memeorandum: Marijuana bill officially introduced to Congress by Ron Paul, Barney Frank (LATimes/Top of the Ticket)

11:40 PM ET, June 23, 2011

Top Items:

Senator Kyl Drops Out of the Debt Talks, Leaving Zero Republicans at the Table — ABC News' Sunlen Miller (@sunlenmiller) reports: — Senate Minority Whip Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., will also drop out of the debt talks, a source within his office confirms today. The Arizona Republican's office will issue a formal statement shortly.

Discussion: The Politico, The Lonely Conservative, RedState, Washington Post, The Other McCain, AmSpecBlog, Taylor Marsh, TPMDC, The TrogloPundit, The Daily Dish, Hot Air, Political Punch, The Moderate Voice, YID With LID and HotAirPundit

Ezra Klein / Washington Post:

Why Eric Cantor won't make the budget deal — (Brendan Hoffman - Getty Images) Eric Cantor is pulling out of the debt-ceiling talks. But he's not saying they should end. In fact, he's saying they've been very successful thus far. “We have a blueprint to move forward to trillions …

Discussion: TPMDC, Sky Dancing, The Atlantic Online, Washington Monthly, Washington Wire, Balloon Juice and Blue Virginia

Wall Street Journal:

Cantor Pulls Out of Biden-Led Budget Talks — WASHINGTON—House Majority Leader Eric Cantor Thursday said he was pulling out of the bipartisan budget talks headed by Vice President Joe Biden for now because the group has reached an impasse over taxes that only President Barack Obama and Speaker John Boehner (R., Ohio) could resolve.

Discussion: TPMDC, Real Time Economics, The Note, The Hill, Ricochet Conversation Feed, Washington Wire, PERRspectives, Wake up America, Weigel, Felix Salmon, The Raw Story, Hullabaloo, Gawker, Talking Points Memo, National Review, Washington Monthly and New York Magazine

Tanya Somanader / ThinkProgress:

McConnell: GOP Would Not Voice Opposition To Libya Campaign If Obama Was A Republican — The NATO-led air campaign in Libya is causing a significant rift within the GOP. House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH), House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA), and House Republicans have said the U.S. involvement violates …

Discussion: TPMDC and Los Angeles Times

Matthew Yglesias / ThinkProgress:
How To (Temporarily) Survive a Debtpocalypse

Discussion: National Review

John R. Parkinson / ABCNEWS:
Top Republicans Walk Out of VP Biden's Debt Talks

Discussion: The Politico and The Note

Carl Hulse / New York Times:
Budget Talks Near Collapse as G.O.P. Leader Quits

Discussion: Washington Monthly and Jared Bernstein

Jennifer Steinhauer / The Caucus:
Cantor Quits Biden's Debt Ceiling Talks

Discussion: Weigel, Washington Monthly and TalkLeft

David Rogers / The Politico:
Deficit talks in danger as Eric Cantor bails

Discussion: The Hill, The Reid Report, CNN, Don Surber and Outside the Beltway

Michele Chabin / USA Today:

U.S. Jews not able to fly on Delta flights to Saudi Arabia — JERUSALEM — Jews and Israelis, or passengers carrying any non-Islamic article of faith, will not be able to fly Delta Air Lines flights from the U.S. to Saudi Arabia under Delta's new partnership with Saudi Arabian Airlines.

Discussion: The Sundries Shack, YID With LID, Weasel Zippers, Runnin' Scared, Doug Ross, Pajamas Media, Fox Nation and American Glob

Bob Unruh / WorldNetDaily:
Delta adopts Saudi ‘no-Jew’ fly policy

Discussion: The Huffington Post and Atlas Shrugs

Cathy Lynn Grossman / USA Today:
Airline to Jewish rumor: ‘Delta does not discriminate.’

