memeorandum: Jobless Fear Looming Cutoff of Benefits (Annie Lowrey/New York Times)

2:25 PM ET, December 13, 2013

Top Items:

Why This Round of the Republican Civil War Was Different — Republican leaders finally had enough with conservatives' antics and decided to take back control. It worked, and we got a budget deal. — Another round of the long-running GOP civil war broke out this week, and you could be forgiven for greeting it with a yawn.

Discussion: Washington Post, Washington Monthly, Talking Points Memo and Post Politics

Paul Krugman / New York Times:

The Biggest Losers — The pundit consensus seems to be that Republicans lost in the just-concluded budget deal. Overall spending will be a bit higher than the level mandated by the sequester, the straitjacket imposed back in 2011. Meanwhile, Democrats avoided making any concessions on Social Security or Medicare.

Discussion: CANNONFIRE, Daily Kos, BillMoyers.com, Business Insider, EconLog, Seeing the Forest and Paul Krugman

Tal Kopan / Politico:

Glenn Beck attacks ‘worthless’ John Boehner — Conservative radio host Glenn Beck went off on Republican leadership after the House passed a budget compromise Thursday, calling House Speaker John Boehner “worthless” and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell a “liar.”

Discussion: Booman Tribune

Niall Stanage / The Hill:

Boehner gives immigration backers hope — Both sides in the immigration debate are watching Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) closely after Thursday evening's emphatic House vote in favor of a bipartisan budget deal. — The calculus is clear in the minds of immigration-reform advocates.

Discussion: Booman Tribune, ABC News, Hot Air, CNN, Liberaland and ABC News

Fred Barnes / Weekly Standard: Twilight of the Sequester — In Washington, folks are celebrating …

Andrew Taylor / Associated Press:
House GOP Conservatives Help Propel Budget Bill

Discussion: Politico

Washington Post:
Boehner attacks tea party groups as House approves budget deal

Discussion: The Hill, The Fix, Washington Monthly, Politico, The Plum Line, Post Politics, Roll Call, NBCNews, Rush Limbaugh, New York Times and National Review

Jonathan Martin / New York Times:

Huckabee, Looking to 2016 Race, Speaks of ‘a Real Opportunity for Me’ — LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — Former Gov. Mike Huckabee of Arkansas has not been among the Republicans frequently named as a potential 2016 presidential candidate, but he would like that to change.

Discussion: Politico, Talking Points Memo, Washington Monthly, Washington Examiner, Mediaite, The Daily Caller, National Review, The Week, Hot Air, TheBlaze.com, Outside the Beltway and First Read

David Brody / The Brody File:
Video Exclusive: Mike Huckabee Tells Brody File: “There's An Openness Now” To Run For White House

Discussion: Washington Post and Right Wing Watch

Karen Tumulty / Post Politics:
Huckabee says he may make another run for GOP presidential nod

Discussion: CNN and National Review

Karyn Maughan / eNCA:

Search form — A baboon has been spotted on the streets of Bryanston in Johannesburg, appearing hungry and confident... watch the eyewitness video. — EXCLUSIVE: Senior ANC officials walked through the stands in a vain attempt to stop crowds booing President Jacob Zuma at Madiba's memorial.

Discussion: Politico, The Independent, BizPac Review, Mashable, NY Daily News, Mediaite, Gawker, Business Insider, The PJ Tatler and World News

Steven Mufson / Washington Post:
Man who faked sign language at Mandela memorial has faced murder, other charges

Discussion: ThinkProgress, Associated Press, Post Politics and Althouse

Megan McArdle / Bloomberg:

Obamacare's Never-Ending Fix-a-Thon — The Department of Health and Human Services held a conference call for journalists this afternoon with Kathleen Sebelius and other members of the Obamacare team in which they announced yet another round of fixes. Most of them are aimed at folks who lost …

Discussion: Wonkblog, The Minority Report Blog, Washington Examiner, Betsy's Page, The Hill, Power Line and Politico

HHS.gov:
Administration takes steps to ensure Americans signing up through the Marketplace have coverage …

Discussion: Firedoglake, National Review and The Huffington Post

CoveredCA / Covered California Daily News:
Covered California And California Department Of Health Care Services Release November Statistics …

Discussion: The Raw Story, Healthy buzz, ProPublica and The Plum Line

Bill Gertz / Washington Free Beacon:

Chinese Naval Vessel Tries to Force U.S. Warship to Stop in International Waters — A Chinese naval vessel tried to force a U.S. guided missile warship to stop in international waters recently, causing a tense military standoff in the latest case of Chinese maritime harassment, according to defense officials.

