memeorandum: The promise of Ripple — This is a chart of the value of bitcoin yesterday, Wednesday. (Felix Salmon)

6:10 PM ET, April 11, 2013

Top Items:

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.

Discussion: CNN, Little Green Footballs, Ballot Box, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Weekly Standard, The Heritage Foundation, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Post Politics, The Lonely Conservative, The Raw Story, The Daily Caller, Roll Call, Weasel Zippers, Ed Driscoll, The Gateway Pundit, Outside the Beltway and Politico

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, The Political Carnival, Roll Call, Weekly Standard and Riehl World News

Kevin Robillard / Politico:

Report: Progress Ky. taped McConnell — A Democratic official in Kentucky told a local radio station Thursday that two men affiliated with the controversial Progress Kentucky super PAC told him they were responsible for the secretly recording one of Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell's campaign strategy meetings.

Discussion: Firedoglake, WFPL and NewsBusters blogs

Jim Acosta / CNN:
Was it ‘three times’ or ‘free time’ on McConnell tape?

Discussion: The Political Carnival

David Rogers / Politico:
Where's Mitch McConnell?

Discussion: Yahoo! News, ABCNEWS and Mother Jones

Tom Cohen / CNN:

Senate overcomes filibuster, clearing the way for debate on gun bill — Washington (CNN) — The U.S. Senate voted Thursday to overcome a Republican-led filibuster against tougher gun laws, clearing the way for a major congressional debate on a package of proposals sought by President Barack Obama …

Discussion: BuzzFeed, New York Times, The Truth About Guns, The Political Carnival, Booman Tribune and The Lead with Jake Tapper

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

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

Gregory Korte / USA Today:
Senate heads off filibuster on gun bill

Discussion: No More Mister Nice Blog, The Raw Story, Business Insider and The Truth About Guns

Jennifer Steinhauer / New York Times:
Senate Vote Clears the Way for Debate on New Gun Laws

Discussion: The Week, Reuters, Hawkings Here, Addicting Info, Outside the Beltway and Washington Post

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: BuzzFeed

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: Alan Colmes' Liberaland, ThinkProgress, Advocate, AMERICAblog, LGBTQ Nation, The Political Carnival, Towleroad News #gay and Gawker

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, TechCrunch, The Week and VentureBeat

DealBook:

As Big Investors Emerge, Bitcoin Gets Ready for Its Close-Up — Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss have been many things in a short time: Olympic rowers. Nemeses of Mark Zuckerberg. Characters on “The Simpsons.” Now they can add a new label: bitcoin moguls.

Discussion: Firedoglake, Forbes, Business Insider, Wonkblog, Gawker, The Verge and TechCrunch

Megan McArdle / Asymmetrical Information:
Why Bitcoin is a Bubble

Discussion: The Dish, Marginal Revolution and Business Insider

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: Washington Wire, ABCNEWS, Yahoo! News, The Moderate Voice, Business Insider, Mediaite, ThinkProgress, BuzzFeed, ArtsBeat and Gothamist

Kevin Cirilli / Politico:

Jay-Z brags about Cuba trip in rap — Rapper Jay-Z released a new track Thursday in which he boasts about his recent trip to Cuba with superstar Beyoncé and says that President Barack Obama told him he'd get him “impeached.” — “I done turned Havana into Atlanta,” Jay-Z raps in “Open Letter,” which he released Thursday.

Discussion: TMZ.com, Weasel Zippers, Gawker, Babalú Blog, BizPac Review, New Orleans Times-Picayune and Scared Monkeys

David Taintor / Talking Points Memo:

Boehner Disagrees With NRCC Chair's Criticism Of Obama Budget — House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) on Thursday told reporters that he disagrees with the criticism of President Obama's budget from Rep. Greg Walden (R-OR), who called the President's proposal “a shocking attack on seniors.”

