memeorandum: Top GOP senator tells White House to ‘stop celebrating’ on ObamaCare figures (Sarah Ferris/The Hill)

1:05 PM ET, March 12, 2015

Top Items:

David Von Drehle / TIME:

The Clinton Way … Photograph by Spencer Platt-Getty Images

Discussion: Weekly Standard, Maggie's Farm, The Week, Business Insider, Washington Post and The Huffington Post

Democrats See No Choice but Hillary Clinton in 2016 — They shrug off questions about Hillary Rodham Clinton's email habits. They roll with the attacks on her family's foundation, the big checks from foreign governments, the torpid response of her not-yet-campaign.

Discussion: ABC News, Business Insider, Hot Air, Taylor Marsh, OnPolitics, Washington Post, NBC News and Weekly Standard

Elias Isquith / Salon:

The media s**t-show is back: Why coverage of Hillary Clinton has been an embarrassment — A bit less than a year ago, Politico Magazine released an in-depth piece by Glenn Thrush and Maggie Haberman about Hillary Rodham Clinton's long and incredibly fraught relationship with the national, mainstream media.

Discussion: USA Today, CNN, Slate, Brad DeLong's Grasping Reality and Washington Post

Kenneth P. Vogel / Politico:

Taxpayer tab for Clinton Inc.: $16 million — Bill Clinton and his office have received more money through the Former Presidents Act than any other ex-president — By Election Day 2016, taxpayers will have paid out more than $16 million to fund Bill Clinton's pension, travel …

Discussion: America Rising, Daily Kos, New York Magazine, The Hill, Bloomberg Business, Fox News and Business Insider

Jonathan Bernstein / Bloomberg View:
Democrats Have No Bench? Be Serious.

Discussion: The PJ Tatler, Political Wire and Washington Post

Washington Post:
Some top Democrats are alarmed about Clinton's readiness for a campaign

Discussion: Daily Kos, The Daily Caller, CBS DC, Betsy's Page, New York Times, Weekly Standard, Business Insider and National Journal

Washington Post:
Absence of 2016 competition for Clinton raises stakes for Democrats

Discussion: Washington Examiner, Fox News, The Fiscal Times, Wall Street Journal, The Federalist, Hot Air, Liberal Values and prospect.org/blogs …

Dana Milbank / Washington Post:
Hillary Clinton has little to fear from Martin O'Malley

Discussion: Bloomberg Business and The Hill

Susan Weich / St. Louis Post-Dispatch:

Two police officers are shot in Ferguson — FERGUSON • Two police officers were hit by gunfire early Thursday outside the Ferguson police department. — The shots were fired as police were confronting protesters who had gathered outside the police station.

John Eligon / New York Times:

2 Officers Are Shot Outside Ferguson Police Station — FERGUSON, Mo. — Two police officers were shot and injured here early Thursday morning as gunfire rang out in front of the police station, throwing into panic what had been a spirited but largely peaceful night of protests.

Discussion: ABC News, Talking Points Memo, The Atlantic Online and Common Dreams

Kate Munsch / Reuters:
Two police officers shot in Ferguson, Missouri, after chief quits

Discussion: PUNDIT PRESS

KSDK-TV:
2 officers shot outside Ferguson PD

Discussion: Politico, Facebook, USA Today, Talking Points Memo and News One

Fox News:
Two officers shot, seriously injured outside Ferguson police department

Discussion: Power Line, John Hawkins' Right Wing News, Fox News Insider, New York Times, Washington Post, The Right Scoop, Booman Tribune, The Gateway Pundit and The Week

Matt Pearce / Los Angeles Times:
Two police officers shot during protests in Ferguson

Discussion: National Review, New York Magazine and The Week

Brent Budowsky / The Hill:

GOP, Bibi hurt Israel, USA — While the recalcitrant rightist government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has left Israel more isolated in the world than at any time since 1948, Bibi's ill-advised recent speech to a joint session of Congress could reduce a historically nonpartisan …

Discussion: Politico and Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

New York Times:

Republican Idiocy on Iran — After helping to ignite a firestorm over a possible nuclear agreement with Iran, Senator John McCain, a former Republican presidential candidate, is now sort of acknowledging his error. “Maybe that wasn't exactly the best way to do that,” he said on Fox News on Tuesday.

