memeorandum: Everything You Think You Know About Health Care Spending Is Wrong (Matthew Yglesias/Slate)

6:40 PM ET, January 23, 2013

Top Items:

THE BREITBART/O'KEEFE-IZATION OF AMERICAN POLITICS, PART MCMLXXVII — I haven't been able to watch the Benghazi hearings, but I've checked my Twitter feed, and the lefties who've been watching are 100% convinced that Hillary Clinton has been wiping the floor with the Republicans who are trying to take her down.

Discussion: Twitchy, American Power, Weekly Standard, Riehl World News, BREITBART.COM, The Other McCain, The Daily Caller, Balloon Juice, TheBlaze.com, SOOPERMEXICAN, Liberal Values, his vorpal sword, National Review and Fox News Insider

Talking Points Memo:

Hillary Clinton Erupts At GOP Senator Over Benghazi Attack — Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Wednesday fired back at Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) over accusations that the Obama Administration misled the public by claiming the Benghazi attack was the result of a spontaneous protest.

Discussion: TheBlaze.com, New York Times, The Maddow Blog and Fox News Insider

Washington Wire:

Text of Hillary Clinton's Senate Testimony on Benghazi — Here is the prepared text of Hillary Clinton's testimony on Benghazi. — SECRETARY OF STATE HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON SENATE COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN RELATIONS — WASHINGTON, DC — Mr. Chairman, Ranking Member, Members of the Committee, thank you for this opportunity.

Discussion: Hot Air, The Lonely Conservative, Sky Dancing, The Gateway Pundit, Taylor Marsh, The PJ Tatler, Little Green Footballs, Fox News Insider, protein wisdom, The Hinterland Gazette and The Agonist

McKay Coppins / BuzzFeed:

Ron Johnson: Hillary Clinton Planned To Get Emotional To Evade Questions — “I think she just decided before she was going to describe emotionally the four dead Americans, the heroes, and use that as her trump card,” the senator tells BuzzFeed. — U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton pounds …

Discussion: Little Green Footballs, Mediaite and msnbc.com

Washington Free Beacon:
Paul to Clinton: ‘I would have relieved you of your duty’

Discussion: TheBlaze.com and The PJ Tatler

Mackenzie Weinger / Politico:
Ron Johnson: Hillary Clinton evaded with ‘theatrics’

Discussion: ABCNEWS, CNN, The Hill, Mediaite and Althouse

UPI:
GOP, Clinton wrestle on Libya

Discussion: Crooks and Liars and msnbc.com

Adam Nossiter / New York Times:
Some Algeria Attackers Are Placed at Benghazi

Discussion: Reuters, Hot Air, Telegraph, The Lonely Conservative, Weekly Standard, The Gateway Pundit, Atlas Shrugs and The Right Scoop

Igor Bobic / Talking Points Memo:
Hillary Clinton Wrangles With Senators Over Benghazi Attacks

Discussion: Stinque

Washington Wire:
Excerpts: Heated Exchanges at Benghazi Hearing

Discussion: The Other McCain

Jon Cohen / The Fix:
Hillary Clinton reaches new heights of political popularity

Discussion: Washington Post, msnbc.com, Roll Call, blogs.telegraph.co.uk, Hot Air, Right Turn and The Daily Caller

CNN:

Military to open combat jobs to women — By Chris Lawrence, with reporting from Barbara Starr — The U.S. military is ending its policy of excluding women from combat and will open combat jobs and direct combat units to female troops, CNN has learned. Multiple officials confirm to CNN …

Discussion: Hot Air, Taylor Marsh and The Political Carnival

Lolita C. Baldor / bigstory.ap.org:

AP SOURCES: PANETTA OPENS COMBAT ROLES TO WOMEN — You are here — Home » United States government » AP sources: Panetta opens combat roles to women — WASHINGTON (AP) — Senior defense officials say Pentagon chief Leon Panetta is removing the military's ban on women serving in combat …

Discussion: Daily Kos, Jezebel, Crooks and Liars and Gawker

Ernesto Londoño / Washington Post:

Pentagon to remove ban on women in combat — PATRICK BAZ/AFP/GETTY IMAGES - U.S. Army female soldiers listen to a briefing as they prepare to leave on a mission in Ramadi, Iraq, on Oct. 26, 2004. Senior defense officials say Pentagon chief Leon Panetta is removing the military's ban on women serving in combat.

Discussion: American Prospect, Right Turn and Wonkblog

Elisabeth Bumiller / New York Times:
Pentagon Lifting Ban on Women in Combat

Discussion: LewRockwell.com Blog

Luis Martinez / ABCNEWS:
Pentagon to Allow Women in Combat

Discussion: Politico and The Daily Dish

Fox News:
Panetta to lift ban on women in combat

Discussion: Weekly Standard and Vox Popoli

Politico:
Leon Panetta lifts ban on women in combat

Discussion: Weasel Zippers and Wonkette

Jonathan Weisman / New York Times:

Obama Speech Leaves G.O.P. Stark Choices — WASHINGTON — President Obama's aggressive Inaugural Address on Monday presented Congressional Republicans with a stark choice over the next two years: accommodate the president's agenda on immigration, guns, energy and social programs and hope …

