memeorandum: Would Henry Hyde have agreed with today's Republicans on abortion? (David Rogers/Politico)

12:30 PM ET, April 21, 2015

Top Items:

Kaiser Health Tracking Poll: April 2015 — Bianca DiJulio, Jamie Firth, and Mollyann Brodie … The Public's Views Of The ACA — Closely Divided On The Health Care Law — This month's Kaiser Health Tracking Poll finds American's opinion of the health care law closely divided …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Politico, Balloon Juice, Washington Post, The Week, Mediaite and Daily Kos

Caitlin Owens / National Journal:

Poll: More Americans Like Obamacare Than Dislike It — For the first time since 2012, more Americans find the Affordable Care Act favorable than unfavorable, a Kaiser poll shows. — More Americans like Obamacare than dislike it for the first time since 2012, according to a Kaiser Family Foundation poll released Tuesday morning.

Discussion: Wonk Wire, Daily Kos, SaintPetersBlog and Wall Street Journal

CNN:
CNN/ORC Poll: Economic optimism hits new peak under Obama

Discussion: Joe. My. God.

Alexander Bolton / The Hill:

Senate reaches deal to vote on AG nominee Loretta Lynch — Senate leaders on Tuesday morning announced a deal on a long-stalled anti-human-trafficking bill, setting up a vote to confirm Loretta Lynch as attorney general later this week. — “I'm glad we can say there is a bipartisan proposal …

Discussion: PoliticusUSA, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Daily Kos, Politico and TheBlaze.com

Sarah Mimms / National Journal:

Trafficking Backup Finally Clears — A bipartisan Senate deal should let long-delayed measure—and a confirmation vote for Loretta Lynch—move forward. — It took Congress more than a month, but Senate leaders announced Tuesday morning that they've finally broached an agreement on legislation …

Discussion: Hot Air and Moe Lane

David Rogers / Politico:

Would Henry Hyde have agreed with today's Republicans on abortion? — The author of the Hyde Amendment was a fierce abortion rights opponent but picked his spots carefully. — Ronald Reagan was president and Henry Hyde on the House Judiciary Committee when Congress approved the Victims of Crime Act in 1984.

Discussion: The Hill

miamiherald:
Give her the job — Sometimes it seems as if sanity has returned to Capitol Hill.

Discussion: Washington Post and Daily Kos

Nicholas Confessore / New York Times:

David Koch Signals a Favorite: Scott Walker — Charles G. and David H. Koch, the influential and big-spending conservative donors, have a favorite in the race for the Republican nomination: Gov. Scott Walker of Wisconsin.

Mike Allen / Politico:
Koch brothers will offer audition to Jeb Bush

Discussion: New York Magazine, US News, Political Insider blog, The Reaction and The Week

Matthew Boyle / BREITBART.COM:
Scott Walker Lays Out Pro American Worker Stance on Immigration

Discussion: The Huffington Post, JSOnline, TheBlaze.com, The Daily Caller and Hot Air

Amy Chozick / New York Times:

A Newcomer to Populism? Hillary Clinton Campaign Begs to Differ — CLAREMONT, N.H. — In her first week as a 2016 presidential candidate, Hillary Rodham Clinton seemed to channel another high-profile Democrat. “The deck is stacked in their favor,” Mrs. Clinton said of the wealthy and powerful.

Discussion: Kyle Wingfield, Washington Post, Hot Air, Business Insider, Political Wire, The Daily Caller, The Reaction and peterschweizer.com

Guardian:

Isis leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi ‘seriously wounded in air strike’ — Exclusive: Baghdadi no longer in day-to-day control of terror group as he recovers from injuries sustained during attack in March, according to sources — The leader of Islamic State, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi …

Discussion: Business Insider and The Daily Caller

Stephen Deere / St. Louis Post-Dispatch:

Resignations in tiny Parma, Mo., baffle town's first black mayor — PARMA, MO. • The drugstore is long gone. So, too, are the bank and the barbershop, the opry house and the hardware store. — All that is left of downtown are collapsed awnings, caved-in ceilings and broken windowpanes of century-old buildings.

