memeorandum: How to understand the GOP predicament on immigration (Greg Sargent/The Plum Line)

7:40 PM ET, January 29, 2014

Top Items:

Hadas Gold / Politico:

Bush speechwriter: Obama plagiarized Bush — President George W. Bush's former speech writer said that President Barack Obama plagiarized his former boss in Tuesday's State of the Union address. — Speaking to Fox News's Megyn Kelly, Marc Thiessen, the lead writer on Bush's 2007 State …

Discussion: The White House, The Huffington Post, Infowars, No More Mister Nice Blog, Daily Kos, First Read, The Moderate Voice, CNN, Washington Monthly, Mediaite and BizPac Review

Washington Post:

FULL TRANSCRIPT: Obama's 2014 State of the Union address — President Obama delivered his 2014 State of the Union address on Jan. 28, 2014, at the U.S. Capitol in Washington. Here is the complete transcript of his remarks — PRESIDENT OBAMA: Thank you. (Applause.) Thank you so much.

Discussion: Hit & Run, Washington Free Beacon, American Prospect, Women's Take, National Review, The Fix, Liberal Values, The PJ Tatler, The Diplomat, AEIdeas, ThinkProgress, Gawker, The Gateway Pundit and Wonkblog

Ron Fournier / NationalJournal.com:
Good Speech, Modest Agenda, Diminished Leader

Discussion: New York Times, Washington Wire, Outside the Beltway, Rush Limbaugh, Shot in the Dark, The Daily Caller, Washington Post and Mediaite

Tom Kludt / Talking Points Memo:

Poll: Huckabee Is Now The GOP's Top Choice For 2016 After Libido Remark — Uncle Sugar has apparently provided Mike Huckabee with a polling bounce. — The latest survey from Democratic PPP released Wednesday showed the former Arkansas governor surging among Republican voters nationwide …

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Outside the Beltway, Liberaland and Little Green Footballs

Yahoo! News:

Ted Cruz is sick and tired of being asked about the government shutdown — Ted Cruz would appreciate it very much if you would kindly stop discussing his role in the government shutdown. — The Texas senator who burst onto the public scene when he convinced congressional Republicans …

Discussion: The Raw Story and Mediaite

Tom Jensen / Public Policy Polling:

Huckabee up, Christie down — Following the controversy over his ‘Uncle Sugar’ speech Mike Huckabee has...taken the lead in the Republican primary race for 2016. He's at 16% to 14% for Jeb Bush, 13% for Chris Christie, 11% for Rand Paul, 8% each for Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio, and Paul Ryan, 6% for Scott Walker, and 5% for Bobby Jindal.

Discussion: Politico, Weekly Standard, Hot Air, Mediaite, The Week and National Review

The Hill:

Reid rejects Obama's trade power — Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) on Wednesday suggested he will not bring legislation to the floor that would grant President Obama greater trade powers. — Reid said he is “against” trade promotion authority (TPA) legislation — often called …

Discussion: Hot Air and Campaign for America's Future

Katherine Connell / National Review:
History Shows Dems Face Long Odds in Keeping Senate

Discussion: Questions and Observations

Dan Merica / CNN:
Reid says vulnerable Democrats should not run away from Obama

Discussion: Politico

Scott Bland / NationalJournal.com:
Obama's State Approval Ratings Spell Trouble for Senate Democrats

Discussion: VodkaPundit and Hot Air

NY1:

Rep. Grimm Threatens NY1 Reporter Following State of the Union … Staten Island Rep. Michael Grimm physically threatened NY1 political reporter Michael Scotto at the conclusion of an interview in the Capitol Rotunda following Tuesday night's State of the Union address.

NY1:
Rep. Grimm Apologizes to NY1 Reporter For On-Camera Threat

Discussion: OnPolitics, News Desk, Firedoglake, The Daily Caller and National Review

Mollie Hemingway / The Federalist:

The Story Of A War Hero Wounded On His 10th Deployment Is Really The Story Of Obama — There are a few things that strike the reader upon reading the following tweet, which references Sgt. 1st Class Cory Remsburg, the Army Ranger President Barack Obama praised at the end of his otherwise unmemorable State of the Union address.

Discussion: Ed Driscoll

Russell Berman / The Hill:
Army Ranger steals Obama's thunder

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, Politico and ABC News

Todd S. Purdum / Politico:
The State of the Union: Make it stop

Discussion: Taylor Marsh, Taegan Goddard's … and Washington Wire

Nielsen:

33.3 MILLION TUNE IN TO WATCH PRES. OBAMA'S STATE OF THE UNION ADDRESS — On Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2014 President Barack Obama delivered his second State of the Union address of his second term in office. The address was carried live from 9:00 p.m. to 10:15 p.m. on 13 networks and tape-delayed on Univision.

Discussion: Washington Wire, Politico, Post Politics and Business Insider

Joe Sterling / CNN:

Was Atlanta asleep at the wheel? — Atlanta (CNN) — We're world-class, Greater Atlanta boasts. We're home to the world's busiest airport, to the Braves and Georgia Tech. To CNN and the Weather Channel. We're a mecca for conventioneers. — But today, that solid rep is going south, thanks to the “rush hour from hell.”

