memeorandum: Is the American Middle Class Losing Out to China and India? (Thomas B. Edsall/New York Times)

11:55 AM ET, April 2, 2014

Top Items:

If the law is now such a success, why are Senate Democrats still fleeing? — Suddenly ObamaCare is a roaring success, happy days are here again and liberals are euphoric, or claim to be. There are more than a few reasons to doubt this new fairy tale, not least the behavior of Senate Democrats running for re-election this year.

Discussion: Right Turn

David Nather / Politico:

Obamacare critics: Homina, homina, homina — Back in the fall, conservatives seized on the flubbed Obamacare rollout as proof that President Barack Obama's brand of liberalism doesn't work. — Now, the law's opponents aren't about to say that critique was wrong — but they've lost the best evidence they had.

Discussion: No More Mister Nice Blog

Politico:

Behind the Obamacare surprise — There was a word White House officials had for Monday, the final day of Obamacare enrollment: “S—t-tastic.” — “S—t,” because they couldn't believe that the website had crashed again, and they couldn't get it back for hours.

Discussion: New York Magazine

Jason Millman / Wonkblog:

Here's why it doesn't matter that 7M signed up for Obamacare — President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden celebrated the enrollment news in a Rose Garden ceremony Tuesday. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster) — Today's White House announcement that 7.1 million people signed …

David Martosko / Daily Mail:
‘The debate over repealing this law is over’: Obama boasts 7.1 MILLION have signed up to Obamacare …

Discussion: RedState, Weasel Zippers and Doug Ross

Adam Liptak / New York Times:

Supreme Court Strikes Down Aggregate Limits on Federal Campaign Contributions — WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Wednesday issued a major campaign finance decision, striking down limits on federal campaign contributions for the first time. The ruling, issued near the start of a campaign season …

Discussion: Salon, Washington Post, Althouse and Balloon Juice

Richard Wolf / USA Today:

Supreme Court lifts ban on aggregate campaign donations — The decision represents another step toward easing decades-old restrictions on political contributions that were designed to combat corruption — WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court took another step Wednesday toward giving wealthy donors …

Discussion: Liberaland and Joe. My. God.

CBS News:

Supreme Court strikes down overall campaign contribution cap — Shares - — The Supreme Court has struck down limits in federal law on the overall campaign contributions the biggest individual donors may make to candidates, political parties and political action committees.

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit

Sean Sullivan / The Fix:
Everything you need to know about McCutcheon vs FEC

Discussion: Washington Post, Post Politics, Hot Air and Mediaite

Alexander Bolton / The Hill:

GOP gets O-Care angst — Anxious Senate Republicans are worried party leaders are focusing too much this election year on ObamaCare and not enough on jobs and the economy. — The concern among GOP centrists comes as President Obama and congressional Democrats are crowing about a surge …

Discussion: Daily Kos, The Plum Line, The Fact Checker, The Reaction, Washington Post and New York Times

Sahil Kapur / Talking Points Memo:

Conservatives Discover That Obamacare Will Help A Lot Of People — Obamacare crossed the 7 million sign-ups milestone before the midnight deadline Monday, sparking angst and introspection among conservative policy wonks about the future of their quest to wipe the health care law off the books.

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, Bloomberg View, Washington Examiner, National Review, Daily Kos and Hot Air

James Carville / The Hill: O-Care a winning bet for Dems

Quinnipiac News + Events:

Release Detail — April 2, 2014 - Obama Approval Inches Up, Tied With Putin As Leader, Quinnipiac University National Poll Finds; Voters Say Putin Is Not Hitler, But Fear Military Action — Watch Video: Assistant Director Tim Malloy discusses poll results

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Mediaite, Hot Air, Fox News, The PJ Tatler, The Heritage Foundation, OnPolitics, Politico, Real Clear Politics and National Republican …

Sarah Palin / Facebook:

My Own Final Four Bracket For America's Future — Holy Moly! Are you kidding? You'd think one who is representing the mighty Badgers, who made it to the Final Four based on sacrificial work ethic and discipline that obviously pays off in the end, he who represents the great state …

Discussion: Mediaite, Washington Monthly, Liberaland, Politico, PoliticusUSA, Talking Points Memo, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Real Clear Politics and Twitchy

Katie Thomas / New York Times:

Newly Enrolled, but Not Counted by Insurance Exchanges — Millions of newly insured people are hiding in plain sight. — They are the people who have bought new health insurance since the start of this year but have chosen for one reason or another to bypass the state and federal exchanges …

