memeorandum: Japan Shelves Plan to Slash Emissions, Citing Fukushima (Hiroko Tabuchi/New York Times)

12:45 PM ET, November 15, 2013

Top Items:

Megan McArdle / Bloomberg:

Obamacare Is Whatever Obama Says It Is — Well, it's been a pretty busy couple of days for Obamacare. — First we got the enrollment numbers, except for the one we'd like to know, which is how many people have actually gone through the process of enrolling in a plan.

Discussion: Wonkblog and Wall Street Journal

Jonathan H. Adler / The Volokh Conspiracy:

The Legality of the Latest ObamaCare Fix — Yesterday, the President announced a purported fix to the problem that, under the PPACA, insurance companies are not allowed to renew policies that fail to comply with PPACA requirements, even if consumers like their existing plans. This was not an accident.

Discussion: National Review, NationalJournal.com, Post Politics, Hit & Run, Talking Points Memo, Wonkblog, Roll Call, AEIdeas and The Dish

Yuval Levin / National Review:

The President Is Losing His Plan — The most important thing about the policy move announced by President Obama on Thursday is not its practical significance—which is frankly very hard to predict—but rather what it tells us about the mindset of the president and his top lieutenants.

Discussion: Power Line, A plain blog about politics and Weekly Standard

Charles Krauthammer / Washington Post:

Why liberals are panicked about Obamacare — “Even if it takes a change to the law, the president should honor the commitment the federal government made to those people and let them keep what they got.” — Bill Clinton, Nov. 12 — So the former president asserts …

Discussion: Right Turn, Betsy's Page, National Review, Cafe Hayek, Weasel Zippers, The Fix, Post Politics, Ed Driscoll, Liberal Values, The Lonely Conservative and Towleroad News #gay

New York Times:

A Health Care Fix — President Obama has come up with a modest fix for a self-inflicted political wound: his repeated — and wrong — assertions that Americans would be able to keep their health insurance plans if they wanted to under the health care reform law.

Discussion: JustOneMinute, Politico, Washington Post, USA Today, Conservative Intelligence …, Daily Kos, NBCNews, Close Read, Outside the Beltway, Wonkblog and Crooks and Liars

Elise Viebeck / The Hill:

Regulators ‘unclear’ on O-Care fix plan — President Obama's proposed fix for ObamaCare may not work in practice, according to state insurance regulators who would help implement the policy. — The National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) suggested Thursday that the plan …

Discussion: Politico, The Lonely Conservative and Weekly Standard

Byron York / Washington Examiner:
To pass health plan, Obama and Dems kept mum about its downsides

Discussion: Weekly Standard, The Lonely Conservative, National Review and Weasel Zippers

David Martosko / Daily Mail:
Revealed: Obamacare plans will cost MORE ‘in many cases’ …

Discussion: Weasel Zippers, Hot Air and “The Lid”

Sarah Kliff / Wonkblog:
The backlash to the Obamacare fix has already started

Discussion: The Daily Beast, Forbes, p m carpenter's commentary, White House.gov Blog, The Incidental Economist, Washington Post, Salon, Mediaite, Washington Wire, Talking Points Memo, KOMO News, Bloomberg, Hit & Run and Health Care Policy …

Justin Sink / The Hill:
White House threatens veto of Upton bill

Discussion: Reuters, Weasel Zippers, Michelle Malkin, Sister Toldjah, American Thinker, The Fix, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Politico, CNN, Washington Post, The Week, Talking Points Memo and Little Green Footballs

Greg Sargent / The Plum Line:
White House defends legality of Obamacare fix

Discussion: Hot Air, National Review and Weasel Zippers

David Espo / ABC News:
House GOP Getting Its Say on Cancellations

Discussion: Politico

Jon Passantino / BuzzFeed:
Obama Vows To Veto “Keep Your Health Plan” Bill

Discussion: Fox News, Questions and Observations, Red Alert Politics and National Review

Leigh Ann Caldwell / CNN:
Obama digging out of a deep hole

Discussion: NewsBusters, The Raw Story and BizPac Review

Ronald Brownstein / NationalJournal.com:

Obamacare's Problems Could Haunt Democrats for Years — The party's strategists thought the program would show white voters that government programs can help them. It's not going so well. — President Obama's health care law is now compounding a political problem it was meant to solve …

Discussion: Washington Monthly, The Moderate Voice, Taylor Marsh, Mediaite, ABC News and ABC News

Jennifer Haberkorn / Politico:

Insurance chiefs called to White House for meeting — Several insurance company CEOs have been called to a meeting with President Barack Obama at the White House Friday afternoon, POLITICO has learned. — The meeting comes one day after the White House announced a plan to allow insurers …

Discussion: Weekly Standard and TheBlaze.com

Michael D. Shear / New York Times:

Health Law Rollout's Stumbles Draw Parallels to Bush's Hurricane Response — WASHINGTON — Barack Obama won the presidency by exploiting a political environment that devoured George W. Bush in a second term plagued by sinking credibility, failed legislative battles, fractured world relations and revolts inside his own party.

