memeorandum: U.S. Economy Added 223,000 Jobs in April; Unemployment Rate at 5.4% (Nelson D. Schwartz/New York Times)

12:35 PM ET, May 8, 2015

Top Items:

Dylan Byers / Politico:

Nate Silver: Polls are failing us — Nate Silver fared terribly in Thursday's UK election: In his pre-election forecast, he gave 278 seats to Conservatives and 267 to Labour. Shortly after midnight, he was forecasting 272 seats for Conservatives and 271 for Labour.

Discussion: New York Times, Althouse and Hot Air

Nate Silver / FiveThirtyEight:

The World May Have A Polling Problem — It's becoming increasingly clear that pre-election polls underestimated how well Conservatives would do and overestimated Labour's result. The BBC's exit poll was one early sign. But we're now seeing Conservatives outperform their poll-based projections …

Discussion: New York Times, Guardian, The Reaction, Betsy's Page and Reuters

Noelle Knox / POLITICO:

10 take-aways from the UK elections — What a breathless, barmy time this is. The exit polls made monkeys of us all, which was a fitting way for these Neanderthal elections to conclude. There is no silence more delicious than that of a political class gobsmacked into speechlessness.

Discussion: Taylor Marsh and Towleroad News #gay

New York Times:

David Cameron and Conservatives Get Majority in British Election — LONDON — Prime Minister David Cameron and his Conservatives won a resounding victory in the British general election, with nearly complete results on Friday showing that the party had secured an overall majority in Parliament.

Discussion: US News, Outside the Beltway, Mediaite and Reuters

Nick Gass / Politico:
Messina trounces Axelrod in British elections

Discussion: Washington Monthly, The Independent and The PJ Tatler

Guardian:
Ed Miliband resigns as Labour leader

Discussion: Associated Press, The Week and Shakesville

BBC:
Election 2015: Exit poll puts Tories close to majority

Discussion: Guardian, Scared Monkeys, Reuters, Washington Post, Hit & Run, neo-neocon, Taylor Marsh, NPR, Power Line and Seanet

P. J. O'Rourke / The Daily Beast:
Limey Liars & the Country That Doesn't Love Them

Discussion: RedState

Richard Sandomir / New York Times:

Bill Simmons and ESPN Are Parting Ways — Bill Simmons, who built a personal empire at ESPN and is one of America's most influential sports personalities, will leave the media giant when his contract expires in the fall. He and the company were unable to reach an extension after months of talks.

Discussion: Washington Post, Politico, Wall Street Journal, Deadspin, The Week, Mediaite, CBS Seattle, TVNewser, Poynter., Mashable and SportsGrid, more at Mediagazer »

Brendan Bordelon / National Review:

How Five Republicans Let Congress Keep Its Fraudulent Obamacare Subsidies — Health-care experts call it D.C. insiderism at its worst. — The rumors began trickling in about a week before the scheduled vote on April 23: Republican leadership was quietly pushing senators to pull support …

Discussion: RedState, Chicago Boyz, Instapundit, Hot Air and Power Line

Jeremy W. Peters / New York Times:

Ted Cruz and Rand Paul, Senators Both, Lead Republican Attacks on Congress — WASHINGTON — His voice exuding disgust, Jeb Bush could have been describing a blistering rash. — “I'm not a United States senator — thank God,” he told a ballroom full of people here the other day.

Discussion: Shakesville, Politico and Washington Post

Jonathan Easley / The Hill:
Walker hits bump in '16 race

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Hot Air, Liberaland, Washington Post, Politico and OnPolitics

Manu Raju / Politico:
GOP consultant on hot seat over Rand Paul attack

Discussion: RedState

KUSA-TV:

Restaurant to host ‘White Appreciation Day’ — The Hispanic owners of the restaurant in Milliken say “all Americans should be celebrated.” 9NEWS at 9 p.m. 05/07/15. — The Hispanic owners of the restaurant in Milliken say “all Americans should be celebrated.” — CONNECT

Discussion: Western Journalism

USA Today:
BBQ joint to host ‘White Appreciation Day’

Discussion: Raw Story

James Hohmann / Politico:

Insiders say Bush shouldn't ignore Iowa — His poor poll numbers there, they say, are mostly caused by a lack of attention to the Hawkeye State thus far. — Jeb Bush's failure to invest time in Iowa is the main explanation for his seventh-place finish in the latest poll of likely Republican caucusgoers.

Discussion: Washington Monthly and Booman Tribune

Alex Roarty / National Journal: Why Jeb Bush Can't Spend His Way to the Win

Nelson D. Schwartz / New York Times:

U.S. Economy Added 223,000 Jobs in April; Unemployment Rate at 5.4% — The American job market rebounded in April, the government said Friday, as employers added 223,000 positions and the unemployment rate decreased to 5.4 percent. — The April figures from the Labor Department came …

Discussion: Washington Monthly, ThinkProgress, Guardian, Outside the Beltway, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, NPR, The Week, Reuters, The Atlantic and Bloomberg Business

Lucia Mutikani / Reuters:
Job growth regains steam, keeping Fed rate hike on track

Discussion: Hot Air

Peter Schroeder / The Hill:

Record number of Americans abroad giving up citizenship — A record 1,335 Americans living overseas renounced their citizenship in the first three months of 2015, according to the Internal Revenue Service. — That number is 18 percent higher than the previous record, according to Bloomberg.

Discussion: Political Wire

Michael E. Miller / Washington Post:

‘Shawshank’ prison escape ends 56 years later with cinematic stakeout — A man convicted of manslaughter who escaped from an Ohio prison farm in 1959 was arrested in Florida Monday. But a friend says she hopes 79-year-old Frank Freshwater won't be sentenced. (AP)

Economist:

The dawn of artificial intelligence — Powerful computers will reshape humanity's future. How to ensure the promise outweighs the perils — From the print edition — “THE development of full artificial intelligence could spell the end of the human race,” Stephen Hawking warns.

Discussion: Shot in the Dark

David Weigel / Bloomberg Business:

Mike Huckabee Wants to Reconquer Iowa, One Bass Solo and Pizza Ranch at a Time — The 2008 caucus winner reintroduces himself to the voters who made him. — t daveweigel — There was no mega-rally for Mike Huckabee, no overflow room, no line of cars that bent around the highway.

Discussion: The Hill

Sahil Kapur / Bloomberg Business:

How A Ragtag Group Of Lefties Mainlined Debt-Free College Into The Democratic Primary — A group of two dozen young activists working out of homes and coffee shops around the country has achieved something rather unusual: mainlining an idea into the upper echelons of the Democratic Party …

Sara Murray / CNN:

Jeb: George W. Bush is a top foreign policy adviser — Washington (CNN)Jeb Bush cited his brother, former President George W. Bush, as one of his main advisers on the Middle East in a private meeting in Manhattan on Tuesday, according to three people who attended the off-the-record event.

Discussion: Fox News, Outside the Beltway, Salon, Lawyers, Guns & Money, New York Times, Eclectablog, Daily Kos, Talking Points Memo and Hot Air

Janet Kim / Q13 FOX News:

Lacey kindergartener leaves school grounds, walks a mile home unnoticed; dad steamed — LACEY, Wash. — A kindergartener is home safe after a scare earlier this week. John Canales said his 5-year old son managed to leave school grounds and walk at least a mile home all by himself.

Discussion: fox13now.com and KFOR-TV