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    Cop Out for the Ages!!

    The Republican party of Iowa has finished it's recount of the January 3rd Iowa caucuses and the certified final results show Rick Santorum came out ahead by 34 votes. So he 'won', right?

    Well, not according to the state GOP. According to the state party it's a "split decision" or a "tie."

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    Josh Marshall

    The Marianne Bomb Goes Off?

    Newt Gingrich's second wife (out of three) has long maintained that she has the power to end his campaign with a single interview. Leaking out on the Drudge Report in drips and drabs tonight are indications that Marianne may well have given that interview to ABC News, which is reported to be conducting an internal debate on whether to air it before Saturday's South Carolina primary.

    While details dribble out from Drudge you can get a comprehensive backgrounder in this TPM article from 2010, which is a stunning reminder of just how much material Marianne has at her disposal. Even now it's an explosive read. (Forgive, however, the distorted picture, which was a victim of TPM's recent reformatting).

    Thomas Lane

    Wow

    Gingrich: Palin will "play a major role" in my administration.

    Josh Marshall

    Not the 2011s

    Key issue: Mitt Romney is saying he'll "probably" release his tax returns in April 2012. But the key is he's saying he'll only release his 2011 returns, in other words, the ones his tax preparers are preparing now. And that will help Romney because that return can be prepared with the needs of 2012 in mind.

    If he's forced to release returns for earlier years, that's a very different proposition. He can't change those.

    Josh Marshall

    Newtmentum! No Really ...

    If Rasmussen's latest poll is even close to accurate, Gingrich is in the midst of making a big, big move in South Carolina nationwide.

    Late Update: I want to see another poll that shows this sort of movement before I'm convinced it's real. But the Romney campaign held a Newt-bashing conference call this morning -- the first time they've really gone there since the Iowa drubbing. So I think they're at least seeing Gingrich moving up if not quite was Rasmussen is seeing.

    Josh Marshall

    Kobach Back When

    We noted yesterday that Mitt Romney was playing with fire by tying himself to Kris Kobach, the anti-immigration hardliner and Kansas Secretary of State who authored Arizona's extreme anti-immigration law. Well, it turns out he was Romney immigration advisor back in 2008 as well.

    Josh Marshall

    Is It Even 15%?

    A very interesting nugget down deep in this Reuters piece on Romney's taxes.

    Tax analysts say Romney may have good reason to be reluctant to release his returns.

    His vast fortune is invested in dozens of funds linked to Bain Capital LLC, the powerhouse private equity firm he co-founded and led for 15 years. Several Bain funds have offshore connections and take advantage of tax breaks used only by the U.S. financial elite.

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    Josh Marshall

    Smoke Bomb on White House Grounds

    There are no reports of any injuries or anything close to injuries. But a smoke bomb of some sort was apparently thrown on to the White House grounds this evening, apparently during an Occupy protest outside the White House.

    The Secret Service is currently investigating. Jennifer Bendery, a reporter for Huffpo, tweets that White House reporters are being forced to wait at the White House while the Secret Service investigates.

    Late Update: From a White House press pool report of about 20 minutes ago ...

    Upon returning to the WH, members of the press corps are being prevented from leaving the grounds. USSS investigating an object that was allegedly thrown over the fence.

    Penn Ave is closed as well.

    Later Update: From another White House press pool report from 10:32 PM ...

    After holding in the briefing room for 45 minutes, a WH official escorted the press corps out of the WH grounds through the EEOB and out to an exit on 17th Street.

    Josh Marshall

    The Awesome Awfulness of Rick Perry

    Called on to defend calling the leaders of Turkey "Islamic terrorists", Rick Perry managed to accuse Wolf Blitzer of defending honor-killing.

    Rush transcript and video after the jump ...

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    Josh Marshall

    Gotta Love These Guys

    The issue of Romney's tax returns has loomed large on cable news throughout the day. However, those relentless reporters at Fox & Friends had a pressing question of their own: "who even cares?"

    Thomas Lane

    Outreach

    Newt says he could support a Muslim for President as long as they "give up Shari'a."

    Josh Marshall

    The Big Money

    A funny little nugget buried in Romney's statement this morning on his tax returns. In passing, Romney said although most of his money came from investment income, a small amount came from speeches. "I get speakers fees from time to time but not very much." Well, it turns out that amount is over $374,000 last year. Which is a fair amount of money, though to give some perspective, not a wild amount of money compared to what other retired politicians make giving speeches.

