memeorandum: North Dakota Senate approves 6-week abortion ban (James MacPherson/Associated Press)

4:40 PM ET, March 15, 2013

Top Items:

Rob Portman commentary: Gay couples also deserve chance to get married — I have come to believe that if two people are prepared to make a lifetime commitment to love and care for each other in good times and in bad, the government shouldn't deny them the opportunity to get married.

Dana Bash / CNN:

CNN Exclusive: One conservative's dramatic reversal on gay marriage — Ohio Sen. Rob Portman gave his only on-camera interview about the change in his position on same-sex marriage to CNN's Dana Bash on Thursday. He also discussed it with a few print reporters from Ohio and wrote …

Jack Torry / The Columbus Dispatch:

Rob Portman reverses stance on gay marriage, says son is gay — WASHINGTON — Sen. Rob Portman has renounced his opposition to gay marriage, telling reporters from Ohio newspapers yesterday that he changed his position after his son Will told him and his wife, Jane, that he is gay.

Discussion: New York Times, Slate, The Impolitic, The Caucus, msnbc.com, Roll Call, Ricochet Conversations Feed, PostPartisan, No More Mister Nice Blog and The Week

Sabrina Eaton / Plain Dealer:
Sen. Rob Portman comes out in favor of gay marriage after son comes out as gay

Discussion: BuzzFeed, PostPartisan, The Maddow Blog, The Week, Washington Blade, The Hinterland Gazette, Advocate, Eschaton and Wonkette

Kevin Cirilli / Politico:
Rob Portman backs gay marriage after son comes out

Discussion: CNN and ABCNEWS

Chris Geidner / BuzzFeed:
Ohio Senator Rob Portman Announces Support For Marriage Equality

Discussion: Joe. My. God. and Firedoglake

Alexandra Jaffe / Ballot Box:

Romney urges GOP to ‘learn from’ mistakes he made in 2012 campaign — GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney appealed for the Republican Party to learn from the mistakes of his losing 2012 presidential campaign and — as conservatives chart their future — to look to GOP governors for a path to future electoral wins.

Discussion: Politico, CNN and ABCNEWS

Michael Patrick Leahy / BREITBART.COM:

CADDELL UNLOADS ON ‘RACKETEERING’ GOP CONSULTANTS — Pat Caddell, the Fox News Contributor and Democrat pollster who engineered Jimmy Carter's 1976 Presidential victory, blew the lid off CPAC on Thursday with a blistering attack on “racketeering” Republican consultants who play wealthy donors like “marks.”

Discussion: Rush Limbaugh and Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion

James Hohmann / Politico:

Mitt Romney gets B-list treatment at CPAC — Indifference awaits Mitt Romney Friday at the Conservative Political Action Conference as he delivers his first public speech since election night. — The base moved on four months ago, and most Republican activists don't really care what their failed nominee thinks any more.

Discussion: CNN, Washington Times, The Impolitic, The Caucus, The Week, Hullabaloo, New York Times and Scared Monkeys

Elise Foley / The Huffington Post:
Marco Rubio CPAC Speech: GOP Senator Addresses Beliefs On Same-Sex Marriage, Abortion Rights

Discussion: The Plum Line and CNN

Michael O'Brien / NBCNews.com:
Mitt Romney makes curious re-emergence at CPAC

Discussion: Washington Post, NBCNews.com, Wall Street Journal, First Read, The Week and msnbc.com

Jim Rutenberg / New York Times:
Divisions in G.O.P. Are Laid Bare on First Day of Conservative Conference

Discussion: Guardian, Advocate and Lynn Sweet

Mitt Romney / Facebook:
2013 Address to CPAC

Discussion: Weekly Standard, National Review, Hot Air and BuzzFeed

Brian Beutler / Talking Points Memo:

Sequestration NIMBYism Grips GOP — A strange sickness is afflicting congressional Republicans. — Unwilling to team up with Democrats to replace sequestration with a mix of spending cuts and tax increases, and unable to pass a cuts-only sequestration measure on their own …

Discussion: Hullabaloo, Daily Kos and The Maddow Blog

Charlie Cook / NationalJournal.com:

The GOP Keeps Getting Whiter — While the country is becoming more racially diverse, Republican congressional districts are becoming less. — After Republicans won only 48 percent of all votes cast for the House in 2012 but 54 percent of the seats, it's no secret that the party enjoys …

Discussion: Booman Tribune

Rolling Stone:

Live-Blogging Senate Hearing Tomorrow, When J.P. Morgan Chase Will Be Torn a New One — Beginning at 9:30 a.m. tomorrow, I'm going to be live-blogging a hearing held by Senator Carl Levin's Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations - the best crew of high-end detectives this side of The Wire …

Discussion: Reuters, Crooks and Liars, Firedoglake, susiemadrak.com and Balloon Juice

Danielle Douglas / Washington Post:
JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon is accused of hiding information about big losses

