memeorandum: Newt weighs in on ‘Double Down’ (Jonathan Topaz/Politico)

1:05 PM ET, November 3, 2013

Top Items:

HealthCare.gov: How political fear was pitted against technical needs — In May 2010, two months after the Affordable Care Act squeaked through Congress, President Obama's top economic aides were getting worried. Larry Summers, director of the White House's National Economic Council …

Discussion: Weekly Standard, Forbes, Weasel Zippers and Taegan Goddard's …

The Hill:

O-Care stonewall: Media stymied — A slew of media organizations have petitioned the government to release ObamaCare data that the White House has refused to make public. [WATCH VIDEO] — CNN, ABC, MSNBC and others have filed Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) seeking information on the beleaguered healthcare.gov website.

Discussion: americanthinker.com and NewsBusters

Jason Seher / CNN: Ayotte wants ‘timeout’ on Obamacare

Jonathan Topaz / Politico:
Ayotte pushes W.H. on ACA, Benghazi

Discussion: CNN

TIME:

The Hunt for Pufferfish — During the 2012 presidential campaign, Mitt Romney ranked Chris Christie among the final contenders to be his running mate. That is until the Republican nominee started digging into the New Jersey governor's record — The following is an excerpt from DOUBLE DOWN …

Discussion: Washington Monthly, No More Mister Nice Blog, Doug Ross, Lawyers, Guns & Money, Taylor Marsh, Hullabaloo and Gawker

Duke / Jersey Jazzman:

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: @GovChristie to Teacher: “I Am Tired Of You People!” — UPDATE: I posted this about 12 hours ago on a late Saturday night, and already it has over 30K hits. I've never seen blog traffic like this, especially on a weekend. Is it not obvious that there has been an enormous amount …

Discussion: Crooks and Liars and Liberaland

Jonathan Topaz / Politico:

Newt weighs in on ‘Double Down’ — Newt Gingrich says President Barack Obama would not have selected Hillary Clinton for his running mate in 2012, if only to stay away from her husband. — The former Republican House speaker discussed “Double Down,” the upcoming book on the 2012 presidential election …

Discussion: CNN

Peter Hamby / Washington Post:
Review: ‘Double Down,’ on the 2012 election, by Mark Halperin and John Heilemann

Discussion: Business Insider, The Reaction, The Raw Story, Infowars and The Atlantic Wire

New York Times:

Insurance Policies Not Worth Keeping — Congressional Republicans have stoked consumer fears and confusion with charges that the health care reform law is causing insurers to cancel existing policies and will force many people to pay substantially higher premiums next year for coverage they don't want.

Discussion: Michelle Malkin, Power Line, Weasel Zippers, Viking Pundit, NewsBusters and Patterico's Pontifications

Andrew Kaczynski / BuzzFeed:

Three Pages Of Rand Paul's Book Were Plagiarized From Think Tanks — The worst case yet. Paul's office says the book notes Paul didn't individually report out each case. — Joshua Roberts / Reuters — An entire section of Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul's 2013 book Government Bullies …

Discussion: Politico, ThinkProgress, The Moderate Voice, Mock Paper Scissors, The Raw Story, Taegan Goddard's … and Althouse

Fort Worth Star-Telegram:

Voter ID law snags former House Speaker Jim Wright — FORT WORTH — Former House Speaker Jim Wright was denied a voter ID card Saturday at a Texas Department of Public Safety office. — “Nobody was ugly to us, but they insisted that they wouldn't give me an ID,” Wright said.

Discussion: ThinkProgress

Taegan Goddard's Political Wire:
Texas Voter ID Law Snags Former Speaker

Discussion: Liberaland

Jonathan Topaz / Politico:

McCaul: ‘Mental illness’ major factor in LAX shooting — The chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee said on Sunday the suspect's “mental illness” was a chief reason behind the shooting at Los Angeles International Airport. — Appearing on CNN's “State of the Union,” Rep. Mike McCaul …

Discussion: CNN

Associated Press: LAX SUSPECT SET OUT TO KILL MULTIPLE TSA OFFICERS

Mark Potok / Hatewatch:
Hatewatch Exclusive: Alleged LAX Shooter Referenced ‘Patriot’ Conspiracy Theories

Discussion: Sky Dancing, Infowars, Sick Horses, New York Times, Mediaite, The Hinterland Gazette, Hullabaloo and Liberaland

Chrystia Freeland / New York Times:

Plutocrats vs. Populists — TORONTO — HERE'S the puzzle of America today: the plutocrats have never been richer, and their economic power continues to grow, but the populists, the wilder the better, are taking over. The rise of the political extremes is most evident, of course …

Discussion: Daily Kos

Washington Post:

Republican Ken Cuccinelli, running hard, has been hobbled in race for Virginia governor — Some of the biggest names in his party sat out the race or even switched sides. The governor he depended on to rally the troops disappeared into a fog of scandal. Many of the money men who had provided oomph in past elections vanished.

Discussion: NewsMax.com, The Reality-Based Community, Taylor Marsh and Washington Monthly

Alexander Burns / Politico:
Virginia blame game begins

Discussion: Outside the Beltway, The Moderate Voice and The PJ Tatler

Kyle Smith / New York Post:

How Obama went from bulls-t to dishonesty — How Americans see President Obama changed in an important way this week. It's because there is a huge difference between lies and bulls - - t. — Obama says a lot of things that are not true, even nonsensical.

Discussion: Power Line