memeorandum: Iran, North Korea Secretly Developing New Long-Range Rocket Booster for ICBMs (Bill Gertz/Washington Free Beacon)

4:10 PM ET, November 26, 2013

Top Items:

Paul Steinhauser / CNN:

CNN/ORC poll: Democrats lose 2014 edge following Obamacare uproar — Washington (CNN) - What a difference a month makes. — A new CNN/ORC International poll indicates a dramatic turnaround in the battle for control of Congress in next year's midterm elections.

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, his vorpal sword, Reuters, Heritage Action for America, Hot Air, Outside the Beltway, Post Politics, Scared Monkeys, Weasel Zippers, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Weekly Standard, Taegan Goddard's … and UrbanGrounds

Quinnipiac News + Events:

Release Detail — November 26, 2013 - Unknown Dem Gains On Ohio Governor, Quinnipiac University Poll Finds; More Voters Say Medicaid Expansion Is Good Idea — Ohio Gov. John Kasich begins his reelection year with a 44 - 37 percent lead over a largely unknown possible Democratic challenger …

Discussion: The Fix, Real Clear Politics, CNN and Taegan Goddard's …

Josh Kraushaar / NationalJournal.com:

Democrats Fear Obamacare Will Cost Them The Senate — One top Democratic pollster: “If there's nothing you want to fix, there's something wrong with you.” — Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La., is one of the most vulnerable Democrats headed into the midterms. (Liz Lynch)

Discussion: msnbc.com, Hot Air, The Plum Line, Taylor Marsh, ABC News and Politico

Michael Calderone / The Huffington Post:

CBS News' Lara Logan Taking Leave Of Absence Over Discredited ‘60 Minutes’ Benghazi Report — NEW YORK — Jeff Fager, chairman of CBS News and executive producer of '"60 Minutes," informed staff Tuesday that Lara Logan and her producer, Max McClellan, would be taking a leave of absence following …

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Liberaland, Talking Points Memo, emptywheel, Mediaite, The Impolitic, The Raw Story and Poynter, more at Mediagazer »

Brynn Gingras / nbcnewyork.com:

Family Says They Did Tip Gay Server, Didn't Leave Note — After a gay server at a New Jersey restaurant said a customer denied her a tip and wrote her a hateful note on the receipt, a local family contacted NBC 4 New York and said their receipt shows they paid a tip and didn't write any such note.

Discussion: The Daily Caller, The Week, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Global Grind, The Gateway Pundit, Mediaite, Towleroad News #gay, Gothamist, The PJ Tatler and Weasel Zippers

Fox News:

Almost 80 million with employer health care plans could have coverage canceled, experts predict — Almost 80 million people with employer health plans could find their coverage canceled because they are not compliant with ObamaCare, several experts predicted.

Discussion: Scared Monkeys, Weasel Zippers, Patterico's Pontifications, Washington Free Beacon and The Gateway Pundit

Wall Street Journal:
Miller and McCloskey: The Next ObamaCare Mirage

Discussion: National Review and Economics Policies …

Jonathan Cohn / The New Republic:
You Might Lose Your Doctor, But Don't Blame Obamacare

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Slate and NationalJournal.com

Sari Horwitz / Washington Post:

Julian Assange unlikely to face U.S. charges over publishing classified documents — The Justice Department has all but concluded it will not bring charges against WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange for publishing classified documents because government lawyers said they could not do so without …

Discussion: Guardian, Talking Points Memo, Mashable and Poynter, more at Mediagazer »

New York Times:
N.S.A. May Have Hit Internet Companies at a Weak Spot

Discussion: Firedoglake and Business Insider

Mark Hosenball / Reuters:
Spies worry over “doomsday” cache stashed by ex-NSA contractor Snowden

Discussion: Hit & Run, The Daily Caller, BillMoyers.com and The Verge

Justin Sink / The Hill:

Obama's pivot No. 5 this year — The White House, for at least the fifth time this year, is seeking to pivot to the economy, this time in a bid to change the subject from the disastrous rollout of ObamaCare. — It's a common play for the White House, which frequently seeks to refocus attention …

Discussion: Weekly Standard and Weasel Zippers

Reuters:

White House targets local media on Obamacare — President Barack Obama has bungled HealthCare.gov so badly that he's told senior aides to not even try to win positive coverage from the national press. — Instead, they're going local. — In the past month, Obama and his Cabinet have hit nine …

Discussion: CNN, PERRspectives, Hot Air, Washington Free Beacon, ABC News, Mediaite, Daily Kos, Politico and The Plum Line

Matt Welch / Hit & Run:

