memeorandum: Rand Paul blames Eric Garner's death on high NYC cigarette tax (Sara Fischer/CNN)

11:30 PM ET, December 3, 2014

Top Items:

Protests After Grand Jury in Eric Garner Chokehold Case Doesn't Indict Officer — A Staten Island grand jury on Wednesday ended the criminal case against a white New York police officer whose chokehold on an unarmed black man led to the man's death, a decision that drew condemnation …

Discussion: Instapundit, alicublog, New York Magazine, NOLA River, The Intercept, Taylor Marsh, Balloon Juice, Outside the Beltway, Philly.com, Bloomberg View, Shakesville, Liberal Values, Gothamist, Unfogged and Lawyers, Guns & Money

Jesse Byrnes / The Hill:

Former RNC chairman: 'Black man's life not worth a ham sandwich' — Former Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele on Wednesday criticized grand jury decisions to not indict white police officers in the deaths of black men in New York and Ferguson, Mo.

Discussion: Mediaite, Hinterland Gazette, ABC News, Political Wire and Politico

ABC News:

Watch: Obama After Eric Garner Decision: ??? This Is an American Problem??? — Some of you may have heard there was a decision that came out today by a grand jury not to indict. Police officers who had. Interacted with the an individual named Eric garner in New York City.

Discussion: Washington Post, The Gateway Pundit and Scared Monkeys

Politico:

Container-in-chief — Once more, Obama tries to quell public rage after the non-indictment of a police officer. — For the second time in ten days, the Obama administration is scrambling to contain tensions and anger unleashed by a local grand jury's decision not to charge a white police officer …

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, ABC News, Hinterland Gazette, White House.gov Blog and Talking Points Memo

New York Post:

Cop cleared in chokehold death of Eric Garner — Eric Garner seen during his arrest last August. — A Staten Island grand jury cleared an NYPD cop Wednesday in the chokehold death of Eric Garner during his caught-on-video arrest for peddling loose cigarettes, The Post has learned.

Discussion: Gothamist, The PJ Tatler, Scared Monkeys, Hit & Run, FOX News Radio, Poynter, PoliticusUSA, theGrio, ThinkProgress and Raw Story

Sara Fischer / CNN:

Rand Paul blames Eric Garner's death on high NYC cigarette tax — Sen. Rand Paul blames high cigarette taxes for the death of Eric Garner — Washington (CNN) — In 2010, the New York State Legislature passed a law raising taxes on cigarettes purchased in New York City to $5.85 per pack of 20 cigarettes.

Discussion: The PJ Tatler

New York Times:

Grand Jury Said to Bring No Charges in Staten Island Chokehold Death of Eric Garner — A Staten Island grand jury has voted not to bring criminal charges against the white New York City police officer at the center of the Eric Garner case, a person briefed on the matter said Wednesday.

Discussion: ThinkProgress, Gothamist, Talking Points Memo, Hot Air, Patterico's Pontifications, The Dish, Little Green Footballs, Booman Tribune and The Mahablog

Sean Davis / The Federalist:
Hands Up, Don't Choke: Eric Garner Was Killed By Police For No Reason

Discussion: Firedoglake, Hot Air, Mediaite, Watchdog.org, Hinterland Gazette, Raw Story, Talking Points Memo, JustOneMinute, No More Mister Nice Blog and GotNews

Daniel Strauss / Talking Points Memo:
Dem Sen. Gillibrand: I Will Ask Justice Department To Investigate Chokehold Death

Discussion: Bloomberg Politics

CNN:
N.Y. cop not indicted in chokehold death

Discussion: Wall Street Journal, Christian Science Monitor, Addicting Info, No More Mister Nice Blog and Washington Times

Nicole Flatow / ThinkProgress:
BREAKING: Grand Jury Won't Charge Cop Who Killed Eric Garner With Illegal Chokehold

Discussion: Staten Island Advance, Gothamist, Talking Points Memo, Addicting Info and Eschaton

Washington Post:
No charges for New York officer in chokehold death of Eric Garner

Discussion: Gawker, New York Times, Daily Kos, CBS New York and Mashable

David / Latest from Crooks and Liars:

Ben Carson Lashes Out At Wolf Blitzer: Don't ‘Focus On The Words’ When I Compare U.S. To Nazis — Possible Republican presidential candidate Dr. Ben Carson on Wednesday lashed out at CNN host Wolf Blitzer for “focusing on the words” that he used when he compared the United States to Nazi Germany.

