memeorandum: Economy Clearly Gaining Momentum (Tim Duy/Tim Duy's Fed Watch)

4:55 PM ET, December 5, 2014

Top Items:

A Note to Our Readers — To Our Readers: — Last month, Rolling Stone published a story titled “A Rape on Campus” by Sabrina Rubin Erdely, which described a brutal gang rape of a woman named Jackie at a University of Virginia fraternity house; the university's failure to respond to this alleged assault …

T. Rees Shapiro / Washington Post:

U-Va. fraternity to rebut claims of gang rape in Rolling Stone — A lawyer for the University of Virginia fraternity whose members were accused of a brutal gang rape said Friday that the organization will release a statement rebutting the claims printed in a Rolling Stone article about the incident.

Discussion: JustOneMinute, Talking Points Memo, Hot Air, Gawker, The Daily Banter, The Huffington Post, Bloomberg View, National Review, The Daily Caller, The College Fix, New York Times, Mediaite, RedState, The Dish, Shots in the Dark and Salon

Lloyd Grove / The Daily Beast:

Facebook Prince Purges The New Republic: Inside the Destruction of a 100-Year-Old Magazine — Facebook billionaire Chris Hughes and his lieutenant from Yahoo gut one of journalism's great publications, setting off waves of resignations and tears. — When Facebook billionaire Chris Hughes …

Discussion: National Review, Talking Points Memo, The Huffington Post, Poynter and New York Magazine, more at Mediagazer »

Dylan Byers / Politico:

New Republic staffers resign en masse — The majority of The New Republic's masthead resigned en masse on Friday following the owner's decision to force out the editorial leadership, move the magazine to New York, and rebrand the venerable, century-old publication as a “digital media company.”

Discussion: The Dish, more at Mediagazer »

Ezra Klein / Vox:

Even the liberal New Republic needs to change — When I entered journalism there were three places I badly wanted to work: The American Prospect, The Washington Monthly, and The New Republic. The decision turned out to be easy: TNR never called me back. The Washington Monthly didn't have entry-level positions.

Discussion: The Huffington Post, Booman Tribune, RedState, The Dish, Washington Monthly, New York Times, Balloon Juice, Talking Points Memo, Washington Center …, Lawyers, Guns & Money, New York Magazine and FishbowlDC, more at Mediagazer »

Dylan Byers / Politico:
Implosion of a Washington institution

Discussion: The Federalist, Ed Driscoll, National Review, Hit & Run, Poynter, Bloomberg View and New York Magazine, more at Mediagazer »

Tom Kludt / Talking Points Memo:
Mass Exodus At ‘The New Republic’

Discussion: Gawker, New York Magazine, Lawyers, Guns & Money and Politico

Leah Finnegan / Gawker:
White Men Upset Wrong White Man Placed in Charge of White-Man Magazine

Discussion: Mashable

Randy E. Barnett / USA Today:

Randy Barnett: How to finally kill Obamacare — The Supreme Court is more likely to act if Republicans have an alternative bill ready. — Thanks to four justices of the Supreme Court, there is now a clear path to repealing and replacing the Affordable Care Act next year, finally bringing Obamacare to an end.

Discussion: Washington Post

The National Interest:

Wounded Donkey: The Democratic Party's Obamacare Disaster — “Both Harkin and Schumer are liberals lamenting what will likely be the Obama administration's main domestic-policy legacy. They are both now saying the Democrats blew it.” — Democrats are finally starting to have second thoughts about Obamacare.

