memeorandum: Harry Reid's Nuclear Hypocrisy (Roger Pilon/National Review)

2:45 AM ET, November 22, 2013

Top Items:

Ezra Klein / Wonkblog:

Nine reasons the filibuster change is a huge deal — 1. The change the Senate made today is small but consequential: The filibuster no longer applies to judicial or executive-branch nominees. It still applies to bills and Supreme Court nominations. — Goodbye, filibuster. (Kevin Lamarque/Reuters)

Discussion: White House.gov Blog, Taylor Marsh, ABC News, National Review, Talking Points Memo, Hot Air, Washington Monthly, Washington Center … and Marginal Revolution

Sahil Kapur / Talking Points Memo:

NUCLEAR OPTION TRIGGERED: Dems Make Historic Change To Filibuster Rules — After years of threats and warnings, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) and his Democratic majority on Thursday executed the “nuclear option” to eliminate the filibuster for executive branch and judicial nominees, except for the Supreme Court.

Discussion: BuzzFeed, Wonkblog, Liberal Values, Mediaite, The Verge, The Impolitic, The Other McCain, Washington Wire, Washington Monthly, Lawyers, Guns & Money and Taylor Marsh

Paul Kane / Washington Post:

Reid, Democrats trigger ‘nuclear’ option; eliminate most filibusters on nominees — The partisan battles that have paralyzed Washington in recent years took a historic turn Thursday, as Senate Democrats eliminated filibusters for most presidential nominations, severely curtailing …

Discussion: USA Today, Right Turn, The Plum Line, The Volokh Conspiracy, Guardian, Daily Kos, The Fix, PostPartisan, The Democratic Daily, Weasel Zippers, CNN, Talking Points Memo, Hit & Run, Questions and Observations, ProfessorBainbridge.com, Outside the Beltway and The Gateway Pundit

Jeremy W. Peters / New York Times:

In Landmark Vote, Senate Limits Use of the Filibuster — WASHINGTON — The Senate voted on Thursday to eliminate the use of the filibuster against most presidential nominees, a move that will break the Republican blockade of President Obama's picks to cabinet posts and the federal judiciary.

Discussion: The Plum Line, Hot Air, Christian Science Monitor, The Monkey Cage, LifeNews.com, American Prospect, Discourse.net, Talking Points Memo, Outside the Beltway, No More Mister Nice Blog, Crooked Timber, Althouse, TalkLeft and Lawyers, Guns & Money

Roger Pilon / National Review:

Harry Reid's Nuclear Hypocrisy — Harry Reid is set to “go nuclear.” He wants to end the filibuster as it applies to appellate court nominations — not by a two-thirds vote of the Senate, as Senate rules require, but by a simple majority. And given the short memories now in evidence, he may just succeed.

Discussion: Patterico's Pontifications and protein wisdom

Joel B. Pollak / BREITBART.COM:

NUCLEAR: REID, DEMOCRATS DESTROY FILIBUSTER, 52-48 — The Senate voted Thursday, 52-48, to end the filibuster rule for all executive and judicial appointments except for Supreme Court nominees, which would still need a 60-vote supermajority to end debate and move to a majority vote on confirmation.

Discussion: Washington Post and Little Green Footballs

Dylan Scott / Talking Points Memo:

McCain: Dems Will Pay ‘Heavy, Heavy Price’ For Changing Filibuster — Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) said that Democrats would “pay a heavy, heavy price” for changing the Senate rules for judicial and executive nominees. — “They're governed by the newer members... who have never been in a minority …

Discussion: Washington Monthly and Daily Kos

Jonathan Weisman / New York Times:

Partisan Fever in Senate Likely to Rise — WASHINGTON — President Obama will get a short-term lift for his nominees, judicial and otherwise, but over the immediate horizon, the strong-arm move by Senate Democrats on Thursday to limit filibusters could usher in an era of rank partisan warfare beyond …

Discussion: NBC Politics

Paul Waldman / American Prospect:
Don't Believe the Republican Cries of Vengeance

Discussion: Mother Jones, First Read, Right Turn, BBC, The Dish and ThinkProgress

Sahil Kapur / Talking Points Memo:
Norm Ornstein: Republicans Forced Reid's Hand On The Nuclear Option

Discussion: Wonkblog and The Plum Line

Molly Ball / The Atlantic Online:
Why Harry Reid Went Nuclear

Discussion: Prairie Weather

Jose Delreal / Politico:
Paul on Reid: 'We've got a big bully'

Discussion: Reuters and PostPartisan

ThinkProgress:
Why Senate Democrats Had To Invoke The ‘Nuclear Option’

Discussion: Hullabaloo and Booman Tribune

Tom Kludt / Talking Points Memo:
GOP Senator: Nuclear Option Is ‘Obamacare II’

Discussion: NewsBusters, National Review and Mediaite

Politico:
Senate goes for ‘nuclear option’

Discussion: The World's Greatest …, Weekly Standard, Washington Free Beacon and Chicago Boyz

Paul Steinhauser / CNN:

Obama approval rating sinks to new low in CNN poll — Washington (CNN) - As President Barack Obama's approval rating hits another all-time low, a new national survey also indicates that Americans say the President has less power than congressional Republicans when it comes to shaping events over the next year.

