These are my links for February 1st through February 2nd:

• In Bad Break for Romney, He Wins Trump’s Endorsement – A portion of today’s Morning Jolt covers the reports last night that Donald Trump would endorse Newt Gingrich for president. Moments ago, news broke that Trump would endorse Romney.

  Sigh.

• 2012 Michigan Republican Primary – Romney 38%, Gingrich 23%, Santorum 17%, Paul 14% – Mitt Romney, coming off his big win in the Florida Primary on Tuesday, is the clear front-runner in the first Rasmussen Reports telephone survey of the Republican presidential race in his home state of Michigan. Voters in this hard hit state see Romney as the much better choice to manage the economy. The Michigan Republican Primary is on February 28.

  Romney earns 38% support from Likely Republican Primary Voters in Michigan, with former House Speaker Newt Gingrich a distant second with 23% of the vote. Seventeen percent (17%) prefer former U.S. Senator Rick Santorum, and nearly as many (14%) favor Texas Congressman Ron Paul. One percent (1%) like some other candidate in the race, and six percent (6%) are undecided

• Coulter’s shameful defense of Romneycare – Ann Coulter’s support for Mitt Romney entered a new stage today with a column offering an all out embrace of Romneycare. In the process, she insults the intelligence of conservative critics of the law and doesn’t address their actual arguments against it.

  Her first defense of the law is to name other conservatives who supported it at the time. So what? Many of us were opposed to it all along. For instance, in August 2006, before Barack Obama even announced he was seeking the presidency, I fretted that Romney’s support for universal health care made him the natural heir to President Bush’s big government “compassionate conservatism.” In July 2007, I wrote that, “It is hard to imagine anything representing a greater affront to conservative principles than using government to coerce private citizens into purchasing healthcare.” David Hogberg was another early critic, among many others.

• Have Democrats Succeeded in Pre-Destroying Romney? – – Tuesday’s installment of the left’s crusade to destroy Mitt Romney began like this: an operator chirping, “I’d like to welcome you today to the Mitt Romney Would Destroy Social Security and Medicare Conference Call.”

  A few moments later, Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz, the chairwoman of the Democratic National Committee, was on the line. “Thanks, everybody, for joining the call today,” she began. Within minutes, she had accused Romney of “political pandering,” supporting “the extreme tea party agenda,” and lying to senior citizens, Hispanics and supporters of the space program.

  Just another day in the life of the vast left-wing conspiracy.

  Practically every day for months, Democrats and their allies have been hammering Romney like this. Unions, party committees at the national and state levels, independent groups such as American Bridge and Americans United for Change, and the Obama campaign itself have undertaken an unprecedented effort to tarnish the front-runner while virtually ignoring the rest of the GOP candidates. And it appears to be working.

  Even as he finds increasing success in the Republican primary, negative views of Romney have skyrocketed, particularly among independents, according to recent polls. An ABC News/Washington Post survey released last week, for example, found Romney viewed unfavorably by 49 percent of voters and favorably by just 31 percent. Among independents, just 23 percent viewed Romney favorably, compared to 51 percent who felt that way about President Obama.

  One emerging strain of the conventional wisdom holds that it’s the harsh attacks on Romney from Newt Gingrich — and blowback from Romney’s own brutally negative campaign — that’s causing this to happen. Democrats have been pushing this line, in fact, arguing that Romney is winning at a steep cost and will limp into the general election bruised beyond repair.

• The National Review’s Candidate Won’t Stop Digging – It is days like today that make me thankful I think they all suck. At least I’m thankful I’m in the firmly not Romney camp.

  Having told us only Romney was viable (with half-nods to Huntsman and Santorum) and having trotted out Elliot Abrams to smear Newt Gingrich with out of context quotes, even National Review is having trouble defending their candidate today.

  This morning Mitt Romney said he wasn’t concerned about the poor. The poor, after all, have food stamps and Medicaid. But don’t worry. If the safety net is broken, Patrician Mitt Romney will fix it so the poor can stay comfortably poor. After all, just look what he did in Massachusetts. The poor can now wait 44 days to get in to see a doctor. Excelsior!

