memeorandum: Another day, another lawless exemption, once again for business. (Wall Street Journal)

10:45 AM ET, February 11, 2014

Top Items:

Another day, another lawless exemption, once again for business. — 'ObamaCare" is useful shorthand for the Affordable Care Act not least because the law increasingly means whatever President Obama says it does on any given day. His latest lawless rewrite arrived on Monday as the White House decided …

Discussion: Fox News, Taylor Marsh, The Other McCain, NewsBusters, Betsy's Page, National Review, americanthinker.com and The Daily Caller

Ian Swanson / The Hill:

Team Clinton started talks on 2016 White House run night of Obama's victory — Members of Team Clinton started talking about a 2016 presidential bid months before the former first lady left the State Department. — The night President Obama won his second term, Allida Black and Adam Parkhomenko …

Discussion: CNN and Talking Points Memo

Humberto Sanchez / Roll Call:

Cruz Does Boehner No Favors — After championing the Affordable Care Act defunding strategy that led to the government shutdown in October, Sen. Ted Cruz continues to do Speaker John A. Boehner no favors — and some of Boehner's allies think the tea party Texan should mind his own business.

Washington Post:

White House delays health insurance mandate for medium-sized employers until 2016 — The Obama administration announced Monday it would give medium-sized employers an extra year, until 2016, before they must offer health insurance to their full-time workers.

Discussion: National Review, Patterico's Pontifications, Scared Monkeys, The Week, americanthinker.com, The Daily Caller, The Federalist, msnbc.com, Ed Driscoll, The PJ Tatler, The Reaction, Clayton Cramer and The Gateway Pundit

Sarah Kliff / Wonkblog:
The White House is relaxing the employer mandate again

Discussion: Hit & Run, NewsBusters, Power Line, Daily Kos and The Moderate Voice

Robert Pear / New York Times:
Further Delays for Employers in Health Law

Discussion: NationalJournal.com, Power Line, americanthinker.com and Washington Wire

Tal Kopan / Politico:
Reince Priebus: ‘Truckload’ against Hillary Clinton

Discussion: Hullabaloo, The Atlantic Online, No More Mister Nice Blog, Daily Kos, GOP.com, The Week and Balloon Juice

Deirdre Walsh / CNN:
Hoyer predicts Democrats positioned to win back the House in 2014

Discussion: National Republican …

Ben Goad / The Hill: ObamaCare's employer mandate pushed back for the second time

Fox News:
Administration announces another delay in ObamaCare employer mandate

Discussion: CNSNews, Independent Journal Review, Sister Toldjah and National Review

Bloomberg:
Small Businesses Get Further Delay for Obamacare Coverage

Discussion: Hot Air, National Republican … and Washington Free Beacon

Aljean Harmetz / New York Times:

Shirley Temple Black, Screen Darling, Dies at 85 — Shirley Temple Black, who as a dimpled, precocious and determined little girl in the 1930s sang and tap-danced her way to a height of Hollywood stardom and worldwide fame that no other child has reached, died on Monday night at her home in Woodside, Calif. She was 85.

Discussion: Liberaland, Jezebel, Outside the Beltway, Taylor Marsh and Althouse

Ben Brumfield / CNN:

Shirley Temple Black dies at 85 — (CNN) — Shirley Temple Black, who rose to fame as arguably the most popular child star in Hollywood history, died late Monday night, her publicist said. — She was 85. — Temple Black, who also enjoyed a long career as a diplomat, died of natural causes at her Woodside, California, home.