Discussion: CNN, Concord Monitor, Baltimore Sun, Prairie Weather, The Week and BostonGlobe.com

Steve Benen / msnbc.com:

Kerry teaches Rubio the basics about the Middle East — At the recent CPAC gathering, Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), a likely Republican presidential candidate, seemed to stumble on one of the basic facts of the Middle East. “The reason Obama hasn't put in place a military strategy to defeat ISIS …

Discussion: First Draft, ThinkProgress and Hullabaloo

New York Times:
Iran's Top Leader: GOP Letter Points to US ‘Disintegration’

Discussion: Fars News Agency, Power Line, Mediaite and Political Wire

Kristina Wong / The Hill:
Kerry: ‘Utter disbelief’ at Iran letter

Discussion: American Spectator and Instapundit

David Weigel / Bloomberg Business:

How a Lindsey Graham Joke Turned into a Coup Plot Against the Government — Does Lindsey Graham want to overthrow Congress? Not quite. — Well, you can't catch everything. This past Sunday, I was one of a handful of reporters listening to South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham …

Discussion: Hot Air and Mediaite

Amanda Taub / Vox:
Lindsey Graham: as president I would deploy the military against Congress

Discussion: FreakOutNation, Daily Kos, Raw Story, Hit & Run and Ben Swann Truth In Media

William Saletan / Slate:

An Open Letter to 47 Republican Senators of the United States of America from Iran's Hard-Liners — You have opened our eyes. We are brothers. — Dear senators: — Thank you for your letter of March 9 explaining your system of government. We were unfamiliar with the complexity of your laws.

Discussion: Washington Monthly and Bloomberg View

Sarah Mimms / National Journal:

Conservatives Keep Losing to Leadership. Can They Change the Game? — Stymied again and again on the House and Senate floor, tea party members need to take the fight outside. — Conservatives came to Washington labeling President Obama as enemy number one.

Discussion: Washington Monthly, RedState, Bloomberg View and McClatchy Washington Bureau

Journal Star:
Rep. Aaron Schock brushes off calls for resignation, says he's ‘not going anywhere’

Discussion: Chicago and Political Wire

Gallup:

Story Highlights — WASHINGTON, D.C. — Americans continue to name the government (18%) as the most important U.S. problem, a distinction it has had for the past four months. Americans' mentions of the economy as the top problem (11%) dropped this month, leaving it tied with jobs (10%) for second place.

Discussion: Washington Times, Washington Post, The Week and Associated Press

Rich Lowry / Politico:

Tom Cotton's Truth Bomb — Critics of the senator's letter to Tehran are missing the point. — It is inarguable that as a matter of domestic law a subsequent president can get out of the agreement at will — this would be true even if it were a treaty — and Congress can pass laws …

Politico:

Foreign policy alters contours of GOP race — International issues have come front and center. — Politico Illustration / istock, AP and Getty images — Two days after signing the Senate GOP's letter to Iranian leadership Monday, Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul found himself stretching to square …

Carl Hulse / New York Times:
Struggling in Congress, Republicans Unite on Foreign Policy

Discussion: Real Clear Politics and Politico

USA Today:

Hillary Clinton drops in on eBay women's summit — SAN JOSE, Calif. - With the spotlight glowing hotter on tech company diversity numbers, eBay sought to put its best face forward at an internal women-focused conference Wednesday that drew a surprise guest in Hillary Clinton.

Discussion: Bloomberg Business, The Hill and Washington Post

New York Times:

Harper Lee's Condition Debated by Friends, Fans and Now State of Alabama — MONROEVILLE, Ala. — The doubts arose almost immediately when HarperCollins announced last month that it would release a rediscovered book by Harper Lee: Did Ms. Lee — 88, publicity-shy and famously resistant …

Discussion: The Atlantic Online, Guardian, Gothamist and The Week