  After making sure we all understood the poor were for the Democrats to be worried about, Romney decided to keep digging his hole even bigger. By the end of the day, Jim DeMint had to rebuke him.

• Flap’s Dentistry Blog: The Morning Drill: February 2, 2012 – The Morning Drill: February 2, 2012
• Romney derangement syndrome (on the right) – So what gives? Perhaps it is frustration, especially among talk-show hosts, at not being able to derail Romney. Maybe some shrill bloggers understand that Romney threatens to prove that they are less in tune with Republicans than the “squishy” Republican candidates and officeholders. And maybe conservative political journalists have more in common with their mainstream counterparts than they’d like to admit — a suspicion of wealth, ignorance of the business world and a fixation on the candidates’ interaction with them. After all, Romney never really courted and flattered conservative pundits the way Newt Gingrich did (especially by bashing the mainstream media competition).

  None of this is to say there isn’t strong and valid opposition to Romney in the conservative press. (Michelle Malkin, who recently endorsed Santorum, and staunch critics of Romneycare certainly fit this description.) But it’s hard to ignore the conclusion that for some in the conservative press there is an element of anti-Romney animosity that is not quite grounded in reason or ideological consistency — it is personal. And other than Romney’s being “handsome, rich and successful,” as Kathleen put it, it’s really hard to fathom where it comes from.

• Day By Day February 2, 2012 – Share the Wealth | Flap’s Blog – FullosseousFlap’s Dental Blog – Day By Day February 2, 2012 – Share the Wealth
• Romney Poised for Blowout Win in Nevada – A new Las Vegas Review-Journal poll in Nevada finds Mitt Romney leading the GOP presidential race with 45%, followed by Newt Gingrich at 25%, Rick Santorum at 11% and Ron Paul at 9%.

  However, Carl Bunce, the Nevada chairman of the Paul campaign, “dismissed the poll results, saying most Paul supporters refuse to participate or lie in surveys because of a bad experience in Nevada four years ago. He said Sen. John McCain’s campaign did robocalls to identify Paul supporters and then sidelined them at the state party convention.”

• GOP 12: Romney cruising in Nevada – RT @GOP12: Gingrich more than doubles Santorum in Nevada.
• Report says Trump set to endorse Gingrich Thursday in Vegas – The Hill’s Blog Briefing Room – RT @thehill: Report claims Trump will endorse Gingrich #tcot #GOP2012
• (404) http://t.co/y0 – RT @jimgeraghty: Great news, President Obama! Consumer confidence is almost back up to the Carter 1980, Bush 1992 levels! …
• Romney poised to roll, poll shows – News – ReviewJournal.com – RT @jaketapper: NV poll – Romney 45, Gingrich 25, Santorum 11, Paul 9 >
• (404) http://t.co/3PZC – RT @WestWingReport: Gallup: 44% approve of #Obama, 49% don’t (month ago 45-47); Avg. of all recent polls: 46.5%-47.9% ( …
• @Flap Twitter Updates for 2012-02-02 | Flap’s Blog – FullosseousFlap’s Dental Blog – @Flap Twitter Updates for 2012-02-02
• Panetta: U.S., NATO will seek to end Afghan combat mission next year – The United States and NATO will seek to end their combat mission in Afghanistan next year and shift to a role of providing support and training to Afghan security forces, Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta said Wednesday.

  U.S. military commanders had said in recent weeks they would begin a transition this year toward taking more of an advisory role as Afghanistan’s national army and police take greater responsibility for fighting the insurgency. But Panetta’s remarks were the first time the Obama administration has said it could foresee an end to regular U.S. and NATO combat operations by the second half of next year.