Discussion: Mashable, Scared Monkeys and KFOR-TV

Tom Kludt / Talking Points Memo:

McCaskill: I Wouldn't Campaign With Obama This Year — Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-MO) said Tuesday that she wouldn't roll out the welcome mat for President Obama if she were seeking re-election in Missouri this year. — McCaskill was asked during an appearance on MSNBC's “Morning Joe” …

Tal Kopan / Politico:

Claire McCaskill: Democratic candidates don't need Obama — Sen. Claire McCaskill said Tuesday that if she were up for reelection this year in a purple state, she “probably” would not have President Barack Obama campaign with her. — The Missouri Democrat was asked on MSNBC's “Morning Joe” …

Discussion: Mediaite and Independent Journal Review

Jonathan Easley / The Hill:

HealthCare.gov to be out of service — HealthCare.gov will be out of service for two and a half days beginning on Feb. 15 — the last day people can sign up to obtain coverage that begins on March 1. — The Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services announced in a blog post on Monday …

Discussion: Weekly Standard and Independent Journal Review

Michael Winerip / New York Times:

Stepping Up to Stop Sexual Assault — BYSTANDER INTERVENTION is so easy to grasp, even by the most inexperienced college freshman, that the program may well be the best hope for reducing sexual assaults on campuses. Mostly it is common sense: If a drunk young man at a party is pawing a drunk young woman …

Discussion: Slate and City Journal

James Taranto / Wall Street Journal:
A balanced look at college sex offenses.

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, ThinkProgress and The Raw Story

Politico:

Immigration groups turn to anger — Immigration reform advocates are done playing nice with House Republicans. — After holding their fire for years at the urging of the Obama administration, several immigration reform groups now plan to unleash their anger at the right.

Discussion: The Plum Line, BizPac Review and ImmigrationProf Blog

Washington Post:

House GOP homes in on debt-ceiling plan tied to military pension benefits — House Republican leaders spent Monday trying to finalize a plan to increase the Treasury's borrowing authority and avoid a federal default by urging GOP lawmakers to rally behind a proposal that ties a debt-ceiling increase …

Discussion: PoliticusUSA, Hot Air, Politico, ThinkProgress and Washington Monthly

Jonathan Weisman / New York Times:
House Republicans Seek to Trade Debt Deal for Repeal on Military Pensions

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Roll Call and Balloon Juice

Evan Perez / CNN:

Holder calls for restoring ex-cons' voting rights — Washington (CNN) - One of Washington's oddities of late is Attorney General Eric Holder's liberal social justice goals finding unity with the tea party movement's curb-big-government proposals led by Sens. Rand Paul and Mike Lee.

Discussion: Politico

Jeffrey Toobin / New Yorker:
HOLDER V. ROBERTS

Discussion: News Desk, Talking Points Memo, The Huffington Post, Hinterland Gazette and Outside the Beltway

Adam Goldman / Washington Post:

Video shows U.S. abduction of accused al-Qaeda terrorist on trial for embassy bombings — After dawn prayers Oct. 5, Nazih Abdul-Hamed al-Ruqai, a wanted al-Qaeda terrorism suspect, returned to his family's home in Tripoli, Libya. — He stopped his car in front of the house …

Discussion: Taylor Marsh, I Acknowledge, The Verge, Talking Points Memo, Mediaite and Gawker

The Atlantic Online:

Why Democrats Will Win on Unemployment Insurance — For the fifth time this year, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid brought an unemployment-insurance extension to the floor last week, even though several members of his party admitted that they didn't have the votes to pass it. — They came close.

Tom Kludt / Talking Points Memo:

RNC Chairman: Yeah, We'll Use Lewinsky Against Hillary Clinton (VIDEO) — Rand Paul won't stop talking about Bill Clinton's “predatory behavior,” and that's quite alright with Republican National Committee chairman Reince Priebus. — Priebus said Monday on MSNBC that the Monica Lewinsky scandal …

Discussion: FIRST DRAFT, Firedoglake and The Daily Banter

CNN:
CNN's GUT CHECK for February 10, 2014

Discussion: Washington Free Beacon, Fox News and Politico

CNN:

Zoo official on Marius the giraffe: Conservation isn't always clean — (CNN) — Outrage over the recent killing of a healthy giraffe at a Danish zoo misses a crucial point, an official argued. — “Conservation is not always simple. It's not always clean,” said Lesley Dickie …

Discussion: Mediaite and AMERICAblog News