memeorandum: Dems fear a debacle on turnout (Alexandra Jaffe/The Hill)

10:30 PM ET, July 30, 2014

Top Items:

Democrats Are Way More Obsessed With Impeachment Than Republicans — House Speaker John Boehner said Tuesday that Republicans have no plans to impeach President Obama, and that all the impeachment talk was driven by Democrats hoping to stir up their base. — Boehner's statement isn't literally true …

Discussion: Washington Post, Bloomberg View, PJ Media, National Review, Los Angeles Times, Independent Journal Review, Yahoo! News and CNN

David A. Graham / The Atlantic Online:

21 Emails From the Democratic Party About Impeachment — President Obama's supporters are using fringe threats as a potent fundraising tool. Here's what it looks like. — By almost every indication, President Obama is not going to be impeached. — Sure, there are rabble-rousers …

Discussion: CNN, Hot Air, RedState, New York Times, Politico and Talking Points Memo

Amie Parnes / The Hill:

Obama to GOP: Stop hating — President Obama asked Republicans to stop “hating” and “being mad all the time” during a Wednesday speech in Kansas City, Mo., focused on the economy. — The president accused GOP lawmakers of needlessly suing him, instead of doing their jobs.

Discussion: Politico and Taegan Goddard's …

Lauren French / Politico:

House votes to sue Obama — The House voted along party lines Wednesday to move forward with a lawsuit against President Barack Obama, escalating tension between the executive and legislative branches months before the pivotal midterm elections. — The 225-201 vote authorizes Speaker John Boehner …

Discussion: Little Green Footballs

Damian Paletta / Wall Street Journal:

Paul Ryan on Immigration, Inversions, Impeachment and 2016 — House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R., Wis.) weighed in on virtually every issue percolating in Washington Wednesday, from immigration to impeachment, during a wide-ranging breakfast with reporters hosted by the Christian Science Monitor.

Discussion: National Review and Washington Post

Mike Lillis / The Hill:
Pelosi: Lawsuit first step down ‘road to impeachment’

Discussion: Roll Call and Real Clear Politics

Josh Israel / ThinkProgress:
House Republicans Vote To Sue Obama

Discussion: Hinterland Gazette, Daily Kos, Associated Press and Speaker.gov

Robert Costa / Washington Post:
Cruz whipping tonight against Boehner border bill

Discussion: CNN, Talking Points Memo, Hot Air and The Lonely Conservative

CNN:
GOP-led House authorizes lawsuit against Obama

Discussion: VentureBeat

Bob Cusack / The Hill:
GOP lawmaker: No to Obama lawsuit

Discussion: Politico, The PJ Tatler, Liberal Values and Talking Points Memo

Igor Volsky / ThinkProgress:
House Republican Insists He's Not Considering Impeaching Obama, Then Admits He Is, All In Less Than 60 Seconds

Discussion: Slate, Bloomberg View, his vorpal sword, The Huffington Post, ABC News, Democratic Policy & …, Washington Post, CBS News and BuzzFeed

Ted Barrett / CNN:
Senate votes to start debate on emergency border bill

Discussion: Politico, The Hill, Immigration Impact and The Daily Caller

David Wasserman / Washington Post:

The most frightening candidate I've met in seven years interviewing congressional hopefuls — As a House analyst for the nonpartisan Cook Political Report, I've personally interviewed over 300 congressional candidates over the course of seven years, both to get to know them and evaluate their chances of winning.

Discussion: No More Mister Nice Blog, The Daily Caller, Business Insider, Washington Monthly, Liberaland and The Raw Story

Politico:

House GOP in border-crisis chaos — House Republicans will vote to rein in the Obama administration's power to halt deportation for undocumented immigrants — a surprise move that comes as they struggle to attract support for their bill to address the crisis at the border.

Discussion: CNN

David Frum / The Atlantic Online:

An Apology: On Images From Gaza — I questioned the authenticity of a photo from Khan Younis hospital. It was a mistake. — I made a mistake earlier this week in a series of Twitter posts. It's not a mistake to which Atlantic editors were party in any way.