Discussion: Washington Monthly and Voxxi

CNN:
Atlanta mayor blames poor coordination for storm snafu

Discussion: Hinterland Gazette and Mashable

Greg Sargent / The Plum Line:

Hitting Mitch McConnell over health care in Kentucky — In yesterday's speech, President Obama gave a shout-out to Kentucky Governor Steve Beshear, citing his tireless efforts to expand Obamacare coverage to his own constituents in a deep red state. As enrollment mounts …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo

Robert Costa / Washington Post:

ANALYSIS: Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers comes through for GOP in SOTU response — Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash.) had one of the more difficult tasks in politics on Tuesday, delivering the official Republican response to President Obama's State of the Union address.

Discussion: ThinkProgress, Talking Points Memo, The Hill, Politico, Daily Kos, Hot Air, Washington Monthly and Taylor Marsh

New York Times:

For Christie, Politics Team Kept a Focus on Two Races — His campaign called them “the Top 100,” the swing towns that Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey wanted to win as he prepared for a re-election campaign. Capturing these towns, sometimes referred to as mini-Ohios or mini-Floridas …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Guardian, susiemadrak.com and The Dish

Richard Alleyne / Daily Mail:

EXCLUSIVE: Obama's high school pot dealer who he thanked for the ‘good times’ was beaten to death with a hammer by his gay lover after fights over flatulence and drugs — Raymond Boyer was known as ‘Gay Ray’ to Obama and his marijuana smoking ‘Choom Gang’ of privately-educated kids at Hawaiian high school

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit, The PJ Tatler and VodkaPundit

Thomas L. Friedman / New York Times:

Why Kerry Is Scary — TEL AVIV — It is pretty clear now that Secretary of State John Kerry will either be Israel's diplomatic salvation or the most dangerous diplomatic fanatic Israel has ever encountered. But there isn't much room anymore for anything in between.

Discussion: Mondoweiss, Guardian, Israel Matzav and Algemeiner.com

Ted Cruz / Wall Street Journal:

Ted Cruz: The Imperial Presidency of Barack Obama — In the nation's history, there is simply no precedent for an American president so wantonly ignoring federal law. — Of all the troubling aspects of the Obama presidency, none is more dangerous than the president's persistent pattern of lawlessness …

Discussion: Liberaland, msnbc.com, National Review, The Heritage Foundation, American Prospect, Hit & Run, Hot Air, Patterico's Pontifications, The Mahablog, Guardian, BuzzFeed and The Lead with Jake Tapper

Fernando Espuelas / The Hill:

Pete Wilson syndrome: Boehner and the GOP's last chance on immigration reform — Tick, tock, the clock has run out on John Boehner and his GOP cohort to present a credible immigration reform plan to the nation. And that doesn't mean just any set of “principles,” but a coherent …

Discussion: Washington Monthly

Greg Sargent / The Plum Line:

How to understand the GOP predicament on immigration — The politics of immigration inside the House GOP caucus can seem perplexing and opaque. Fortunately, Paul Ryan just gave an interview to Chuck Todd that pulls back the curtain and reveals how Republicans see the political minefield that lies between them and getting to Yes.

Discussion: ThinkProgress, Hot Air, The PJ Tatler and National Review

Fortune:

Fortune 50 CEO pay vs. our salaries — Exactly how much more do Fortune 50 CEOs make than their workers? In many cases, quite a bit more. Here is an interactive breakdown of a handful of Fortune 50 top exec salaries compared to typical employee pay at their respective companies.

Discussion: Yahoo! News and Shakesville

David Gutman / Associated Press:

Marshall scientist found formaldehyde in Charleston water — CHARLESTON, W.Va. — A Marshall University environmental scientist and member of the state Environmental Quality Board said today that he has found formaldehyde in local water samples and that the continued lack of data on the chemical …

Discussion: Daily Kos, ThinkProgress and The Raw Story

Jim Romenesko:

Report: Hundreds of Patch employees laid off — I'm told that hundreds — two tipsters claim two-thirds of the editorial staff — have been laid off by Patch's new owner, Hale Global. I have asked the company for confirmation. (It bought Patch from AOL on January 15.)

Discussion: Business Insider, TechCrunch, Mediaite, Mashable, Gawker and Poynter, more at Mediagazer »

Politico:

The Case Against Early Voting — To the delight of anyone who's ever waited in line to cast a vote, a bipartisan election commission convened by President Barack Obama concluded last week that states across the country should increase their use of early voting.

Discussion: Washington Post and Democratic Strategist

Politico:

GOP ready to surrender on debt ceiling — House Republicans are getting ready to surrender: There will be no serious fight over the debt limit. — The most senior figures in the House Republican Conference are privately acknowledging that they will almost certainly have to pass what's called …

Discussion: Business Insider, Firedoglake, americanthinker.com and First Read

Hanna Rosin / Slate:

You know that “women make 77 cents to every man's dollar” line you've heard a hundred times? It's not true. — How many times have you heard that “women are paid 77 cents on the dollar for doing the same work as men”? Barack Obama said it during his last campaign.

Discussion: American Spectator and National Review

Ezekiel J. Emanuel / New York Times:

Comparing Obamacare to Its Alternative — FROM the moment the ink dried on March 23, 2010, Republicans said they intended to “repeal and replace” the Affordable Care Act. They have voted more than 40 times to wipe the law from the books. But Republicans have never gotten around to describing …