memeorandum: White House urges Dems to go on offense on healthcare reform (Justin Sink/The Hill)

8:05 PM ET, June 29, 2012

Top Items:

Neal K. Katyal / New York Times:

A Pyrrhic Victory — THE obvious victor in the Supreme Court's health care decision was President Obama, who risked vast amounts of political capital to pass the Affordable Care Act. A somewhat more subtle victor, but equally important, was the rule of law more generally …

Discussion: Washington Post, The Volokh Conspiracy, At War, Runnin' Scared, Washington Wire, No More Mister Nice Blog, SCOTUSblog and Wall Street Journal

David Brooks / New York Times:

Modesty and Audacity — Washington is full of arrogant people who grab power whenever they get the chance. But there is at least one modest minimalist in town, and that's John Roberts Jr. — In his remarkable health care opinion Thursday, the chief justice of the Supreme Court restrained the power of his own institution.

Discussion: The Daily Caller, Washington Post and Hot Air

Charles Krauthammer / National Review:

Why Roberts Did It — It's the judiciary's Nixon-to-China: Chief Justice John Roberts joins the liberal wing of the Supreme Court and upholds the constitutionality of Obamacare. How? By pulling off one of the great constitutional finesses of all time. He managed to uphold …

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, The New Republic, Washington Post, Hot Air, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Salon, protein wisdom, Mediaite, PointOfLaw Forum, Weekly Standard, Riehl World View and Bookworm Room

ThinkProgress:
Conservatives Claim Roberts Upheld Obamacare Because Of ‘Cognitive Problems’ Due To Epilepsy Medication

Discussion: ToBeRIGHT, RealClearPolitics Video Log, Daily Kos, Plunderbund, Wonkette, Gawker, Business Insider, Mediaite, The Raw Story and Livewire

James B. Stewart / New York Times:
Common Sense: Health Care Won, but Congress May Have Lost

Discussion: CNN and The Huffington Post

Wall Street Journal:
The Roberts Rules — The Chief Justice rewrites ObamaCare in order to save it.

Discussion: Hit & Run, AEIdeas, The Lonely Conservative, Real Clear Politics, Instapundit, National Review, PoliPundit.com, SCOTUSblog, Conservatives4Palin and THE ASTUTE BLOGGERS

Orin Kerr / The Volokh Conspiracy:
Did Chief Justice Roberts Change His Vote? Perhaps Not.

Discussion: Hot Air, Real Clear Politics, Althouse, Los Angeles Times, Outside the Beltway, emptywheel, Slate and Scared Monkeys

John M. Broder / New York Times:
In Health Ruling, Vindication for Donald Verrilli

Discussion: Outside the Beltway

Ali Gharib / ThinkProgress:
Glenn Beck Sells Tee Shirts Calling John Roberts A ‘Coward’

Discussion: Indecision Forever and Salon

Todd Gregory / Media Matters for America:
Drudge Smears Justice Roberts Over His Seizures

Discussion: Los Angeles Times, The Raw Story, Yahoo! News, Firedoglake, Wonkette and ThinkProgress

Jonah Goldberg / National Review:
Roberts's Ruling Took Guts

Discussion: Hit & Run, Bloomberg, Balloon Juice and Ricochet Conversations Feed

Wall Street Journal:
Noonan: Obama Has a Good Day — But liberty has a bad one.

Discussion: American Prospect, New York Times, Wonkette and Washington Post

Scott Lemieux / American Prospect:
Sometimes A Loss Is Just A Loss — Given the very strong likelihood …

Discussion: Slate, The Volokh Conspiracy, Ross Douthat, A plain blog about politics and Lawyers, Guns & Money

Lydia Saad / Gallup:

Americans Issue Split Decision on Healthcare Ruling — Nearly two-thirds believe politics played too great a role — PRINCETON, NJ — Americans are sharply divided over Thursday's Supreme Court decision on the 2010 healthcare law, with 46% agreeing and 46% disagreeing with the high court's ruling that the law is constitutional.

Discussion: CNN, ABCNEWS, Hot Air, Outside the Beltway, Washington Wire, Politico and Washington Examiner

Byron Tau / Politico:

Obama campaign: It's a penalty, not a tax — A top surrogate for President Obama insisted Friday that the individual mandate in the Affordable Care Act was not a tax — despite the fact that the Supreme Court narrowly preserved the law on those grounds. — “Don't believe the hype …

Discussion: Hot Air, Wake up America and The Gateway Pundit

Matthew Yglesias / Slate:

The Filibuster Won't Save ObamaCare From President Romney … - Saletan: How Fast Can Republicans Read? The Conflicting Evidence. — Magic Mike Is Soderbergh's Most Fun Movie Since Ocean's Eleven — Why Did Roberts Do It? To Save the Supreme Court.

Discussion: msnbc.com, Associated Press, The Hill, Mother Jones, The Maddow Blog, ThinkProgress, Firedoglake, The Apothecary, Washington Monthly, The Daily Beast and The Incidental Economist

Justin Sink / The Hill:

White House urges Dems to go on offense on healthcare reform — The White House is encouraging congressional Democrats to go on the offensive after the Supreme Court upheld the president's signature healthcare legislation Thursday, urging members on the campaign trail to …

Discussion: Politico and Weasel Zippers

Mj Lee / Politico:

Allen West: Pelosi is ‘delusional’ — Rep. Allen West on Friday called Nancy Pelosi “somewhat delusional” for refusing to say that the individual mandate of the Affordable Care Act constitutes a tax, and likened the mandate to forcing people to “buy a 9mm Glock.”