Discussion: AmSpecBlog, Hot Air and The Volokh Conspiracy

The Note:

Mystery Candidate Leads to Walk Out at Ames Straw Poll Land Auction — ABC News' Russell Goldman (@GoldmanRussell) and Arlette Saenz (@ArletteSaenz) report: — A little bit of intrigue at the Ames straw poll land auction... Representatives of Republican candidates are meeting today in Ames …

Discussion: USA Today and Ben Smith's Blog

CNN:

Six GOP campaigns land spots for Ames Straw Poll — Washington (CNN) - Six Republican presidential campaigns secured spots Thursday to participate in the high stakes Ames Straw Poll in Iowa. — Multiple GOP sources told CNN that the former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann …

Discussion: The Note

Craig Robinson / The Iowa Republican:

Thaddeus McCotter Creates Chaos At Straw Poll Auction — At today's Iowa Straw Poll land auction, participating campaigns were surprised by a mystery participant who would not state which campaign she was representing. — Kellie Paschke, a lobbyist whose clients include Iowans for Tax Relief …

Discussion: The Politico and Nice Deb

Michael O'Brien / Ballot Box:
Gingrich: I won't drop out of the presidential race before Iowa caucuses

Discussion: The Politico

Igor Volsky / ThinkProgress:

Obama Addresses New York Marriage Equality Bill At LGBT Fundraiser: Issue Best Left To States — President Obama spoke at an LGBT fundraiser this evening in New York City, just as the New York Senate prepares to take up marriage equality legislation. Obama addressed the measure directly …

Discussion: Pam's House Blend, The New Civil Rights Movement, AMERICAblog Gay and Back2Stonewall.com

Andrew Harmon / Advocate:
Senators to Obama: Time to Evolve

Discussion: Prop 8 Trial Tracker and Lynn Sweet

James Freeman / Wall Street Journal:

Is Rick Running? — A Republican campaign veteran tells us that Texas Governor Rick Perry has decided to run for President, though the official word from Team Perry is still a definite maybe. — A Republican campaign veteran tells us that Texas Governor Rick Perry has decided to run for President …

Discussion: Hot Air, Outside the Beltway, The TrogloPundit, USA Today, The Note, The Atlantic Online, Ballot Box, The Daily Caller, Flap's Blog and The Page

Robert Kagan / Washington Post:

Military leaders know Obama's decision is a disaster — The press is reporting that the top military leaders have “endorsed” President Obama's Afghan troop withdrawal decision. With all due respect to the fine reporters, that is not the news. Under our Constitution …

Discussion: Guardian, Hot Air, Arizona Republic, New York Times, Pajamas Media, ThinkProgress, National Review, American Glob and Swampland

Terence P. Jeffrey / CNSNews:

Geithner: Taxes on ‘Small Business’ Must Rise So Government Doesn't ‘Shrink’ — (CNSNews.com) - Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner told the House Small Business Committee on Wednesday that the Obama administration believes taxes on small business must increase so the administration does not have to …

Discussion: The Lonely Conservative and The Right Scoop

Tom Jensen / Public Policy Polling:

Romney leads the way in Florida — Mitt Romney has a double digit lead for the Republican Presidential nomination in Florida, further cementing his front runner status in the wake of Mike Huckabee's exit from the race. — Romney is at 27% to 17% for Sarah Palin and Michele Bachmann …

Discussion: GOP 12, Orlando Sentinel and Flap's Blog

TAPPED:
The Rules of the Game — The New Yorker's Ryan Lizza joins …

Discussion: ThinkProgress, The Reaction and News Desk

Wall Street Journal:

World Oil Reserves Tapped — U.S., 27 Countries Intervene and Release 60 Million Barrels to Drive Down Prices — The U.S. and 27 other countries agreed Thursday to release 60 million barrels of oil from strategic reserves, temporarily driving down oil prices to a four-month low …

Discussion: Calculated Risk and Ricochet Conversation Feed

Judd Legum / ThinkProgress:

EXCLUSIVE — Herman Cain: Jon Stewart Attacked Me 'Because I'm Black' — ThinkProgress filed this report from Iowa Falls, Iowa. — Earlier this month, ThinkProgress reported that GOP presidential candidate Herman Cain told an audience in Pella, Iowa that he would not sign a bill longer than three pages.

Discussion: Outside the Beltway, Mediaite, Salon, The Wire, Wonkette, Fox Nation, The Washington Independent and Gawker

Chris Tomlinson / MiamiHerald.com:

Perry gets tepid response at Latino convention — Gov. Rick Perry received a tepid response when he addressed the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials on Thursday, joking about the pronunciation of a Hispanic appointee's last name and frequently staring blankly …

Discussion: 24Ahead and The Daily Caller

Dana Milbank / Washington Post:

‘Mission accomplished,’ Obama style — There was no banner, no naval cheering section, no aircraft-carrier landing and — thank heavens — no flight suit. But make no mistake: President Obama gave his own version of a “mission accomplished” speech Wednesday.

