memeorandum: Public Esteem for Military Still High (Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life)

7:45 AM ET, July 12, 2013

Top Items:

Ian Swanson / The Hill:

House approves farm bill in big win for Boehner, GOP leaders — The House approved a stripped-down farm bill Thursday in a tight 216-208 vote, giving a huge boost to Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) and other Republican leaders after the embarrassing failure of an earlier bill last month.

Discussion: Yahoo! News and Daily Kos

Mary Clare Jalonick / Associated Press:

Republicans to Tackle Cuts in Food Stamp Program — House approval of a scaled-back farm bill is setting up what could be an even bigger fight over food stamps and the role of domestic food aid in the United States. — Food stamps have been a part of farm bills since the 1970s to gain urban Democratic votes for the rural measure.

Discussion: Reuters and Associated Press

Brad Plumer / Wonkblog:
House Republicans finally pass a farm bill — with no money for food stamps

Discussion: Washington Post, The Fix, In These Times, Post Politics and addictinginfo.org

Jonathan Chait / New York Magazine:
House Republicans Pass Bloated Socialist Monstrosity

Discussion: Balloon Juice

New York Times:
House Republicans Push Through Farm Bill, Without Food Stamps

Discussion: addictinginfo.org, The Week, A plain blog about politics, The Fix, CNN and The Hill

Charles Abbott / Reuters:
White House threatens veto of farm bill that drops food stamps

Discussion: The Hill, Shakesville, Hot Air, USA Today, msnbc.com, The Heritage Foundation and Politico

David Edwards / The Raw Story:
Gohmert repeatedly shouts ‘Objection!’ to silence claims food stamp cuts hurt hungry families

Discussion: Mock, Paper, Scissors

Mary Clare Jalonick / Associated Press:
House Passes Farm Bill, Now Without Food Stamp Cuts

Discussion: Washington Monthly

Ed O'Keefe / Post Politics:
Farm Bill passes in House, without food stamp funding

Discussion: aflcio.org, Daily Kos and The Lonely Conservative

Ezra Klein / Wonkblog:

Mitch McConnell's problem: How can he threaten to obstruct the Senate even more? — There's a reason the Senate majority rarely goes through with filibuster reform: The minority can make the aftermath hellish. — Will Harry Reid actually change the rules? (Michael Reynolds/EPA)

Discussion: The World's Greatest …

Greg Sargent / The Plum Line:

Harry Reid escalates nuclear threat in a big way — An important moment on the Senate floor just now: Harry Reid said he would be filing cloture today on a whole bunch of executive nominations, and challenged Republicans to act on them — a major escalation of the threat to change the Senate rules …

Discussion: The Hill, msnbc.com, Talking Points Memo, Daily Kos, Lawyers, Guns & Money, Booman Tribune and People For the American Way

Ezra Klein / Wonkblog:
One Senate staffer's theory: Mitch McConnell actually wants to get nuked

Discussion: A plain blog about politics and Daily Kos

Sahil Kapur / Talking Points Memo:
Reid: McConnell Broke His Word On Filibuster, So The Nuclear Option Is On The Table

Discussion: Crooks and Liars, Yahoo! News and Daily Kos

Ramsey Cox / The Hill:
McConnell: Reid will be ‘worst’ Senate leader in history if he goes nuclear

Discussion: CNN

Politico:
Harry Reid slams Mitch McConnell, ready for nuclear option

Discussion: Mediaite, Hot Air, Washington Examiner, National Review and Ballot Box

Jeremy W. Peters / New York Times:
Democrats Poised to Limit Filibusters, Angering G.O.P.

Discussion: Senator Harry Reid, ACS Blog, The Hill, Yahoo! News, The Huffington Post, Washington Monthly and The Impolitic

Guardian:

Revealed: how Microsoft handed the NSA access to encrypted messages — • Secret files show scale of Silicon Valley co-operation on Prism — • Outlook.com encryption unlocked even before official launch — • Skype worked to enable Prism collection of video calls

Discussion: The Atlantic Wire, BBC, CANNONFIRE, The Daily Caller, Marginal Revolution, FP Passport, The Agonist, Hit & Run, emptywheel, Little Green Footballs, KDVR.com, Mediaite, The Verge, The Hill, Gawker, Business Insider, TechCrunch and Alan Colmes' Liberaland

CNN:

