memeorandum: Tea Party's great dunce-off: How Ted Cruz is quietly kicking Rand Paul's butt (Salon)

11:35 AM ET, April 8, 2014

Top Items:

The ‘77 Cents on the Dollar’ Myth About Women's Pay — Once education, marital status and occupations are considered, the ‘gender wage gap’ all but disappears. — April 8 is “Equal Pay Day,” an annual event to raise awareness regarding the so-called gender wage gap.

Discussion: ThinkProgress, MarketWatch, Taylor Marsh, Betsy's Page and Cafe Hayek

Justin Sink / The Hill:

WH says its gender pay gap ‘better than the national average’ — The White House on Monday looked to deflect criticism over its own pay policies ahead of an event Tuesday on lessening wage discrimination. — White House press secretary Jay Carney was peppered by questions from reporters …

Discussion: Hot Air

Washington Examiner:
White House: The ‘77 cents’ wage gap figure isn't accurate, but they'll use it anyway

Discussion: Weasel Zippers

New York Times:
As Obama Spotlights Gender Gap in Wages, His Own Payroll Draws Scrutiny

Discussion: JustOneMinute and Hit & Run

Dylan Scott / Talking Points Memo:

How The White House Just Undercut One Of The GOP's Top 2014 Attacks — In a move with big election-year implications, the Obama administration announced Monday that it would reverse a proposed cut to private Medicare Advantage plans. The decision undercuts one of the GOP's favorite lines …

Discussion: Kaiser Health News, Associated Press and The Fix

Bill Clark / Roll Call:
Senate Passes Unemployment Benefits Extension

Discussion: TIME, The Week, Americans Against the … and Daily Kos

Jonathan Easley / The Hill:
Healthcare cuts canceled after Dem complaints

Discussion: Scared Monkeys, Hullabaloo and Liberal Values

The News Star:

News-Star exclusive: McAllister says he's ‘ashamed,’ asking for forgiveness — Video shows representative kissing woman who isn't his wife — 'I promise to do everything I can to earn back the trust of everyone I've disappointed,' U.S. Rep. Vance McAllister said Monday after a video showing …

Discussion: The Hill, Gawker, In the Loop, Talking Points Memo, Balloon Juice and Roger Ailes

Politico:

Report: Pol, staffer caught kissing — Freshman GOP Rep. Vance McAllister (La.) - who ran as conservative Christian - has been caught on video in a romantic encounter with a woman believed to be on his congressional staff just before Christmas. — The Ouachita Citizen, a newspaper based in West Monroe …

Mario Trujillo / The Hill:
Married GOP congressman admits to kissing female staffer

Discussion: Daily Kos, Politico, The Other McCain, Liberaland and Hinterland Gazette

Hannah Levintova / Mother Jones:

OkCupid's CEO Donated to an Anti-Gay Campaign Once, Too — OkCupid co-founder Sam Yagan Anthony Behar/Sipa USA/AP Images — Last week, the online dating site OkCupid switched up its homepage for Mozilla Firefox users. Upon opening the site, a message appeared encouraging members to curb …

Discussion: Uncrunched, Hot Air, Towleroad News #gay, Hit & Run, Weasel Zippers, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, The Week, Ed Driscoll and National Review

Salon:

Tea Party's great dunce-off: How Ted Cruz is quietly kicking Rand Paul's butt — A little-noticed speech tells all you need to know about the right fringe — and why Cruz gets it more than Paul — There's been a lot of chatter recently about certain GOP presidential hopefuls' religious pilgrimage …

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Bloomberg View, The Fix, NewsBusters and Hullabaloo

John D. McKinnon / Wall Street Journal:
GOP Report on IRS: Only Tea Party Groups Received ‘Systematic Scrutiny’

Discussion: The Other McCain, RedState, NewsBusters, The PJ Tatler and The Daily Caller

The / Los Angeles Times:

Time to expose the CIA's ‘dark side’ — The partial declassification of a report critical of interrogation and detention policies used by the CIA after 9/11 is a crucial part of confronting the abuses of our past. — Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) speaks to the media after a closed meeting …

Discussion: Washington Post and Daily Kos

Tal Kopan / Politico:
Chuck Schumer: No end to attacks on Kochs

Discussion: CNN, Weasel Zippers, The Daily Caller and Power Line

Burgess Everett / Politico:
Michael Hayden under fire for Dianne Feinstein comment

Discussion: Weasel Zippers, Mediaite and Post Politics

Tal Kopan / Politico:

Charles Krauthammer hits Jeb Bush comments — Conservative commentator Charles Krauthammer says comments from former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush about immigration being an act of love were “bizarre,” predicting that when the Republican enters the presidential race, those words will come back to haunt him.