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, USA Today and Mediaite

National Journal:

Candidates are looking for the political equivalent of a perfect bridge partner, someone with whom they can continually cooperate without ever being able to coordinate—or ever ask for advice. — Some 2016 candidates have already made their decisions. Rand Paul recently tapped Jesse Benton …

Thomas Beaumont / Associated Press:
Bush preparing to delegate many campaign tasks to super PAC

Discussion: Washington Post

David Martosko / Daily Mail:

Scooby hits the road at 92 MPH! Secret Service zooms Hillary to dinner through driving rain following secret afternoon house party — Motorcade raced from Keene to Claremont to Concord, obliterating speed limits as Hillary kept a tight schedule of off-the-books events

Discussion: The Daily Caller, Scared Monkeys and The Gateway Pundit

Kirsten Powers / USA Today:

Christians thrown overboard left to drown by Obama — Obama only mentions Christians to lecture them, rather than defend them from persecution. — What do you call it when 12 men are drowned at sea for praying to Jesus? — Answer: Religious persecution.

Discussion: BREITBART.COM

David Knowles / Bloomberg Business:

Can Chris Christie Stanch the Bleeding? — To put it mildly, this is not the presidential campaign Chris Christie would have envisioned for himself. — No wonder the New Jersey governor and one-time Republican rock star is heading to Washington D.C. on Tuesday.

Discussion: The Huffington Post, Quinnipiac News + Events and Mediaite

Robert Costa / Washington Post:
Top Christie ally defects to Bush

Discussion: Outside the Beltway and Business Insider

Patricia Montemurri / Detroit Free Press:

Ann Arbor Catholic priest tells parishioners to pack heat — An Ann Arbor Catholic priest has urged his parishioners to arm themselves and attend classes at Christ the King parish to earn a concealed pistol license (CPL). — In a letter sent to Christ the King parishioners recently …

Discussion: The Daily Caller, Infowars, BizPac Review and Associated Press

Tim Teeman / The Daily Beast:

Roseanne Barr on Losing Her Sight, Smoking Weed, Rejecting Feminism, and Not Voting For Hillary — As a documentary of her 2012 presidential run is released, Roseanne Barr talks about political power, mortality, and why a Hillary Clinton win wouldn't be as symbolic as many hope.

Discussion: BizPac Review, Mediaite, Althouse, The Huffington Post and WHNT-TV

Pew Internet:

Americans' Views on Open Government Data — Government reformers and advocates believe that two contemporary phenomena hold the potential to change how people engage with governments at all levels. The first is data. There is more of it than ever before and there are more effective tools for sharing it.

Discussion: Sunlight Foundation Blog and The Verge

Annie Karni / Politico:

Hillary Clinton on GOP field: They only want to talk about me — “I don't know what they'd talk about if I weren't in the race.” — KEENE, N.H. — Hillary Clinton on Monday attacked the crowded field of Republican presidential contenders for making her the focus of their campaigns.

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, The Daily Caller, Shakesville, Hot Air, Taylor Marsh, Washington Post, ABC News and The Reaction

Tarini Parti / Politico: George Soros' son builds a PAC for Jewish voters

Laura Barron-Lopez / The Huffington Post:

John McCain Just Can't Stop Laughing At Ted Cruz — WASHINGTON — Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman John McCain (R-Ariz.) on Monday denied reports that Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) is pushing him to hold hearings exploring whether soldiers should be able to carry concealed guns on military bases.

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, The Hill, Politico and Mediaite

Josh Middleton / Philadelphia Magazine:

PA High School Students Organize “Anti-Gay Day” in Response to National Day of Silence — McGuffey High School in Claysville, Pennsylvania made headlines over the weekend when a group of students organized an “Anti-Gay Day' in direct retaliation to the LGBT youth-supportive National Day of Silence (NDOS) on Friday.

Discussion: Americans Against the …

David Mack / BuzzFeed:
Pennsylvania High School Students Organize “Anti-Gay Day”

Discussion: The Huffington Post, Slate, The Stranger …, AMERICAblog News, Balloon Juice, Raw Story and Mediaite

Sophie Curtis / Telegraph:

PayPal wants to implant passwords in your stomach and your brain — “Natural body identification” could one day replace passwords and other modern methods of identification, claims PayPal developer chief — PayPal is working on a new generation of embeddable, injectable and ingestible devices …

Discussion: CANNONFIRE, Infowars and FOX News Radio

Jacques Billeaud / Associated Press:

Judge Holds Contempt Of Court Hearing For Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio — PHOENIX (AP) — The sheriff for metro Phoenix begins a four-day hearing Tuesday that could bring him fines, damage his credibility and make him politically vulnerable for his acknowledged violations of a judge's orders in a racial profiling case.

Discussion: Liberaland and ImmigrationProf Blog