Discussion: The Plum Line, Daily Kos, JustOneMinute, The Moderate Voice, Booman Tribune, Hullabaloo, Washington Post and Pundits Blog

Rosalind S. Helderman / Washington Post:
House votes to suspend debt limit

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Slate, PostPartisan, The Week, The Plum Line and LewRockwell.com Blog

Jonathan Weisman / New York Times:
House Votes to Extend Debt Limit to May, Averting Fight

Discussion: Wall Street Journal, Outside the Beltway, Politico, The Buzz Florida Politics Feed, The Plum Line, Hot Air and Quartz

Mickey Kaus / The Daily Caller:
GOP Jiu-Jitsu — I don't quite see why the Republicans' move …

Discussion: Weekly Standard

Jonathan Easley / The Hill:

Boehner: Obama's goal is to ‘annihilate’ the Republican Party — Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) said he believes the primary goal of President Obama's second term is to “annihilate the Republican Party.” — “Given what we heard yesterday about the president's vision for his second term …

Discussion: CNN, Alan Colmes' Liberaland and Stinque

Jonathan Chait / New York Magazine:
Boehner: Let's Destroy Math Instead of the Economy

Discussion: The Hill, Politico, Hullabaloo, Business Insider, The Maddow Blog, msnbc.com, Washington Wire and The Hill

Mary Elizabeth Williams / Salon:

So what if abortion ends life? — I believe that life starts at conception. And it's never stopped me from being pro-choice — Of all the diabolically clever moves the anti-choice lobby has ever pulled, surely one of the greatest has been its consistent co-opting of the word “life.” Life!

Discussion: msnbc.com, Liberal Values, LifeNews.com, National Review, Mother Jones, Twitchy, Care2 Causes and Guardian

Matthew Yglesias / Slate:

Everything You Think You Know About Health Care Spending Is Wrong — This is the chart that I think ought to dominate the conversation about public-sector health care spending in the United States, and yet it is curiously ignored. The data show government health care spending per capita in the United States and Canada.

David Weigel / Slate:

Virginia State Senate Moves Ahead on Electoral College-Rigging Bill — Congressional clerks open certificate envelopes from different states during a joint session of the 113th Congress to count the Electoral College votes January 4, 2013 on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC.

Discussion: The Atlantic Online, Associated Press, Business Insider, The Political Carnival, The Maddow Blog and msnbc.com

Jamelle Bouie / American Prospect:
Virginia Republicans Move Forward with Mass Disenfranchisement

Discussion: The Atlantic Online, www2.wsls.com and Michigan Radio

Politico:

Joe Biden ‘intoxicated’ by 2016 run — Joe Biden summoned more than 200 Democratic insiders to the vice presidential residence Sunday night to chat about the 2012 triumph — but many walked away convinced his rising 2016 ambitions were the real intent of the long, intimate night.

Discussion: Michelle Malkin, Associated Press, American Prospect, Raleigh News & Observer, The Week, Weasel Zippers, Post Politics, The Fix, Taylor Marsh, Twitchy, NBC Politics, Reuters and CNN

Greg Holyk / ABCNEWS:
Clinton More Popular than Biden; Let the 2016 Handicapping Begin

Discussion: Business Insider, Political Capital, Ballot Box, ABCNEWS, msnbc.com, Politico, Shakesville, Taegan Goddard's …, CNN, The Hill and The Political Carnival

John Hawkins / Right Wing News:

2/23/2013 Will Be A Day of Resistance — “The force of public opinion cannot be resisted when permitted freely to be expressed. The agitation it produces must be submitted to.” — Thomas Jefferson Yes, Barack Obama did beat Mitt Romney in 2012. But, he was reelected as President- not king.

Discussion: American Power, “The Lid”, Moonbattery and Vox Popoli

Alexander Bolton / The Hill:

Sen. Durbin: Democrats lack votes to pass talking filibuster reform — Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (Ill.), a leading liberal, said Wednesday Democrats do not have enough votes to implement the talking-filibuster reform. — He said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) …

Discussion: Wonkblog, Politico, Slate, Daily Kos, The Political Carnival and LifeNews.com

Jgalloway / Political Insider:

Your daily jolt: GPB producer resigns over hiring of Chip Rogers — News that former state Sen. Chip Rogers has been given an executive position at Georgia Public Broadcasting with a hefty starting salary of $150,000 has prompted the resignation of a longtime executive producer at the network.

Discussion: Weasel Zippers, Mediaite, The Hill and The Raw Story

Nate Silver / FiveThirtyEight:

Contemplating Obama's Place in History, Statistically — With President Obama's second term under way, we have begun to see more reflections on how he might come to be regarded historically. — As common sense might dictate — and as the statistics will also reveal — it is far too soon to conclude very much about this.

Discussion: Balloon Juice

Shushannah Walshe / ABCNEWS:

Aretha Franklin ‘Really Laughed’ About Beyonce Lip-Sync Controversy — Beyonce sings the National Anthem at the inauguration, Jan. 21, 2013. ; Singer Aretha Franklin performs during the inauguration ceremony for President Obama at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., Jan. 20, 2009.