memeorandum: The President's Priorities — Debt in 2014 will hit 78.2% of the economy. (Wall Street Journal)

1:45 AM ET, April 12, 2013

Top Items:

WFPL:

Source: Progress Kentucky Behind Mitch McConnell Campaign Recording — A secret recording of a campaign strategy session between U.S. Senator Mitch McConnell and his advisors was taped by leaders of the Progress Kentucky super PAC, says a longtime local Democratic operative.

Jim Acosta / CNN:

Was it ‘three times’ or ‘free time’ on McConnell tape? — (CNN) - One of the questions to emerge from that secret recording of a Mitch McConnell campaign strategy session is whether it proves the Senate Minority Leader is caught on tape misusing his congressional staff.

Discussion: Daily Kos, The Political Carnival, The Impolitic and Politico

Kevin Robillard / Politico:

Progress Kentucky official resigns — Pressure is growing Thursday afternoon on a liberal super PAC in Kentucky accused of surreptitiously recording a strategy session held by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell. — Jacob Conway, the Jefferson County Democratic Party's executive committee member …

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, Firedoglake and NewsBusters blogs

Tom Kludt / Talking Points Memo:

Local Dem Says He Outed Progress Kentucky To Protect The Party (VIDEO) — The Democratic official who's claiming that two members of the group Progress Kentucky were behind the recordings of a secret meeting between Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and campaign aides said Thursday …

Discussion: Hot Air, Mediaite, The Daily Caller, The Political Carnival, Ballot Box and Riehl World News

Evan McMorris-Santoro / BuzzFeed:
The Disastrous Collapse Of Kentucky's Least Effective Liberal Group

Discussion: Fox News Insider

First Read:
Liberal Ky. group spotlighted in McConnell audio probe

Discussion: Alan Colmes' Liberaland

New York Times:

Pentagon Says Nuclear Missile Is in Grasp for North Korea — WASHINGTON — A new assessment of North Korea's nuclear capability conducted by the Pentagon's intelligence arm has concluded for the first time, with “moderate confidence,” that the country has learned how to make a nuclear weapon small enough …

Discussion: Daily Mail, WFPL and Washington Free Beacon

Eli Lake / The Daily Beast:
Pentagon Report Says North Korea Likely Has Nuclear Warheads

Discussion: Business Insider, Hot Air and BizPac Review

Associated Press:
Obama urges NKorea to end belligerence, vows to take ‘necessary steps’ to protect Americans

Discussion: Associated Press and The Moderate Voice

Juana Summers / Politico:
Report: North Korea may have missile-capable nuclear weapons

Discussion: CNN

Eli Lake / The Daily Beast:
How Scared Should You Be About North Korea?

Discussion: Hot Air, Addicting Info, Weasel Zippers and Michael J. Totten's blog

Greg Sargent / The Plum Line:

The Morning Plum: How expanded background checks could pass the House — The Senate will vote today on starting debate on the new bipartisan compromise proposal to expand gun background checks, and all signs are that enough Republican Senators will vote Yes to break the filibuster being mounted by a bloc of far right Senators.

Discussion: The Week, Outside the Beltway, Hullabaloo, Wonkblog, The Hill and New York Times

Tom Cohen / CNN:
Senate overcomes filibuster, clearing the way for debate on gun bill

Discussion: BuzzFeed, New York Times, The Impolitic, Booman Tribune and Gawker

Politico:
John Boehner on hot seat as Senate acts

Discussion: NRA-ILA News, A plain blog about politics, Heritage Action for America and First Read

Tom Cohen / CNN:
Senate overcomes filibuster, votes to open debate on gun bill

Discussion: Weasel Zippers, The Political Carnival and The Hinterland Gazette

David Weigel / Slate:
The NRA Will “Score” A Cloture Vote for Gun Control After All

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Hot Air, New York Times, The National Memo, Mother Jones, Washington Monthly, JustOneMinute and Washington Post

Katie Ferrell / fox4kc.com:

Man no longer allowed to visit husband at KC hospital — LEE'S SUMMIT, Mo. — A Lee's Summit man is fighting a restraining order that he says was issued against him after he says he was arrested for refusing to leave the bedside of his sick partner. — Roger Gorley went to visit his partner …

Discussion: Addicting Info, LGBTQ Nation, Outside the Beltway, ThinkProgress, AMERICAblog, The Political Carnival, Daily Kos, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Advocate, Towleroad News #gay and Gawker

David Edwards / The Raw Story:

Missouri man arrested at hospital for refusing to leave gay partner — A gay man was arrested at a hospital in Missouri this week when he refused to leave the bedside of his partner, and now a restraining order is preventing him from any type of visitation.

