memeorandum: No, Rand Paul, There's No Reason to Cut Unemployment Benefits (Rand Ghayad/The Atlantic Online)

1:50 PM ET, December 31, 2013

Top Items:

Lucy McCalmont / Politico:

Sarah Palin: MSNBC ‘despicable’ — Sarah Palin says MSNBC should ashamed of a “despicable” segment in which they mocked Mitt Romney's adopted black grandson. — “Leftist media hounds are not expressing an opinion with this attack; they are expressing a prejudice that would never be accepted …

Discussion: Taylor Marsh, Weasel Zippers and Mediaite

Daily Mail:

Outrage as MSNBC panelists make Mitt Romney's adopted black grandchild the punchline of a joke — Host Melissa Harris-Perry led guests in a segment that ridiculed a photo of the extensive Romney family and its single black member, a baby — Panelist Dean Obeidallah compared …

Discussion: Althouse

Ashley Killough / CNN:

MSNBC host apologizes after panel makes fun of Romney photo with black grandchild — (CNN) - An MSNBC host apologized Tuesday morning after she and panelists on her weekend program faced criticism for poking fun at a photo of Mitt Romney, his wife and their nearly two dozen grandchildren …

Discussion: The Daily Beast, Washington Wire, Mediaite, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Political Capital, Politico, AL.com, Sarah Palin, The PJ Tatler, Twitchy and The Right Scoop

Caleb Howe / The Right Scoop:
Marc Lamont Hill: Romney Grandson Photo Was Exploitative To Begin With

Discussion: NY Daily News, The Moderate Voice, Sister Toldjah, The Gateway Pundit, americanthinker.com and National Review

Mike Allen / Politico:

JOEL BENENSON'S NEW YEAR'S WISH — TOMORROW'S EMBRACE BETWEEN BILL CLINTON, NYC'S INCOMING MAYOR could be big help to Hillary '16 — THREE CLASSIC COLUMNS by retiring Clyde Haberman — HAPPY '14 EVE from breezy, heavenly Waikiki Beach, where we enjoyed a Longboard Island Lager last night at Chip Smith's oceanfront table.

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Weasel Zippers, Pat Dollard, The Daily Caller, Businessweek and Wall Street Journal

Erin Durkin / NY Daily News:

Bill de Blasio On Horse-Drawn Carriage Industry: “It's Over” — Mayor-elect Bill de Blasio vowed to act quickly to abolish horse-drawn carriages in the city. — “We are going to get rid of the horse carriages. Period,” de Blasio said in response to a question at his press conference announcing his schools chancellor pick Monday.

Discussion: americanthinker.com, Weasel Zippers, Joe. My. God., Gothamist and Gawker

Josh Kraushaar / NationalJournal.com:
The Biggest Political Winners and Losers of 2013

Discussion: americanthinker.com

Allie Malloy / CNN:
Bill de Blasio: Central Park's horse-drawn carriages should ride into history

Discussion: Taking Note, Politicker, New York Times and AL.com

Matt Taibbi / Rolling Stone:

On Christmas, Republicans Quietly Declare War on Themselves — The holidays are a great time in politics. Every year it's the same: the minute the last bits of wrapping paper have been cleared away, and Grandpa has passed his last puff of holiday gas, you can always retreat to the inside pages …

Discussion: Taylor Marsh, The Lonely Conservative, Booman Tribune and National Review

Patrick Goodenough / CNSNews:

And The Country Posing The Greatest Threat to Peace as 2013 Ends is ... (CNSNews.com) - The past year witnessed bloodshed in Syria and Iraq, turmoil in Egypt, anarchy in Central Africa, threats by a nuclear-armed North Korea and Chinese military posturing, but as 2013 ends a global poll finds …

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, Firedoglake, Israel Matzav and The Lonely Conservative

Rand Ghayad / The Atlantic Online:

No, Rand Paul, There's No Reason to Cut Unemployment Benefits — People aren't long-term unemployed because they prefer getting benefits. People are long-term unemployed because there still aren't enough jobs. — Rand Paul says he cares about the unemployed.