    Read More →
    Josh Marshall

    Most Recent Latest news stories from TPM reporters

    TPM2012

    Santorum Wins Iowa? GOP Officials Now Call State 'Split Decision'

    Turns out Mitt Romney wasn't the first GOP candidate in 35 years to take Iowa and New Hampshire. In fact, the certification of Iowa caucus votes conducted by the state GOP shows Rick Santorum likely won - by 34 votes, though officials are officially calling it a "split decision." The Des Moines Register was first with the news Thursday morning: Results from eight precincts are missing -- any of which could hold an advantage for Mitt Romney -- and will never be recovered and certified, Republican...
    TPM2012

    They're Playing Newt's Song At The Last Dance In South Carolina

    COLUMBIA, SC -- If there's one reason to believe the conventional wisdom that Mitt Romney will win the South Carolina primary thanks to a split conservative vote may no longer be as reliable as it once was, it came from Romney's own campaign Wednesday. The Romney campaign rolled out a pair of former members of Congress to go hammer-and-tongs against Newt Gingrich with the days ticking down to the Jan. 21 primary vote. The last time the Romney campaign did something similar? When Gingrich was surging in...
    TPMDC

    Hospitals Step Up War On GOP's Cuts For Payroll Tax Package

    Hospitals are reigniting a battle with House Republicans that grew bitter last month after the GOP pushed to offset its payroll tax cut package with deep cuts to hospital payments under Medicare. The undercurrents of this fight are deepening fissures between hospitals and Republicans over the passage and future of the Affordable Care Act. The American Hospital Association, the industry's top lobbying group, on Friday issued an action alert -- provided to TPM by a source -- to its roughly 40,000 members, ...
    TPM2012

    What If Voters Just Don't Like Mitt Romney?

    Mitt Romney may be on the verge of securing the nomination, but his campaign is still struggling with a pretty basic problem as it looks towards the general election: people just don't like him very much. Romney's never been the kind of candidate to draw legions of screaming fans, but new polling over the last week show a troubling trend for him -- his personal favorability numbers are taking a hit. On Tuesday Public Policy Polling (D) showed Romney with a favorability split well into the negative, with ...
    TPMDC

    How Republicans Killed Own Pet Oil Pipeline Project

    At the peak of December's payroll tax cut showdown on Capitol Hill, two top Republican aides discussed with me the pros and cons of making the Keystone XL pipeline a centerpiece of the debate. They relished the idea of forcing President Obama to take a public stand on the pipeline early in an election year, instead of after the election as he had wanted. And they were eager to force him to choose between supporters in the labor movement, some of whom are pushing for the pipeline, and others in the...
    IdeaLab

    NY Tech Meetup's SOPA/PIPA Protest Fails To Sway Senators

    NEW YORK -- New York's Democratic senators on Wednesday said that they would remain supporters of a much-criticized anti-piracy bill while attempting to address the criticisms of the local tech community, who showed up in droves outside the their offices in midtown Manhattan to protest the bill. Senators Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), both of whom are listed as co-sponsors of the PROTECT-IP Act (PIPA), released the following statement at 12:30 pm, the same time that protest outside ...
    IdeaLab

    SOPA Sponsors Deny Bill Would Censor The Web

    Rep. Lamar Smith (R-TX) late Wednesday acknowledged that the mass online protests against his anti-online piracy bill were causing formerly supportive lawmakers to flee in droves, but said that he was confident that "facts will overcome fears," and vowed to continue working on "strong legislation" to combat online piracy. Smith is the architect of the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and the Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, which is in charge of marking the bill up -- voting on amendments to it...
    TPM2012

    ABC News To Air Ex-Gingrich Wife's Interview Thursday

    Newt Gingrich's ex-wife, Marianne, says she has enough material to end the Republican presidential candidate's career with one interview. Or at least so blared the Drudge Report Wednesday evening. Marianne Gingrich recently spoke to ABC News reporter Brian Ross for two hours about her tumultuous relationship with Newt Gingrich. There's no clear word yet on the specific details she recounted. But The Daily Beast's Howard Kurtz reports that Marianne didn't reveal anything in the interview that sheEsquire...
    TPMDC

    Dems Kick Off New Year With Tougher Stance

    For Democrats, the new year has brought a new, tougher negotiating posture -- buoyed by their payroll tax cut victory last month, tired of the politics of kowtowing to Republican demands and eager to draw a clear contrast between the values of the two parties. Instead of starting off by compromising to narrow the divide with Republicans on how to fund the payroll tax package beyond February, Democratic leaders are beginning 2012 by staking out a firm stance on their left flank: fund a full-year...
    TPM2012

    Day In 100 Seconds: Palin, Pipes & Preventing 9/11

    Today was a big day all round, as we saw cable news obsess over the return of Sarah Palin and a non-semi-endorsement of a GOP candidate. Before anyone could get their heads round that, sparks were flying on both sides as the White House announced they are not going ahead with a decision on the proposed Keystone pipeline. And, to wrap things off, Marky Mark told us how he would have stopped 9/11 from happening.
    IdeaLab

    Facebook and Twitter Join SOPA/PIPA Protest (Sort Of)

