memeorandum: Why the Bloated Government Is Too Big to Succeed (The Fiscal Times)

12:45 AM ET, November 22, 2013

Top Items:

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, The Verge, Mediaite, The Impolitic, The Other McCain, Washington Wire, Washington Monthly, Lawyers, Guns & Money and Taylor Marsh

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: Talking Points Memo, ABC News, Hot Air, National Review, Washington Monthly, Washington Center …, The Plum Line and Marginal Revolution

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: Guardian, The Plum Line, The Fix, Daily Kos, United Liberty, PostPartisan, Weasel Zippers, The Democratic Daily, CNN, The Volokh Conspiracy, 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, Christian Science Monitor, Hot Air, LifeNews.com, The Monkey Cage, Discourse.net, American Prospect, Outside the Beltway, No More Mister Nice Blog, Talking Points Memo, TalkLeft, Althouse, Lawyers, Guns & Money and Crooked Timber

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

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: protein wisdom

ThinkProgress:

Why Senate Democrats Had To Invoke The ‘Nuclear Option’ — President Obama introduces three nominees to the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit — Well, it finally happened. — After five years of filibusters, obstruction, lengthy waits for confirmation …

Discussion: Taking Note and Hullabaloo

Paul Waldman / American Prospect:

Don't Believe the Republican Cries of Vengeance — So now the Democrats have exercised the “nuclear option,” which is not particularly nuclear. They've changed existing Senate rules so that judicial nominations can not be filibustered, but can pass with a majority vote.

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

Jonathan Weisman / New York Times:
Partisan Fever in Senate Likely to Rise

Discussion: NBC Politics

Joel B. Pollak / BREITBART.COM:
NUCLEAR: REID, DEMOCRATS DESTROY FILIBUSTER, 52-48

Discussion: Washington Post and Little Green Footballs

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

Discussion: Prairie Weather

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: Politico, Power Line, Weasel Zippers, 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, Hot Air, Post Politics, Talking Points Memo, Politico, Business Insider and Washington Free Beacon

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

New York Times:
Republican Talking Points on Obamacare

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

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

Nicole L. Hopkins / Wall Street Journal:
Nicole Hopkins: ObamaCare Forced Mom Into Medicaid

Discussion: PostPartisan, Wonkblog, AEIdeas, alicublog, Althouse, White House.gov Blog and Fox News

Matthew Yglesias / Slate:
Doctors Fire up the Obamacare Waaambulance

Discussion: Ross Douthat, Weekly Standard, protein wisdom and Twitchy

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, Agence France Presse, Firedoglake, NewsBusters blogs, Yahoo! News, Weasel Zippers, TheBlaze.com, Poynter and VodkaPundit, more at Mediagazer »

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

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, LifeNews.com, Washington Post, Cafe Hayek and Hot Air

Michael Calderone / The Huffington Post:

Barton Gellman Hits Back At Bob Woodward For ‘Insult’ About Snowden Coverage — NEW YORK — Barton Gellman fired back Thursday at Washington Post colleague Bob Woodward over Woodward's remarks that former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden should have come to him first with documents …

Discussion: Hit & Run, Business Insider, Mediaite, Politico, Poynter and Hullabaloo, more at Mediagazer »

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