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

11:40 AM ET, April 3, 2014

Top Items:

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 Mother Jones

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: CNN, The Moderate Voice, OpenSecrets.org, News Desk, The Monkey Cage, WRAL-TV, ABC News and Business Insider

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.

Richard L. Hasen / Slate:

Die Another Day — The Supreme Court takes a big step closer to gutting the last bits of campaign finance reform. — Back when Justice Elena Kagan was Solicitor General Kagan, she argued to the Supreme Court in favor of the ban on corporate spending in the Citizens United case.

Discussion: SCOTUSblog, The Monkey Cage, Talking Points Memo, The New Republic, Althouse, Reuters, Wall Street Journal, The Atlantic Online, Washington Post, New York Times, Bloomberg View, RealClearPolicy, Bloomberg and Hit & Run

Lawrence Lessig / The Daily Beast:

Originalists Making It Up Again: McCutcheon and ‘Corruption’ — The Supreme Court decision ending aggregate limits on political donations was made possible by a dangerous, narrow definition of “corruption” the Framers themselves wouldn't recognize. — At the core of the disaster …

Discussion: The Hill, Concurring Opinions, BillMoyers.com, The Moderate Voice and USA Today

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

Discussion: Bloomberg View

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

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

Discussion: Washington Post, Center for American Progress, ThinkProgress, RealClearPolicy and Unfogged

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

Nicholas Confessore / New York Times:
Power Surge for Donors as Terrain Is Reshaped on Campaign Money

Discussion: theGrio, Capital New York and Wall Street Journal

Shaun McCutcheon / Politico:
I Fought the Law and I Won

Discussion: Betsy's Page and The Daily Caller

Lyle Denniston / SCOTUSblog:
Opinion analysis: Freeing more political money

Discussion: Los Angeles Times, CNN, Hit & Run, ACS Blog, The Daily Caller, Politico, ThinkProgress, Talking Points Memo, Taylor Marsh, Gothamist, Obsidian Wings, Outside the Beltway, New York Times and Booman Tribune

Politico:
Supreme Court strikes down aggregate campaign giving limits

Discussion: Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, OpEdNews, RedState, Weasel Zippers, Right Turn, neo-neocon, Hot Air, The PJ Tatler and CNN

Ari Berman / thenation.com/blogs/163253:
The Supreme Court's Ideology: More Money, Less Voting

Discussion: The Daily Beast, No More Mister Nice Blog, The Plum Line, Post Politics, Washington Post, American Prospect, Mother Jones, Hot Air and Mediaite

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 …

Discussion: New York Times, Washington Monthly, The PJ Tatler, Politico, Talking Points Memo, Fox News, The Daily Caller, No More Mister Nice Blog, alicublog, Crooked Timber, Outside the Beltway, Post Politics, The Daily Banter, VodkaPundit, susiemadrak.com and American Power

John McCormack / Weekly Standard:
Harry Reid Now Spreading Baseless Claim that Koch Brothers Don't Pay Corporate Taxes

Discussion: The Daily Caller, Weasel Zippers, Hot Air and American Spectator

CBS News:

At least 4 killed in shooting at Fort Hood; gunman among dead — Fort Hood on Google Earth CBS/GOOGLE EARTH — Shares - — FORT HOOD, Texas - A soldier opened fire Wednesday at Fort Hood, killing three people and wounding several others before taking his own life, law enforcement sources told CBS News.

Discussion: Washington Post, CBS Dallas, Fox News, International Business Times, Taylor Marsh, No More Mister Nice Blog, American Spectator, Mediaite, The Gateway Pundit, CBS San Francisco, Liberaland, Twitchy, Recent Updates … and Hinterland Gazette

New York Times:

Iraq Veteran at Fort Hood Kills 3 and Himself in Rampage — KILLEEN, Tex. — A soldier who was being evaluated for post-traumatic stress disorder opened fire at Fort Hood on Wednesday, killing three people and wounding 16 before killing himself, the authorities said.

Discussion: Firedoglake, Gawker, Mashable, Washington Post, Shakesville, Outside the Beltway, NBC News and AMERICAblog News

Hadas Gold / Politico:
Kelly refuses to use Ft. Hood shooter's name

Discussion: Talking Points Memo

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

Discussion: Hullabaloo and Politico

KWTX-TV:
One Death Confirmed In Fort Hood Shooting

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit, Mediaite, The Other McCain and Liberaland

KCEN-TV:
Reports of a Shooting on Fort Hood

Discussion: Associated Press, Fox News, Joe. My. God., Scared Monkeys, Talking Points Memo, The PJ Tatler, The Gateway Pundit, NBC News, The Jawa Report, CNN, Hinterland Gazette, Hot Air and Outside the Beltway

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: CANNONFIRE, Liberaland, Mashable and Hinterland Gazette

Kyle Mantyla / Right Wing Watch:

Glenn Beck Does Not React Well To Obama's Health Care Victory Lap — These days, Glenn Beck's TV and radio programs are little more than exercises in projection and hypocrisy, so it was no surprise to see him have a complete meltdown on his radio program today over President Obama's remarks …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, theGrio, The Raw Story and Balloon Juice

Laura Leslie / WRAL-TV:

State elections officials seek tighter security — RALEIGH, N.C. — State elections officials said Wednesday that they're investigating hundreds of cases of voters who appear to have voted in two states and several dozen who appear to have voted after their deaths.

Discussion: National Review, Fox News, Right Wing News, Independent Journal Review and Election Law Blog

Phil Berger:
Tillis, Berger Issue Joint Statement On Newly Discovered, Alarming Evidence Of Voter Error And Fraud

Discussion: The PJ Tatler, The Gateway Pundit, Weasel Zippers and The Lonely Conservative

Andrew Kirell / Mediaite:

Obama Protester Attacks CBS Reporter During Live Report — An anti-Obama protester attacked CBS Chicago reporter Jay Levine during a live broadcast Wednesday afternoon from outside a restaurant where the president would attend a fundraiser. — “Obama is a war criminal,” …

Discussion: Liberaland and The Huffington Post

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, Weekly Standard and Hot Air

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: Hinterland Gazette and The PJ Tatler

Julian Hattem / The Hill:

DOJ silent on spy chief investigation — Months after requesting an investigation into Director of National Intelligence James Clapper for lying to Congress, lawmakers have yet to get an update from the Justice Department. — Rep. James Sensenbrenner (R-Wis.), the original author of the Patriot Act …