memeorandum: House Republicans crafting DREAM Act-like immigration bill (Ian Swanson/The Hill)

8:05 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, msnbc.com, USA Today, The Heritage Foundation, Yahoo! News 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 … and New York Times

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: Senator Harry Reid, The Hill, msnbc.com, Talking Points Memo, Daily Kos, The Huffington Post, Lawyers, Guns & Money, Booman Tribune, The Impolitic 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

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: BBC, The Atlantic Wire, CANNONFIRE, The Daily Caller, Marginal Revolution, The Agonist, FP Passport, 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”

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

Ralph Z. Hallow / Washington Times:

Exclusive: Rick Perry's October trip to Israel sign of another White House bid — Texas Gov. Rick Perry said Thursday that he will visit Israel in October, a move that signals to the political world that he is seriously considering making another presidential run in 2016.

Discussion: Algemeiner.com

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: New York Times, Sky Dancing, 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 »

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

Ian Swanson / The Hill:

House Republicans crafting DREAM Act-like immigration bill — House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) and Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.) are drafting legislation to provide a path to citizenship for immigrant children who were brought to the U.S. illegally by their parents, their offices said Thursday.

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