Discussion: Thomas Wictor, Firedoglake, VICE, Mediaite, Politico, The Dish, The Huffington Post, New York Times, Pressing Issues, BAGnewsNotes, LobeLog.com and Poynter

Nathan Schacht / Media Trackers:

Secretive Leftwing Network Discovered through WI Records Law — A low-profile Google Group used by over 1,000 state and national leftwing leaders and activists has been discovered thanks to Wisconsin's open records law. A Media Trackers inquiry into the actions of a University …

Discussion: The Mahablog, RedState and Vox Popoli

ABC News:

US Condemns Shelling of UN School in Gaza — The White House condemned the shelling Wednesday of a U.N. school in the Gaza Strip that was sheltering Palestinians displaced by the fighting between Israel and Hamas militants in Gaza. — The U.S. didn't assign responsibility for the shelling …

Discussion: Rush Limbaugh and Gawker

Washington Post:
Israel presses attack; 20 killed at U.N. school

Discussion: Outside the Beltway, Hot Air and Guardian

Christopher Gunness / UNRWA:
UNRWA STRONGLY CONDEMNS ISRAELI SHELLING OF ITS SCHOOL IN GAZA AS A SERIOUS VIOLATION OF INTERNATIONAL LAW

Discussion: Reuters, New York Times, Global Voices, Mondoweiss, emptywheel, Guardian, Israellycool, ThinkProgress, The Huffington Post and Pressing Issues

Stephen Ohlemacher / Associated Press:

Former IRS Official Called GOP ‘Crazies’ in Email — A former IRS official at the heart of the agency's tea party controversy called Republicans “crazies” and more in newly released emails. — Lois Lerner used to head the IRS division that handles applications for tax-exempt status.

Discussion: Liberaland and CNN

Rachael Bade / Politico:
Lois Lerner email: Some in GOP ‘crazies’

Discussion: Business Insider

waysandmeans.house.gov:
Camp Sends More Evidence of Criminal Wrongdoing to DOJ

Discussion: Hit & Run, Hot Air, Daily Signal and Independent Journal Review

David Dayen / Salon:

Rick Perlstein: “Ronald Reagan absolved America almost in a priestly role not to have to contend with sin. The consequences are all around us today" — From climate change to foreign affairs, Reagan pushed America toward easy lies, just as reckoning seemed possible

Discussion: Brad DeLong's Grasping Reality

Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar / Associated Press:

PROBE EXPOSES FLAWS BEHIND HEALTHCARE.GOV ROLLOUT — FILE - This Nov. 5, 2013 file photo shows Medicare chief Marilyn Tavenner testifying on Capitol Hill in Washington. Management failures by the Obama administration set the stage for the computer woes that paralyzed the president's …

Discussion: Hot Air, The Daily Caller, Mediaite and The PJ Tatler

Katherine Miller / BuzzFeed:

We Never Tried To Impeach Bush, Says Democratic Lawmaker Who Co-Sponsored Bush Impeachment Bill — “We did not seek an impeachment of President Bush, because as an executive, he had his authority.” — View Video › — Texas Democratic Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee argued Wednesday …

Discussion: Mediaite

Sam R. Hall / The Clarion-Ledger:

Hood calls out ‘political blogger’ in pay-to-lie scheme — PHILADELPHIA — Attorney General Jim Hood said his office is investigating whether a “political blogger” paid a Meridian man to lie about a vote-buying scheme. — During his speech at the Neshoba County Fair …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Mediaite and Little Green Footballs

NBC News:

Analysis: Impeachment Talk Becomes a Cynical Game — So both sides are playing this cynical game, turning the midterms into a base election that will be decided by who best motivates their base rather than by trying to fix the country's problems. (Republicans: “This President is breaking the law!”

Discussion: New York Times, msnbc.com, Real Clear Politics and CNN

Sean Kennedy / CNN:
Climate group attacks Ernst on tax pledge, not climate

Discussion: The Hill, ThinkProgress and Washington Free Beacon

Mitch Ginsburg / The Times of Israel:

3 IDF soldiers killed in booby-trapped UNRWA clinic — Forces were trying to safeguard building before demolishing a tunnel there when device exploded, also injuring 15 other troops — Three IDF soldiers were killed on Wednesday in an explosion at a booby-trapped UNRWA health clinic that housed the opening of a tunnel.

Discussion: Business Insider, Israel Matzav and The Gateway Pundit

Ezra Klein / Vox:

Why I have become more pessimistic about Israel — TWEET SHARE +1 LINKEDIN EMAIL PRINT — “I have become less pro-Israel,” admits Jonathan Chait in a powerful piece for New York Magazine. But I don't think Chait has become less pro-Israel. I think he's become more pessimistic about Israeli policy.

Discussion: National Review, Hot Air, Washington Monthly, New York Magazine and The Dish