Discussion: NOLA River

Paul Krugman / New York Times:
Democrats Against Reform — It's easy to understand …

Discussion: BillMoyers.com, Democratic Strategist, The Daily Beast, PoliticusUSA, Daily Kos, Addicting Info, Washington Post and hrms.urban.org

Charles Krauthammer / Washington Post:
The real fight is among the Democrats

Discussion: American Prospect, Betsy's Page and Campaign for America's Future

Eric Bradner / CNN:

George W. Bush: Garner decision ‘hard to understand’ — Washington (CNN) — Former President George W. Bush says a New York grand jury's decision not to indict the police officer who choked and killed Eric Garner was “hard to understand.” — In an interview with CNN's Candy Crowley …

Discussion: Politico and CANNONFIRE

Carl Hulse / New York Times:
New Twist in Lynch's Confirmation After New York Grand Jury Decision

Discussion: Washington Post, Hullabaloo and Politico

The Hill: Obama signals he'll put muscle behind response to police killings

Stephen L. Carter / Bloomberg View:
Law Puts Us All in Same Danger as Eric Garner

Discussion: Washington Post, Hit & Run, Talking Points Memo, EconLog, The Huffington Post, Vox Popoli and Hot Air

Rocco Parascandola / NY Daily News:

EXCLUSIVE: Rookie NYPD officer who shot Akai Gurley in Brooklyn stairwell was texting union rep as victim lay dying — In the six and a half minutes after Peter Liang discharged a single bullet that struck Gurley, 28, he and his partner couldn't be reached, sources told the Daily News.

Discussion: BuzzFeed, Talking Points Memo, New York's PIX11, Gothamist, CBS New York, Raw Story, Runnin' Scared, Hinterland Gazette and Jezebel

Nelson D. Schwartz / New York Times:

More Jobs and Higher Wages: U.S. Recovery Starts to Hit Home — After more than five years of elusive gains, ordinary Americans may finally be about to see the benefits of the recovery where it really counts: in their pocketbooks and wallets. — The Labor Department reported Friday …

Discussion: CNNMoney.com, CNBC, Addicting Info, Campaign for America's Future, Outside the Beltway, Washington Monthly and Prairie Weather

Steve Strunsky / New Jersey Online:

Christie bridge scandal report cannot determine if governor was involved — TRENTON — An interim report by the joint legislative panel investigating last year's controversial lane closures at the George Washington Bridge could not determine if Gov. Chris Christie had any direct involvement …

Discussion: Politico

Wall Street Journal:
Inquiry Finds ‘No Conclusive Evidence’ Christie Knew of Lane Closures

Discussion: CNN, No More Mister Nice Blog and Hot Air

Shawn Boburg / NorthJersey.com:
GWB probe finds no evidence of link to Christie; legislative panel blames his appointees

Discussion: Washington Post, National Review and CNN

David McCabe / The Hill:

22 people had to approve Romney tweets — Aides to Mitt Romney's presidential team in 2012 are airing their frustrations with the campaign, alleging that tweets had to be approved by nearly two dozen people by the end of the race. — “So whether it was a tweet, Facebook post, blog post …

Discussion: Politico and ABC News

Jen Yamato / Deadline:

Obama Romance Movie In Works - Who Will Play Young Barack? — EXCLUSIVE: The White House legend that is Barack and Michelle Obama's romance is heading to the screen. Southside With You, a drama in the vein of Before Sunrise, chronicles the summer 1989 afternoon when the future President …

Discussion: protein wisdom, Mashable, theGrio, American Spectator and Inside Movies

Tim Duy / Tim Duy's Fed Watch:

Economy Clearly Gaining Momentum — The November employment report came in ahead of expectations, with a monthly nfp gain of 321k and 44k of upward revisions to previous months. Job gains were spread throughout the major sectors of the economy. The 2014 acceleration in job growth is clearly evident:

Discussion: Brad DeLong's Grasping Reality and Washington Center …

Josh Rogin / Bloomberg View:

Kerry Puts Brakes on CIA Torture Report — Secretary of State John Kerry personally phoned Dianne Feinstein, chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, Friday morning to ask her to delay the imminent release of her committee's report on CIA torture and rendition during …

Discussion: Hit & Run, The Dish, The Verge, Hullabaloo and Balloon Juice