memeorandum: Obamacare credibility going up in smoke: Our view (USA Today)

10:20 AM ET, November 14, 2013

Top Items:

Voters May Cancel Democratic Coverage in 2014 — In a Quinnipiac poll, just 30% of independents approve of ObamaCare. — A few minutes into last Thursday's interview with NBC's Chuck Todd, President Obama said of the millions whose health insurance was canceled, “I am sorry that they …

Michael Tomasky / The Daily Beast:

The Democrats Need to Stop Freaking Out About Obamacare and Take Charge — Well, here we are again—the Democrats are ‘in disarray,’ flailing on Obamacare. It's a potent story line, but this time Obama must crack the whip, stop the panicking, and make it work.

The Hill:

House Dems about to ‘go crazy’ — House Democrats on Wednesday expressed increasing frustration at the Obama administration's inability to improve the rollout of ObamaCare. — Democrats said they're worried about “being dragged into this non-stop cycle” of bad news about the ObamaCare rollout …

Discussion: Weasel Zippers and Twitchy

Erick Erickson / RedState:

It's a Trap! — Republicans are walking into a trap and they don't even realize it. — They are about to consider, in the House of Representatives, legislation by Congressman Upton that would allow people to keep their insurance plans. — There's a problem though.

Discussion: National Review, Weekly Standard, Betsy's Page, p m carpenter's commentary, Mediaite, Business Insider, Washington Monthly, Townhall.com and Hot Air

Ben Domenech / The Federalist:

How Obamacare Accomplishes The Unthinkable — President Obama's signature domestic policy may have accomplished something previously unthinkable: taking an issue where one party had a dominant hold on public opinion, and reversing it in favor of the opposing party.

Discussion: The Daily Caller and The Heritage Foundation

Ezra Klein / Wonkblog:
Obamacare is in much more trouble than it was one week ago

Discussion: Shakesville, The Daily Caller, Power Line, The Moderate Voice, Right Turn, The Plum Line, TalkLeft, The Other McCain, CNN, Washington Monthly and The Week

Dana Milbank / Washington Post: Darrell Issa's Obamacare kangaroo court

The Hill:
Vulnerable Dems scramble to keep distance from ObamaCare

Discussion: Right Wing News

Kate Nocera / BuzzFeed:
House Democrats Have Lost Their Patience With The White House Over Obamacare

Discussion: Taylor Marsh, Talking Points Memo, The Hill, Hot Air and No More Mister Nice Blog

New York Times:
With Enrollment Slow, Some Democrats Back Change in Health Law

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Politico, First Read, Daily Kos and WFPL

Josh Barro / Business Insider:
Here Comes The Real Government Takeover Of Health Care

Discussion: National Review, Firedoglake, Brad DeLong and The Dish

William Branigin / Washington Post:
Administration: 106,000 enrolled in health insurance in first month of HealthCare.gov

Discussion: The Fix, Post Politics, Reuters, Mediaite, Scared Monkeys, The Plum Line, Balloon Juice, Real Clear Politics and Althouse

Glenn Thrush / Politico:

LOCKED IN THE CABINET — The worst job in Barack Obama's Washington. — Steven Chu is a Nobel Prize-winning physicist, a brilliant innovator whose research fills several all-but-incomprehensible paragraphs of a Wikipedia entry that spans his achievements in single-molecule physics …

Discussion: ABC News, Washington Wire, Poynter, TheBlaze.com and NationalJournal.com, more at Mediagazer »

USA Today:

Obamacare credibility going up in smoke: Our view — New HealthCare.gov data show just how broken it is. — CONNECT — The health insurance signup numbers the White House released Wednesday afternoon were deeply disappointing, though not particularly surprising.

Discussion: National Review

Tom Kludt / Talking Points Memo:

Rand Paul: Chris Christie Won Because ‘He Got A Lot Of Federal Money For His State’ — An ongoing feud between potential 2016 contenders bubbled to the surface again Wednesday when Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) took a pointed shot at New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie's (R) use of federal funds for Hurricane Sandy relief.

