memeorandum: What Happens When A New Age Spiritual Guru Becomes A Congressional Candidate (Hunter Schwarz/BuzzFeed)

4:30 PM ET, November 23, 2013

Top Items:

Michael A. Memoli / Los Angeles Times:

New breed of Senate Democrats drove filibuster change — A wing of relative newcomers, mostly elected after 2006, favor bucking tradition and the party's old guard to help President Obama's agenda along. — Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), left, helped lead the victorious effort to end Senate filibusters …

Discussion: Washington Monthly

Bloomberg:

Businesses Wary as Obama Picks Get Edge in Senate Rules — President Barack Obama will have a stronger hand to push through environmental, financial and other regulations after the Senate voted to let a simple majority confirm most presidential nominees. — Yesterday's rule change means Obama …

James Taranto / Wall Street Journal:
The Senate Gets MAD

Discussion: Chicago Boyz, Hot Air and National Review

Noah Rothman / Mediaite:
In Their Panic, Democrats Become Reckless Gamblers

Discussion: Hot Air

Leigh Ann Caldwell / CNN:
And credit for the nuclear option goes to...

Discussion: Daily Kos and The Reaction

Andrew Cohen / The Atlantic Online:
The Filibuster's Demise Is Great News for Judicial Confirmation Hearings

Discussion: Daily Kos

Tom Maguire / JustOneMinute:

If I Were An Enterprising RNC Attack Dog... Obama is delaying the enrollment for next year's individual health insurance debacle until after the election. The motivation fools no one - here is CNN: — White House: Politics aren't pushing back start date of 2015 Obamacare enrollment

Dana Davidsen / CNN:
Weekly addresses: GOP sticks to health care, Obama pivots to the economy

Discussion: Hot Air and Politico

CNN:
2015 Obamacare signup delayed

Discussion: The Week, Reuters, Fox News, American Spectator and The Heritage Foundation

Hunter Schwarz / BuzzFeed:

What Happens When A New Age Spiritual Guru Becomes A Congressional Candidate — Twenty years ago, Marianne Williamson wrote the first book to be endorsed by Oprah; today, she's running for Congress. Here's a look at how a New Age guru opposed to money's influence in politics plans to raise $2 million for a campaign.

Discussion: Liberaland

Washington Post:

HealthCare.gov contractor had high confidence but low success — At 9 a.m. on Aug. 22, a team of federal health officials sat down in a Baltimore conference room with at least a dozen employees of CGI Federal, the company with the main contract to build the online federal health insurance marketplace.

Discussion: Prairie Weather

New York Times:

Tension and Flaws Before Health Website Crash — WASHINGTON — On a sultry day in late August, a dozen staff members of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services gathered at the agency's Baltimore headquarters with managers from the major contractors building HealthCare …

Discussion: Eschaton

Kate Brannen / Politico:

Two out in Army ‘pretty’ photo flap — The Army colonel who wrote an internal email suggesting public affairs officers use photos of “average-looking women” when they need to illustrate stories about female soldiers has stepped down as the leader of an Army study on gender integration.

Discussion: Talking Points Memo

Nicole Flatow / ThinkProgress:

Cop Admits He Ordered Mentally Ill Black Man To Sing, Make Animal Noises — A suburban Detroit police officer admitted he asked a mentally ill black man to sing and dance and video recorded the incident. — Videos and and photos with degrading portrayals of black men were submitted earlier …

Discussion: Liberaland and Motor City Muckraker

Claudia Grisales / MyStatesman.com:

State Rep. Drew Darby charged with taking weapon to Austin airport — Texas State Rep. Drew Darby is facing a felony charge after he attempted to take a weapon through a security screening at Austin-Bergstrom International Airport this month, according to court documents.

Discussion: Taegan Goddard's …, Liberaland, Talking Points Memo, Outside the Beltway and The Raw Story

Philip Rucker / Washington Post:

White House, allies weigh nomination strategy under new Senate rules — The White House and its allies are formulating ways to take maximum advantage of this week's change in the Senate's filibuster rules to rapidly confirm more than 240 judicial and executive nominees awaiting approval.

Discussion: Althouse and Wonkblog

Rosie Taylor / Daily Mail:

Children of 8 are ‘racist’ if they miss Islam trip: School's threatening letter to parents is met with outrage — Parents were ordered to send their children to a workshop on Islam or have them labelled as racist for the rest of their school career. — They were sent a letter warning …

Discussion: The Daily Caller, Weasel Zippers and The Gateway Pundit

New York Times:

N.S.A. Report Outlined Goals for More Power — WASHINGTON — Officials at the National Security Agency, intent on maintaining its dominance in intelligence collection, pledged last year to push to expand its surveillance powers, according to a top secret strategy document.

Discussion: emptywheel, Mashable and Prairie Weather