memeorandum: Resist the Siren's Call of ‘Originalism’ (Bloomberg)

10:20 AM ET, February 5, 2014

Top Items:

John Podhoretz / New York Post:

Congressional Budget Office sends death blow to ObamaCare — The Affordable Care Act, a k a ObamaCare, became law almost four years ago. It became operational last Oct. 1. Yesterday, Feb. 4, 2014, the ACA may well have been dealt its death blow.

Discussion: No More Mister Nice Blog

Wall Street Journal:

The Jobless Care Act — Congress's budget office says ObamaCare will increase unemployment. — There are 7.8 million Americans working part-time who want full-time work, including a fry cook whose restaurant cut his hours to avoid Affordable Care Act mandates and confronted President Obama …

Discussion: NewsBusters, Betsy's Page and Washington Post

Dylan Scott / Talking Points Memo:

The Best Of The Bad Reporting On Obamacare, The CBO And Jobs — The Congressional Budget Office issued a new report Tuesday on the federal budget deficit, Obamacare and jobs — and Official Washington exploded. — It all centered on one line about how the health care reform law would affect employment.

Discussion: The Fix, Hot Air and Washington Monthly

New York Times:

Freeing Workers From the Insurance Trap — The Congressional Budget Office estimated on Tuesday that the Affordable Care Act will reduce the number of full-time workers by 2.5 million over the next decade. That is mostly a good thing, a liberating result of the law.

Discussion: Talking Points Memo

Michael Hiltzik / Los Angeles Times:

Why the new CBO report on Obamacare is good news — An ACA informational kiosk in South L.A. last year. (Gary Friedman / Los Angeles Times) — The Congressional Budget Office is out with its latest report on the Affordable Care Act, and here are a few bottom lines: — The ACA is cheaper than it expected.

Discussion: Hullabaloo, The Raw Story, Washington Wire, Daily Kos, CANNONFIRE, National Republican …, Wall Street Journal and National Review

Glenn Kessler / The Fact Checker:
No, CBO did not say Obamacare will kill 2 million jobs

New York Times:
Health Care Law Projected to Cut the Labor Force

Discussion: Washington Wire, Power Line, Talking Points Memo, Commentary Magazine, Hot Air, National Republican …, National Review, Taylor Marsh and Gawker

The White House:
Statement by the Press Secretary on Today's CBO Report and the Affordable Care Act

Discussion: WRAL-TV and Power Line

CBO's Publications:
The Budget and Economic Outlook: 2014 to 2024

Discussion: Paul Krugman, National Review, The Week, The Plum Line, Wonkblog, Democracy in America, Right Turn, Mediaite, ThinkProgress, NPR, The Heritage Foundation and Washington Wire

Ross Douthat:
Obamacare and the Decline of Work

Discussion: The Week, Public Religion Research …, Hot Air, Washington Free Beacon and Riehl World News

Erik Wasson / The Hill:
CBO: O-Care slowing growth, contributing to job losses

Discussion: Scared Monkeys, Patterico's Pontifications, Right Turn, Talking Points Memo, OpenMarket.org, Mediaite, The Gateway Pundit, The PJ Tatler, Forbes, JustOneMinute, Weekly Standard, CNN, Liberal Values, The Other McCain and The New Editor

Ken Kurson / The New York Observer:

The Tyranny and Lethargy of the Times Editorial Page — Reporters in ‘semi-open revolt’ against Andrew Rosenthal — IT'S WELL KNOWN AMONG THE SMALL WORLD of people who pay attention to such things that the liberal-leaning reporters at The Wall Street Journal resent the conservative-leaning editorial page of The Wall Street Journal.

Discussion: Althouse, Mediaite, Capital New York, Vox Popoli, Roger L. Simon, Power Line, Gawker, TheBlaze.com and Balloon Juice, more at Mediagazer »

Seema Mehta / Los Angeles Times:

Sandra Fluke forgoes congressional bid to run for state Senate — President Obama and Sandra Fluke wave at a campaign event at the University of Colorado in Aurora. (Pablo Martinez Monsivais / Associated Press / August 8, 2012) — Democratic attorney and activist Sandra Fluke has decided …

Discussion: Washington Wire, Talking Points Memo, Mediaite, The Gateway Pundit, Weasel Zippers, Taylor Marsh, National Review and Roll Call

Chad Terhune / Los Angeles Times:

Obamacare enrollees hit snags at doctor's offices — Many consumers faced hurdles signing up for Covered California health plans. Now they're having trouble finding in-network doctors. — Maria Berumen uses a device to manage the pain from bone spurs on her spine.

