memeorandum: Bruce Braley Apologizes to Grassley for ‘Farmer’ Slight (Kyle Trygstad/Roll Call)

1:45 PM ET, March 26, 2014

Top Items:

Kaiser Health Tracking Poll: March 2014 — Liz Hamel, Jamie Firth and Mollyann Brodie … Most uninsured unaware of March 31 deadline, half plan to remain uninsured — In the final days of open enrollment for new health insurance options under the ACA, substantial shares …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Washington Monthly, CNN, Daily Kos, The Fix, New York Times, Balloon Juice, Liberal Values, PoliticusUSA, Wall Street Journal, Liberaland and The Week

Amy Goldstein / Washington Post:

Obama administration will allow more time to enroll in health care on federal marketplace — The Obama administration has decided to give extra time to Americans who say that they are unable to enroll in health-care plans through the federal insurance marketplace by the March 31 deadline.

Robert Pear / New York Times:
U.S. to Extend Sign-Up Period For Insurance

Discussion: The Week

Russell Berman / The Hill:

‘What the hell is this, a joke?’ — Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) on Wednesday blasted the Obama administration's decision to extend enrollment in the healthcare law's insurance exchange for some people. — “What the hell is this, a joke?” Boehner said at his weekly press conference.

Discussion: Taegan Goddard's …

Burgess Everett / Politico:

5 GOP senators flout John Boehner on jobless aid — Sen. Dean Heller wants to restore expired unemployment benefits so much that he voted against a Ukraine aid bill on Monday, protesting the prioritization of international affairs over domestic ones. — Suffice it to say, then …

Discussion: Associated Press, Roll Call, Daily Kos, The Plum Line, Capitol Report and PoliticusUSA

Susan Levine / Politico:

A brief history of Obamacare delays — Did anyone really doubt that the final Obamacare enrollment deadline would slip, too? — It's not like the Obama administration is setting a new precedent with its latest move — giving customers more time to enroll after next Monday's deadline if they're already in line.

Discussion: The Daily Caller and National Review

Timothy P. Carney / Washington Examiner:

Peace in the culture wars — if the Left wants it — GAY MARRIAGE OBAMACARE RELIGION CONTRACEPTION HOBBY LOBBY SANDRA FLUKE — Sometimes it's hard to believe the other side is being honest. — Democratic politicians and liberal writers accuse Christian employers of “tell[ing] …

Discussion: Booman Tribune, The New Republic, Hot Air, Politico, alicublog, Hit & Run, National Review, Los Angeles Times and Washington Post

Nina Totenberg / Law:

Justices Divide By Gender In Hobby Lobby Contraception Case … There was a clear difference of opinion between male and female justices at the U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday. The issue was whether for-profit corporations, citing religious objections, may refuse to include contraception coverage …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Los Angeles Times, Real Clear Politics, SCOTUSblog, Cato Institute, USA Today, Reuters, Right Wing Watch, Democracy in America and ACS Blog

Sally Kohn / The Daily Beast:
What's Religious About Corporate America Cheating Workers?

Discussion: Liberaland

Penny Starr / CNSNews:
Sotomayor, Kagan: Hobby Lobby Should Drop Insurance, Pay Penalty and Let Employees Use Exchange

Discussion: BizPac Review, The Other McCain and The Gateway Pundit

Ruth Marcus / Washington Post:
Slippery slopes before the court

Discussion: NewsBusters, New York Times, Daily Kos and The Huffington Post

John Dickerson / Slate:

The Iowa Democrat who belittled Iowa farmers while praising lawyers. — Those looking for greater efficiency in Washington should look to Rep. Bruce Braley. In the space of just a few seconds, the four-term Iowa Democrat delivered a campaign gaffe of such power that the Environmental Protection Agency may seek to regulate it.