Discussion: Liberaland, Addicting Info and FOX News Radio

Alexandra Jaffe / CNN:

Ben Carson stands by comparison of U.S. to Nazi Germany — Washington (CNN) — Neurosurgeon Ben Carson stood by his controversial comparison of the United States to Nazi Germany in an interview with CNN's Wolf Blitzer on Wednesday. — Asked by Blitzer whether he would amend or take back his comments, Carson said “Absolutely not.”

Discussion: Daily Kos, National Review, Bloomberg Politics and Wall Street Journal

Kendall Breitman / Politico: Ben Carson: Presidency ‘horrible and stressful’

Alexander Bolton / The Hill:

ObamaCare author: Health law is ‘really complicated’ — Sen. Tom Harkin, one of the coauthors of the Affordable Care Act, now thinks Democrats may have been better off not passing it at all and holding out for a better bill. — The Iowa Democrat who chairs the Senate Health, Education …

Discussion: The Daily Caller, Rush Limbaugh, Truthout Stories, Firedoglake, Hit & Run, Hot Air, Lawyers, Guns & Money, Talking Points Memo, Ed Driscoll, The PJ Tatler, Taylor Marsh, Weekly Standard, Balloon Juice and Bankrate.com

Thomas B. Edsall / New York Times:
Is Obamacare Destroying the Democratic Party?

Discussion: Hot Air, Washington Monthly, No More Mister Nice Blog, Democratic Strategist and EconoSpeak

Paul Krugman / New York Times:
Return of Focus Hocus Pocus

Discussion: Washington Monthly and Eschaton

Manu Raju / Politico:

GOP unlikely to reverse ‘nuclear option’ — GOP senators were outraged at Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid for invoking the “nuclear option” last year, calling his push to weaken the filibuster on presidential nominees a destructive and heavy-handed move with far-reaching consequences.

Discussion: The PJ Tatler

Mollie Hemingway / The Federalist:

Dear Media: This Elizabeth Lauten Nonsense Is Why Everybody Hates You — Last week, President Barack Obama pardoned a turkey prior to Thanksgiving Day, as is tradition. And as in previous years, his teenage daughters Malia and Sasha stood by his side. The daughters are cute as can be …

Discussion: National Review, Hot Air, Fox News, Patterico's Pontifications, The Daily Caller, Washington Free Beacon and Washington Post

Joe Romm / ThinkProgress:

2014 Headed Toward Hottest Year On Record — Here's Why That's Remarkable — 2014 is currently on track to be hottest year on record, according to new reports from both the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and the U.K.'s Met Office Wednesday. Similarly, NOAA reported two weeks ago …

Discussion: Met Office

World Meteorological Organization News:
2014 on course to be one of hottest, possibly hottest, on record

Discussion: Mashable, bom.gov.au, ThinkProgress and Grist

Lauren Fox / National Journal:

Ted Cruz Pushes the House to Have All-Out Spending Fight on Obama Immigration Action — Conservatives in the House look to Cruz once again for solutions to stop Obama. — Sen. Ted Cruz is playing de facto House conservatives leader once again. — Taking the podium Wednesday …

Discussion: New York Times, Hot Air and PoliticusUSA

Politico:
Conservatives scoff at Boehner deal

Discussion: Daily Kos, Weekly Standard, The Dish, Outside the Beltway, The PJ Tatler and New York Times

Dan Cahill / Chicago Sun Times:

4 Downs with Mike Ditka: Ferguson, Forte and is Briggs a HOFer? — Before Sunday's game, five St. Louis Rams players took the field in a “hands up, don't shoot” solidarity protest for Ferguson and Michael Brown. — Neither the NFL nor the Rams penalized the players for their actions.

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Mediaite, TPNN and USA Today

Associated Press:

Watchdog reveals thousands of docs relating to disclosure of taxpayer data to White House — A woman walks out of the Internal Revenue Service building in New York. — An IRS watchdog is acknowledging that thousands of documents related to requests between the White House and the tax agency for unauthorized tax information exist —

Discussion: The PJ Tatler, Washington Free Beacon, Hot Air and John Hawkins' Right Wing News

Barbara Starr / CNN:
Hagel refused to hold off resignation announcement in spite of White House wishes

Discussion: The Daily Caller, American Spectator, Hot Air, Fox News, Politico, Bloomberg View and Reuters

Steve Almasy / CNN:

Charles Barkley: We never talk about race until something bad happens — Watch Brooke Baldwin's full interview with Charles Barkley on CNN on Wednesday at 2 p.m. ET — (CNN) — Charles Barkley — who once said he doesn't create controversies, he just brings them to our attention — is at it again.

Discussion: FOX News Radio, Liberaland, SBNation.com, theGrio and CBS St. Louis