    Better late than never! Executives at Facebook and Twitter on Wednesday afternoon joined the mass online protest against the two pieces of anti-piracy legislation being considered by the U.S. Congress. But the two popular social networking websites stopped short of substantially altering their homepages for U.S. users, compared to the estimated 7,000 other sites around the Web -- including Google, Wikipedia and Craigslist -- that either blacked-out their content entirely or or put obvious links on...
    TPM2012

    Dems Claim They Can Reverse The Tea Party Tide In 2012

    After a wave election gave Republicans the majority in the House of Representatives in 2010, no one thought that Democrats, a year later, would be in a position to take it back. But, that's exactly where Democrats claim to be. At a press briefing Wednesday, Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee chairman Steve Israel (D-NY) said that Republicans have had such a "catastrophic" year that he now believes Democrats can take back the House. The chairman was cautious not to sound too optimistic, but he...
    TPM2012

    Mitt Romney Lives For Laughter (VIDEO)

    They say the secret to success is "make 'em laugh." If that's really the case, then Mitt Romney's half-way there: he's good at making himself laugh. To watch him on the stump (or in debates, or in interviews) you'd think he's a straight-edged political figure, for pete's sake. But, according to those who know him best, he's just like Mary Poppins' Uncle Albert: he loves to laugh, long and loud and clear. So, TPM took a look back through some of Mitt's chuckles and brought it all together to give you...
    TPMDC

    Reports: Obama Admin Nixes Keystone Oil Pipeline

    The Obama administration has decided not to move forward with the Keystone XL oil pipeline, according to multiple news reports. The move, which the State Department will reportedly announce Wednesday afternoon, will please environmentalists but anger the business community. It was widely expected after Republicans successfully inserted a provision into the December payroll tax package demanding a decision by the end of February.
    TPM2012

    First Democratic Candidate Declares Against Walker In Wisconsin Recall

    The first Democratic candidate has officially declared in Wisconsin's recall election against Republican Gov. Scott Walker: Former Dane County Executive Kathleen Falk. A number of Democrats have been eyeing the race, including Falk, Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett (who was also Walker's opponent in the 2010 election), state Sen. Tim Cullen, state Assembly Minority Leader Peter Barca, state Sen. Jon Erpenbach, and others. "As your governor, I will make different choices than Scott Walker," Falk said in an...
    TPM2012

    Ron Paul Touts Endorsement From Pastor Who Railed Against 'Sodomites'

    Ron Paul's campaign is proudly showing off an endorsement from the Reverend Voddie Baucham, a Baptist pastor in Texas with a penchant for deploying fire and brimstone language against gays in his sermons, whom he notes are "worthy of the death penalty" according to Biblical law. In one 2009 blog post condemning President Obama for an official announcement celebrating the gay and lesbian community, Baucham took issue with Obama's praise for the LGBT community's activism on behalf of HIV/AIDS awareness.
    IdeaLab

    SOPA/PIPA Lose More Supporters On 'Blackout Day'

    Updated 4:16 pm ET, Wednesday, January 18 What once seemed a solid bedrock of support from many members of Congress for two controversial anti-piracy bills is quickly eroding, with several more prominent lawmakers coming out against the bills, which are known as the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) in the House and the PROTECT ACT (PIPA) in the Senate. "I'm going to vote NO on #PIPA and #SOPA. The Internet is too important to our economy," Sen. Scott Brown (R-MA) tweeted on Tuesday afternoon, on the eve...
    TPMDC

    'Our Members Are United': House GOP Brushes Off Tax Cut Defeat

    House Republicans began 2012 by shaking off their defeat in last month's payroll tax cut standoff, conceding that the timing of their rebellion was less than ideal but insisting they're united for job creation and against President Obama in the new year. "We've got a lot of disparate voices in our conference. The President wanted the payroll tax cut extended for a year, and so do we. We didn't think the Senate would leave, but it was pretty clear the Senate wasn't coming back," House Speaker John...
    TPM2012

    John McCain's Campaign Targeted Bain Capital In 2008 Oppo Research

    John McCain may be one of Mitt Romney's top supporters now, but the release of his 2008 opposition research file on the current frontrunner gives an uncomfortable inside look at how he once prepped himself to battle his former rival. Especially awkward is that McCain, who has suggested attacks on Romney's record at Bain Capital are an affront against capitalism itself, dinged Romney over the same issue while his staff identified the company as a key vulnerability. The 2008 oppo file, obtained by...
    TPM2012

    John McCain's Standup Routine

    We all know John McCain as a long-term Senator, one-time presidential candidate, war veteran and occasional forgetful old chap, but it turns out he also does a mean turn as a stand-up comic. Granted, he was in his element, performing to a largely military audience, with most of his material on the same theme, but he certainly had them rolling in the aisles and caught our attention with his routine. Watch:

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