Discussion: The Plum Line and Daily Kos

Justin Sink / The Hill:
Carney: Walden CPI criticism ‘flagrantly ridiculous and cynical’

Discussion: CNN, The Week and Politico

Talking Points Memo:
Club For Growth Questions GOP Rep. For Attacking Obama On Social Security Cuts

Discussion: RealClearPolitics Video Log, msnbc.com, Daily Kos, Washington Monthly and The Dish

Kirsten Powers / USA Today:

Philadelphia abortion clinic horror: Column — We've forgotten what belongs on Page One. — Infant beheadings. Severed baby feet in jars. A child screaming after it was delivered alive during an abortion procedure. Haven't heard about these sickening accusations? — It's not your fault.

Discussion: NewsBusters blogs, National Review, Conservatives4Palin, LifeNews.com, Betsy's Page, The Daily Caller, Hot Air, Ed Driscoll, Lawyers, Guns & Money, neo-neocon, BuzzFeed and NewsBusters

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 Raw Story

David Weigel / Slate:

Delaware: The Next Blue State to Move on Marriage Equality — A same-sex marriage supporter has her forehead painted with a rainbow as she joins a demonstration in front of the Supreme Court on March 27, 2013 in Washington, DC. — Last year, as more states legalized gay marriage legislatively …

Discussion: Advocate and Outside the Beltway

Colleen McCain Nelson / Wall Street Journal:

Poll Finds Broad Immigration Support — Recent Survey Also Shows Majority of Americans Want Stricter Gun Laws; Obama's Popularity Falls — Most Americans support creating a pathway to citizenship for immigrants who are working in this country illegally—and one with a shorter timeline …

Discussion: Washington Monthly and Taegan Goddard's …

Mark Murray / First Read:
NBC/WSJ poll: Strong majority backs citizenship for undocumented immigrants

Discussion: Firedoglake, msnbc.com, Politico, ThinkProgress and Wall Street Journal

Katie Glueck / Politico:

Steve Cohen deletes flirty tweet to Cyndi Lauper — Rep. Steve Cohen appears to have sent and then deleted an eyebrow-raising tweet to performer Cyndi Lauper. — “@cyndilauper great night,couldn't believe how hot u were.see you again next Tuesday.try a little tenderness. http://t.co/zz4Orccryf …

Discussion: Yahoo! News and Associated Press

Mark Zuckerberg / Washington Post:

Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg: Immigration and the knowledge economy — Mark Zuckerberg is founder and chief executive of Facebook and co-founder of Fwd.us. — Earlier this year I started teaching a class on entrepreneurship at an after-school program in my community.

Discussion: TechCrunch, National Review, Yahoo! News, Business Insider, Mashable, Right Turn, Guardian, Taylor Marsh, VentureBeat, The Hill, ImmigrationProf Blog and AllThingsD

Politico:

John Boehner on hot seat as Senate acts — The Senate has caught bipartisan fever. — Long mired in bitter gridlock, two groups of Democratic and Republican lawmakers have hashed out once-unthinkable bipartisan solutions on gun control and rewriting the nation's immigration laws.

Discussion: A plain blog about politics and First Read

Molly K. Hooper / The Hill:
Immigration, gun deals make Tea Party lawmakers restless

Discussion: Washington Monthly

Paul Waldman / American Prospect:

Closing the Gun Show Loophole: Better Than Nothing? — Ah, bipartisan compromise, just what the country is yearning for. We saw some yesterday, as NRA favorite Pat Toomey and NRA favorite Joe Manchin got together to see if they could come up with a plan for universal background checks …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo and The Week

Katie Glueck / Politico:
Veterans poll: 91 percent back gun checks

Discussion: The Moderate Voice

Joseph Ryan / Chicago Tribune:

Daughter of former Obama pastor Rev. Jeremiah Wright indicted … The daughter of the Rev. Jeremiah Wright — the controversial former pastor to President Barack Obama — was indicted today in an expanding federal probe of a state grant tied to a former suburban police chief.