memeorandum: Bill Clinton 'wouldn't be surprised' by an alien visit (Jonathan Helman/CNN)

2:15 PM ET, April 3, 2014

Top Items:

How McCutcheon Could Come Back to Haunt the Republican Party — When my kids were younger, I loved to roughhouse with them. For a while, we'd all have fun. But then I'd get tired and want to stop, only to realize, to my dismay, that they were just getting started. I'd created something I could no longer control.

Discussion: ECHIDNE OF THE SNAKES

Gail Collins / New York Times:

Surprise! The Rich Won One — Today, we are going to discuss the Supreme Court decision on political donations. Already, we have run into a terrible problem, which is the difficulty in having a fun conversation about campaign finance laws. — Let me try for a second: On Wednesday …

Discussion: Prairie Weather and The Reaction

Josh Gerstein / Politico:

John Roberts's rules of money in politics — Chief Justice John Roberts has a blunt message for wealthy donors tired of campaign finance rules: Fund a super PAC. — It's simpler, he wrote in his McCutcheon v. FEC opinion Wednesday, than dealing with a web of interlocking fundraising committees.

Discussion: Taylor Marsh

Harry Enten / FiveThirtyEight:

A Few Data Points on the Supreme Court's Donor-Limit Decision — The Supreme Court on Wednesday struck down biennial aggregate campaign contribution limits. For 2014, the overall limit was $123,200. There was a lower limit of $74,600 for donations to PACs and party committees …

Discussion: News Desk, Washington Monthly, The Moderate Voice, OpenSecrets.org, SCOTUSblog, CNN, WRAL-TV, ABC News and Business Insider

Richard Hasen / SCOTUSblog:
Symposium: Does the Chief Justice not understand politics, or does he understand it all too well?

Discussion: The New Republic and News Desk

Lawrence Lessig / The Daily Beast:
Originalists Making It Up Again: McCutcheon and ‘Corruption’

Discussion: BillMoyers.com, The Moderate Voice, Talking Points Memo, Hit & Run, New York Times, SCOTUSblog and USA Today

Dahlia Lithwick / Slate:
The chief either doesn't believe, or doesn't care, that money corrupts politics.

Discussion: Center for American Progress, ThinkProgress, RealClearPolicy, The Daily Caller and Unfogged

Robert Barnes / Washington Post:
Supreme Court strikes down limits on overall federal campaign donations

Discussion: NewsBusters, Wall Street Journal, theGrio, Reuters, The Hill, Los Angeles Times, The Monkey Cage, Concurring Opinions, OpEdNews, Sunlight Foundation Blog, SCOTUSblog, PostPartisan, Re/code and GovBeat

Democracy21:
Fred Wertheimer “The Consequences of Today's Disastrous Decision by the Supreme Court Majority in the McCutcheon Case”

Discussion: New York Times, The Daily Caller, ACS Blog and Feeds

Bradley A. Smith / National Review: Free Speech at Last: McCutcheon Decision Just Right

Washington Post:
Congress must stem the flow of campaign cash in wake of ‘McCutcheon’

Discussion: Bloomberg View

Richard L. Hasen / Slate:
Die Another Day — The Supreme Court takes a big step closer …

Discussion: The Monkey Cage, Talking Points Memo, New York Times, Politico, Althouse, Wall Street Journal, The Atlantic Online, Post Politics, SCOTUSblog, Bloomberg View, RealClearPolicy, Bloomberg, thenation.com/blogs/163253 and ThinkProgress

Ann M. Ravel / New York Times:
How Not to Enforce Campaign Laws

Discussion: Sunlight Foundation Blog

Hadas Gold / Politico:

Kelly refuses to use Ft. Hood shooter's name — Fox News host Megyn Kelly said on her Wednesday show that she will not be saying the suspected Ft. Hood shooter's name as a policy. — “Authorities are identifying the shooter. If you are interested you can get his name on other show …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo

Eric Lach / Talking Points Memo:

Both Fort Hood Shooters Bought Their Guns At The Same Store — The man identified as the gunman in Wednesday's mass shooting at the Fort Hood military base in Texas purchased his gun from the same store where Major Nidal Hasan purchased a gun he used when he killed 13 people at the base in 2009, according to reports.