• Figures on government spending and debt – Figures on government spending and debt (last six digits are eliminated). The government’s fiscal year runs Oct. 1 through Sept. 30.
  Total public debt subject to limit Jan. 30 15,313,699
  Statutory debt limit 16,394,000
  Total public debt outstanding Jan. 30 15,356,140
  Operating balance Jan. 30 158,596
  Interest fiscal year 2012 through December 62,662
  Interest same period 2011 56,780
  Deficit fiscal year 2012 through December 321,735
  Deficit same period 2011 368,960
  Receipts fiscal year 2012 through December 555,437
  Receipts same period 2011 531,797
  Outlays fiscal year 2012 through December 877,173
  Outlays same period 2011 900,757
  Gold assets in January 11,041
• San Onofre Nuclear Plant Closed After Radiation Leak – A small quantity of radioactive gas leaked inside one of the buildings at San Onofre nuclear power plant north of San Diego, according to a spokesman for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

  The spokesman said the radiation levels were “barely measurable,” but the plant was shut down as a precaution.

  “At no point were the public or our workers in any danger,” Southern California Edison spokesman Gil Alexander told ABC News.

  Officials say the radiation leak likely occurred in the steam generator tubes of San Onofre’s reactor #3. The steam system, which is supposed to be shielded from exposure to radiation, was replaced in December 2010. Alexander said plant officials will be conducting an investigation into why the new steam tubes leaked.

• Cities with highest and lowest unemployment rates – Nearly 90 percent of major U.S. cities had lower unemployment rates in December than the same month a year earlier, a reflection of stronger hiring nationwide.
  The Labor Department said Wednesday that unemployment rates fell in 329 cities last year. They rose in 37 cities and were unchanged in seven.
  The national unemployment rate fell in December to 8.5 percent – the lowest level in nearly three years. Employers added 200,000 net jobs, the sixth straight month of solid hiring.
  Unemployment rates rose from November to December in a majority of U.S. cities. However monthly metro area unemployment data can be volatile because they aren’t adjusted for seasonal variations, such as holiday hiring.
  The government will report Friday on U.S. hiring and unemployment in January.
  Below are the cities with the highest and lowest rates:
  Best and Worst Metro areas
  Figures are in percentages
  Highest unemployment rates December 2011
  El Centro, Calif. 26.8
  Yuma, Ariz. 23.1
  Merced, Calif. 18.7
  Yuba City, Calif. 18.1
  Visalia-Porterville, Calif. 16.2
  Fresno, Calif. 16.2
  Modesto, Calif. 16.1
  Stockton, Calif. 15.9
  Hanford-Corcoran, Calif. 15.3
  Ocean City, N.J. 15.1
  Lowest unemployment rates December 2011
  Bismarck, N.D. 3.2
  Lincoln, Neb. 3.6
  Fargo, N.D. 3.7
  Burlington, Vt. 3.8
  Logan, Utah 3.9
  Midland, Texas 3.9
  Houma-Bayou Cane-Thibodaux, La. 4.3
  Sioux Falls, S.D. 4.3
  Ames, Iowa 4.3
  Iowa City, Iowa 4.3
• Mark Levin’s rebuttal of Ann Coulter’s “Three Cheers for RomneyCare” article » The Right Scoop – – RT @trscoop: Mark Levin’s rebuttal of Ann Coulter’s “Three Cheers for RomneyCare” article: #tcot
• Capitol Alert: Tobacco tax backers launch campaign with swipe at opponents – RT @CapitolAlert: Tobacco tax backers launch campaign with swipe at opponents
• Hub’s Kelly Evans Exits WSJ For CNBC – Deadline.com – Good Luck Kelly! LRT @NikkiFinke: Report: Kelly Evans Exits Wall Street Journal For CNBC
• Ann Coulter – February 1, 2012 – THREE CHEERS FOR ROMNEYCARE! – RT @philipaklein: Coulter goes all in defending Romneycare, doesnt even address actual conservative objections
• President 2012 GOP Poll Watch: Romney Regains the National Poll Lead from Gingrich | Flap’s Blog – FullosseousFlap’s Dental Blog – President 2012 GOP Poll Watch: Romney Regains the National Poll Lead from Gingrich
• Defense Industry Helping McKeon’s Wife’s Campaign – Influence Alley – How about bought and paid for | RT @nationaljournal: Defense Industry Helping Rep. McKeon’s Wife’s Campaign —
• Romney supports automatic hikes in minimum wage – seattlepi.com – REAL CONSERVATIVE Mitt Romney supports automatic hikes in minimum wage #tcot
• Romney supports automatic hikes in minimum wage – epublican presidential contender Mitt Romney renewed his support Wednesday for automatic increases in the federal minimum wage to keep pace with inflation, a position sharply at odds with traditional GOP business allies, conservatives and the party’s senior lawmakers.