Discussion: americanthinker.com, National Republican … and National Review

Joel Gehrke / Washington Examiner:

Justice Antonin Scalia says World War II-style internment camps could happen again — BELTWAY CONFIDENTIAL SUPREME COURT ANTONIN SCALIA — Justice Antonin Scalia predicts that the Supreme Court will eventually authorize another a wartime abuse of civil rights such as the internment camps for Japanese-Americans during World War II.

Discussion: Hit & Run, Althouse and The Gateway Pundit

Bloomberg:
Resist the Siren's Call of ‘Originalism’

Discussion: Washington Post and National Review

James Taranto / Wall Street Journal:

A reporter jumps to conclusions, and hilarity ensues. — The New York Times finally ran a correction today of its much-criticized Chris Christie scoop: … So, other than that the story was accurate? Not quite. Evidence exists tying reporter Kate Zernike to having erred.

Discussion: americanthinker.com, Instapundit, ABC News, Hot Air, Weekly Standard and Talking Points Memo

Josh Rogin / The Daily Beast:

Exclusive: Florida Rep Helped Fugitive Embezzlers — Sen. Robert Menendez is under federal investigation for his advocacy on behalf of two Ecuadorian bankers convicted of embezzlement. Turns out he wasn't the only prominent lawmaker accepting donations and doing favors for the brothers.

Discussion: Yahoo! News

Sarah Kliff / Wonkblog:

CVS to stop selling cigarettes by Oct. 1 — Pharmacy chain CVS said Wednesday it will stop selling tobacco products at its 7,600 locations across the United States, a move that public-health advocates hope will become a watershed and pressure other large drug store franchises to follow suit.

Discussion: Weekly Standard, Business Insider, Hot Air, Gawker, Taylor Marsh and Mashable

Dante Chinni / Washington Wire:

Poll Shows One Welcome Trend for Chris Christie — The most recent Wall Street Journal/NBC poll data show an interesting wrinkle in voters' views on the Chris Christie bridge saga. — While the poll showed a drop in the positive feelings toward New Jersey Gov. Christie overall and a drop …

Tal Kopan / Politico:

Jesse Ventura hiding from drones — Former wrestler and Minnesota Gov. Jesse Ventura says he has gone “off the grid” in Mexico to avoid drones knowing where he is. — Ventura spoke with CNBC's “Closing Bell” from an “undisclosed location in Mexico” on Tuesday, prompting the hosts to ask him where he was and why he was there.

Discussion: The Verge

Rose Pastore / Popular Science:

How A Simple New Invention Seals A Gunshot Wound In 15 Seconds — An Oregon startup has developed a pocket-size device that uses tiny sponges to stop bleeding fast. — When a soldier is shot on the battlefield, the emergency treatment can seem as brutal as the injury itself.

Discussion: AEIdeas, The Raw Story, The Verge and Mental Floss

MyFoxBoston:

Cafeteria worker accused of threatening to shoot up school with AK-47 — NORFOLK, Mass. (MyFoxBoston.com) — A cafeteria cook at King Philip Middle School is facing charges amid allegations that she threatened to shoot up the school over a batch of cookies.

Discussion: The Raw Story, The Daily Caller and Talking Points Memo

Anna Palmer / Politico:

Chris Christie's pain is Scott Walker's gain — As Chris Christie's star falls, the party is giving a second look to another brash blue-state governor who stared down unions at home: Scott Walker. — Republican strategists say no one is in a better position to get a boost …

Discussion: The Week

Jason Beattie / Mirror.co.uk:

Danny Alexander: George Osborne will cut top rate of tax over my DEAD BODY — +1 — His comments made exclusively in an interview with the Mirror will enrage Conservative MPs who are pushing to slash the rate from 45p ahead of the election — Defiant Danny Alexander today opened …

Discussion: Guardian and Spectator

Keith J. Kelly / New York Post:

500 layoffs expected today at Time Inc. — Around mid-morning, staffers are expected to start hearing how deep the cuts will be as Time Inc. CEO Joe Ripp unveils what is likely the last big downsizing before Time Warner spins off the publishing group as a separate company later this year.

Discussion: Poynter, The Other McCain, Guardian, Mediaite, Capital New York and Mashable, more at Mediagazer »

Alexander Bolton / The Hill:

McConnell: Immigration reform not going to happen in 2014 — Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said Tuesday that he does not see any way the Democratic-controlled Senate and GOP-led House will agree on immigration reform legislation this year.