memeorandum: Ann Arbor Catholic priest tells parishioners to pack heat (Patricia Montemurri/Detroit Free Press)

1:15 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, Washington Post, Balloon Juice, Mediaite, The Week 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 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

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

Discussion: Washington Post and Daily Kos

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

Discussion: The Hill

Burgess Everett / Politico:
Senate eyes breakthrough on Lynch vote, trafficking bill

Discussion: The Hill, Washington Post and The PJ Tatler

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, The Daily Caller, Political Wire, The Week, John Hawkins' Right Wing News, The Reaction and peterschweizer.com

Mike Allen / Politico:

Koch brothers will offer audition to Jeb Bush — Charles and David Koch are considering throwing their massive wealth and sophisticated organization into the Republican presidential primary for the first time, a potentially game-changing boost that could make even a second-tier candidate instantly viable.

Discussion: New York Magazine, Washington Monthly, US News, The Reaction and The Week

Nicholas Confessore / New York Times:
David Koch Signals a Favorite: Scott Walker

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

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

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

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

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: Bloomberg Business, Talking Points Memo, Mediaite, The Hill, Politico and New York Magazine

David Weigel / Bloomberg Business:
Ted Cruz Says President Obama Is an ‘Unmitigated Socialist’

Discussion: Political Wire

Thomas Beaumont / Associated Press:

Bush preparing to delegate many campaign tasks to super PAC — 3 photos — DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Jeb Bush is preparing to embark on an experiment in presidential politics: delegating many of the nuts-and-bolts tasks of seeking the White House to a separate political organization that can raise unlimited amounts of campaign cash.

Discussion: Bloomberg Business, New York Times and Washington Post

National Journal: Candidates are looking for the political equivalent of a perfect bridge partner, someone with whom …

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: Lawfare, The Daily Caller 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

Geoffrey Skelley / Sabato's Crystal Ball:

Clinton's Age: It Probably Doesn't Matter — History does not show an edge for the younger presidential candidate — When Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) announced his presidential run on April 13, his speech made a point of going after ex-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton (D) — and …

Discussion: Washington Monthly and Booman Tribune

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

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, The Gateway Pundit and Scared Monkeys

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

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

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

Associated Press:

Egyptian Court Sentences Morsi to 20 Years in Prison — CAIRO — An Egyptian criminal court on Tuesday sentenced ousted Islamist President Mohammed Morsi to 20 years in prison on charges linked to the killing of protesters in 2012, the first verdict to be issued against the country's first freely elected leader.

Discussion: The Atlantic Online, CNN, Reuters, Infowars, The Week and Outside the Beltway

Bernie Becker / The Hill:

Half of Americans have money worries — Half of Americans have deep concerns about their financial situation, according to Gallup. — The 50 percent of people in the U.S. who have money worries is basically unchanged from the 49 percent Gallup found in 2014.

Discussion: Gallup

Bernie Becker / The Hill:

Flat tax makes 2016 comeback — The flat tax is back. — Sens. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Rand Paul (R-Ky.) have both floated an across-the-board tax rate as they've launched their 2016 presidential bids. — Neither Cruz nor Paul has spelled out the exact details of their plan …