Discussion: New York Times and Weekly Standard

Richard Cohen / Washington Post:
President Obama's Afghanistan speech confirms America's decline

Discussion: Jack & Jill Politics and The Moderate Voice

Richard Pérez-Peña / New York Times:

New Jersey Lawmakers Approve Benefits Rollback for Work Force — TRENTON — New Jersey lawmakers on Thursday approved a broad rollback of benefits for 750,000 government workers and retirees, the deepest cut in state and local costs in memory, in a major victory for Gov. Chris Christie …

Discussion: JammieWearingFool

Kate Sheppard / Mother Jones:

Kansas: The First Abortion-Free State? — If new guidelines from the Kansas health department are enforced, the last three abortion clinics in the state could be forced to shut their doors this summer. — Back in April, the state legislature passed a law directing the Kansas Department …

Discussion: Hullabaloo, Jezebel, The Atlantic Online and Associated Press

Jeffrey Goldberg / The Atlantic Online:

Answering Andrew Sullivan on Allison Benedikt — Andrew weighs in on the Benedikt controversy with a thoughtful post, which you should read in full. He writes, at the end: … The outrage comes form the fact that many of us — I would dare say most American Jews — believe that you just don't get to walk away.

Discussion: The Daily Dish, The Reality-Based Community, National Review and Water Over Rocks

The United States Department of Justice:

Two Men Charged in Plot to Attack Seattle Military Processing Center … SEATTLE - Two men were arrested late last night and are charged by criminal complaint with terrorism and firearms related charges. The complaint alleges that Abu Khalid Abdul-Latif, aka Joseph Anthony Davis, 33 …

Discussion: Reuters and The Investigative Project …

Ashton Elijah / LGBTQ Nation:

Legislator warns of HIV epidemic in New York if marriage equality becomes law — While the debate over marriage equality continues to rage in Albany, one legislator from Clinton County, New York, fears that an HIV epidemic will break out in the Empire State if gay couples are allowed to marry.

Discussion: ThinkProgress, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Back2Stonewall.com and Daily Kos

Jennifer Abbasi / Popular Science:

Why Sex With Creatures from the Future Is a Bad Idea — Researchers test sexual adaptations in time-traveling brine shrimp — When time travel finally becomes possible, we might want to think twice about getting it on. According to a new study on tiny shrimp (Artemia franciscana) …

Discussion: Proof Positive

Jack Shafer / Slate Magazine:

Who Is Jose Antonio Vargas? — A prominent journalist comes out as an illegal immigrant, raising additional questions about his real identity. — A prefatory note before I join the Jose Antonio Vargas commentary: I am an immigration dove, to pluck a pungent phrase from today's Twitter-stream.

Discussion: Daily Kos, Mother Jones, The New Republic and Gawker, more at Mediagazer »

Karl Rove / Wall Street Journal:

Why Obama Is Likely to Lose in 2012 — Even a small drop in the share of black voters would wipe out his winning margin in North Carolina. — President Barack Obama is likely to be defeated in 2012. The reason is that he faces four serious threats. The economy is very weak and unlikely …

Discussion: Alan Colmes' Liberaland, americanthinker.com, Indecision Forever, The New Republic, Taylor Marsh, Hugh Hewitt's TownHall Blog, Wake up America and GOP 12

Felix Gillette / Business Week:

The Rise and Inglorious Fall of Myspace — It once promised to redefine music, politics, dating, and pop culture. Rupert Murdoch fell in love with it. Then everything fell apart — Alamy, Bloomberg, Getty Images — In 2006, Jeremy Jackson—the buff, bronzed former Baywatch child star—couldn't imagine a world without Myspace.

Discussion: The Wire, more at Techmeme »

Sabato's Crystal Ball:

Democrats Blue as Senate Acquires a Reddish Tinge — Larry J. Sabato and Kyle Kondik, U.Va. Center for Politics — As we take a fresh look at next year's Senate races, one thing is clear: Barring an unexpected reelection landslide by President Obama, Republicans are at least slightly favored to take the Senate.

Discussion: Outside the Beltway and Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion