John Cassidy / News Desk:
Why Won't Romney Release More Tax Returns?

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, The Maddow Blog, Bloomberg, ABCNEWS, The Hinterland Gazette, Balloon Juice and Taegan Goddard's …

Josh Marshall / Talking Points Memo:
TPM Editor's Blog

Discussion: david-frum, The Daily Dish, Washington Examiner and Mother Jones

Brian Knowlton / The Caucus:
Romney Faces Mounting Attacks on Bain and Taxes

Discussion: Ricochet Conversations Feed and The Page

WAVY-TV: One-on-one with President Obama

Jennifer Rubin / Washington Post:

July panic for Obama — for good reason — Why has the Obama team been publicly wailing about losing out to Mitt Romney in the money race? Why would the president accuse his opponent of not merely being wrong or unqualified but criminal? After all, the polls are tied, so why so much worry in Obamaland?

Discussion: Questions and Observations, americanthinker.com, The Other McCain, The Daily Dish, Prairie Weather, The Spectacle Blog and Maggie's Farm

Kevin Robillard / Politico:

Mitt Romney rips Obama camp's ‘dishonesty’ — Mitt Romney on Monday accused President Barack Obama of running a “campaign based on falsehood and dishonesty,” while brushing aside suggestions from anxious conservatives to alter his campaign strategy. — “A campaign based on falsehood …

Discussion: Hot Air, Outside the Beltway, The Gateway Pundit and Washington Examiner

Philip Rucker / Washington Post:

Romney tries to regain momentum with new focus on Obama's ‘political payoffs’ — Trying to shift the presidential campaign narrative away from his personal finances and tenure at Bain Capital, Republican Mitt Romney will launch a fresh assault this week accusing President Obama of political cronyism …

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, The Maddow Blog, Bloomberg, No More Mister Nice Blog, New York Magazine, Right Wing News and Politico

Ed Kilgore / Washington Monthly:
The Bain Quatrain

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, New York Magazine and Washington Post

Geneva Sands / The Hill:
Romney campaign accuses Obama of ‘political payoffs’

Discussion: CNN

New York Post:

Obama wedding registry fund-raising strategy not a hit with brides — President Obama's bizarre marriage-theme fund-raising scheme — where he asks couples to request campaign donations from their guests in lieu of wedding gifts — has been a total flop. — The desperate initiative …

Discussion: Michelle Malkin, protein wisdom, Sister Toldjah, Hot Air, Weasel Zippers, The Gateway Pundit, UrbanGrounds and americanthinker.com

Reuters:

Egyptians pelt Clinton motorcade with tomatoes — (Reuters) - Protesters threw tomatoes and shoes at Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's motorcade on Sunday during her first visit to Egypt since the election of Islamist President Mohamed Mursi. — A tomato struck an Egyptian official in the face …

Discussion: Scared Monkeys, msnbc.com, Red Alert Politics, The Gateway Pundit and New York Magazine

Pamela Geller / Atlas Shrugs:
Bachmann sends Hamas Congressman Hakim Muhammad (aka Keith Ellison) response to Muslim Brotherhood propaganda

Discussion: I'm a Man! and Israpundit

Bob Cusack / The Hill:

Treasury probe cites officials for soliciting prostitutes, accepting industry gifts, FOIA docs reveal — Treasury Department officials have been cited for soliciting prostitutes, breaking conflict-of-interest rules and accepting gifts from corporate executives, according to the findings of official government investigations.

Discussion: nation.foxnews.com

Jeremy W. Peters / New York Times:

Latest Word on the Trail? I Take It Back — The quotations come back redacted, stripped of colorful metaphors, colloquial language and anything even mildly provocative. — They are sent by e-mail from the Obama headquarters in Chicago to reporters who have interviewed campaign officials under …

Discussion: protein wisdom, New York Magazine, Jammie Wearing Fools, Michelle Malkin, Mother Jones and Nick Turse, more at Mediagazer »

Jeff Zeleny / New York Times:

Pawlenty Looked at as Romney Running Mate — EAGAN, Minn. — It was four years ago this summer, when Tim Pawlenty ranked high on the list of John McCain's potential running mates, and Mr. Pawlenty and his wife, Mary, were plowing through a voluminous questionnaire probing deep into their finances …

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Washington Wire, Politicker, The Daily Caller, LifeNews.com, Angry Black Lady Chronicles, ABCNEWS, Ricochet Conversations Feed, National Review, Outside the Beltway, Wall Street Journal and Business Insider

James Warren / The Daily Beast:

Richard Posner Bashes Supreme Court's Citizens United Ruling — Richard Posner is the most influential conservative judge outside the Supreme Court. And he thinks its campaign-finance ruling encourages bribery. James Warren on Posner's latest shot—and Scalia's gun love.

Discussion: SCOTUSblog

Adam Skaggs / Politico: Mitch McConnell dead wrong on DISCLOSE Act

Alexander Bolton / The Hill:

John Thune rising: GOP senator on Romney's veepstakes and his future — Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) has reemerged as a viable vice presidential candidate who would check many of the boxes Mitt Romney is looking for in a running mate. — He's an experienced legislator who has earned respect …

Discussion: CNN, Washington Post, Guardian, New York Magazine, Weekly Standard and Influence Alley

Brian Stelter / New York Times:

Microsoft and NBC Complete Web Divorce — On Sunday night, MSNBC.com did something that successful Web sites almost never do: it renamed itself. — The site became NBCNews.com, signifying the end of a relationship between NBC and Microsoft that dates back to the earliest days of the commercial Web.

Discussion: msnbc.com, Media Decoder, CNET, New York Magazine, TechCrunch, Guardian, FishbowlDC, Poynter, Scared Monkeys and Politico, more at Mediagazer »

Peter J. Boyer / The Daily Beast:

Romney's Palin Problem: Where's Her Convention Invite? — Mitt still hasn't invited Sarah to the GOP's nomination assembly in Tampa, and the Tea Party is livid. Peter J. Boyer on how the snub could sabotage Romney's tenuous ties to the grassroots—and why Palin is keeping the week open, just in case.

Discussion: Politico, Hot Air, The Gateway Pundit, Balloon Juice and Conservatives4Palin