The Boys Who Cried “Munich” — Was it really only 55 days ago that the world—including the part inhabited by Republicans—rolled its collective eyes at U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry bizarrely mischaracterizing the decision whether or not to bomb the regime in Syria as our latest …

Discussion: JustOneMinute, Daniel W. Drezner, Mondoweiss and The Daily Beast

Bret Stephens / Wall Street Journal:
Stephens: Worse Than Munich

Discussion: ThinkProgress, Betsy's Page, Reuters, The Daily Caller, Hit & Run, Daniel W. Drezner, Hot Air and Jerusalem Post

Tom Kludt / Talking Points Memo:

Mark Halperin: Death Panels Are ‘Built Into’ Obamacare (VIDEO) — One of the Beltway's best-known pundits gave credence this week to perhaps the fringiest of all Obamacare conspiracy theories. — In an interview on Monday with the conservative Newsmax, Time's Mark Halperin said that so-called …

Discussion: The Raw Story

RealClearPolitics Video Log:
Mark Halperin: Obamacare Contains “Death Panels”

Discussion: Hullabaloo, Mediaite, UrbanGrounds, Ed Driscoll and Shot in the Dark

Guardian:

Pope Francis calls unfettered capitalism ‘tyranny’ and urges rich to share wealth — Pontiff's first major publication calls on global leaders to guarantee work, education and healthcare — Pope Francis has attacked unfettered capitalism as “a new tyranny”, urging global leaders …

Discussion: ProfessorBainbridge.com, BillMoyers.com and Shakesville

Alexander Bolton / The Hill:

Iranian nuclear deal strains Obama's relations with big Jewish donors — The Iran nuclear deal has put new strains on President Obama's relationship with Jewish donors, a pillar of Democratic fundraising. — The U.S.-led agreement — endorsed by France, Germany, Britain, China and Russia …

Discussion: Mondoweiss and JP Updates

Yossi Klein Halevi / The New Republic:
Israel's Freakout, Explained

Discussion: Postmodern Conservative

Emily Schultheis / Politico:

Tom Corbett's numbers continue to sink — Pennsylvania GOP Gov. Tom Corbett has been in trouble all year, and a new poll out Tuesday suggests he's trailing even the unknown Democratic candidates by double digits. — The poll, from the Democratic firm Public Policy Polling …

Discussion: Outside the Beltway

Tom Kludt / Talking Points Memo:
PPP: Pennsylvania's Tom Corbett The Most Unpopular Governor In America

Discussion: rubber hose

Carrie Dann / NBCNews:

‘Do-nothing’ Congress on track for one of the least productive years ever — It's not quite a “do nothing” Congress - but it's not far off. — With only a handful of remaining legislative days on their calendar, this current Congress is on track to go down as one of the most unproductive in modern history.

Discussion: Shakesville

Tim Alberta / NationalJournal.com:
Congressional Vacation Set to Create Another Fiscal Crisis

Discussion: Daily Kos

Anna Palmer / Politico:

Tea party unscathed in early GOP civil war — The Republican civil war erupted into full view this fall, and the establishment looked like it was about to shove the movement back in line. — But the early skirmishes ended with the tea party no weaker than it was.

Discussion: Hullabaloo and Daily Kos

Robert Barnes / Washington Post:

Supreme Court to review contraceptive coverage mandate — The Supreme Court agreed Tuesday to consider a new challenge to President Obama's Affordable Care Act and decide whether employers with religious objections may refuse to provide their workers with mandated insurance coverage of contraceptives.

Discussion: SCOTUSblog, Washington Monthly, The Fix, The Plum Line, Crooks and Liars and Shakesville

Kristine Gill / Naples Daily News:

Trey Radel: ‘People coming & harassing me’ — U.S. Rep. Trey Radel at Hazelden — A day after Collier and Lee Republicans called for his resignation, U.S. Rep. Trey Radel took a smoke break at his treatment facility in downtown Naples and said he's being harassed as he tries to focus on his health.

Discussion: Politico, Talking Points Memo, Post Politics and Naked Politics

Washington Post:

Among American workers, poll finds unprecedented anxiety about jobs, economy — Will Figg/For The Washington Post - John Stewart works at the Philadelphia International Airport escorting passengers in wheelchairs. The job pays $5.25 an hour, plus tips. “I'm glad I don't have a family,” Stewart said.

Discussion: ThinkProgress, Hot Air, No More Mister Nice Blog and Shakesville

Doug Sosnik / Politico:

Which Side of the Barricade Are You On? — Democratic strategist Doug Sosnik was a close adviser to President Bill Clinton, and he's famed in Washington circles for his closely held, big-think memos on the state of American politics. We got our hands on his latest—in which he warns …