memeorandum: Afghans' Plan to Release Prisoners Angers U.S. (Matthew Rosenberg/New York Times)

9:10 PM ET, January 1, 2014

Top Items:

Michael Moore / New York Times:

The Obamacare We Deserve — TODAY marks the beginning of health care coverage under the Affordable Care Act's new insurance exchanges, for which two million Americans have signed up. Now that the individual mandate is officially here, let me begin with an admission: Obamacare is awful.

Discussion: Pat Dollard, his vorpal sword, Weasel Zippers, NewsBusters, Mediaite, Hullabaloo, CANNONFIRE, Prairie Weather and Guardian

New York Times:
Millions Gaining Health Coverage Under Law

Discussion: Booman Tribune and Daily Kos

Washington Post:
With new year, Medicaid takes on a broader health-care role

Discussion: Sic Semper Tyrannis

John Ingold / Denver Post:

WORLD'S FIRST LEGAL RECREATIONAL MARIJUANA SALES BEGIN IN COLORADO — Colorado's ambitious experiment in cannabis policy hit a historic milestone Wednesday, when licensed stores began making the first legal sales of recreational marijuana anywhere in the world.

Discussion: Hit & Run, Americans Against the …, Guardian, The Verge, The Raw Story, Gawker, The Cannabist and Althouse

USA Today:

Last Slide — The new year got a little happier for pot smokers in Colorado on Wednesday as the nation's first retail outlets for recreational marijuana opened their doors. — “Marijuana does not have to be a burden to our communities,” said Betty Aldworth, deputy director of the National Cannabis Industry Association.

Discussion: Business Insider, Politico, Mediaite and Pat Dollard

Bloomberg:
Pot Shops in Denver Open Door to $578 Million in Sales

Discussion: NBCNews, Taylor Marsh, Marginal Revolution, Associated Press and Hit & Run

Ben Smith / BuzzFeed:

Mayor Bill De Blasio Chooses His Path With Uncompromising Inauguration — A mayor unafraid to make enemies, and eager to keep his friends. — Former President Bill Clinton, left, administers the oath of office to New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, right, on the steps of City Hall.

Paul Steinhauser / CNN:

De Blasio & the Clintons: The ties that bind? — (CNN) - Former President Bill Clinton on Wednesday formally swore in Bill de Blasio as Mayor of New York. — The very public move by the former President appeared to wrap a bow around long-standing ties between the new mayor and both Bill and Hillary Clinton.

Discussion: Politico

Thomas Kaplan / New York Times:

De Blasio Tells New York, ‘We Will Not Wait’ on Inequality — Claiming his place as the 109th mayor of New York City, Bill de Blasio delivered an inaugural address on Wednesday that focused on the issue of inequality, promising that the attention he gave to the subject when he was running for office was not merely campaign rhetoric.

Discussion: Washington Post, Gothamist, Politico and Guardian

Los Angeles Times:

Justice Sotomayor grants temporary Obamacare exemption to nuns — The Catholic nuns would have faced ‘draconian fines’ if they failed to provide contraceptive coverage, as the healthcare law requires. — Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor starts the countdown for the New Year's Eve ball drop in New York's Times Square.

Discussion: BizPac Review, Zandar Versus The Stupid and Real Science

David Nather / Politico:
For Obamacare, it's finally showtime

Discussion: ABC News and CNN

New York Times:
Justice Blocks Contraception Mandate on Insurance in Suit by Nuns

Discussion: Outside the Beltway, Balkinization, Religion Clause, Mediaite, Hot Air and The New Civil Rights Movement

Fox News:
ObamaCare birth control mandate halted for Catholic group

Discussion: Pirate's Cove, Pat Dollard and CNN

ThinkProgress:

Chief Justice Warns Sequestration Cuts Already Threatening Public Safety — Chief Justice of the United States John Roberts, in his annual Year-End Report on the State of the Federal Judiciary, blasted the 2011 Budget Control Act's automatic “sequestration” federal spending cuts and warned …

Discussion: The Raw Story and Liberaland

Tal Kopan / Politico:
Roberts calls for more money for courts

Discussion: Mediaite and Liberal Values

Paul Krugman:

The State of the Euro, In One Graph — Happy New Year! I'm trying to organize my thoughts and data on matters European, and I think I've come up with a useful way to summarize what has been happening in the euro area. In the figure below I compare the ratio of government debt to GDP …

Steve Contorno / PolitiFact:

The top 10 most viewed fact-checks of 2013 — As 2013 comes to close, it's time again to share our most popular fact-checks from the past 12 months. Topics ranged from government surveillance to the national debt to the Obamas' family vacation. — The following are the 10 fact-checks …

CNN:

Murder most fowl? Giant rubber duck bursts in Taiwan — Happier times — (CNN) — A giant yellow duck on display at Taiwan's Keelung Port is finding little to be happy about this New Year's Day. — The famed 18-meter inflatable art installation, created by Dutch artist Florentijn Hofman …

Mario Trujillo / The Hill:

Reid says jobless aid vote coming Monday — Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) told The Associated Press in an interview that the Senate will vote Monday on a three-month extension of federal unemployment benefits. — Calling the House a “black hole of legislation,” …

Discussion: Politico, The Impolitic, Taylor Marsh, Booman Tribune and Outside the Beltway

Michael A. Memoli / Los Angeles Times:
Alabama Republican is Senate's top talker of 2013

Discussion: Mediaite and Politico

Sandra Chereb / Las Vegas Sun News:
Harry Reid: Senate will vote next week on jobless benefits

Discussion: Politico and The Huffington Post

Norman Lebrecht / ArtsJournal:

Outrage at JFK as Customs men smash a musician's instruments — Boujemaa Razgui, a flute virtuoso who lives in New York and works with many US ensembles, was returning to base over the holiday when Customs officials at Kennedy Airport asked to see his instruments.

Discussion: Slipped Disc, Mediaite, Liberaland, Talking Points Memo and The Raw Story

Philip Klein / Washington Examiner:

No, 2.1 million haven't enrolled in Obamacare plans — BELTWAY CONFIDENTIAL OBAMACARE HEALTH CARE KATHLEEN SEBELIUS CMS HHS — With President Obama's health care law scheduled to begin in earnest when the new year kicks off, Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius claimed …

Discussion: Hot Air, The Hill, Power Line, Weasel Zippers, Bloomberg and Wall Street Journal

Lisa Respers France / CNN:

James Avery, star of ‘The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air,’ dies at 68 — (CNN) — Actor James Avery, who played the beloved Uncle Phil on the hit 1990s sitcom “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air,” has died, his publicist said Wednesday. He was 68. — The cause of death was complications from open-heart surgery, said his manager, Toni Benson.

Discussion: Liberaland and Inside TV