memeorandum: Obama signs STOCK Act to address ‘deficit of trust’ in Washington (Deirdre Walsh/CNN)

4:45 PM ET, April 4, 2012

Top Items:

Impeach the Supreme Court Justices If They Overturn Health-Care Law — The Roberts Court's rulings appear to be a concerted effort to send us back to the Gilded Age. If they dump the Affordable Care Act, writes David Dow, we should dump them. — You think the idea is laughable?

Discussion: protein wisdom, Hot Air, Instapundit, The Agonist, The PJ Tatler, Power Line, Campaign 2012, The Jawa Report, The Volokh Conspiracy and Weasel Zippers

Andrew Koppelman / The New Republic:

The 1918 Case That May Have Foreshadowed Obamacare's Demise — It took decades for Congress to address the problem. When, at long last, federal legislation was passed, some people raised constitutional objections, but few took them seriously. The objections required the Supreme Court …

Discussion: Althouse, Mother Jones, The Volokh Conspiracy, American Prospect and Balkinization

Nancy Pelosi / CNN:
Pelosi's specific Supreme Court health care prediction

Discussion: ThinkProgress, Politico and Belmont Club

Fox News:
Holder says ‘courts have final say’ in response to furor over Obama's health law comments

Discussion: PERRspectives, Washington Post and Washington Monthly

Jennifer Granholm / Politico:
Being uninsured is a mandate, too

Discussion: Pirate's Cove

Mark Finkelstein / NewsBusters.org:

Scarborough: ‘No One’ In GOP Establishment Thinks Romney Will Beat Obama — Unemployment stubbornly over 8%. His landmark piece of legislation in dire peril of being dumped by the Supreme Court. The “flexibility” moment with Putin's pawn. Does that sound like an invincible incumbent to you?

Discussion: American Prospect, Ed Driscoll, Mediaite and The Mental Recession

William Kristol / Weekly Standard:

Is it Over? — It's over: CNN estimates that Barack Obama has won enough delegates to clinch the Democratic nomination for president in 2012. — Oh—the Republicans? OK, I'll concede that contest is getting close to over as well. Mitt Romney will almost certainly be the GOP nominee.

Discussion: Campaign 2012

Tom Jensen / Public Policy Polling:

Obama doing better in Nevada — Nevada, more than any other state, symbolizes how much the Presidential race has changed over the last six months. — In October Barack Obama was unpopular there, with a 44/53 approval rating. That was the story in our Nevada polling through most of last year.

Discussion: GOP 12 and Taegan Goddard's …

Andrew Restuccia / Ballot Box:
Romney campaign blasts Obama ‘attack machine’ for ‘slinging mud’ in energy ad

Discussion: CNN, ABCNEWS and Washington Post

Ian Millhiser / ThinkProgress:

Anti-Evolution ‘Monkey Bill’ Poised To Become Law In Tennessee — Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam (R) announced yesterday that he will “probably” sign a bill that attacks the teaching of “biological evolution, the chemical origins of life, global warming, and human cloning” …

Discussion: Little Green Footballs, Taylor Marsh and Booman Tribune

Nick Wing / The Huffington Post: Bill Haslam, Tennessee Governor, Will ‘Probably’ Sign Evolution Bill

Seung Min Kim / Politico:

Trayvon Martin resolution introduced — Several Congressional Black Caucus members have introduced a resolution that memorializes 17-year-old Trayvon Martin and calls for the repeal of controversial gun laws that allow shooters to claim self-defense. — The resolution states …

Discussion: Weasel Zippers, The PJ Tatler and The Gateway Pundit

Jonathan Easley / The Hill:

Obama gets laughs and ‘amens’ at prayer breakfast — President Obama spoke strongly about his faith at an Easter Prayer Breakfast at the White House on Wednesday, at one point getting laughs while quoting Jesus as saying, “in this world you will have trouble.”

Discussion: CNN and Washington Free Beacon

Kim Hart / Politico:
Obama ties Easter to U.S. rebirth

Discussion: The PJ Tatler

Investor's Business Daily:

Obama Alienates Canada And Mexico At Three Amigos — At the U.S.-Mexico-Canada summit, Mexican President Felipe Calderon, left, panned Obama for Fast and Furious, and Canadian PM Stephen... View Enlarged Image — Diplomacy: Most summits are mush-mouthed affairs full of pleasantries.

Discussion: Fausta's Blog

John Hinderaker / Power Line:
Dumb Diplomacy Alienates Canada and Mexico, Costs Consumers

Discussion: The Lonely Conservative

Mj Lee / Politico:

James Carville: Rick Santorum is headless chicken — James Carville chose these colorful words to describe Rick Santorum after Mitt Romney swept three Republican primaries Tuesday: “He was like a chicken with his head chopped off. The chicken is dead. The only person that don't know it is the chicken.”

Discussion: The Hill

Pew Research Center for the People and the Press:

Wide Racial, Partisan Gaps in Reactions to Trayvon Martin Coverage — Most Republicans See ‘Too Much’ Coverage — OVERVIEW — The Trayvon Martin shooting is the public's top story for the second consecutive week. But interest in the teenager's death is deeply divided along partisan, as well as racial, lines.

