memeorandum: Democrats Aim to Make 2014 More Like 2012 and 2008 (Ashley Parker/New York Times)

1:50 PM ET, February 6, 2014

Top Items:

Molly K. Hooper / The Hill:

Cantor takes mission impossible — House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) is taking the lead on crafting the GOP's Obama-Care replacement proposal. — The extraordinarily tough task faces many obstacles and is complicated by election-year politics and an unruly GOP conference.

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Politico, Liberaland and PostPartisan

Alexander Bolton / The Hill:

Senate GOP buoyant about midterms — Politics was at the forefront of Republicans senators' minds at their annual retreat on Wednesday. — After hearing from a congressional handicapper and conservative observers at the Library of Congress, there's growing optimism among GOP lawmakers …

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Politico, The Hugh Hewitt Show and Booman Tribune

Robert Costa / Washington Post:
Boehner proposes linking debt-limit hike to a restoration of recent cuts to military benefits

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Post Politics, The Plum Line and Business Insider

Politico: John Boehner and Mitch McConnell's role reversal

Brian Beutler / Salon:

Anatomy of a media disaster: Why the press is botching the latest Obamacare story — Mix of innumeracy, vulnerability to spin and thirst for controversy explains lame coverage of CBO Obamacare report — Twenty-four hours later, after a tremendous swell of misinformation …

Discussion: Althouse, Liberaland, Bloomberg, Lawyers, Guns & Money, The Huffington Post, The Plum Line, Washington Post and Politico

Chicago Tribune:

Obamacare and the incentive to work — What's behind the CBO numbers … The Congressional Budget Office issued a sobering report this week that projected how many people will choose to work less because of the effects of the Affordable Care Act. CBO predicts that the health care law …

Discussion: Weekly Standard and Hot Air

Dylan Scott / Talking Points Memo:
New Bogus GOP Obamacare Attack Debuts In 2014 Political Ad (VIDEO)

Discussion: The Plum Line, americanthinker.com and ThinkProgress

Bloomberg:
Will Obamacare Kill Jobs?

Discussion: The Fix, National Review, Hot Air, msnbc.com and VodkaPundit

James Carville / The Hill:

Days ahead for Dems not so dark — When one has retired from the ranks of American domestic political consulting, as I have, you are not really allowed to just quit. You become emeritus, of counsel, senior status and God knows what. Basically your role becomes one of trying …

New York Times:
Democrats Grab for a Chance to Halt Christie's Rise

Discussion: ABC News, Democratic Strategist, Talking Points Memo and Trail Blazers Blog

Mother Jones:

The Koch Brothers Left a Confidential Document at Their Last Donor Conference—Read It Here — A list of one-on-one meetings between VIP donors and the Kochs and their operatives offers a revealing look into their mighty political machine. — Charles Koch: Bo Rader/ZUMA; David Koch: Sonia Moskowitz/ZUMA

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Firedoglake, BillMoyers.com, The Raw Story, Washington Post, Liberaland and susiemadrak.com

James Taranto / Wall Street Journal:

Work was supposed to be liberating. Now nonwork is. — Annie Lowrey, an economics reporter for the New York Times, has an essay in this coming weekend's Times magazine rebutting what she calls “the policy solution du jour” to the problem of “how to alleviate poverty”—namely, “marriage promotion.”

Discussion: The Daily Caller, National Review, Vox Popoli, Betsy's Page, CNSNews and Los Angeles Times

Politico:

How John Podesta is changing Obama's White House — John Podesta doesn't have a standing appointment with President Barack Obama. He doesn't join chief of staff Denis McDonough for the nightly “wrap” meeting with the president. He doesn't have a defined portfolio of assignments.

Discussion: The New Republic

Wall Street Journal:

Russian Officials Fire Back at Olympic Critics — One Sochi Defender Claims Only 103 Registered Complaints; ‘Surveillance Video’ in Hotel Rooms — SOCHI, Russia—Rooms without doorknobs, locks or heat, dysfunctional toilets, surprise early-morning fire alarms and a Welcome Wagon of stray dogs …

Discussion: ThinkProgress, AMERICAblog News, The Verge and Gawker, more at Mediagazer »

David M. Herszenhorn / New York Times: Racing to Save the Stray Dogs of Sochi

CNN:

Jake Tapper's Exclusive Interview with Secretary of State John Kerry — Please credit all usage to - CNN's The Lead with Jake Tapper. — FULL TRANSCRIPT … Conducted February 5, 2014 — JAKE TAPPER, HOST: Thank you so much for agreeing to do this. — JOHN KERRY, SECRETARY OF STATE: Good to be with you.

Discussion: Weekly Standard, Right Turn and Just Security

James Gordon Meek / ABC News:
Olympic Threat: US Warns Airlines About Toothpaste Tube Bomb

Discussion: Outside the Beltway, Gawker, Scared Monkeys, Taylor Marsh, The Moderate Voice, Business Insider and Politico

Mike Ahlers / CNN:
Airlines warned about possible toothpaste tube bombs ahead of Olympics

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Hit & Run, The Week and Shanghaiist

Wall Street Journal:

New evidence undercuts White House claims about IRS motivation. — House committees are still digging into the IRS political targeting scandal, and based on a hearing Wednesday there's more to learn. The day produced more evidence blowing apart President Obama's claims that there was …

Discussion: National Review, The Daily Caller and americanthinker.com

Ashley Parker / New York Times:

Democrats Aim to Make 2014 More Like 2012 and 2008 — WASHINGTON — The Democrats' plan to hold onto their narrow Senate majority goes by the name “Bannock Street project.” It runs through 10 states, includes a $60 million investment, and requires more than 4,000 paid staffers.

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Daily Kos and Mediaite

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: Washington Post, The Reaction and National Review

Scott Kaufman / The Raw Story:
Legal experts gobsmacked after British judge orders Mormon leader to prove faith's origins

Discussion: The Week, USA Today, Booman Tribune, Liberaland and disinformation

Politico:

GOP Conference chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers faces possible ethics inquiry — GOP Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (Wash.) faces a possible House Ethics Committee investigation over allegations by a former staffer that she improperly mixed campaign and official funds to help win a 2012 House leadership race.

Discussion: Talking Points Memo

Tom Maguire / JustOneMinute:

Power Station Sniper — What motivated the sophisticated sniper attack on a San Jose power station last April? The Times wonders: — Months Later, Sniper Attack at Power Hub Still a Mystery — SAN FRANCISCO — A mysterious and sophisticated sniper attack last year …

Discussion: New York Times and The Week

Kevin Drum / Mother Jones:

Paul Ryan Is the Odds-On Favorite to Win the Republican Nomination in 2016 — There's been a lot of blathering about who the front-runner for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination is, and so far I've resisted taking part. But I guess I'm kind of curious: Is there much of a case to be made for anyone other than Paul Ryan?

Discussion: Liberaland

Laura Vozzella / Washington Post:

At Executive Mansion, McAuliffe puts out the welcome mat — RICHMOND — Gov. Terry McAuliffe has added a potent weapon to his bipartisan charm offensive: better booze. — Desperately in need of Republican friends to get his agenda through a divided General Assembly, McAuliffe (D) …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo and Mediaite