memeorandum: New anti-Obamacare ad makes misleading claims (video) (Glenn Kessler/The Fact Checker)

8:20 PM ET, March 25, 2014

Top Items:

Justice Kennedy Thinks Hobby Lobby Is An Abortion Case — That's Bad News For Birth Control — WASHINGTON, DC — Justice Anthony Kennedy thinks gay people are fabulous. All three of the Supreme Court's most important gay rights decisions were written by Justice Kennedy.

Discussion: ECHIDNE OF THE SNAKES, RH Reality Check, Hullabaloo, Americans Against the … and New York Times

Brent Kendall / Wall Street Journal:

Live Blog: Contraception Cases at Supreme Court — On Tuesday, Hobby Lobby, a 600-store chain based in Oklahoma City, and Conestoga Wood Specialties Corp., an East Earl, Pa., cabinet maker, will argue for an exemption from federal regulations requiring health insurance policies …

Discussion: National Review, Hit & Run, ProfessorBainbridge.com, Daily Kos, susiemadrak.com, Taylor Marsh and The Fix

Lyle Denniston / SCOTUSblog:

Argument recap: One hearing, two dramas — The Supreme Court, in a one-hour, twenty-eight-minute session Tuesday, staged something like a two-act play on a revolving stage: first the liberals had their chance and Justice Anthony M. Kennedy gave them some help, and then the scene shifted entirely …

Discussion: New York Times, Inc.com, Outside the Beltway, Power Line, Arkansas Blog, Arkansas Times, Althouse, Balkinization, USA Today and Daily Kos

David G. Savage / Los Angeles Times:

Justices sound ready to reject contraceptives mandate under Obamacare — Young visitors to Washington, D.C., walk past the Supreme Court building on March 17. (J. Scott Applewhite / Associated Press / March 16, 2014) — WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court's conservative justices sharply criticized part …

Discussion: USA Today, Business Insider, Washington Post, SCOTUSblog and ProfessorBainbridge.com

Politico:
Hobby Lobby case: Justices skeptical of White House position

Discussion: ABC News and The Heritage Foundation

Gene Robinson / USA Today:
Hobby Lobby case fuels bigotry: Column

Discussion: Democracy in America, Daily Kos, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion and ProfessorBainbridge.com

Sarah Desprat / Twitchy:
Pathological ignorance: Sen. Boxer's Hobby Lobby strawmen ‘need Viagra to stand up’ [video]

Discussion: National Review, Hot Air and Patterico's Pontifications

James Gherardi / WSET-TV:

Little Girl Taken Out Of Christian School After Told She's Too Much Like A Boy — Timberlake, VA - Sports, sneakers, and short hair; it's what makes eight year old Sunnie Kahle unique. It's also what had her removed from Timberlake Christian School. Her grandparents pulled the plug …

Discussion: The Daily Caller, Taylor Marsh, Advocate, The New Civil Rights Movement, The Raw Story and Liberaland

Tom Kludt / Talking Points Memo:
Christian School Tells Eight-Year-Old Girl She Looks Too Much Like A Boy

Discussion: ECHIDNE OF THE SNAKES

Jennifer Jacobs / Des Moines Register:

Video captures Braley criticizing Grassley as ‘a farmer from Iowa’ — Video shot at a private fundraiser for Bruce Braley caught the Iowa Democrat warning that “a farmer from Iowa who never went to law school” might become the next judiciary committee chairman.

Discussion: America Rising, Talking Points Memo, Roll Call, Weekly Standard, OnPolitics, RedState and The Gateway Pundit

Emily Schultheis / Politico:

Bruce Braley on Chuck Grassley: A ‘farmer’ with no law degree — In new video footage released Tuesday, Iowa Rep. Bruce Braley, the Democratic candidate running to replace Iowa Sen. Tom Harkin, disparages fellow Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley as “a farmer from Iowa who never went to law school.”

Discussion: ABC News and CNN

Daniel Strauss / Talking Points Memo: Dem Braley Apologizes For Warning ‘Farmer’ Could Run Judiciary Committee

Brian Beutler / Salon:

Republicans losing it over new Obamacare data: Why their position is collapsing — Obamacare enrollment could hit 7 million before the midterms; meanwhile, GOP still has no answer for beneficiaries — It's a complete accident of legislative and administrative history that the fourth anniversary …

Discussion: Daily Kos and Liberal Values

Glenn Kessler / The Fact Checker:

New anti-Obamacare ad makes misleading claims (video) — “People don't like political ads. I don't like them either. But health care isn't about politics. It's about people. And millions of people have lost their health insurance, millions of people can't see their own doctors, and millions are paying more and getting less.”