Discussion: Power Line, Weasel Zippers, Politico, Hot Air, Talking Points Memo and National Review

Paul Steinhauser / CNN: CNN Poll: More than half back Iranian nuclear deal

John Boehner / Speaker.gov:

My Attempt to Sign Up For Health Care … Earlier this afternoon, I sat down to try and enroll in the DC exchange under the president's health care law: — Like many Americans, my experience was pretty frustrating. After putting in my personal information, I received an error message.

Discussion: Political Capital, Talking Points Memo, Post Politics, Hot Air, Politico, Business Insider, Washington Free Beacon and TIME

Politico:

Older hill aides shocked by Obamacare prices — Veteran House Democratic aides are sick over the insurance prices they'll pay under Obamacare, and they're scrambling to find a cure. — “In a shock to the system, the older staff in my office (folks over 59) have now found …

James Oliphant / NationalJournal.com:

Love It or Hate It, Obamacare Redistributes Americans' Wealth — Not everyone comes out ahead as a result of the Affordable Care Act. Somebody has to foot the bill when you shift that much wealth. — President Obama has said a lot of things about health care reform …

Discussion: Ed Driscoll, Hot Air and Yahoo! News

Richard Kim / The Nation: The problems with the Affordable Care Act stem from government being too small and weak, not too big and powerful.

New York Times:
Republican Talking Points on Obamacare

Discussion: PoliticusUSA, Talking Points Memo, Shakesville, The Week, Washington Monthly, The Democratic Daily, Prairie Weather, Crooks and Liars, No More Mister Nice Blog, Althouse, The Plum Line, New York Times, Liberaland, First Read and The New Republic

Dylan Byers / Politico:

Obama holds off-record meeting with MSNBC hosts, liberal pundits — President Obama held an off-the-record meeting with MSNBC hosts and liberal pundits on Thursday, POLITICO has learned. — Present at the meeting: MSNBC's Ed Schultz and Lawrence O'Donnell, Washington Post economics blogger Ezra Klein …

Discussion: Hot Air and Weasel Zippers

Ron Fournier / NationalJournal.com:

Obama's Image Machine: Monopolistic Propaganda Funded by You — News organizations protest White House restrictions on independent photo coverage. — New York Times photographer Doug Mills strode into Jay Carney's office Oct. 29 with a pile of pictures taken exclusively …

Discussion: THE DEFINITIVE SOURCE, Firedoglake, Yahoo! News, Weasel Zippers, TheBlaze.com, Agence France Presse, Poynter and VodkaPundit, more at Mediagazer »

Ari Shavit / New York Times:

How Bush Let Iran Go Nuclear — AMERICAN and Iranian negotiators yesterday began a second round of talks in Geneva, seeking a deal on Iran's nuclear program. — If such an agreement were signed, it would represent an Iranian victory — and an American defeat.

Discussion: TruthRevolt.org, Israel Matzav and Liberaland

The Fiscal Times:

Why the Bloated Government Is Too Big to Succeed — Which part of the country is getting richer the fastest? That might seem like a strange question in the middle of a four-year economic stagnation. Chronic unemployment continues, and the American workforce participation rate remains at 35-year lows.

Discussion: The Daily Caller

Robert Laszewski / Health Care Policy …:

“If You Like Your Doctor You Will Be Able to Keep Your Doctor. Period” — I think you can guess who said that. — Actually, here is what the President said at the American Medical Association Meeting in July, 2009—and likely lots more times: … We have all heard this repeated many times before in recent weeks.

Discussion: VodkaPundit, Washington Post, LifeNews.com, Cafe Hayek and Hot Air

Skip Navigation / ACLU:

ACLU Challenges Kansas' Two-Tiered Voter Registration System — CONTACT: 212-549-2666, media@aclu.org — TOPEKA, Kan. - The American Civil Liberties Union today filed a lawsuit challenging Kansas' two-tiered voter registration system. The petition charges that eligible voters are being divided …

Discussion: Politico and Associated Press

Peter Hamby / CNN:

How Chris Christie took over the Republican Governors Association — Chris Christie: New Jersey's other Boss — Phoenix, Arizona (CNN) — There wasn't room for the two of them. — In the fall of 2012, with the presidential race in full swing, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal and New Jersey …

Discussion: Guardian, The Week, Texas Politics and Washington Post