memeorandum: Court gives nuns a compromise on health care issue (Associated Press)

11:05 AM ET, January 25, 2014

Top Items:

Huckabee Spills the Beans — It's not often we think about Mike Huckabee. True, he has a talk show. But so does half the world. Kelly Ripa has a talk show. Geraldo Rivera has a talk show. How often do they come up in conversation? — Now, Huckabee is suddenly in the news …

Discussion: CBS News, Washington Monthly, NewsMax.com and Booman Tribune

Ed Kilgore / Washington Monthly:

Rebranding: Who Needs It? — The Mike Huckabee brouhaha yesterday offered about the 155th recent opportunity for non-conservatives to observe that the “rebranding” exercise of the Republican Party isn't going that well. But as The Atlantic's Molly Ball observes today, Republicans really just don't care:

Discussion: Booman Tribune

Molly Ball / The Atlantic Online:
Does the Republican Party Have to Change?

Discussion: Hot Air, Mediaite, RealClearPolitics Video Log and Fox News

TIME:
For GOP, Adjusted 2016 Primary Calendar Is All About The Money

Discussion: ABC News, Los Angeles Times, The Week, Politico, National Review and The Hugh Hewitt Show

Jonathan Martin / New York Times:
Republicans Vote to Streamline Nominating Process

Discussion: Washington Post and She The People

TIME:
Exclusive: Republican Party Calls For End To NSA Domestic Phone Records Program

Discussion: Independent Journal Review, CANNONFIRE, Techdirt, The PJ Tatler, Guardian, TechCrunch, Hot Air and The Hill

Associated Press:

Court gives nuns a compromise on health care issue — WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court on Friday offered a short-term compromise that would continue to exempt a group of Denver nuns that operates charity nursing homes from the birth control mandate of the nation's health care law if they declare their objections in writing.

Discussion: The PJ Tatler, SCOTUSblog and WFPL

Robert Barnes / Washington Post:

Supreme Court says nuns are exempt for now from Obamacare contraceptives rule — The Supreme Court said Friday that a group of Colorado nuns does not have to comply with the Affordable Care Act's requirement that employees' insurance plans offer contraceptives while they pursue a legal challenge of that portion of the law.

Discussion: The Democratic Daily

Politico:
Contraceptive mandate delay granted

Discussion: Becket Fund, CNN and The Heritage Foundation

Chris Geidner / BuzzFeed:
Supreme Court Exempts Religious Nonprofits From Contraception Mandate Paperwork During Appeal

Discussion: SCOTUSblog, ThinkProgress and Election Law Blog

Robert Pear / New York Times:
In Nuns' Suit, Justices Block Key Mandate in Health Law

Discussion: ECHIDNE OF THE SNAKES

Sarah Erdreich / Talking Points Memo:

What's The Matter With Texas? Anti-Choice Law At Its Worst — “Macabre” seems somehow inadequate to describe what's been going on in Texas. “Horrifying,” “insulting,” and “beyond Kafkaesque” also fall short. — For the past seven weeks, a hospital in Fort Worth has refused …

Manny Fernandez / New York Times:

Judge Orders Hospital to Remove Pregnant Woman From Life Support — FORT WORTH — A Texas judge ruled on Friday that a Fort Worth hospital must remove the life support of a pregnant brain-dead woman, siding with the husband and family in a case that has drawn national attention.

Discussion: Althouse and The Moderate Voice

Diane Jennings / The Scoop Blog:
Judge orders JPS Hospital to withdraw life support for brain-dead pregnant woman

Discussion: ThinkProgress, The Raw Story and NPR

Amie Parnes / The Hill:

Simas heads up new office at White House — The White House on Friday announced David Simas, a senior adviser to President Obama who managed the healthcare rollout, will head up a new post at the White House: Office of Political Strategy and Outreach. — The White House created the role …

Discussion: CNN

Edward-Isaac Dovere / Politico:
White House to launch new political office

Discussion: CNN, The Gateway Pundit and Weasel Zippers

Jeff Weiner / Orlando Sentinel:

Attorney: George Zimmerman stole photographer's work to make painting — Lawyer for photographer who took picture of Angela Corey: “You just can't do that.” — The special prosecutor who charged George Zimmerman with second-degree murder in the shooting of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin …

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, Politico, Talking Points Memo, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Hinterland Gazette, Mediaite and Gawker, more at Mediagazer »

BREITBART.COM:

EXCLUSIVE: POLITICO TRIES TO MANIPULATE HANNITY COMMENT ON MICHAEL SAVAGE — On Friday, Politico was set to release a puff piece on Michael Savage, the polarizing host tapped by Cumulus to replace iconic talker Sean Hannity on its affiliates. In the process of putting together that puff piece, Politico contacted Hannity for comment.

Discussion: American Spectator

Shawn Boburg / NorthJersey.com:

GWB scandal: Port Authority won't pay legal bills for David Wildstein — The Port Authority will not pick up the legal bills of a former executive at the center of an investigation into the George Washington Bridge access lane closures. — On Friday morning the agency notified David Wildstein …

Discussion: The Raw Story, Talking Points Memo and Liberaland

Derek Thompson / The Atlantic Online:

The Keeping-Up-With-the-Joneses Myth — Behind the Great Recession, there was a credit crunch. Behind the credit crunch, there was a housing bust. And behind the housing bust, there was an explosion in debt in mid-2000s among low-income households. — So what was behind that?

Discussion: Daily Kos

Sheryl Gay Stolberg / New York Times:

Old Democratic Name (Nunn) Stakes Bid on Shifting Georgia — PERRY, Ga. — As a little girl, Michelle Nunn clutched her father's hand as they strolled the pecan groves of the family's 2,400-acre farm, a moment captured in a black-and-white photograph that Sam Nunn used to help win election to the Senate.

Gregorio Borgia / Associated Press:

Pope Francis Is Drafting An Encyclical On The Environment — VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Francis has begun drafting an encyclical on ecology. — The Vatican spokesman, the Rev. Federico Lombardi, said the document was still very much in its early stages and that no publication date has been set.