Discussion: Rolling Stone, Taylor Marsh, Bloomberg, Campaign for America's Future, The Week, American Prospect and DealBook

Alexandra Jaffe / Ballot Box:

Santorum delivers emotional CPAC speech inspired by nephew's death — Former Republican presidential contender Rick Santorum on Friday delivered an emotional address at the Conservative Political Action Conference, inspired by the death of his nephew the night before, that indicated …

Discussion: CNN

Mark Drajem / Bloomberg:

Obama Will Use Nixon-Era Law to Fight Climate Change — President Barack Obama is preparing to tell all federal agencies for the first time that they have to consider the impact on global warming before approving major projects, from pipelines to highways. — The result could be significant delays …

Discussion: protein wisdom, Weasel Zippers and GigaOM

Steve Anderson / The Independent:

Want to join the 62-mile-high club? Not so quick, sex in outer space could be bad for your health, say scientists — With commercial space flights in the pipeline and financiers appealing for a couple to volunteer for a manned (and womanned) mission to Mars, it's only going to be a matter …

Paul Krugman / New York Times:

After the Flimflam — It has been a big week for budget documents. In fact, members of Congress have presented not one but two full-fledged, serious proposals for spending and taxes over the next decade. — Before I get to that, however, let me talk briefly about the third proposal presented …

Discussion: Campaign for America's Future, Economic Policy Institute, The Plum Line, Hot Air, Paul Krugman and Wonkblog

New York Post:

NYPD cops ordered to run criminal checks on domestic-abuse victims — Women who report domestic violence are exposing themselves to arrest under a new NYPD directive that orders cops to run criminal checks on the accused and the accuser, The Post has learned.

Discussion: Hit & Run, Gothamist and The Raw Story

Nicholas Ballasy / The Daily Caller:

Obama couldn't eat at Hill meeting without food ‘taster’ [AUDIO] — WASHINGTON — Following President Obama's lunch meeting with Senate Republicans on Capitol Hill, Maine Republican Sen. Susan Collins described the food served and the president's reaction to what was on menu.

Discussion: Wonkette, Clayton Cramer's Blog, The Gateway Pundit and Weasel Zippers

Annie Lowrey / New York Times:

Younger Generations Lag Parents in Wealth-Building — WASHINGTON — Pearl Brady has a stable job with good benefits and holds two degrees, a bachelor's and a master's. But despite her best efforts, she has no savings, and worries that it will be years before she manages to start putting away money …

Discussion: The Atlantic Online

New York Times:

Vatican Rejects Argentine Accusations Against Pope Francis — By DANIEL J. WAKIN, ALAN COWELL and GAIA PIANIGIANI — VATICAN CITY — For the first time since the election of Pope Francis two days ago, the Vatican on Friday formally defended him from accusations that, decades ago …

Discussion: blog.sfgate.com, The Lede, WorldViews and New Republic

Matt Wilstein / Mediaite:

Coulter Destroys Feinstein Over Cruz Debate On Hannity: ‘Liberal Women Should Not Be Able To Hold Office’ — Sean Hannity invited Ann Coulter on his Thursday night Fox News show to get her take on this morning's Senate showdown between Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) and Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX).

Discussion: Alan Colmes' Liberaland, The Daily Caller and Washington Monthly

Cameron Joseph / Ballot Box:

NRA president tells ‘elitist’ gun control advocates to ‘be damned’ — NRA President Wayne LaPierre on Friday told gun control advocates to “be damned” and ridiculed Vice President Biden for urging people to use shotguns as protection. — “No matter what the elitists who scorn you say …

Discussion: Politico and CNN

Chris Johnson / Washington Blade:

Court grants DOJ speaking time in Prop 8 case — Stumble upon something good? Share it on StumbleUpon — Send via Email — Send this page to Print Friendly — The U.S. Supreme Court has granted the Justice Department time to speak during the Prop 8 arguments (Washington Blade file photo by Michael Key)

Discussion: Towleroad News #gay

James MacPherson / Associated Press:

North Dakota Senate approves 6-week abortion ban — BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — The North Dakota Senate on Friday approved banning abortions as early as six weeks into a pregnancy, sending what would be the most stringent abortion restrictions in the U.S. to the state's Republican governor for his signature.

Discussion: Washington Monthly

Josh Gerstein / Reuters:

Court deals blow to CIA drone secrecy — For now, the Central Intelligence Agency can still maintain its official silence on whether it uses armed drones. But a new court decision Friday could force the agency to provide some information about what kind of records they have on the subject …

Discussion: The Week

Janet Adamy / Wall Street Journal:

Employers Blast Fees From New Health Law — Employers are bracing for a little-noticed fee in the federal health-care law that will charge them $63 for each person they insure next year, one of the clearest cost increases companies face when the law takes full effect.

Discussion: Via Meadia, Law Blog and The PJ Tatler