Discussion: Politico, News Desk, Daily Kos, Mediaite and ACASignups.net

Tom Kludt / Talking Points Memo:

Ted Cruz Has Reportedly Landed A Richer Book Deal Than Palin — Ted Cruz is about to get Sarah Palin money for his book deal. — In fact, the Washington Examiner reports that Cruz's deal with HarperCollins to write a “personal memoir about his controversial days in Washington and his vision …

Discussion: Liberaland

Paul Bedard / Washington Examiner:
Blockbuster book deal for Ted Cruz; $1.5m advance, bigger than Sarah Palin's

Discussion: The Week and Mediaite

Marlow Stern / The Daily Beast:

Exclusive: Watch Donald Rumsfeld Lie About Saddam Hussein, al-Qaeda, and 9/11 — In a new doc, the former Defense Secretary says he never meant to imply that Saddam was behind 9/11—despite the implications that the Iraqi dictator and al-Qaeda were in cahoots.

Discussion: Liberaland, Business Insider and The Raw Story

Washington Post:

Councilwoman Bowser defeats incumbent Gray in D.C. mayoral primary — Muriel E. Bowser, a low-key but politically canny District lawmaker, won the Democratic mayoral nomination Tuesday, emerging from a pack of challengers in a low-turnout primary to deny scandal-tarnished incumbent Vincent C. Gray a second term.

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Politico, DCist, Washington Blade, Outside the Beltway, District of DeBonis and CNN

Cameron Joseph / The Hill:

Bush vets back in action — Bush veterans are striking back. — Senior officials from former President George W. Bush's administration are wading into the fight over the Republican Party's direction and future. — In conversations with The Hill, many White House alumni …

Discussion: Taylor Marsh and Prairie Weather

Associated Press: Ted Cruz Heads to Liberty U to Woo Evangelicals

Chris Johnson / Washington Blade:

Mississippi legislature approves ‘turn away the gays’ bill — The Mississippi legislature has approved a “turn away the gay” bill. (Photo by Chuck Kelly; courtesy Creative Commons) — The Mississippi legislature approved late Tuesday a “turn away the gays” measure that would enable businesses …

Discussion: ThinkProgress, Towleroad News #gay and frc.org

Tony Merevick / BuzzFeed:
Mississippi Approves Religious Freedom Bill, Governor Expected To Sign It Into Law

Discussion: Joe. My. God.

Reuters:

GM avoided defective switch redesign in 2005 to save a dollar each — (Reuters) - General Motors Co in 2005 decided not to change an ignition switch eventually linked to the deaths of at least 13 people because it would have added about a dollar to the cost of each car …

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, National Review and The Week

Thomas B. Edsall / New York Times:

Is the American Middle Class Losing Out to China and India? — President Obama may be right: free trade is a winning strategy that will lower consumer costs and expand employment in exporting industries. — “When 98 percent of our exporters are small businesses, new trade partnerships …

Discussion: Vox Popoli

Alexandra Jaffe / The Hill:

Cochran touts ‘100 votes’ against ObamaCare — Facing a tough primary fight, Sen. Thad Cochran (R-Miss.) launched a new ad that touts his positions on three bread-and-butter conservative issues: Guns, abortion and ObamaCare. — In the ad, a narrator declares there's “only one candidate for U.S. Senate” …

Discussion: The Reaction and Roll Call

Molly Redden / Mother Jones:

Hobby Lobby's Hypocrisy: The Company's Retirement Plan Invests in Contraception Manufacturers — When Hobby Lobby filed its case against Obamacare's contraception mandate, its retirement plan had more than $73 million invested in funds with stakes in contraception makers.

Discussion: Liberaland, Shakesville, The Raw Story, Bloomberg View, Talking Points Memo, Daily Kos, susiemadrak.com, Jezebel and Joe. My. God.

Jeffrey Tayler / The Atlantic Online:

10 Tough Questions Obama Needs to Answer on Ukraine — MOSCOW—Despite assurances by Vladimir Putin to the contrary, there is, so far, no evidence that Russian troops are withdrawing from the border with Ukraine. The standoff in the region, in fact, is far from over—and Putin …

Discussion: Outside the Beltway and Mashable

Motoko Rich / New York Times:

American Students Test Well in Problem Solving, but Trail Foreign Counterparts — Fifteen-year-olds in the United States scored above the average of those in the developed world on exams assessing problem-solving skills, but they trailed several countries in Asia and Europe as well as Canada …

Discussion: Joanne Jacobs