memeorandum: For Obama's ex-aides, it's time to cash in on experience (Washington Post)

12:30 PM ET, May 31, 2013

Top Items:

Dylan Byers / Politico:

Eric Holder to media: I get it — Attorney General Eric Holder expressed concern on Thursday about how the Department of Justice has handled recent media investigations at an off-the-record meeting with leading representatives of the press, according to those who were present.

Discussion: Yahoo! News, emptywheel, Reuters, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, White House Dossier and Jammie Wearing Fools, more at Mediagazer »

Sari Horwitz / Washington Post:
Attorney General Holder says he'll protect journalists' rights

Discussion: Hot Air, Mediaite, Betsy's Page, Patterico's Pontifications and msnbc.com

Charlie Savage / New York Times:
New Rules May Rein In Prosecutors in Leak Investigations

Discussion: New York Times, WJLA-TV and The Dish, more at Mediagazer »

Noah Rothman / Mediaite:
MSNBC Contributor Michael Eric Dyson: Eric Holder ‘Is The Moses Of Our Time’

Discussion: Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion and Hit & Run

Ian Swanson / The Hill:
Holder seeks to make amends with media

Discussion: Alan Colmes' Liberaland

Devlin Barrett / Wall Street Journal:
Holder Pledges Shifts on Media

Discussion: Poynter, Law Blog, Washington Wire and Mediaite

Jeremy W. Peters / New York Times:

G.O.P. Sizes Up Obama as Midterm Target — WASHINGTON — His name won't be on any ballot in 2014. Or ever again, for that matter. — But plenty of Republicans are still eager to wage a midterm campaign against President Obama, convinced that the spate of recent troubles dogging …

Discussion: Yahoo! News, Althouse, The Plum Line, Post Politics, First Read and Balloon Juice

Justin Sink / The Hill:

Obama shifts subject to student loans, picking fight with Republicans — President Obama called on Congress to pass legislation to prevent an increase in student loan rates, picking a fight with Republicans on what has previously been a winning issue for the White House.

Discussion: Politico

Wall Street Journal:

Obama's Student-Loan Props — The President picks a phony fight over negligible differences. — President Obama's 2014 budget calls on Congress to prevent a doubling of interest rates on student loans and make the rates “more market-based.” Last week House Republicans and four Democrats voted …

Washington Post:
For Obama's ex-aides, it's time to cash in on experience

Discussion: Weekly Standard, Taegan Goddard's … and Politico

Eric Black / MinnPost:

With Bachmann not running, Jim Graves pulls out of 6th District race — As of today, Jim Graves is going to indefinitely suspend his campaign for Congress from the 6th District. — Translation: He is not running. He is dropping out of politics to concentrate on his family and his business.

Discussion: Yahoo! News, Ballot Box, Politico, ABCNEWS, Post Politics, Roll Call, Rothenblog and The Blotter

Alex Isenstadt / Politico:
Jim Graves drops out following Michele Bachmann's exit

Discussion: Outside the Beltway and Joe. My. God.

Paul Krugman / New York Times:

From the Mouths of Babes — Like many observers, I usually read reports about political goings-on with a sort of weary cynicism. Every once in a while, however, politicians do something so wrong, substantively and morally, that cynicism just won't cut it; it's time to get really angry instead.

Discussion: Prairie Weather and Daily Kos

McClatchy Washington Bureau:

IRS may have targeted conservatives more broadly — Susan Martinek, right, and Mary Cherion pray as they walk the block around the Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Planned Parenthood, on Wednesday, May 29, 2013. Martinek is the president and Cherion serves on the board of Coalition for Life of Iowa …

Discussion: Hot Air, No More Mister Nice Blog, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, americanthinker.com, National Review, VodkaPundit, The Heritage Foundation and Jammie Wearing Fools

Jonathan Easley / The Hill:

Poll: Hillary Clinton's favorability rating dives amid Benghazi probe — Hillary Clinton's favorability rating dropped significantly in a Quinnipiac University poll released Friday, as the months-long investigation into the terrorist attacks in Benghazi have begun to drag on the former secretary of State.

Discussion: Weasel Zippers, Outside the Beltway, Booman Tribune and Jammie Wearing Fools

Washington Examiner:

‘Rogue’ IRS agent who wrote threatening letters gets promotion … President Obama may have promised “to hold the responsible parties accountable” for the Internal Revenue Service targeting of conservative non-profit groups, but one of the agents at the center of the scandal was recently promoted …

Discussion: Hot Air, Wake up America, Scared Monkeys, The Daily Caller, The Gateway Pundit, Right Wing News, LifeNews.com and americanthinker.com

Neil King Jr / Wall Street Journal:

Romney Planning to Rejoin National Dialogue — Months After Election Loss, He Will Host Event in Utah for 200 Friends and Campaign Supporters — More than half a year after his election loss, Mitt Romney is putting a tentative foot back onto the public stage.

