memeorandum: Obamacare site could mean legal fights (Josh Gerstein/Reuters)

9:10 AM ET, October 23, 2013

Top Items:

Greg Botelho / CNN:

HHS chief: President didn't know of Obamacare website woes beforehand — (CNN) — President Barack Obama didn't know about the problems with the Affordable Care Act's website — despite complaints from insurance companies and the site's crashing during a test run — until days …

Discussion: Politico, “The Lid”, BuzzFeed, americanthinker.com, The Fix, Taylor Marsh, The Other McCain, Washington Wire, Hot Air, Weasel Zippers, The Raw Story, Connecting.the.Dots and New York Times

Frank Newport / Gallup:

Approval of Affordable Care Act Inches Up — More Democrats now approve of the law, while most Republicans still disapprove — PRINCETON, NJ — Despite the highly publicized technical issues that have plagued the government's health insurance exchange website that went live on Oct. 1 …

Discussion: The Hill, Washington Post and Post Politics

Josh Gerstein / Reuters:

Obamacare site could mean legal fights — If the Obamacare enrollment website seems like a tangled mess, just wait for the lawsuits. — The potential for a morass of litigation over who's responsible for the problems that have plagued the rollout of President Barack Obama's signature health care law …

Discussion: The Hugh Hewitt Show and Politico

RealClearPolitics Video Log:
Sebelius: Obama Did Not Know About Obamacare Website Glitches

Discussion: Weekly Standard, Infowars, Betsy's Page and Politico

Steve Contorno / Washington Examiner:
Steny Hoyer wants more money to fix Obamacare exchanges

Discussion: The Other McCain, Hot Air and The PJ Tatler

Chicago Tribune:
Fixing software won't fix Obamacare

Discussion: PoliticusUSA and Talking Points Memo

Abby D. Phillip / ABC News:
Paul Ryan Calls for HHS Chief to Step Down for Obamacare Rollout

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, The Hill and The Hill

Juliet Eilperin / Post Politics:
Senior HHS official to brief Democratic lawmakers Wednesday on Obamacare

Discussion: Hot Air, CNN, The Hill and Politico

HHS.govStrategy:
A Technology Surge for HealthCare.gov

Discussion: Independent Journal Review, Hot Air, Washington Wire, Daily Kos, Post Politics and ThinkProgress

Dana Milbank / Washington Post:
In Obamacare speech, Obama makes a desperate sales pitch

Discussion: naked capitalism, The PJ Tatler, National Republican … and Weekly Standard

Yahoo! News:
Carney has no answers on Obamacare ‘tech surge’

Discussion: Post Politics and Washington Free Beacon

Josh Rogin / The Daily Beast:

Exclusive: White House Official Fired for Tweeting Under Fake Name — A White House national security official was fired last week after being caught as the mystery Tweeter who has been tormenting the foreign policy community with insulting comments and revealing internal Obama administration information for over two years.

Discussion: Washington Wire, Talking Points Memo, BBC, The Week, Outside the Beltway, Taylor Marsh, Right Wing News, Gawker, Weasel Zippers, The Raw Story and Althouse

Justin Sink / The Hill:

Durbin: House leader told Obama ‘I cannot even stand to look at you’ — A top Senate Democrat said that a leading House Republican told President Obama that they could not ‘even stand to look at you’ during negotiations over the government shutdown. — Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) …

Discussion: Politico, Mediaite, The PJ Tatler and theGrio

Glenn Thrush / Politico:

NSC aide admits Twitter attack on White House — A senior National Security Council staffer who was a key member of the White House team negotiating on Iran's nuclear weapons program told POLITICO he deeply regrets tweeting hundreds of anti-administration messages under the pseudonym @natsecwonk.

Discussion: Reuters, Towleroad News #gay, Guardian and The Verge

Justin Sink / The Hill: Report: White House official fired for fake Twitter account

Ramesh Ponnuru / Bloomberg:
A Republican Senator Doubts His Party Can Govern

Discussion: Booman Tribune and Power Line

Art Swift / Gallup:

For First Time, Americans Favor Legalizing Marijuana — Support surged 10 percentage points in past year, to 58% — WASHINGTON, D.C. — For marijuana advocates, the last 12 months have been a period of unprecedented success as Washington and Colorado became the first states to legalize recreational use of marijuana.