Discussion: Daily Kos, Washington Examiner, The Plum Line and Hullabaloo

Jonathan Easley / The Hill:
Study: States refusing Medicaid expansion would benefit the most

Discussion: Washington Post and Taegan Goddard's Wonk Wire

Ed Kilgore / Washington Monthly:

Is Nate Silver Biting the Hoof That Feeds? — After a rocky rollout of the new FiveThirtyEight site, producing considerable criticism of specific posts and of the general claims being made for “data journalism,” Nate Silver's getting a new round of criticism, this time specifically from Democrats …

Discussion: Slate and Booman Tribune

Nate Silver / FiveThirtyEightDataLab:
The DSCC Can't Have It Both Ways

Discussion: Mediaite, Talking Points Memo, The Week, The Dish, National Review, The Plazz, Fox News and Capitol Report

Peter Hamby / CNN:

Democratic pollster predicts ‘huge turnout disadvantage’ in 2014 — Washington (CNN) - A leading Democratic pollster predicted a “sobering” turnout disadvantage for her party in this year's midterm elections and called on Democrats to articulate “a bigger economic agenda” this fall.

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Hot Air, The Lonely Conservative and The Hill

Office of Media Relations:
GW Battleground Poll

Discussion: Mediaite and Taegan Goddard's …

Jacob Fischler / BuzzFeed:
Poll Shows Democrats' Big Push Against The Kochs Might Not Make Any Sense

Discussion: Outside the Beltway

Maya Rodriguez / KUSA-TV:

Act of compassion violates school dress code policy — Act of compassion violates school dress code policy. 9NEWS at 9 p.m. 03/24/14. — What started out as a kind gesture is turning into a battle over whether hair, or the lack of it, should matter in school. — CONNECT

Discussion: Americans Against the …, The Daily Caller, BizPac Review, Daily Mail and National Review

Tara Culp-Ressler / ThinkProgress:
Middle School Girls Protest Sexist Dress Code: ‘Are My Pants Lowering Your Test Scores?’

Discussion: The Week and Slate

Jon.Ralston / Ralston Reports:

Reid paid granddaughter for “holiday gifts” to give donors, supporters — Update, 2:30PM: Reid will reimburse campaign: “I thought it would be nice to give supporters and staff thank-you gifts that had a personal connection and a Searchlight connection, but I have decided to reimburse the campaign for the amount of the expenditure.”

Discussion: Politico, OnPolitics, The Daily Caller and Twitchy

Steve Erickson / American Prospect:

After the Midterms: Impeachment? — As analysts and strategists and politicos keep reminding us, Barack Obama isn't on the ballot this coming midterm election, except for the way in which he is. It's now clear to anyone who doesn't need it spelled out—and if you do, increasingly …

Discussion: Washington Monthly

Tal Kopan / Politico:

Donald Rumsfeld: ‘It does not take a genius’ — Former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld is blasting the Obama administration's handling of Afghanistan, saying a “trained ape” could have done a better job in diplomatic relations with the country. — “We have status of forces agreements probably …

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, Reuters, Talking Points Memo, Daily Kos, The Dish, The Raw Story and Fox News

Politico:

Harry Reid to drop IMF from Ukraine bill — Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid will drop a provision to reform the International Monetary Fund from a bill to help Ukraine — a move that could clear the way to send an aid and sanctions package to the president's desk.

Discussion: National Review

Tal Kopan / Politico:
John Boehner aide: Harry Reid ‘unhinged’

Discussion: Associated Press and PoliticusUSA

Andrew Kaczynski / BuzzFeed:

GOP Congressman Defends Russian Actions In Crimea: “Not One Person Was Killed” — “Yet we have to go and condemn the Russians, of course, when no one lost their life in an attempt to make sure the people of Crimea had a right to control their destiny and their own self-determination,” California Republican Rep. Dana Rohrabacher said.

Discussion: Liberaland and Talking Points Memo

Eric Lach / Talking Points Memo:

Neo-Confederate Ties Haunt South Carolina Lt. Gov.'s New College Job — The College of Charleston received more than 100 applications from people interested in being the 22nd president of the 13th oldest educational institution in the United States. The applicants included current university presidents …

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Liberaland and WIS-TV

Katie Glueck / Politico:

David Brock blasts ‘political smutmongers,’ Rand Paul — Media Matters founder David Brock on Tuesday urged the end of “political smutmongers” and blasted the “right wing's 20-year obsession with the Clintons,” singling out Sen. Rand Paul, as he described evolving from being one of the …

Discussion: CNN, Doug Ross and The Week

Rocco Parascandola / NY Daily News:

Helmet camera shows skydiver's remarkable jump from World Trade Center — WARNING GRAPHIC LANGUAGE IN VIDEO: The three daredevils, along with their lookout, pulled off a breathtaking jump from the Freedom Tower. But the price they paid was surrendering to cops Monday to face charges such as burglary.

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Towleroad News #gay, The Week and National Review