Discussion: Yahoo! News, Real Clear Politics, The Maddow Blog, Washington Wire, Outside the Beltway, First Read and Post Politics

Ben White / Politico:

Rising economy shifts 2014 landscape — The 2014 midterm election is shaping up as something the United States has not seen in nearly a decade: a campaign run in a strengthening economy with deficits on the decline. — No one is popping champagne corks yet, and risks remain.

Discussion: msnbc.com

Donna St. George / Washington Post:

Cowboy-style cap gun gets 5-year-old suspended from school in Calvert County — A kindergartner who brought a cowboy-style cap gun onto his Calvert County school bus was suspended for 10 days after showing a friend the orange-tipped toy, which he had tucked inside his backpack on his way to school, according to his family and a lawyer.

Discussion: The Daily Caller, The Gateway Pundit, WJLA-TV and The PJ Tatler

Garance Franke-Ruta / The Atlantic Online:

The Fake Story About the IRS Commissioner and the White House — White House records show Douglas Shulman signed in for 11 visits, not 157, between 2009 and 2012. — This building is technically the White House, too. It's called the Eisenhower Executive Office Building. (Whitehouse.gov)

Discussion: Power Line, The Maddow Blog, Hullabaloo, The PJ Tatler and The Daily Caller

Amanda Marcotte / Slate:

Watch the Men of Fox News Freak Out Over Female Breadwinners — Most of the time, conservatives pooh-pooh the pay gap as a result of women's “choice” to work less and attend to the home more. They're not against equality, they assure us, but equality just naturally fails on its own because women make it so!

Discussion: The Raw Story, The Mahablog, Hullabaloo, AMERICAblog, Mediaite, The Hinterland Gazette, The Moderate Voice, Washington Monthly, msnbc.com, American Power, Crooks and Liars and Little Green Footballs

Erik Wasson / The Hill:

Social Security on track for insolvency in 2033, Medicare in 2026 — Social Security's two trust funds will become insolvent by 2033, the program's trustees reported Friday, while Medicare will reach insolvency by 2026. — Unless Congress acts, Social Security will no longer be able to pay full benefits to retirees after 2033.

Discussion: Politico

Fabienne Hurst / Spiegel Online:

WWII Drug: The German Granddaddy of Crystal Meth — Crystal meth is notorious for being highly addictive and ravaging countless communities. But few know that the drug can be traced back to Nazi Germany, where it first became popular as a way to keep pilots and soldiers alert in battle during World War II.

Discussion: The Week and Hit & Run

Jeffrey M. Jones / Gallup:

Americans Oppose U.S. Military Involvement in Syria — Publlic does not expect diplomatic efforts to succeed in ending civil war — PRINCETON, NJ — Sixty-eight percent of Americans say the United States should not use military action in Syria to attempt to end the civil war there if diplomatic …

Discussion: The Hill, ThinkProgress, Reuters, Weasel Zippers, National Review and Ricochet Conversations Feed

Reuters:

Record unemployment, low inflation underline Europe's pain — (Reuters) - Unemployment has reached a new high in the euro zone and inflation remains well below the European Central Bank's target, stepping up pressure on EU leaders and the ECB for action to revive the bloc's sickly economy.

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit and The Spectacle Blog

Jim Hoft / The Gateway Pundit:

UNREAL... Illegal Immigrant Mother of Seven Given Food Stamps, Meds, Housing, and Social Security - For 20 Years (Video) — It's Cloward-Piven on steroids. — Illegal immigrant and mother of seven, Marita Nelson, receives $240 in food stamps, monthly medications, $700 in Social Security and a housing allowance.

Discussion: Michelle Malkin

Irene / Judicial Watch:

DOJ: Social Media Posts Trashing Muslims May Violate Civil Rights — In its latest effort to protect followers of Islam in the U.S. the Obama Justice Department warns against using social media to spread information considered inflammatory against Muslims, threatening that it could constitute a violation of civil rights.

Discussion: The Daily Caller, The PJ Tatler, Weasel Zippers, Atlas Shrugs, Doug Ross and americanthinker.com

Jeremy Herb / The Hill:

McCain: ‘Regrettable’ if photo was taken with Syrian rebel kidnappers — A spokesman for Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) said Thursday that it would be “regrettable” if the lawmaker had posed for a photograph with Syrian rebels involved in kidnapping Lebanese Shiite pilgrims.

Discussion: Political Capital, Reuters, Firedoglake, CNN and Post Politics