Jason Marks / WAVY-TV:

Suggestive campaign posters litter NSU campus — (1/4)Jason Marks reports on sexually suggestive campaign posters at NSU — (4/4)Photo provided by Norfolk State University — Related Content — NORFOLK, Va. (WAVY) - Sexually suggestive campaign posters turned up on campus …

Discussion: BuzzFeed, Post Politics, Talking Points Memo and Weasel Zippers

Rasmussen Reports:
Virginia Governor: McAuliffe (D) 50%, Cuccinelli (R) 33%, Sarvis (L) 8%

Discussion: Washington Blade, Washington Post, Firedoglake, WTVR-TV, No More Mister Nice Blog, CNN, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Rumproast, PoliticusUSA, Talking Points Memo, Hullabaloo, Taegan Goddard's …, Politico, Outside the Beltway and Weekly Standard

Ed Kilgore / Washington Monthly:
Bottom Falls Out For Cuccinelli

Discussion: Politico and Booman Tribune

irs.gov:

2014 Tax Season to Start Later Following Government Closure; IRS Sees Heavy Demand As Operations Resume — WASHINGTON — The Internal Revenue Service today announced a delay of approximately one to two weeks to the start of the 2014 filing season to allow adequate time to program …

Discussion: New York Times, Washington Post and TaxProf Blog

Bernie Becker / The Hill:
IRS: Shutdown to delay next tax filing season

Discussion: The Verge

Clive Crook / Bloomberg:

Democrats Are Stupid, Too — Even many Republicans agree that they lost the battle over the shutdown and the debt ceiling. The Tea Party walked the country to the edge of economic ruin and their party to the edge of political catastrophe until Republican leaders in Congress flinched.

Discussion: The Daily Caller and Lawyers, Guns & Money

Emily Cahn / Roll Call:
Alan Grayson Ties Tea Party to KKK (Updated)

Discussion: “The Lid”, National Republican …, National Review, FreedomWorks blogs, Talking Points Memo, The Daily Caller, The PJ Tatler and Hot Air

Erik Wasson / The Hill:

Will Ryan cut a deal? — Washington is wondering: Will Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) cut a deal? — Ryan faces a crucial moment in his political career as the formal House-Senate budget conference gets underway. — Those who want to see a deal — a group that includes deficit hawks …

Discussion: Taegan Goddard's …

Mollie Hemingway / The Federalist:

Fecundophobia: The Growing Fear Of Children And Fertile Women — Last week Deadspin ran six sentences and a picture under the headline “Philip Rivers Is An Intense Weirdo.” The final two sentences about the San Diego Charger quarterback were blunt: … Ah yes.

Discussion: Ricochet Conversations Feed and National Review

Jennifer Haberkorn / Politico:

Jeanne Shaheen calls for open enrollment extension — Democratic Sen. Jeanne Shaheen is calling on the White House to extend Obamacare's open enrollment period amid continued frustration with the troubled HealthCare.gov. — “The difficulty that people in New Hampshire and in other states …

Discussion: Hot Air, Mediaite, Business Insider, The World's Greatest …, The PJ Tatler and National Review

Philip Rucker / Washington Post:

In Utah, tea party favorite Sen. Lee faces GOP backlash over government shutdown — SALT LAKE CITY — When Mike Lee toppled longtime Republican Sen. Robert F. Bennett here in 2010, it was the tea party's first big triumph. But now, after a 16-day government shutdown, it's Lee who faces a revolt within his own party.

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Taegan Goddard's …, Booman Tribune and Wall Street Journal

Thomas B. Edsall / New York Times:

Bill de Blasio and the New Urban Populism — In an era of Clintonesque caution, when Democrats typically mute any expression of their leftward leanings, Bill de Blasio, who will almost certainly be elected mayor of New York City two weeks from now, does not concede an inch to the right.

Discussion: Capital New York and Politicker