Discussion: The Hill, Mediaite, Weasel Zippers and Towleroad News #gay

Alicia M. Cohn / The Hill:
Romney raises $4.3M after health ruling

Discussion: Politico, The Hill, ABCNEWS, Hot Air, Weasel Zippers, RedState, Wake up America, CNN, Taylor Marsh, The Lonely Conservative, The Gateway Pundit, Michelle Malkin, Right Wing News, Conservatives4Palin, The Moderate Voice, Red Alert Politics and Washington Post

Paul Krugman / New York Times:
The Real Winners — So the Supreme Court — defying …

Discussion: Taylor Marsh, The Moderate Voice, Washington Post, Prairie Weather, alicublog, Esquire, Brad DeLong and ourfuture.org/blogs_chrono/*

Manu Rajuand Jake Sherman / Politico:
The Republican recipe for repeal

Discussion: CNN, Daily Kos, Outside the Beltway, Washington Free Beacon and Wall Street Journal

Nick Summers / The Daily Beast:
New Poll: Voters Dislike Supreme Court's Obamacare Ruling

Discussion: Weekly Standard, more at Mediagazer »

Jonathan Strong / Roll Call:

Darrell Issa Puts Details of Secret Wiretap Applications in Congressional Record — In the midst of a fiery floor debate over contempt proceedings for Attorney General Eric Holder, House Oversight and Government Reform Chairman Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) quietly dropped a bombshell letter into the Congressional Record.

Discussion: The Jawa Report and The Lonely Conservative

Fox News:

Justice Department shields Holder from prosecution after contempt vote — The Justice Department moved Friday to shield Attorney General Eric Holder from prosecution after the House voted to hold him in contempt of Congress. — The contempt vote technically opened the door for the House …

Discussion: Hot Air, Fox News Insider and The Gateway Pundit

Justin Sink / Ballot Box:
Altmire says he had ‘no other choice’ but to vote for Holder contempt

Discussion: Politico

Jordy Yager / The Hill: Justice Department won't prosecute Holder

Associated Press:
Justice Department won't prosecute Attorney General Holder for contempt of Congress

Discussion: Crooks and Liars

J.D. Heyman / People.com:

Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes Are Divorcing — After five years of marriage, Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes are getting a divorce, PEOPLE has learned exclusively. — “This is a personal and private matter for Katie and her family,” says Holmes's attorney Jonathan Wolfe.

Discussion: TMZ.com, CNN, Mashable!, BuzzFeed, newsfeed.time.com, The Huffington Post, The Stranger …, Conservatives4Palin, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, msnbc.com, Runnin' Scared, The Daily Caller, Gawker and La Daily Musto

Nick R. Martin / tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com:

TPMMuckraker — Conservatives Find A Way To Blame Obama For Monster Colorado Wildfire — While Colorado burns, conservatives have looked for ways to blame it on President Obama. — Some of the same people who have bashed the president as a big government, big spending liberal …

Discussion: The Impolitic, The Maddow Blog and Michelle Malkin

Michelle Malkin: Exclusive: When did the Waldo Canyon Fire start, and when did the feds know it?

Alexander Burns / Politico:

Romney ad features Hillary Clinton: ‘Shame on you, Barack Obama’ — Mitt Romney's campaign has quietly begun airing a TV ad in Ohio that uses an old clip of Hillary Clinton to blast President Barack Obama. — The ad pulls footage of the 2008 primary campaign, when Clinton …

Discussion: CNN, Mediaite, Daily Kos, BuzzFeed, Taylor Marsh, BuzzFeed and Shakesville

Pat Garofalo / ThinkProgress:

Romney: Students Should Get ‘As Much Education As They Can Afford’ — On the campaign trail Wednesday night in Virginia, Mitt Romney took on the topic of education. While extolling the virtues of America as “the land of opportunity for every single person,” Romney said that he believes students …

Discussion: Wonkette

Byron Tau / Politico:
Obama campaign: We've outraised Romney

Discussion: The PJ Tatler and Jammie Wearing Fools

Elise Viebeck / The Hill:

Jindal: Ruling could force people to eat tofu and drive hybrid cars — Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal (R) said Thursday's “frightening” Supreme Court ruling could lead to penalties for Americans whose lives are out of step with government priorities. — On a call with reporters …

Discussion: ThinkProgress and The Democratic Daily

Pete Kasperowicz / The Hill:

Congress passes highway funds, extends lower student loan rate — Congress on Friday approved legislation that will extend federal highway programs through 2014, a low interest rate on student loans for one year, and the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) for five years.

Discussion: Politico, The Maddow Blog, Daily Kos and Prairie Weather

TMZ.com:

Alec Baldwin — EXPLODES on Another Photog — EXPLODES — on Another Photog — Alec Baldwin got physical with ANOTHER photog in New York City moments ago ... verbally blasting the guy in the middle of the street, squeezing his arm and ordering him to scram.

Discussion: Mediaite, Scared Monkeys, New York Magazine and Gothamist

Chris Geidner / Poliglot:

BREAKING: House GOP Leaders Ask Supreme Court to Review DOMA Case — The Republican-led House Bipartisan Legal Advisory Group today mailed its petition to the U.S. Supreme Court asking it to review the May 31 ruling of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit that the federal definition …

Discussion: Towleroad News #gay and Joe. My. God.