memeorandum: States' Minimum Wages Rise, Helping Millions of Workers (Rachel Abrams/New York Times)

2:40 PM ET, January 1, 2015

Top Items:

Jeb Bush severs ties to most firms with eye on 2016 — Former Florida governor Jeb Bush, moving closer to a possible presidential run, has stepped down as a paid adviser to a for-profit education company that sells online courses to public university students in exchange for a share of their tuition payments.

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, Politico, Gawker, Bloomberg Politics, CNN, Liberaland and ABC News

Jonathan Easley / The Hill:

Bush won't attend Steve King summit — Likely 2016 presidential candidate Jeb Bush has declined an invitation to speak at a conservative summit in Iowa hosted by Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa.), a sometimes controversial figure in the GOP. — A Bush aide told The Hill that the former Florida governor appreciated …

Discussion: Washington Post and Prairie Weather

Steve Peoples / Associated Press:
Bush resigns from remaining board memberships

Discussion: The PJ Tatler and abc7.com

Krishnadev Calamur / NPR:
Sen. Rubio Says He Could Run For President Even If Jeb Bush Does

Discussion: BuzzFeed

Nahal Toosi / Politico:
Jeb Bush quits all private sector, non-profit boards

Discussion: Washington Monthly

Annie Karni / NY Daily News:

EXCLUSIVE: Bill de Blasio's tense relationship with the NYPD casting shadow over DNC bid — Party officials are concerned the bad blood might still be an issue when the convention is held in 2016, stealing the spotlight from the party's presidential nominee, a top Democrat told the Daily News.

Discussion: Mediaite and National Review

New York Post:

De Blasio reappoints judge who freed men who threatened cops — Mayor Bill de Blasio has reappointed Judge Laura Johnson to the bench. Johnson sparked controversy after she released Devon Coley without bail after he made death threats against the NYPD on Facebook.

Discussion: NY Daily News and Scared Monkeys

David Edwards / Raw Story:

‘Listen up ladies’: Fox News kicks off New Year with absurdly sexist advice for ‘catering to your man’ — DON'T MISS STORIES. FOLLOW RAW STORY! — The hosts of Fox & Friends started the New Year on Thursday by telling women that they should “cater” to their man by stroking his ego, cooking him meals, and massaging his feet.

Discussion: ThinkProgress, Slantpoint and Daily Mail

Agence France-Presse:

Economist Thomas Piketty refuses France's highest honour — Paris (AFP) - France's influential economist Thomas Piketty, author of “Capital in the 21st Century”, on Thursday refused to accept the country's highest award, the Legion d'honneur, to criticise the Socialist government in power.

Discussion: Reuters, Mediaite and Slantpoint

Abigail Frymann Rouch / The Tablet:

Publisher HarperCollins omits Israel from school atlas ‘to meet local preferences’ — The Bishops' Conference of England and Wales has accused the publisher HarperCollins of harming peace efforts in the Middle East through its production of atlases that omit Israel from their maps.

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, Daily Mail, The Times of Israel, RT, Raw Story and Power Line

Charles Babington / Associated Press:

GOP legislators thwart bids to expand Medicaid — Associated Press 4 hrs ago — WASHINGTON (AP) — Governors across the political spectrum are hitting a roadblock in their bids to expand Medicaid with federal funds: Republican legislators who adamantly oppose “Obamacare.”

Discussion: Slantpoint

Steve Scalise / New Orleans Times-Picayune:

Steve Scalise spoke to civic association meeting, not white nationalist conference, David Duke adviser Kenny Knight says — Reports that Rep. Steve Scalise, the third-ranking Republican in the U.S. House of Representatives, gave a speech to a white nationalist conference connected with David Duke …

Discussion: Power Line and BREITBART.COM

Rachel Abrams / New York Times:

States' Minimum Wages Rise, Helping Millions of Workers — For some low-wage workers, everyday tasks like spending money for bus fare to get to and from work also involve deciding which bill to pay or delay, or what to give up. — Rita Diaz, 26, who works two low-wage jobs …

Discussion: Al Jazeera America, Christian Science Monitor and Gawker

Jodi Rudoren / New York Times:

Palestinians Set to Seek Redress in a World Court — JERUSALEM — President Mahmoud Abbas moved on Wednesday to have the Palestinian Authority join the International Criminal Court, opening a new front in the Middle East conflict that could lead to war-crimes prosecutions of Israeli officials …

Discussion: The Atlantic Online, Ynetnews, Israpundit, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Mondoweiss, The New Republic, Reuters, Guardian, Washington Monthly and Slate

Adam Liptak / New York Times:

Supreme Court, in Big Leap, Plans to Put Filings Online — WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court will soon join other federal courts in making briefs and other filings available electronically, Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. announced Wednesday. — The changes will come “as soon as 2016,” …

Discussion: Hot Air and The Verge