Discussion: Paul Krugman

Michelle Caruso-Cabrera / CNBC:

Pope's sharp words make a wealthy donor hesitate — Cardinal Timothy Dolan on the wealthy and capitalism — CNBC's Michelle Caruso-Cabrera talks to Cardinal Timothy Dolan about concerns following the pope's recent comments. — Pope Francis' critical comments about the wealthy and capitalism …

Discussion: ThinkProgress, Elizabeth Stoker, The Raw Story and Mediaite

Tal Kopan / Politico:

2014 election: Charles Rangel: 2014 bid will be ‘rough one’ — Rep. Charles Rangel predicts that his reelection campaign for a 23rd term in office will be “rough,” but he believes it's a worthy gamble. — “It's going to be a rough one, but, you know, it's like shooting crap.

Eric Scheiner / CNSNews:
Rangel: ‘Cult-Type’ Tea Party Has ‘Illness’ to Campaign on Repeal

Discussion: Independent Journal Review, Weasel Zippers and BizPac Review

Tom Coburn / Wall Street Journal:

The Year Washington Fled Reality — ‘Message discipline’ can win elections but is not a healthy way to run a country. — The past year may go down not only as the least productive ever in Washington but as one of the worst for the republic. — In both the executive branch and Congress …

Discussion: Betsy's Page and The Gateway Pundit

New York Times:

The Facts About Benghazi — An exhaustive investigation by The Times goes a long way toward resolving any nagging doubts about what precipitated the attack on the United States mission in Benghazi, Libya, last year that killed Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens and three other Americans.

Discussion: National Review, The Huffington Post, Lawfare, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Daily Mail and The PJ Tatler, more at Mediagazer »

Townhall.com:

Why Obamacare Will Only Get Less Popular — Lisa Myers has an excellent investigative reporting piece up at NBC News documenting how one small business is dealing with Obamacare. The quotes from the article are just brutal: … Myers does report that, “A handful of the Extreme Dodge workers came …

Discussion: Clayton Cramer, Investigations and Hot Air

Bloomberg:

Change Is Obamacare's Only Certainty — I said in my last post that our newly implemented health-care law “is undoubtedly going to change in the near future, in ways that will make it more or less stable than it is now.” To see what I mean, take the individual mandate.

Discussion: JustOneMinute, VodkaPundit and Viking Pundit

Noah Rothman / Mediaite:

Dyson Dismisses Phil Robertson's Biracial Grandson: Abner Louima's Sodomizer Had Mixed Race Kin Too — Fresh on the heels of one MSNBC host's program coming under fire after a panel mocked Mitt Romney's adopted biracial grandson for being “not like the other” members of his family …

Discussion: The Hinterland Gazette, National Review and Weasel Zippers

Hunter Walker / Talking Points Memo:

GOP Candidate For AZ Governor Misquotes Lincoln On ‘Class Hatred’ — A Republican gubernatorial candidate in Arizona was forced to backtrack this week after he was caught misattributing several quotes about class warfare on Twitter to Abraham Lincoln. — State Sen. Al Melvin (R) …

Discussion: Arizona Daily Star and The Raw Story

Chris Greenwood / Daily Mail:

Revealed, the U.S. hate preacher who inspired murderer of Lee Rigby: Killer tells how he became a Muslim after watching Islamic hardliner's sermons — Adebowale and Michael Adebolajo face life in jail after being convicted of killing Lee Rigby outside Woolwich Barracks

Discussion: Jihad Watch and Weasel Zippers

Charlie Savage / New York Times:

U.S. Frees Last of Uighur Detainees From Guantánamo — WASHINGTON — In what the Pentagon called a “significant milestone” in the effort to close the prison at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, the military announced on Tuesday that the United States had transferred three Chinese detainees to Slovakia.

Discussion: Washington Monthly, msnbc.com, ThinkProgress, The Verge, The Week, NBCNews and Lawfare

Jonathan Easley / The Hill:

7M ObamaCare enrollment target a tall order despite recent surge — Experts say the Obama administration faces a tall order in hitting the 7 million enrollees the Congressional Budget Office projected would sign up for ObamaCare in 2014. — After a surge of enrollees in December …

Discussion: Scared Monkeys, americanthinker.com, Weasel Zippers and Mediaite