Discussion: BuzzFeed, ThinkProgress, American Prospect, NBCNews, The Huffington Post, Washington Post, Mediaite, Balloon Juice, Washington Free Beacon, Weasel Zippers, Daily Kos, National Review, The Hugh Hewitt Show, Talking Points Memo, Althouse and Hot Air

Kimberley A. Strassel / Wall Street Journal:

The President's ObamaCare Backpedal — His proposal to allow people to keep their health plans will not provide a political escape hatch for beleaguered congressional Democrats. — Succumbing to the growing panic over his health law, the president on Thursday moved to throw his party a political lifeline.

Discussion: Scared Monkeys and Politico

Todd S. Purdum / Politico:
The Obamacare fumble — It's the cardinal rule of marketing …

Discussion: USA Today

Politico:
Trust frays between President Obama, Democrats

Discussion: Roll Call, Hot Air, BizPac Review, Weasel Zippers, No More Mister Nice Blog, Daily Kos, CNN and Washington Post

Mike Lillis / The Hill:
Health vote puts Dems in pickle

Discussion: Washington Post and Roll Call

Dan Friedman / NY Daily News:
Obama admits fumbled health care rollout is ‘on me,’ says his administration will have to earn back credibility

Discussion: Talking Points Memo and NBCNews

Reid J. Epstein / Politico:
Liberals to President Obama: Keep it together

Discussion: Firedoglake, The Week, NBCNews, Weasel Zippers and New York Times

Richard Spencer / Telegraph:

Al-Qaeda-linked rebels apologise after cutting off head of wrong person — Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham militants say sorry for decapitating a fellow extremist rather than enemy — Militant Islamist rebels in Syria linked to al-Qaeda have asked for “understanding and forgiveness” …

Discussion: The Jawa Report, Atlas Shrugs, “The Lid”, BBC, Liberaland, The Lonely Conservative, Weasel Zippers, Right Wing News, The PJ Tatler, Jihad Watch and Gawker

Salma Abdelaziz / CNN:
Al-Qaeda-linked rebels mistakenly behead fellow fighter, rebel group says

Discussion: National Review

Eric Lach / Talking Points Memo:

Companies Use Obamacare Confusion To Sell ‘Junk Insurance’ — Georgene Mortimer, who runs a winery and lives in Hilton Head, S.C., was recently having trouble accessing the online health insurance exchange. So she decided to check in with the local insurance agent who in 2010 had sold …

Discussion: ThinkProgress and Liberaland

Kelly Kennedy / USA Today:
Medicaid enrollment is health law's bright spot

Discussion: First Read

New York Times:

C.I.A. Collects Global Data on Transfers of Money — WASHINGTON — The Central Intelligence Agency is secretly collecting bulk records of international money transfers handled by companies like Western Union — including transactions into and out of the United States …

Discussion: Liberaland, Shakesville, emptywheel, Guardian, Gawker, The Daily Caller, TechCrunch and Prairie Weather

Evan Perez / CNN:
Source: CIA using Patriot Act to collect money transfer data

Discussion: The Moderate Voice and The Hinterland Gazette

Jack Mirkinson / The Huffington Post:

Oprah: Old Racists ‘Just Have To Die’ To Further Racial Progress — Oprah did not hold back when talking about race in an interview with the BBC on Friday. — She was in the UK to promote “The Butler,” and forthrightly told interviewer Will Gompertz that there needed to be some demographic pruning to stamp out racism more fully.

Discussion: Liberaland, Weasel Zippers, The Hinterland Gazette and The PJ Tatler

ABC News:

GOP Rival Romney: Obama Dishonest on Health Care — Republican Mitt Romney is accusing President Barack Obama of being “dishonest” about his health care law. — Romney says Obama knew people would lose their private insurance coverage under the law. He criticizes Obama for promising …

Discussion: Washington Monthly and Politico

Donald Gilliland / Marching toward Gettysburg:

Living on the wrong side of history? The Harrisburg Patriot & Union's notorious ‘review’ of the Gettysburg Address — “We pass over the silly remarks of the President. For the credit of the nation we are willing that the veil of oblivion shall be dropped over them and that they shall be no more repeated or thought of.”

Discussion: Poynter