Discussion: Liberaland

Rand Paul / CBS Philly:
Sen. Rand Paul: Christie Reelected Because ‘He Got A Lot Of Federal Money’ Following Sandy

Discussion: Taegan Goddard's …, Politico and First Read

Washington Post:

Two Secret Service agents cut from Obama's detail after alleged misconduct — A call from the Hay-Adams Hotel this past spring reporting that a Secret Service agent was trying to force his way into a woman's room set in motion an internal investigation that has sent tremors through …

Discussion: TIME, The Daily Caller, Liberaland, New York Times, The Week and NBCNews

Jonah Goldberg / National Review:

Obamacare Schadenfreudarama — To paraphrase Oscar Wilde, you'd have to have a heart of stone not to laugh at the unraveling of Obamacare. — First, the obligatory caveats. It is no laughing matter that millions of Americans' lives have been thrown into anxious chaos as they lose their health insurance …

Discussion: Ed Driscoll and Instapundit

John Bresnahan / Politico:

House Republicans to call for Eric Holder impeachment — A group of hard-line conservative House Republicans will introduce a resolution on Thursday calling for the impeachment of Attorney General Eric Holder. — But there is no sign yet that Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) or other House GOP leaders will act on the measure.

Discussion: CNN

Politico:
GOP plan: Don't blow it

Discussion: ThinkProgress, The Week, Althouse, Conservatives4Palin and The Hill

Jeffrey M. Jones / Gallup:

Americans' Approval of Healthcare Law Declines — Currently 40% approve and 55% disapprove — PRINCETON, NJ — Americans' views of the 2010 healthcare law have worsened in recent weeks, with 40% approving and 55% disapproving of it. For most of the past year, Americans have been divided on the law …

Discussion: CNN, Hot Air, The PJ Tatler, Post Politics and Taegan Goddard's Wonk Wire

Wall Street Journal:

Obama open to health-law change — The government released numbers Wednesday showing that far fewer Americans had enrolled in private insurance plans under the new health law than expected and, in a marked shift, the Obama administration signaled it was open to legislation to fix the troubled rollout.

Discussion: Weasel Zippers, The Hugh Hewitt Show and White House Dossier

New York Times:

Kerry and Biden Ask for Room to Reach a Nuclear Deal With Iran — WASHINGTON — Secretary of State John Kerry and Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. pressed senators on Wednesday to give the Obama administration some breathing room to reach an accord with Iran to freeze its nuclear programs …

Discussion: Politico and Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion

Rosie Gray / BuzzFeed:
Republican Senators Slam Administration's Briefing On Iran

Discussion: Daniel W. Drezner, Israpundit and Israel Matzav

Andrew Sullivan / The Dish:

The Necessary Contradictions Of A Conservative — Sorry for missing the Best of the Dish Today deadline last night. I was giving a speech on conservatism at Eastern Michigan University, and the conversation didn't stop. — I prepped by re-reading parts of my friend Jesse Norman's terrific book …

Discussion: The Moderate Voice and Booman Tribune

James Hohmann / Politico:

Commissioned poll: Mike Enzi up 53 on Liz Cheney — Liz Cheney's support has faded in Wyoming since the summer, according to internal polling conducted for a super PAC that's been running ads against her and shared exclusively with POLITICO. — Sen. Mike Enzi (R) has expanded his lead …

Discussion: Outside the Beltway and CNN

Quentin Hardy / New York Times:

IBM to Announce More Powerful Watson via the Internet — LAS VEGAS — Welcome to the age of supercomputing for everyone. — On Thursday IBM will announce that Watson, the computing system that beat all the humans on “Jeopardy!” two years ago, will be available in a form more than twice as powerful via the Internet.

Discussion: Mashable

Arturo Garcia / The Raw Story:

Socialist candidate leading in Seattle City Council race — A Seattle City Council election that was thought to be a foregone conclusion is suddenly on the cusp of seeing a Socialist candidate either win or force a recount, the Seattle Times reported on Tuesday.

Discussion: The Seattle Times and Associated Press

Kyle Trygstad / Roll Call:

Ex-S.D. Senator: Comeback Bid Based on ‘Idealistic Concept’ — If he runs at all, former Sen. Larry Pressler's, R-S.D., bid for Senate as an independent won't look like your traditional campaign. — He said his campaign is running on an “idealistic concept” in a Wednesday phone interview with CQ Roll Call.