memeorandum: Ryan plan puts GOP in long-term budget bind (David Rogers/Politico)

11:05 AM ET, March 28, 2012

Top Items:

Adam Serwer / Mother Jones:

Obamacare's Supreme Court Disaster — Solicitor General Donald B. Verrilli Jr. should be grateful to the Supreme Court for refusing to allow cameras in the courtroom, because his defense of Obamacare on Tuesday may go down as one of the most spectacular flameouts in the history of the court.

Glenn Thrush / Politico:

John Roberts Court on trial — John Roberts is having his Bush v. Gore moment. — If the wily chief justice felt squeamish about leading the Supreme Court into an election-year political maelstrom, that was nowhere on display Tuesday, when the Roberts-led conservative majority signaled …

Discussion: Right Wing News, msnbc.com, CNN, ABCNEWS and Daily Kos

James Carville / CNN:

Carville: A Supreme Court loss will help Democrats — (CNN) - While the Obama administration fights to protect the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act, Democratic strategist and CNN contributor James Carville said a Supreme Court overruling may not be such a bad thing for the president, politically.

Discussion: Politico, Don Surber, The PJ Tatler and Alan Colmes' Liberaland

Jonathan Allen / Politico:

White House defends embattled solicitor general — The White House is coming to the defense of Solicitor General Donald Verrilli, whose efforts to defend the president's health care law Tuesday are under attack as a “train wreck” and “The Worst Supreme Court Argument of All Time.”

Discussion: National Review, The Hill, Mediaite and Weasel Zippers

msnbc.com:

First Thoughts: Brace yourself for another 5-4 decision — Brace yourself for another 5-4 decision... And such a decision would have two consequences: 1) feed the perception that the Supreme Court is as partisan as the other branches, and 2) satisfy no one... Yesterday was a bad day for the mandate …

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, Business Insider, The Caucus and New York Times

Brookings Institute:

The Second Day of the Supreme Court's Hearing on the Health Care Law — The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, Health Care, U.S. Supreme Court — Henry J. Aaron, Senior Fellow, Economic Studies — After two days of oral arguments, it seems quite likely that the Supreme Court …

Discussion: The New Republic, Paul Krugman and Firedoglake

David Frum / david-frum:
Supremes Won't Save GOP From Itself on Obamacare

Discussion: Taegan Goddard's …

Washington Post: On health-care hearing's last day, court weighs severability, Medicaid expansion

RealClearPolitics Video Log:
Kennedy: Individual Mandate Fundamentally Changes Relationship Of Gov't

Discussion: Scared Monkeys, Erick's blog, americanthinker.com, Washington Post, New York Times, Ricochet Conversations Feed and The Hill

Politico:
5 takeaways on health law arguments

Discussion: Firedoglake and The Huffington Post

Brian Beutler / tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com:
TPMDC — After Rough Day In Court, An Optimistic View For Supporters Of ‘Obamacare’

Discussion: livewire.talkingpointsmemo.com, Salon, The Volokh Conspiracy, Crooks and Liars, Capital New York, Outside the Beltway, Mother Jones, SCOTUSblog and Prairie Weather

Emily Ekins / Reason:
87 Percent of Americans Agree With Conservative Supreme Court Justices on Broccoli Mandate

Discussion: seattlepi.com, The Daily Caller, Business Insider and Reuters

Jonathan Cohn / The New Republic:
Day 2 at the Court: Well, that Could Have Gone Better

Discussion: New York Times, SCOTUSblog, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Campaign Stops, Balkinization, Ezra Klein, The Volokh Conspiracy, The Incidental Economist and The Reality-Based Community

Fox News:

Media Matters writer ‘sorry’ after blasting Drudge for Martin photo — A senior analyst with the liberal activist group Media Matters tweeted an apology on Tuesday after calling journalist Matt Drudge a racist and accusing him of using a phony photo of Trayvon Martin.

Discussion: americanthinker.com, Belmont Club and Mediaite

Fox News:

Elderly couple forced out of home after tweet claims killer of Trayvon Martin lives there — SANFORD, FLA - An elderly Florida couple have been forced to move into a hotel after their home address was wrongly tweeted as belonging to the man who shot teen Trayvon Martin.