Discussion: Liberaland and CNN

Catherine Thompson / Talking Points Memo:
Fort Hood Shooter Had .45-Caliber Pistol That Wasn't Registered On Base

Discussion: Liberaland

Washington Post:
Here are the rules on carrying firearms on Fort Hood

Discussion: Post Politics, Fox News and Twitchy

Kristina Wong / The Hill:
Four dead, 16 wounded in new mass shooting at Fort Hood

Discussion: Joe. My. God., Hullabaloo and Politico

New York Times:
Iraq Veteran at Fort Hood Kills 3 and Himself in Rampage

Discussion: Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Gawker, Firedoglake, Shakesville, Outside the Beltway, Mashable and AMERICAblog News

Charles G. Koch / Wall Street Journal:

Koch: I'm Fighting to Restore a Free Society — Instead of welcoming free debate, collectivists engage in character assassination. — I have devoted most of my life to understanding the principles that enable people to improve their lives. It is those principles—the principles of a free society …

Associated Press:

US SECRETLY CREATED ‘CUBAN TWITTER’ TO STIR UNREST — You are here — Home » United States government » US secretly created ‘Cuban Twitter’ to stir unrest — WASHINGTON (AP) — In July 2010, Joe McSpedon, a U.S. government official, flew to Barcelona to put the final touches …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Wall Street Journal, The Week, Gigaom, Techdirt, Gawker and The Awl, more at Mediagazer »

Associated Press:

US SECRETLY BUILT ‘CUBAN TWITTER’ TO STIR UNREST … WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. government masterminded the creation of a “Cuban Twitter” - a communications network designed to undermine the communist government in Cuba, built with secret shell companies and financed through foreign banks, The Associated Press has learned.

Discussion: Shakesville, Fox News Insider, Mashable, CANNONFIRE, Hinterland Gazette and Liberaland

Kathryn Mayer / BenefitsPro:

Gibbs predicts employer mandate will be killed — COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo.— A former longtime advisor to President Barack Obama predicted Wednesday that the employer mandate — a key piece of Obamacare — will not survive. — It was among several predictions Robert Gibbs …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Politico, Firedoglake, The Daily Caller, Hot Air and Weekly Standard

Jonathan Helman / CNN:

Bill Clinton 'wouldn't be surprised' by an alien visit — (CNN) - It has been a question plaguing man for ages: Are we alone in the universe? — If you ask former President Bill Clinton, he would tell you that he “wouldn't be surprised” if we were visited by extraterrestrials someday.

Discussion: The Hill and Shakesville

Tal Kopan / Politico:
Bill Clinton phones home on aliens

Discussion: Talking Points Memo

New York Post:

Rogue alcoholic court reporter kept writing ‘I hate my job’ — An alcoholic Manhattan court stenographer went rogue, channeling his inner “Shining” during a high-profile criminal trial and repeatedly typing, “I hate my job, I hate my job” instead of the trial dialogue, sources told The Post.

Discussion: The Daily Caller, Mediaite and The Raw Story

Mara Liasson / NPR:

NPR Poll: Obamacare More Popular Than President … A new bipartisan NPR poll shows approval numbers rising for Obamacare —which is now slightly more popular than its namesake. — Our survey of likely voters, conducted for Morning Edition by Democrat Stan Greenberg of Democracy Corps …

Discussion: The Daily Caller, Hinterland Gazette and The PJ Tatler

Sam Baker / NationalJournal.com:

15-20 Percent Aren't Paying Obamacare Premiums, Insurer Says — New data from a major insurer suggest real enrollment is at roughly 6 million. — A health care specialist helps people select insurance plans at an Affordable Care Act enrollment fair in Pasadena, Calif.(David McNew/Getty Images)