  “I haven’t changed my thoughts on that,” the former Massachusetts governor told reporters aboard his chartered campaign plane, referring to a stand he has held for a decade.

  He did not say if he would ask Congress to approve the change if he wins the White House this fall.

  Congress first enacted federal minimum wage legislation in 1938 and has raised it sporadically in the years since. The last increase, approved in 2007, took effect in three installments and reached $7.25 an hour for covered workers effective July 24, 2009.

  It has never been allowed to rise automatically, as Romney envisions.

• Capitol Alert: Fundraising totals for hot California legislative contests – Fundraising totals for hot California legislative contests
• McCaskill numbers down – Public Policy Polling – Say Good Bye Claire | RT @ppppolls: Claire McCaskill is tied with all 3 of her potential Republican opponents at 43%:
• Obama pushes plan to help homeowners with underwater mortgages – President Obama on Wednesday announced a string of proposals aimed at helping to rejuvenate the sagging housing market, including one plan that would allow responsible homeowners to take advantage of historically low interest rates.

  As the housing market enters its fourth year of high foreclosures and sluggish sales, the president said his proposal — targeted at the middle class — would help homeowners save about $3,000 a year, without “red tape” or a “runaround” from banks.

• Theodore Olson: Obama’s Enemies List – How would you feel if aides to the president of the United States singled you out by name for attack, and if you were featured prominently in the president’s re-election campaign as an enemy of the people?

  What would you do if the White House engaged in derogatory speculative innuendo about the integrity of your tax returns? Suppose also that the president’s surrogates and allies in the media regularly attacked you, sullied your reputation and questioned your integrity. On top of all of that, what if a leading member of the president’s party in Congress demanded your appearance before a congressional committee this week so that you could be interrogated about the Keystone XL oil pipeline project in which you have repeatedly—and accurately—stated that you have no involvement?

  Consider that all this is happening because you have been selected as an attractive political punching bag by the president’s re-election team. This is precisely what has happened to Charles and David Koch, even though they are private citizens, and neither is a candidate for the president’s or anyone else’s office.

• Gingrich 2012? Going, Going, Gone – Last week, New York magazine’s John Heilemann pointed out a deep truth about Newt Gingrich’s peculiar presidential campaign: The very media elite that Gingrich delights in hammering has actually been in his corner all along. The press likes a horse race; the press likes outsize personalities; the press favors an underdog; and the press even takes a strange sort of delight in being ruthlessly attacked.

  Of course most political reporters don’t want Gingrich in the White House. But they’ve had every incentive to keep him in the headlines and overrate his odds of defeating Mitt Romney for the nomination.

  Tuesday night’s Floridian drubbing won’t change those incentives, so we can expect a last burst of media chatter about how Gingrich could still recover, ride a wilderness campaign to a Super Tuesday comeback and fight Romney tooth and nail all the way to the convention. But chatter is all it will be. For Gingrich and his media enablers alike, the dream died in Florida – and here are four reasons why.

  If Gingrich can’t compete in Florida, he can’t compete nationally.

• Komen breast cancer charity severs ties with Planned Parenthood – latimes.com – Susan G. Komen for the Cure says it will stop funding Planned Parenthood centers
• Koch group quietly met in Indian Wells | The Desert Sun | MyDesert.com – Koch group quietly met in Indian Wells
• U.S. Job Creation Best Since September 2008 – Poll Watch: U.S. Job Creation Best Since September 2008: via
• The Morning Flap: February 1, 2012 | Flap’s Blog – FullosseousFlap’s Dental Blog – The Morning Flap: February 1, 2012