Discussion: Hot Air, protein wisdom, America Rising, NewsBusters, PoliPundit.com, Politico and The Gateway Pundit

Kyle Trygstad / Roll Call:
Bruce Braley Apologizes to Grassley for ‘Farmer’ Slight

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Slate, Talking Points Memo, National Review, Wall Street Journal, OnPolitics, RedState and Des Moines Register

Robert M. Gates / Wall Street Journal:

Putin's Challenge to the West — Russia has thrown down a gauntlet that is not limited to Crimea or even Ukraine. — Russian President Vladimir Putin has a long-festering grudge: He deeply resents the West for winning the Cold War. He blames the United States in particular for the collapse …

Discussion: Weekly Standard, Balloon Juice and Washington Free Beacon

Scott Johnson / Power Line:
Deep thoughts by Barack Obama

Discussion: Weekly Standard and American Spectator

Uri Friedman / The Atlantic Online:
Only a Quarter of Americans See Russia as an Enemy

Discussion: Hullabaloo, The Week, Pew Research Center …, Wall Street Journal and The Fix

Washington Post:

Secret Service agents on Obama detail sent home from Netherlands after night of drinking — Three Secret Service agents responsible for protecting President Obama in Amsterdam this week were sent home and put on administrative leave Sunday after going out for a night of drinking, according to three people familiar with the incident.

Discussion: Fox News, Fox News Insider, Hot Air, Talking Points Memo, Outside the Beltway, Post Politics, Daily Mail, Politico, Independent Journal Review, Liberty Unyielding, The Week, Liberaland, Shakesville and Barcepundit

Carla Marinucci / blog.sfgate.com:

Venture capitalist Tim Draper “close” to collecting signatures needed for Six Californias measure — Venture capitalist Tim Draper says he is getting “close” to collecting the necessary 800,000 signatures needed to get his “Six Californias” measure before state voters in 2014 …

Discussion: Washington Monthly, ABC News, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion and Hullabaloo

CBS News:

Americans disapprove of Obama's handling of Ukraine crisis — Shares - — President Obama: Ukraine and Foreign Policy — While a majority of Americans (56 percent) support U.S. sanctions against Russia, they are less pleased with President Obama's handling of the situation between Russia and Ukraine overall.

Discussion: Hit & Run, Business Insider, Fox News, CNN, Weasel Zippers, CBS DC and Washington Free Beacon

Jeffrey M. Jones / Gallup:

U.S. Seniors Have Realigned With the Republican Party — Seniors move from a reliably Democratic to a reliably Republican group — PRINCETON, NJ — U.S seniors — those aged 65 and older — have moved from a reliably Democratic group to a reliably Republican one over the past two decades.

Discussion: Campaign for America's Future and Shot in the Dark

J. David Goodman / New York Times:

2 CNN Producers Are Held in Trespass at World Trade Center — Two CNN producers seeking to report on recent breaches of security at the World Trade Center site were arrested on Tuesday as they tried to break into the area, the authorities said. — The two men, Yonatan Pomrenze, 35 …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo and Towleroad News #gay

New York Post:
CNN producers busted trying to get into WTC site

Discussion: Daily Mail, Poynter and Mediaite, more at Mediagazer »

Jeremy Herb / The Hill:

Pentagon spent millions on Benghazi probes — The Pentagon said Tuesday that its work to comply with the six congressional investigations into the September 2012 attack in Benghazi, Libya, has cost the military millions of dollars and thousands of man hours.

Discussion: Liberaland, ThinkProgress and Taylor Marsh

Philip Klein / Washington Examiner:

It's time for the White House to start sweating over legal challenge to Obamacare subsidies — BELTWAY CONFIDENTIAL OBAMACARE APPEALS COURTS KATHLEEN SEBELIUS SUBSIDIES HEALTH CARE EXCHANGES HHS — As the U.S. Supreme Court weighed the constitutionality of a contraception coverage mandate Tuesday morning …

Discussion: Forbes, National Review, Betsy's Page and Washington Post

Numbers / Journalism.org:

State of the News Media 2014 — The State of the News Media 2014 is the eleventh edition of an annual report by the Pew Research Center's Journalism Project examining the landscape of American journalism. This year's study includes special reports about the revenue picture for news …

Discussion: Poynter and Nieman Journalism Lab, more at Mediagazer »

Amy Mitchell / Journalism.org:
State of the News Media 2014

Discussion: The Raw Story, Poynter and Gigaom, more at Mediagazer »

Facebook:

Facebook to Acquire Oculus — Acquisition positions Facebook to accelerate Oculus' growth in gaming, communications and new social experiences — Facebook today announced that it has reached a definitive agreement to acquire Oculus VR, Inc., the leader in immersive virtual reality technology, for a total of approximately $2 billion.