Discussion: Sister Toldjah, Weasel Zippers and JustOneMinute

Alicia M. Cohn / The Hill:

Rep. Waters: ‘Stiff evidence’ death of Trayvon Martin a hate crime — Members of the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) are doubling down in their investigation of the shooting death last month of Trayvon Martin in Florida, with one member on Wednesday leveling the accusation of “hate crime” at his shooter.

Discussion: Weasel Zippers and Rush Limbaugh

Charles Johnson / Little Green Footballs:
Fox News Commenters Spew Yet Another Deluge of Ugly Racist Hatred at Trayvon Martin

Discussion: Fox News, Shakesville, Washington Post, Booman Tribune, The Daily Caller and Brilliant at Breakfast

Jonah Goldberg / National Review:
Is There A Black Upper Class Bubble

Discussion: Booman Tribune, American Prospect, alicublog and Human Events

David Weigel / Slate:
When in Doubt, Smear the Dead Kid

Discussion: American Prospect, Mother Jones, The Daily Beast, Los Angeles Times, The Mahablog, Philly.com, americanthinker.com, Crooks and Liars, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Washington Monthly, Mediaite and Firedoglake

Victor Davis Hanson / National Review: Racial-Relations Regression — The Trayvon Martin tragedy …

Mike Allen / Politico:

Exclusive: Newt Gingrich cuts staff, aims at Tampa — Newt Gingrich is cutting back his campaign schedule, will lay off about a third of his cash-strapped campaign's full-time staff, and has replaced his manager as part of what aides are calling a “big-choice convention” strategy, communications director Joe DeSantis told POLITICO.

Newt Gingrich / CNN:
Gingrich faults fundraising for campaign changes

Discussion: Reuters

ThinkProgress:
Morning Briefing: March 28, 2012

Discussion: The Hill, Fox News, New York Times and Prairie Weather

Newt Gingrich / CNN: CNN Poll: Majority in GOP say Gingrich and Paul should end bids

Tom Fontaine / PittsburghLIVE.com:

Santorum slips in Pennsylvania, survey finds — Rick Santorum appeared to be the Republican presidential candidate to beat in Pennsylvania a month ago. — With the state primary four weeks away, Santorum now finds himself nearly tied with former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney among …

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, GOP 12, Hot Air, Outside the Beltway and msnbc.com

NBC's Garrett Haake / msnbc.com:
Romney cracks jokes, talks policy with Jay Leno

Discussion: The Maddow Blog, US Politics and Washington Post

Meghashyam Mali / Ballot Box:
Romney's negatives hit new high, poll finds

Discussion: Prairie Weather

Greg Holyk / ABCNEWS:
Record Number See Romney Negatively; Obama Outpaces Him in Popularity

Discussion: GOP 12

Matt Bai / New York Times:

Obama vs. Boehner: Who Killed the Debt Deal? — Almost immediately after the so-called grand bargain between President Obama and the Republican speaker of the house, John Boehner, unraveled last July, the two sides quickly settled into dueling, self-serving narratives of what transpired behind closed doors.

Discussion: Politico

Kirk Semple / New York Times:

Food Co-op Rejects Effort to Boycott Israeli-Made Products — Members of the Park Slope Food Co-op on Tuesday night voted overwhelmingly against a motion that could have led to its possibly joining an international boycott against products made in Israel. The vote settled a debate …

Discussion: City Room, Indecision Forever, Guardian, News Desk, Poynter, Atlas Shrugs and Israel Matzav

Patricia Zengerle / Reuters:

Americans angry with Obama over gas prices — (Reuters) - More than two-thirds of Americans disapprove of the way President Barack Obama is handling high gasoline prices, although most do not blame him for them, according to a Reuters/Ipsos online poll released on Tuesday.

Discussion: ThinkProgress, Washington Post, Politico, Hot Air, Wonkette and HotAirPundit

Aaronmcquade / GLAAD:

Anti-Gay activists looking for glamorous, unintelligent celebrities to advance their cause — Commentator Accountability Project — It sounds like a headline from the Onion, but strategy documents uncovered yesterday, from the nation's most prominent anti-gay marriage group …

Discussion: Towleroad News #gay, Gay Politics and Good As You