memeorandum: N.S.A. Report Outlined Goals for More Power (New York Times)

1:55 PM ET, November 23, 2013

Top Items:

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 — The politics and psychology of the “nuclear option.” — The real question isn't why Harry Reid and his Senate Democrats went “nuclear” yesterday but what took them so long. By a 52-48 vote, along party lines apart from three Democratic “nays,” …

Discussion: Chicago Boyz, Hot Air and National Review

Noah Rothman / Mediaite:

In Their Panic, Democrats Become Reckless Gamblers — Prospect theory, a predictive model of economic behavior, stipulates that when a person begins to come to terms with increasingly likely losses, they become risk-takers. Losses sting, the theory asserts, more than gains reward.

Discussion: Hot Air

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

CNN:
2015 Obamacare signup delayed

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

Z. Byron Wolf / CNN:
Extended: Obamacare enrollment deadline for January 1 coverage

Discussion: Reuters

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

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

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

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

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

Dana Davidsen / CNN:

Weekly addresses: GOP sticks to health care, Obama pivots to the economy — (CNN) - While Republicans continued on the anti-Obamacare offensive, President Barack Obama largely pivoted away from the troubled rollout of Healthcare.gov, instead focusing his address on the economy.

Discussion: Hot Air and Politico

Leigh Ann Caldwell / CNN:

And credit for the nuclear option goes to... Washington (CNN) — What was known as the nuclear option yesterday is known as the Reid Rule today. Time will only tell if the Reid Rule is productive or destructive. But we'll leave that to the historians. — As for how it became the Reid rule …

Discussion: Daily Kos and The Reaction