Jay-Z says he texts with Obama — (CNN) - It's no secret that Jay-Z is close with President Barack Obama. The hip hop artist held big fundraisers for the president, and his megastar wife, Beyoncé, performed at Obama's second inauguration. — But Jay-Z said this week their friendship …

Discussion: Politico

NME:
Jay-Z: ‘I get texts from President Obama, of course’

Discussion: Weasel Zippers, The Reliable Source, Politico, The Hill and The Daily Caller

Russell Berman / The Hill:
Boehner: House to vote next week on delaying ObamaCare mandates

Discussion: Politico, Yahoo! News and Washington Post

CBS News:

Could “North Colorado” be America's 51st state? — PLAY CBS NEWS VIDEO — There's a growing effort to create a 51st state out of parts of northeast Colorado and southwestern Nebraska. — Ten counties started talking about seceding last month. Now some people in Lincoln and Cheyenne counties …

Discussion: No More Mister Nice Blog, Lawyers, Guns & Money and Taking Note

Jeff G. / protein wisdom: “Effort To Create New State Called ‘North Colorado’ Grows”

Maggie Haberman / Politico:

Eliot Spitzer submits signatures in NYC race — Eliot Spitzer submitted 27,000 signatures to qualify for the ballot in the Democratic primary for New York City comptroller tonight, an effort completed less than four days after a rocky start. — Spitzer delivered the signatures …

Discussion: CNN

Marist Poll:
7/11: A Second Chance for Spitzer? Takes Lead in NYC Comptroller's Race

Discussion: ThinkProgress

Sabato's Crystal Ball:

Is Doubling Down on White Voters a Viable Strategy for the Republican Party? — Alan I. Abramowitz and Ruy Teixeira, Guest Columnists July 11th, 2013 — Perhaps the key question in American presidential politics is how the growing and overwhelmingly Democratic nonwhite vote will affect future elections.

Discussion: Sky Dancing, Real Clear Politics, Washington Monthly, ThinkProgress and Booman Tribune

Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life:

Public Esteem for Military Still High — Clergy in the Middle, Lawyers at the Bottom — Navigate this page: — Americans continue to hold the military in high regard, with more than three-quarters of U.S. adults (78%) saying that members of the armed services contribute “a lot” to society's well-being.

Discussion: NewsBusters, Hot Air, Yahoo! News and Poynter, more at Mediagazer »

David Brooks / New York Times:

Pass the Bill! — It's beginning to look as though we're not going to get an immigration reform law this year. House Republicans are moving in a direction that will probably be unacceptable to the Senate majority and the White House. Conservative commentators like my friends Bill Kristol …

Discussion: Taegan Goddard's … and Prairie Weather

Emily Swanson / The Huffington Post:

Abortion Poll Finds Support For 20-Week Ban — Most Americans would favor sweeping new national restrictions on abortion after the 20th week of pregnancy, according to a new HuffPost/YouGov poll. But the poll also shows many Americans remain conflicted in their views on abortion.

Discussion: The Fix, The Hill, Hot Air, Weasel Zippers, LifeNews.com and Washington Free Beacon

John Hudson / Foreign Policy:

Dominicans Freak Out Over Obama's Gay Ambassador Pick — Opposition to President Obama's nominee for U.S. ambassador to the Dominican Republic reached a fever pitch this week as religious organizers stage a “Lunes Negro” or Black Monday protest against James “Wally” Brewster.

Discussion: Weasel Zippers, The Hinterland Gazette, americanthinker.com and Clayton Cramer's Blog

Tony Perry / Los Angeles Times:

San Diego Mayor Bob Filner apologizes, admits ‘I need help’ — SAN DIEGO — Facing calls for his resignation amid sex harassment claims, San Diego Mayor Bob Filner issued an apology Thursday for his treatment of women and vowed to change his behavior, admitting “I need help.”

Discussion: Yahoo! News

Dan Levine / Reuters:

Exclusive: Criminal charges against Solyndra founder are unlikely - sources — (Reuters) - The founder of bankrupt solar panel maker Solyndra will likely avoid criminal charges even if charges are brought against other former executives of the company, according to several people familiar with the investigation.

Dr. Milton R. Wolf / Washington Times:

Obamacare's panicked Democrats — Why the employer mandate delay will backfire — Poor Democrats. An election looms and their Obamacare train wreck is deservedly being called the worst law in American history. Voters hate it, and why shouldn't they? The Democrats' promises …

Discussion: Megan McArdle and Power Line