memeorandum: Obamacare's Attack on the Work Ethic (Charles C. W. Cooke/National Review)

11:30 PM ET, February 5, 2014

Top Items:

Paul Ryan Fact-Checks Republicans On Obamacare Job ‘Costs’ — At least one Republican is setting the record straight on what the Congressional Budget Office actually said this week about Obamacare and its effect on jobs. — House Budget Chair Paul Ryan (R-WI) explained in a Wednesday hearing …

Discussion: ThinkProgress, Liberal Values, Liberaland, Daily Kos, Fox News and Washington Monthly

Greg Sargent / The Plum Line:

CBO director: Obamacare will reduce unemployment — As noted here yesterday, Republicans went mad with glee at the new Congressional Budget Office report on deficits and the Affordable Care Act, with multiple GOP officials claiming it showed the law will kill over two million jobs. That was false.

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, ThinkProgress, Mediaite, Daily Kos, Economix, New York Magazine, Business Insider, The Dish, Liberaland, JustOneMinute, Paul Krugman and The New Republic

Bloomberg:

Will Obamacare Kill Jobs? — You've probably already read that the Congressional Budget Office thinks the U.S. health-care overhaul will reduce employment by the equivalent of about 2 million jobs in 2017. Republicans are saying it will cost 2 million jobs; the White House, meanwhile …

Discussion: Ross Douthat, Hot Air, VodkaPundit, The Federalist and Washington Post

Sahil Kapur / Talking Points Memo:
Republicans Wanted To Free Workers From Bad Jobs Until Obamacare Did It

Discussion: Business Insider and National Review

Justin Sink / The Hill:
White House pushes back on CBO report

Discussion: Politico, National Republican …, The Baffler, The Gateway Pundit, Shot in the Dark, Daily Kos and Patterico's Pontifications

Erik Wemple / Washington Post:
The media's massive revisions on CBO-Obamacare story

Discussion: Politico, The Fix, The Federalist, Daily Kos, Mediaite, The Huffington Post, NewsBusters and The Plum Line

New York Times:
Freeing Workers From the Insurance Trap

Discussion: The Huffington Post, PostPartisan, Mediaite, Ed Driscoll, Liberal Values, Shakesville, The Mahablog, Weasel Zippers, Talking Points Memo, JustOneMinute, americanthinker.com, The Plum Line and Commentary Magazine, more at Mediagazer »

John Podhoretz / New York Post:
Congressional Budget Office sends death blow to ObamaCare

Discussion: Taylor Marsh, Business Insider, The Plum Line, Outside the Beltway, Wall Street Journal, No More Mister Nice Blog, Betsy's Page, Scared Monkeys, Power Line and The PJ Tatler

Erik Wasson / The Hill:
Government will pocket $8B profit from ObamaCare ‘bailout’ program, CBO says

Discussion: Talking Points Memo and Washington Monthly

Dylan Howard / RADAR:

Hurley's Ex-Lover Caught On Bombshell Audio Recording Revealing Ex-Prez's White House Sex Romps Behind Wife Hillary's Back — As Hillary Clinton prepares to run for President in 2016, RadarOnline.com has uncovered bombshell new information that could torpedo her White House dreams …

Discussion: NY Daily News, Mediaite, The Daily Caller, Weasel Zippers, Gawker, CANNONFIRE, Conservatives4Palin, PerezHilton and The Raw Story

Ruby Cramer / BuzzFeed:

Key Democratic Group Will Sit Out Midterm Elections — The PAC, aligned now behind Hillary Clinton, won't spend to help Democrats in the House and the Senate this year, a spokesperson confirms. — Mike Theiler / Reuters — The Democratic Party's biggest Super PAC …

Discussion: Weasel Zippers, The Gateway Pundit and The Huffington Post

Ashley Killough / CNN:
Biden's one reason NOT to run for President

Discussion: The Daily Caller, Weasel Zippers and Politico

Jim Geraghty / National Review:
The Soft Underbelly of Hillary Clinton's 2016 Bid

Discussion: The Daily Caller, The Dish, Mediaite, Lawyers, Guns & Money and Conservatives4Palin

The Lead with Jake Tapper:
John Kerry a no on 2016: This is my last stop

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Mediaite, Politico and Weasel Zippers

Jake Sherman / Politico:

House GOP stymied on debt limit — It's almost time to reach for the kitchen sink. — All week, House Republican leaders have been stymied in crafting a debt-limit package that could pass with only Republican support. — Now, Speaker John Boehner (Ohio) and other top Republicans …

Discussion: The Plum Line, Booman Tribune and Washington Monthly

Dan Merica / CNN:

Paul says GOP infighting is a good thing — Washington (CNN) - Republican Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky told a crowd of social conservatives Wednesday that fighting within the GOP is for the best. — Although Paul pointed out that the debate should not be “impolite” or “rude,” …