Discussion: BizPac Review, Hot Air, The Gateway Pundit and Freedom Outpost

Jonathan Merritt / The Atlantic Online:

Insisting Jesus Was White Is Bad History and Bad Theology — Fox News television host Megyn Kelly told viewers on her December 11 broadcast that Jesus and Santa are both white men. — “Just because it makes you feel uncomfortable doesn't mean it has to change,” Kelly said. “Jesus was a white man, too.

Discussion: Althouse, Politico, The Reaction, Washington Monthly, No More Mister Nice Blog and Taylor Marsh

Siobhan Gorman / Wall Street Journal:

Presidential task force recommends sweeping overhaul of surveillance tactics of NSA — A task force's draft proposals would change the spy agency's leadership from military to civilian and limit how it gathers and holds the electronic information of Americans.

Discussion: Politico, ThinkProgress, The Verge, The Daily Caller, Washington Wire and Business Insider

David E. Sanger / New York Times:
Obama Panel Said to Urge N.S.A. Curbs

Discussion: Taking Note, TechCrunch, Guardian and emptywheel

Anemona Hartocollis / New York Times:

With Affordable Care Act, Canceled Policies for New York Professionals — Many in New York's professional and cultural elite have long supported President Obama's health care plan. But now, to their surprise, thousands of writers, opera singers, music teachers, photographers, doctors …

Discussion: Conservative Intelligence …

Sam Baker / NationalJournal.com: Take Two Aspirin and Blame Everything on Obamacare

Amanda Terkel / The Huffington Post:

Media Matters Declares Victory: ‘The War On Fox Is Over’ — WASHINGTON — Since its founding in 2004, the progressive watchdog group Media Matters for America has been a thorn in the side of Fox News. Its dozens of staffers monitor the network's leadership, hosts, guests and financial dealings incessantly …

Discussion: The Daily Caller, National Review, The Other McCain, Weasel Zippers, TheBlaze.com and The PJ Tatler, more at Mediagazer »

Adam Goldman / Washington Post:

Ex-FBI agent who disappeared in Iran was on rogue mission for CIA — An American man who disappeared in Iran more than six years ago had been working for the CIA in what U.S. intelligence officials describe as a rogue operation that led to a major shake-up in the spy agency.

Discussion: Politico, Post Politics, Talking Points Memo, THE DEFINITIVE SOURCE, Associated Press, Prairie Weather, NO QUARTER USA NET and Poynter, more at Mediagazer »

Guy Benson / Townhall.com:

Report: Less Than 15 Percent of Obamacare ‘Enrollees’ Are Actually Covered — This week's Obamacare headlines have been dominated by HHS' announcement that 365,000 Americans have selected a plan through Obamacare's federal and state exchanges — well short of the administration's projected goal of 800,000 enrollees by December 1st.

Discussion: VodkaPundit

David Brooks / New York Times:

Strengthen the Presidency — A couple of months ago, I visited the Congressional Budget Office, one of our most trust-inspiring government agencies. On the elevator ride, one of the economists confided that it can be challenging to be in government these days.

Discussion: JustOneMinute, Hot Air, Questions and Observations and TheBlaze.com

Ashley Killough / CNN:

Another resignation comes in Christie administration over bridge scandal — (CNN) - New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie announced Friday the resignation of New Jersey's top Port Authority official Bill Baroni, as controversy swirls regarding allegations that politics played a role in a traffic study …

Discussion: Politico, ABC News and First Read

Jamie Wiebe / The Atlantic Online:

Psychology of Lululemon: How Fashion Affects Fitness — Does expensive athletic wear actually incline us to work out? “Enclothed cognition” proposes that the clothes you wear directly affect how we think and what we do. — The Simpsons might seem an odd place to find scientific inspiration.

Discussion: Althouse

Lucy McCalmont / Politico:

Karl Rove: Obamacare rap crosses line — Karl Rove is not happy with a new rap parody of Snoop Dogg's “Drop It like It's Hot” that promotes Obamacare, saying it “crosses the line.” — In the video, which directs viewers to Covered California-led efforts TellAFriendGetCovered.com and promotes #GetCovered …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, No More Mister Nice Blog and The Gateway Pundit

Pew Research Center for the People and the Press:

Republicans More Optimistic than Democrats about Midterms — But Less GOP Optimism than in 2010 — Less than a year out from the 2014 midterm elections, Republicans are more optimistic than Democrats about their party's electoral prospects. But the “expectations gap” …

Discussion: Reuters, Washington Wire, CBS DC, CNN, Washington Free Beacon and The Reaction

Sean Higgins / Washington Examiner:

PolitiFact rewrites its own history in Obamacare ‘Lie Of The Year’ decision — BELTWAY CONFIDENTIAL OBAMACARE PRESIDENT HEALTH CARE POLITIFACT — In an impressive display of chutzpah, the Tampa Bay Times' fact-checking organization PolitiFact has designated President Obama's promise that …