memeorandum: Do Democrats Have a Shot at the House? (Nate Silver/FiveThirtyEight)

4:45 PM ET, June 23, 2012

Top Items:

White House Memo: White House Waits Tensely for Decision on Health Law — Late on Tuesday, March 27, halfway around the world, President Obama began one of the most suspenseful waits in recent presidential history. — After a blur of nuclear security meetings in South Korea …

Ian Swanson / The Hill:

GOP promises to rid nation of healthcare law — Republicans are using their weekly radio address to reiterate their promise to repeal President Obama's healthcare law. — The address is timed for this week's decision by the Supreme Court, which is set to announce its ruling on the controversial law as early as Monday.

Discussion: CNN

Politico:

HHS pushes out cash ahead of ruling — Conservatives wanted the White House to stop spending on the health care law until the Supreme Court rules on whether it's constitutional. — But the administration has forged ahead, spending at least $2.7 billion since oral arguments in the case ended on March 28.

Joe Drape / New York Times:

Penn State's Sandusky Convicted of Sexually Abusing Boys — BELLEFONTE, Pa. — Jerry Sandusky, a former Penn State assistant football coach, was convicted Friday of sexually abusing young boys, completing the downfall of a onetime local hero in a scandal that shook a proud Pennsylvania community …

Discussion: Washington Monthly, A Blog For All, Prairie Weather, Examiner, Outside the Beltway, neo-neocon and Gothamist

Philly.com: Jerry Sandusky found guilty on 45 counts, led from court in handcuffs

Ian Simpson / Reuters:
Sandusky found guilty on 45 of 48 sex abuse charges

Discussion: americanthinker.com, Crooks and Liars, The Raw Story and Suburban Guerrilla

CBS News: Sandusky found guilty in child sex abuse trial

CNN:
Jury to begin second day of deliberations in Sandusky case

Discussion: The Daily Beast, New York Times, New York Magazine, Ed Driscoll, Scared Monkeys, Towleroad News #gay, This Just In, Balloon Juice, Washington Post, Reuters, Philly.com and The Moderate Voice

Matthew Kemeny / PennLive.com:
Jerry Sandusky verdict: Sandusky found guilty of 45 of 48 abuse charges

Discussion: ABCNEWS, Scared Monkeys, New York Times, Associated Press and The Moderate Voice

New York Times:

Companies' Ills Did Not Harm Romney's Firm — Cambridge Industries, an automotive plastics supplier whose losses had been building for three consecutive years, finally filed for bankruptcy in May 2000 under a mountain of debt that had ballooned to more than $300 million.

Discussion: New York Magazine, Politico and Prairie Weather

Igor Volsky / ThinkProgress:

Romney's Bain Profited Even As The Companies It Invested In Went Bankrupt, Analysis Reveals — Mitt Romney has argued that his business experience as head of Bain Capital from 1984 to 1999 will help him turnaround the economy, reduce the debt and place the nation on a sustainable economic footing.

Discussion: Alan Colmes' Liberaland, DownWithTyranny! and Washington Post

UPI:
Obama: U.S. needs ‘bottom-up economics’

Discussion: Hot Air, Pirate's Cove and Weasel Zippers

Kathleen Parker / Washington Post:

Ann Romney has a horse. So what? — The punch line is at least as old as the eldest baby boomer: “I didn't get a pony.” — Here's Jerry Seinfeld: “I hated those kids [who had ponies]. In fact, I hate anyone that ever had a pony when they were growing up.” — Why is this funny?

Discussion: Balloon Juice, No More Mister Nice Blog, The Reaction, Booman Tribune and Althouse

CNN:

Powerful congressman accused of campaign finance violations — Washington (CNN) — Republican Rep. Vern Buchanan, a self-made Florida millionaire, is only in his third term in Congress, but he already is in charge of fundraising for the Republican Congressional Campaign Committee …

Discussion: ThinkProgress, Ballot Box and Outside the Beltway

Alexander Bolton / The Hill:

GOP leader fires back at newspaper over First Amendment protections — Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has fired a salvo at The Washington Post after two of its columnists wrote that he has been inconsistent on First Amendment issues. — McConnell, who considers himself …

Nate Silver / FiveThirtyEight:

Do Democrats Have a Shot at the House? — So far this election season we have written very little about the race for the House of Representatives. In part this is because this looks to be less dramatic than the presidential race — where Barack Obama has only a slight edge, in my view …

Discussion: americanthinker.com

Mike Lillis / The Hill:

GOP hardliners won't attack Romney's ‘amnesty’ plan — Republican hardliners in both chambers are holding their tongues over Mitt Romney's plan to grant qualified illegal immigrants legal status and even U.S. citizenship. — Similar proposals in the past have led to charges from these conservatives …

Discussion: Alan Colmes' Liberaland

Keith Bradsher / New York Times:

Chinese Data Said to Be Manipulated, Understating Slowdown — HONG KONG — As the Chinese economy continues to sputter, prominent corporate executives in China and Western economists say there is evidence that local and provincial officials are falsifying economic statistics to disguise the true depth of the troubles.

Discussion: Via Meadia and Business Insider