Top Items:
The Hill:
Voter stupidity remark gives GOP new ammo on ObamaCare — Comments about voter stupidity made by an ally of the Obama administration are turning into conservatives' newest weapon against the president's healthcare law. — A series of unearthed videos of ObamaCare consultant Jonathan Gruber …
RELATED:
Robert Costa / Washington Post:
Hearings floated as Hill Republicans seize on Gruber Obamacare comments — Congressional Republicans seized Wednesday on controversial comments made by a former health-care consultant to the Obama administration, with one leading House conservative suggesting that hearings could be called …
Discussion:
MichelleMalkin.com, Hot Air, The Daily Caller, No More Mister Nice Blog and The PJ Tatler
Washington Post:
GOP's anti-Obamacare push gains new momentum in wake of Gruber video
GOP's anti-Obamacare push gains new momentum in wake of Gruber video
Discussion:
BuzzFeed, New York Times and NPR
Dylan Scott / Talking Points Memo:
White House: Gruber's Comments About O-Care Are ‘Simply Not True’
White House: Gruber's Comments About O-Care Are ‘Simply Not True’
Discussion:
The Daily Caller, The Moderate Voice and The Hill
Lucas Tomlinson / Fox News:
Source: Obama to announce 10-point immigration plan via exec action as early as next week — EXCLUSIVE: President Obama is planning to unveil a 10-part plan for overhauling U.S. immigration policy via executive action — including suspending deportations for millions — as early as next Friday …
Discussion:
RedState, The Gateway Pundit, The Daily Caller and The Lonely Conservative
RELATED:
Wall Street Journal:
New GOP Push to Block Immigration Action by Obama — Conservatives Want to Use Spending Bill to Prevent Any Unilateral Move, Setting Up Possible Clash With Their Leadership — WASHINGTON—A bloc of Republican lawmakers is seeking to use must-pass spending legislation in the final weeks …
Discussion:
New York Magazine
Seung Min Kim / Politico:
Progressives push Obama to shield more immigrants
Progressives push Obama to shield more immigrants
Discussion:
The Daily Caller and National Review
Politico:
Harry Reid wants Warren in Senate leadership — Senate Democrats want to enlist a progressive firebrand as a member of their leadership: Elizabeth Warren. — The incoming Senate minority leader, Harry Reid, is engaged in private talks with the Massachusetts freshman to create …
Discussion:
PoliticusUSA
RELATED:
Joanne Kenen / Politico:
The selling of Obamacare 2.0 — TV's out; hashtags are in. — At this point last year, President Barack Obama had talked up Obamacare on “Leno.” He tweeted about it with Katy Perry, asked ministers to pitch it to their flocks and dispatched top officials and celebrities to spread the Obamacare word.
RELATED:
Ron Fournier / National Journal:
Obamacare's Foundation of Lies
Obamacare's Foundation of Lies
Discussion:
Fox News, Betsy's Page, Hot Air, Washington Examiner, Bloomberg, Washington Post, Mediaite, The PJ Tatler, Washington Free Beacon, Daily Signal, National Review and RedState
Elicia Dover / KATV-TV:
Gov. Mike Beebe says he will pardon his own son — Gov. Mike Beebe says he will pardon his son, Kyle, for a felony crime from his past. — “Mr. Governor, I am asking for a second chance at life. I am asking for a second chance to be the man that I know that I can be,” Kyle Beebe wrote in his pardon application to his father.
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo, CNN, ABC News and Fox News
A.B. Stoddard / The Hill:
All eyes on Jeb Bush — The 2016 GOP presidential nominating contest, which began after last week's midterm elections wrapped up, already includes 17 potential candidates and their families, hundreds of would-be staff and several dozen top Republican donors.
Harry Enten / FiveThirtyEight:
Something Funny Happened In Iowa, And It May Hurt Democrats In 2016 — Republican Sen.-elect Joni Ernst easily won her race in Iowa last Tuesday, beating Democrat Bruce Braley by 8.5 percentage points. Her victory wasn't shocking, but its size was (to everyone except pollster Ann Selzer, that is).