Discussion: The Week

Ben Smith / BuzzFeed:
Why Jeb Bush Is A Terrible Candidate

Discussion: Bloomberg View, Real Clear Politics, Fox News, The Daily Beast, Hot Air, Mediaite, The Fix, National Review, CNN and Vox

Jason Stein / JSOnline:

Gov. Scott Walker wants to finish college degree — By Jason Stein of the Journal Sentinel — Madison — More than two decades after leaving Marquette University without finishing up his degree, Gov. Scott Walker wants to earn his diploma. — A spokeswoman said the governor wants …

Discussion: Post Politics and OnPolitics

Catherine Thompson / Talking Points Memo:

Fox News Host Calls UConn Basketball Team ‘NAACP National Champs’ (VIDEO) — A Fox News host accidentally referred to the UConn Huskies as “NAACP national champs” after the school clinched the 2014 NCAA men's basketball title. — “Fox & Friends First” host Heather Childers …

Discussion: The Raw Story, Mediaite and Awful Announcing

Mark Leibovich / New York Times:

How Not to Seem Rich While Running for Office — Like many seekers of higher office, Ann Callis doesn't know financial hardship. But that's O.K. Her elders did. — When Callis started running for a House seat from Illinois, she was happy to recite the story of her father, Lance.

Erin Durkin / NY Daily News:

Rev. Al Sharpton worked as FBI informant, taping conversations with mob pals to help bring down Genovese crime family: report — Sharpton became an informant after he was caught on tape with a drug kingpin discussing cocaine deals, and the feds threatened him with charges unless he flipped …

Discussion: Main Justice, CANNONFIRE and Firedoglake

Wbastone / The Smoking Gun:
Al Sharpton's Secret Work As FBI Informant

Discussion: New York Post, Firedoglake, Talking Points Memo, The Raw Story, The Huffington Post, Hinterland Gazette, Politico, Mediaite, Fox News, The Daily Caller, The Jawa Report, Ed Driscoll, Scared Monkeys, Washington Times, Liberaland, Weasel Zippers and The Gateway Pundit

Yahoo! News:

Katie Couric LBJ daughters civil rights interview — Former President Lyndon B. Johnson's daughters reflected on what their father would think of gay marriage, how his legacy was tarnished by a war that broke his heart, and what it was like to honeymoon with the Secret Service in tow …

Discussion: Human Rights Campaign Blog, Towleroad News #gay and Advocate

nbcbayarea.com:

Vandals Flip Over Smart Cars in San Francisco — Someone's been vandalizing compact Smart cars in San Francisco, flipping the tiny vehicles on their front and rear ends in the city's streets. — NBC Bay Area found four of the targeted Smart cars between Sunday night and Monday morning.

Discussion: VodkaPundit, Mashable, The Daily Caller, KFOR-TV, National Review and The Week

Elianayjohnson / National Review:

House Turns Up the Heat on Lerner, Pursues Criminal Charges — The House Ways and Means Committee, led by outgoing chairman Dave Camp, will vote this week to ask the Department of Justice to pursue criminal charges against former Internal Revenue Service employee Lois Lerner.

Discussion: Washington Free Beacon

James Taranto / Wall Street Journal:

The illiberal left lacks confidence in its ideas. — “The debate over repealing this law is over,” President Obama declared last Tuesday in reference to ObamaCare. April Fool! By the end of the week some of Obama's most loyal media supporters were proving him wrong—by repeating his arguments.

Discussion: Instapundit, The Daily Banter, The Huffington Post, Los Angeles Times, Runnin' Scared and ThinkProgress