Discussion: JustOneMinute and Politico

New York Times:
Republicans Examine Alternatives to Obama Health Plan

Discussion: The Maddow Blog, Hotline On Call, The Incidental Economist and Daily Kos

Alexander Burns / Politico:

Mitt's media lament — Speaking to the Associated Press luncheon that President Obama addressed Tuesday, Mitt Romney began with an extended riff on shortcomings of the political media: … Romney is hardly the first politician to bristle at his treatment at the hands of the press …

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Swampland and Wonkette

Mackenzie Weinger / Politico:

Sarah Palin's ‘rogue’ pick for VP: Allen West — Sarah Palin says there's one name at the top of her list if the Republican Party wants to “go rogue” in its pick for the vice presidential nominee: Rep. Allen West. — The former vice presidential candidate told Fox News's Sean Hannity …

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Crooks and Liars, CBS DC, Mediaite, Indecision Forever and Weasel Zippers

Mj Lee / Politico:
John McCain kids about Sarah Palin for VP again

Discussion: CBS Miami, Alan Colmes' Liberaland and Wonkette

msnbc.com:

First Thoughts: The writing is on the wall — After last night's sweep, the writing's on the wall: Romney, unless the extraordinary occurs, is going to be the GOP nominee... And Santorum isn't going to win... Updated delegate count: Romney 573, Santorum 212, Gingrich 137, Paul 34 …

Discussion: CNN, Washington Post, The Week, iOwnTheWorld.com, Booman Tribune, Patterico's Pontifications and The Hill

Katharine Q. Seelye / New York Times:
For Santorum, Battle for Relevance Moves to Pennsylvania

Discussion: The Agonist, FiveThirtyEight, The New Republic, Washington Wire, Newshoggers.com, City Room and The Caucus

Igor Volsky / ThinkProgress:

Top Romney Surrogate Donald Trump Offers To Expose His ‘Very Very’ Impressive Genitals — Politico's Mike Allen reported last month that reality star/businessman/attention seeker Donald Trump is building his political stature as a top surrogate for Mitt Romney.

Amanda Terkel / The Huffington Post:

Four Former DNC Chairs Endorse Marriage Equality In Democratic Platform … REACT: — FOLLOW: — lgbt, Civil Rights, Howard Dean, Video, 2012 Democratic Platform, DNC Platform, David Wilhelm, Democratic National Committee, Democratic Platform, Howard Dean DNC, Democratic Platform Marriage Equality …

Discussion: ThinkProgress and Daily Kos

Andrew Restuccia / The Hill:

Mine union boss: Coal industry could suffer same fate as bin Laden — The coal industry will suffer the same fate as Osama bin Laden under new climate regulations proposed by the Environmental Protection Agency, the head of the United Mine Workers of America said this week.

Discussion: ThinkProgress

Mitt Romney for President of the United States …:

Mitt Romney Delivers Remarks to the Newspaper Association of America — Location — Mitt Romney today delivered remarks to the Newspaper Association of America in Washington, D.C. The following remarks were prepared for delivery: — Over the last ten months, I've come to know a good deal …

Discussion: ThinkProgress, American Prospect, New York Times, Mediaite, Daily Kos and Guardian

Benny Johnson / TheBlaze.com:

ACTUAL BILL AYERS RANT: WHY DO ‘UNIFORMED MILITARY’ GET TO BOARD PLANES FIRST? — Bill Ayers and his wife Bernadine Dohrn paid an impromptu visit to Occupy Wall Street in New York City Friday, bestowing their advice to a gaggle of elated protesters. Ayers and Dohrn, former leaders …

Discussion: protein wisdom, The Jawa Report and The Daily Caller

Paul Ryan / Facebook:

The President's Speech Distorts the Truth to Distract From His Failed Record — In today's disappointing speech, the President made a series of claims that are simply false. — The President's attacks began with an admission that his assumptions reflect White House spin, not our budget's substance …

Discussion: Ezra Klein, The Enterprise Blog and National Review

Sam Anderson / New York Times:

Angry Birds, Farmville and Other Hyperaddictive ‘Stupid Games’ — In 1989, as communism was beginning to crumble across Eastern Europe, just a few months before protesters started pecking away at the Berlin Wall, the Japanese game-making giant Nintendo reached across the world to unleash upon America its own version of freedom.

Discussion: Poynter, Mediaite and AllThingsD, more at Mediagazer »

Scott Wong / Politico:

Harry Reid loses procedural ruling on budget vote — The Senate's chief referee has issued a key ruling against Majority Leader Harry Reid, POLITICO has learned — a move expected to bring unwanted election-year pressure on the Nevada Democrat to act on politically dicey budget bills.

Discussion: The Heritage Foundation, Hot Air, The PJ Tatler and National Review

Lucia Graves / The Huffington Post:

Republican Environmental Group Drops ‘Republican’ From Its Name … REACT: — FOLLOW: — WASHINGTON — After 16 years of trying to marry their party's support for drilling and climate change denial with environmental protection, Republicans for Environmental Protection is dropping the word “Republican” from its name.

Discussion: Washington Monthly

Deirdre Walsh / CNN:

Obama signs STOCK Act to address ‘deficit of trust’ in Washington — Washington (CNN) — President Barack Obama signed legislation on Wednesday aimed at restoring Americans' faith in the nation's public institutions at a time they rank at record lows in opinion polls.

Discussion: Daily Kos and Sunlight Foundation Blog