memeorandum: Day after McCutcheon, FEC commissioners clash over dark money (Peter Olsen-Phillips/Sunlight Foundation …)

4:40 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

Jeffrey Toobin / News Desk:

The John Roberts Project — If you think that the Supreme Court's decision today in McCutcheon v. Federal Election Commission was bad, just wait: worse may be on the way. — The issue before the Court was fairly narrow, even a little obscure. Congress bars individuals from contributing …

Discussion: The Moderate Voice

Adam Liptak / New York Times:

Ruling Hints More Campaign Finance Dominoes May Fall — WASHINGTON — The sweeping language and logic of Wednesday's Supreme Court decision on campaign finance may imperil other legal restrictions on money in politics. — The 5-to-4 decision, which struck down overall limits on contributions …

Discussion: The Daily Beast, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion and ACS Blog

Harry Enten / FiveThirtyEight:
A Few Data Points on the Supreme Court's Donor-Limit Decision

Discussion: Washington Monthly, OpenSecrets.org, The Monkey Cage, The Fix, SCOTUSblog, CNN, The Dish, WRAL-TV, ABC News and Business Insider

David Bernstein / Washington Post:
Breyer's dangerous dissent in McCutcheon (the campaign finance case)

Discussion: neo-neocon and AEIdeas

Gail Collins / New York Times:
Surprise! The Rich Won One

Discussion: Prairie Weather and The Reaction

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

Discussion: The New Republic, Talking Points Memo, News Desk, Post Politics and Slate

Peter Olsen-Phillips / Sunlight Foundation Blog:
Day after McCutcheon, FEC commissioners clash over dark money

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, New York Times and Angus King

Josh Gerstein / Politico: John Roberts's rules of money in politics

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

Discussion: The Dish, The Hill, Reuters, Concurring Opinions, Bloomberg View, BillMoyers.com, The Moderate Voice, Talking Points Memo, Bloomberg, 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: Washington Post, Althouse, Center for American Progress, ThinkProgress and Unfogged

Mitchell / The Mozilla Blog:

Brendan Eich Steps Down as Mozilla CEO — Mozilla prides itself on being held to a different standard and, this past week, we didn't live up to it. We know why people are hurt and angry, and they are right: it's because we haven't stayed true to ourselves. — We didn't act like you'd expect Mozilla to act.

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, ThinkProgress, Wall Street Journal, The Daily Caller, The PJ Tatler, Weasel Zippers, Mashable, Gawker, Towleroad News #gay, CBS San Francisco and The Week

Kara Swisher / Re/code:
Mozilla Co-Founder Brendan Eich Resigns as CEO, Leaves Foundation Board

Discussion: Mediaite, Gigaom, The Verge and PinkNews.co.uk

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: CNN, Liberaland and Right Wing Watch

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: The Hill, Mediaite, Talking Points Memo and Hullabaloo

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

Discussion: The Huffington Post, Fox News, Post Politics and Twitchy

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

Discussion: Liberaland

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 …

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: Wall Street Journal, Talking Points Memo, Post Politics, The PJ Tatler, Politico, Firedoglake, The Daily Caller, Hot Air and Weekly Standard

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: Firedoglake, Talking Points Memo, Guardian, Wall Street Journal, Valleywag, The Week, Gigaom, Techdirt 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: Daily Kos, CANNONFIRE, No More Mister Nice Blog, Shakesville, Hinterland Gazette, Mashable, Fox News Insider and Liberaland

Alix Spiegel / National Security:

So You Think You're Smarter Than A CIA Agent … The morning I met Elaine Rich, she was sitting at the kitchen table of her small town home in suburban Maryland trying to estimate refugee flows in Syria. — It wasn't the only question she was considering; there were others:

Discussion: Hit & Run, The Daily Caller, The Verge and AEIdeas

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: Guardian, The Jawa Report, Mediaite, The Raw Story and The Daily Caller

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 Fix, The Daily Caller, Hinterland Gazette and The PJ Tatler

Dana Milbank / Washington Post:

Latest Benghazi hearing is another Republican flop — House Republicans on Wednesday held Benghazi hearing number 1,372,569, give or take, and this time they were determined to find the proof that had eluded them in the previous 1,372,568: That Obama administration officials put politics before national security.

Discussion: Washington Monthly

Thomas Joscelyn / Weekly Standard:
CIA Knew Al Qaeda Involved in Benghazi from ‘Get-go’

Discussion: Rush Limbaugh, The Daily Caller and The PJ Tatler

Sahil Kapur / Talking Points Memo:

Paul Ryan's Huge Medicare Shift — Buried in Rep. Paul Ryan's (R-WI) new budget is a subtle — but deeply consequential — change to his controversial Medicare privatization plan. — His new blueprint eliminates the per-beneficiary cap on Medicare spending.

Discussion: Washington Monthly and Washington Times