Discussion:
Liberal Values, Washington Monthly and Hot Air
Zeke J Miller / TIME:
Eric Cantor's Secrets for Negotiating with Joe Biden — “The Guy's Awesome” — Last week's Republican victories may have had the paradoxical effect of increasing the influence of the consummate Congressional Democrat, Joe Biden. GOP leaders looking to show they can get things done …
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo, Politico and Political Wire
Numbers / Pew Research Center's Religion …:
Religion in Latin America — Widespread Change in a Historically Catholic Region — Latin America is home to more than 425 million Catholics - nearly 40% of the world's total Catholic population - and the Roman Catholic Church now has a Latin American pope for the first time in its history.
Discussion:
Crux, Christian Today and New York Times
Coral Davenport / New York Times:
In Climate Deal With China, Obama May Set 2016 Theme — WASHINGTON — President Obama's landmark agreement with China to cut greenhouse gas pollution is a bet by the president and Democrats that on the issue of climate change, American voters are far ahead of Washington's warring factions …
Discussion:
The PJ Tatler
Jessica Goldstein / ThinkProgress:
Team Springsteen: Why ‘Fortunate Son’ Belonged At The Concert For Valor — Bruce Springsteen performed at the Concert For Valor on the National Mall on Tuesday night. Events like this are Bruce's calling. He probably has a star-spangled bat signal in his house that lights up whenever …
Discussion:
The Hill, PoliticusUSA, US News, The Daily Caller, Talking Points Memo, Raw Story and Taylor Marsh
RELATED:
Ann Althouse / Althouse:
Weekly Standard bellyaches...
Weekly Standard bellyaches...
Discussion:
The Moderate Voice, Washington Times, Hot Air, Washington Post, The PJ Tatler, alicublog and Booman Tribune
Katy Steinmetz / TIME:
Which Word Should Be Banned in 2015? — If you hear that word one more time, you will definitely cringe. You may exhale pointedly. And you might even seek out the nearest the pair of chopsticks and thrust them through your own eardrums like straws through plastic lids. What word is this?
Discussion:
The Huffington Post, Mashable, Gawker and Shakesville
Bill de Blasio / The Huffington Post:
Don't Soul-Search. Stiffen Your Backbone. — It's a time-honored tradition. — After months of covering the midterm elections through a prism of polls and tactics, pundits will shift their focus to the defeated party's so-called season of “soul-searching.” — As a Democrat, I'm disappointed in last Tuesday's results.
Discussion:
New York Times, Mediaite and Eschaton
Jay Root / The Texas Tribune:
Internal Memos Detail Davis Campaign Dysfunction … Feb. 11 Letter From Prism Communications Jan. 6 Memo About Davis Campaign Disarray — Consultants for Democrat Wendy Davis warned her campaign months ago that the Fort Worth senator was headed for a humiliating defeat in the Texas governor's race unless …
Discussion:
The Daily Caller and Talking Points Memo
Danny Wicentowski / Daily RFT:
Missouri KKK Leader: Ferguson Protests Are Boosting Recruitment [UPDATED] — Frank Ancona (center), the head of the Traditionalist American Knights of the Ku Klux Klan, says his group is ready to protect citizens from violent Ferguson protesters. — The head of Missouri's most visible KKK group claims …
Discussion:
Mediaite, Raw Story, PoliticusUSA and Liberaland
Ed O'Keefe / Washington Post:
House, Senate to vote on Keystone XL pipeline — Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.) moved quickly on Wednesday to force the U.S. Senate to pass a long-stalled bill allowing the construction of the Keystone XL pipeline. Senate leaders agreed to hold a vote as early as next Tuesday.
Discussion:
BuzzFeed and Liberaland
Adam Liptak / New York Times:
Justices Hear Challenge to Alabama Redistricting — WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Wednesday wrestled with the role race may play in drawing legislative maps. — The issue was an old one, but the case had a novel twist: Wednesday's challenge came from black and Democratic lawmakers …