Discussion: Politico

Robert Costa / Post Politics:
Boehner urges allies to consider linking military benefits to debt limit

Discussion: CNN, Washington Monthly, Daily Kos, American Prospect, PostPartisan, TIME, Hullabaloo, The Fix and Washington Post

Mike Lillis / The Hill:
Hoyer backs CBC on judicial nominees

Discussion: ThinkProgress and CNN

James Gordon Meek / ABC News:

Olympic Threat: US Warns Airlines About Toothpaste Tube Bomb … The Department of Homeland Security has issued a warning to U.S. and some foreign airlines traveling to Russia for the Olympic Games to be on the lookout for toothpaste containers, which some intelligence indicates …

Discussion: Politico and Business Insider

Democrat And Chronicle:
Russia won't let Chobani yogurt in Sochi for Olympics

Discussion: BuzzFeed, CBS New York, Talking Points Memo and The World's Greatest …

Eric Lach / Talking Points Memo:

Christie's ‘High School’ Attack On Wildstein Has One Big Flaw — An article published Tuesday by The Bergen Record called into question the accuracy of New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie's (R) attack against the character of former Port Authority of New York and New Jersey executive David Wildstein.

Discussion: NorthJersey.com, New Jersey Online and Firedoglake

Wayne Slater / Trail Blazers Blog:
Chris Christie leaves Bridgegate and heads to Texas to help GOP — Rick Perry and Greg Abbott send regrets

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Capital New York and Reuters

Paul Waldman / American Prospect:
Is Chris Christie Being Treated Unfairly?

Discussion: Washington Monthly and nbcnewyork.com

Boston Globe:

Realistic statue of man in his underwear at Wellesley College sparks controversy — Tony Matelli's Sleepwalker, is part of an art exhibit at Wellesley College's Davis Museum. — By Jaclyn Reiss, Boston.com Staff — A realistic-looking statue of a man sleepwalking in his underwear near …

Discussion: Weasel Zippers, The Daily Caller, The Federalist, Voices, Washington Post, Mashable, Talking Points Memo, Gawker and Instapundit

John Bingham / Telegraph:

Head of Mormon church Thomas Monson summoned by British magistrates' court over Adam and Eve teaching — Thomas S Monson, president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, ordered to appear before British magistrate's court amid claims that the organisation's teaching amounts to ‘fraud’

Discussion: National Review and Washington Post

Alicia Dennis / People.com:

Dylan Farrow's Brother Moses Defends Woody Allen — Dylan Farrow's Feb. 1 open letter to The New York Times detailing sexual molestation she says she suffered at the hands of her father Woody Allen reignited a controversy that has divided their family bitterly for more than 20 years.

Discussion: Shouts & Murmurs, Guardian, The Daily Banter, Mediaite, The Huffington Post, Althouse, PerezHilton, Jewish Telegraphic Agency and Sky Dancing, more at Mediagazer »

Caitlin Dewey / WorldViews:

Journalists at Sochi are live-tweeting their hilarious and gross hotel experiences — Amid continued debate over whether or not Sochi is prepared to host the 2014 Olympics (here are 15 alarming signs that Russia might not be ready) reporters from around the world are starting to check into local hotels — to their apparent grief.

Discussion: AEIdeas, AMERICAblog News, Poynter, The Daily Caller, CBS New York and Hit & Run

Brian Tashman / Right Wing Watch:

Even Pat Robertson Thinks Young Earth Creationism Is A ‘Joke’ — Back in 2012, televangelist Pat Robertson provoked the ire of Young Earth Creationists when he rejected their claim that the earth is approximately 6,000 years old. Today on the 700 Club, Robertson responded to the debate between Bill Nye …

Discussion: Mediaite, The Raw Story and The Huffington Post

Rebecca Smith / Wall Street Journal:

April attack that knocked out California power station raises fear that U.S. power grid is vulnerable to terrorism. — A sniper attack in April that knocked out an electrical substation near San Jose, Calif., has raised fears that the country's power grid is vulnerable to terrorism.

Discussion: New York Times, Power Line, NPR, Jihad Watch and Washington Free Beacon

Colleen Jenkins / Reuters:

‘American Idol’ singer Clay Aiken to run for Congress in North Carolina — (Reuters) - Former “American Idol” singer Clay Aiken said on Wednesday he will run for U.S. Congress as a Democrat in his home state of North Carolina, where he once worked as a special education teacher.

Discussion: Liberaland

Craig Jarvis / Raleigh News & Observer: Clay Aiken makes it official: He will run for Congress

David Weigel / Slate:

Kansas Senator Wants Indian-American Nominee to Meet His Cool Indian Friends — For reasons I completely understand, the confirmation hearing of surgeon general nominee Vivek Murthy has not gotten a ton of attention. Factor one: The filibuster reform of late last year will let Murthy be confirmed by a simple majority vote.