Discussion: fox4kc.com, LGBTQ Nation and BuzzFeed

Chris Geidner / BuzzFeed:
Federal Officials Aim For “Speedy” Response Following Missouri Hospital Arrest

Discussion: Hullabaloo and AMERICAblog

Facebook:

Congressman Jeff Duncan · 8,245 like this — Let's not kid ourselves. Expanded background checks and gun show requirements would have had NO effect on stopping Aurora, Sandy Hook or Tucson. Nor would they have any effect on the violent gun-crime in Chicago. — Let's get tough on criminals.

Discussion: Politico, Daily Kos and Mother Jones

Jonathan Easley / The Hill:

GOP Rep. Duncan likens gun registration to Rwandan genocide — Rep. Jeff Duncan (R-S.C.) warned in a Facebook post on Thursday that a national gun registry would be similar to a database used by the ruling Hutu tribe in Rwanda in the 1990s to locate and slaughter members of an opposing tribe …

Discussion: Alan Colmes' Liberaland

Igor Volsky / ThinkProgress:

Elizabeth Warren Tears Into Federal Regulators For Shielding Big Banks — Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) embarrassed government regulators during a Senate Banking Committee hearing on Thursday morning as she demanded to know why they won't reveal how frequently big banks illegally foreclosed on homeowners.

Discussion: United States Senate Committee …, The Huffington Post, The Political Carnival, Daily Kos and The Hill

Wall Street Journal:

The President's Priorities — Debt in 2014 will hit 78.2% of the economy. — President Obama is pitching his new budget proposal as a fiscal peace offering to Republicans, but the details suggest everyone should expect more conflict. The fiscal 2014 plan he released Wednesday …

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit, Weasel Zippers, TheBlaze.com, Hot Air and CNSNews

Zack Colman / E2-Wire:
Liberal lawmakers press White House to reject Keystone pipeline project

Discussion: National Republican …

Ben White / Politico:
Obama meets with Wall Street CEOs

Discussion: Hullabaloo

Pat Toomey:

Sen. Toomey Offers Full Text Of Public Safety And Second Amendment Rights Protection Act Online — Public Will Have Ample Opportunity To Review & Provide Input On Important Measure — WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Senator Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) tonight posted the bill text of The Public Safety …

Discussion: Politico, Post Politics, Hot Air, PJ Media, The Raw Story and Mediaite

DealBook:

Never Mind Facebook; Winklevoss Twins Rule in Digital Money — The Winklevoss twins, Cameron and Tyler — Olympic rowers, nemeses of Mark Zuckerberg — are laying claim to a new title: bitcoin moguls. — The Winklevii, as they are known, have amassed since last summer what appears …

Discussion: Daily Mail, The Verge, Wonkblog, TechCrunch, Gawker and Firedoglake

Ian Millhiser / ThinkProgress:

Federal Appeals Court Explains Why Rubber Fetuses And High Schools Don't Mix — An anti-abortion student group in Roswell, New Mexico thought it would be a good idea to pass out hundreds of small rubber replicas of fetuses to students at two high schools. As it turns out, this was not such a good idea:

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit, The Raw Story and The Daily Caller

Life+Times:

JAY Z “Open Letter” — I got an onion from Universal and didn't even weep... I got an onion from Universal and didn't even weep... I got an onion from Universal and didn't even weep... N! CE — N! CE — N! CE — Does Kevin Hart get a check for the hook?

Discussion: ABCNEWS, Mediaite, Michelle Malkin, Business Insider, Washington Wire, Yahoo! News, BuzzFeed, Gothamist and ThinkProgress

Kevin Cirilli / Politico:
Jay-Z brags about Cuba trip in rap

Discussion: Gawker, Weasel Zippers, Babalú Blog, TMZ.com, Mediaite, BizPac Review, The Hinterland Gazette and New Orleans Times-Picayune

Hollie McKay / Fox News:

Jane Fonda tells veterans boycotting her movie ‘The Butler’ to ‘get a life’ — LOS ANGELES - When Jane Fonda was cast as former First Lady Nancy Reagan in Lee Daniels' forthcoming film “The Butler,” some Reagan fans were not pleased. Now, with the biographical due to hit theaters in October …

Discussion: his vorpal sword, Conservatives4Palin, Weasel Zippers, Moonbattery and The Hinterland Gazette

Felix Salmon:

The promise of Ripple — This is a chart of the value of bitcoin yesterday, Wednesday. It's hardly a secret that bitcoins are a highly volatile asset class, so relatively few eyebrows were raised when the price soared from an opening level of $230 all the way to a high of $266.

Discussion: Forbes, Business Insider, Asymmetrical Information, The Dish and The Week