memeorandum: FBI Investigating Black Church Fires (Darren Sands/BuzzFeed)

10:55 AM ET, June 29, 2015

Top Items:

Sen. Rand Paul / TIME:

Rand Paul: Government Should Get Out of the Marriage Business Altogether — Paul is the junior U.S. Senator for Kentucky. — While I disagree with Supreme Court's redefinition of marriage, I believe that all Americans have the right to contract. — The Constitution is silent on the question …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Politico, Bloomberg Business, Real Clear Politics, The Week, Vox Popoli, Instapundit and PinkNews

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton:

Attorney General Paxton: Religious Liberties of Texas Public Officials Remain Constitutionally Protected After Obergefell v. Hodges — Attorney General Ken Paxton today made the following statement and issued an opinion in response to questions about the impact of Obergefell v. Hodges, the case that redefined marriage:

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Dallas Morning News, Above the Law, Trail Blazers Blog, Towleroad, TFN Insider, Washington Post, Outside the Beltway and Mashable

Austin American-Statesman:

Texas AG: County clerks can refuse gay couples — County clerks can refuse to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples based on religious objections to gay marriage, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said Sunday. — Paxton noted that clerks who refuse to issue licenses can expect to be sued …

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, Business Insider, The Huffington Post, The Last Tradition, Walid Shoebat, Daily Kos and Wall Street Journal

Alexa Ura / The Texas Tribune:
Paxton: Clerks Don't Have to Issue Same-Sex Marriage Licenses

Discussion: Reuters, San Antonio Current, Off the Kuff, The Week and Political Wire

Nick Gass / Politico:
Jindal: Louisiana will obey the high court on gay marriages

Discussion: Mock Paper Scissors, Towleroad and Wall Street Journal

Peter Nicholas / Wall Street Journal:

Will He Run? Biden Speculation Mounts — Both sons urged the vice president to enter 2016 presidential race, but so far a bid doesn't seem imminent — When deciding whether to run for office, Vice President Joe Biden has made it a practice to seek his family's counsel.

Discussion: Politico, Philly.com, Daily Mail, Washington Post and Moe Lane

Juan Williams / The Hill:

The pollution of politics — When President Obama lobbied for fast-track authority on his trade bill he asked House Democrats to “play it straight.” Capitol Hill Republicans reacted by saying to Congressional Democrats, “We told you so. ” — Their argument is that this president is an intellectual bully.

Michael Falcone / ABC News:
The Note: What The GOP Is Saying About SCOTUS

Discussion: NBC News, Political Wire and Associated Press

New York Times:

Puerto Rico's Governor Says Island's Debts Are ‘Not Payable’ — Puerto Rico's governor, saying he needs to pull the island out of a “death spiral,” has concluded that the commonwealth cannot pay its roughly $72 billion in debts, an admission that will probably have wide-reaching financial repercussions.

Discussion: Politico, Wall Street Journal, Telegraph, Washington Post, Business Insider, Bloomberg View, The Last Tradition, Reuters, NBC News, The Week and Bloomberg Business

Greg Stohr / Bloomberg Business:

States Seeking Voter Citizenship Proof Denied by U.S. Supreme Court — The U.S. Supreme Court refused to consider letting states require evidence of citizenship when people register to vote for federal elections, rejecting an appeal from Arizona and Kansas.

Discussion: Politico and Election Law Blog

Greg Stohr / Bloomberg Business:

BP, Anadarko Rejected by U.S. Supreme Court on Gulf Spill Fines — The U.S. Supreme Court rejected appeals from BP Plc and Anadarko Petroleum Corp., leaving intact a ruling that opens the companies to potentially billions of dollars in fines for the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill.

Discussion: The Week

Ian Millhiser / ThinkProgress:

Chief Justice Roberts Rejected Marriage Equality In The Best Possible Way For Liberals — Friday's landmark victory for marriage equality was handed down over the dissents of four justices, each of whom wrote their own dissenting opinion. Of these, by far the most thoughtful and the most significant …

Discussion: Hit & Run and Hot Air

Washington Post:

Jeb Bush dogged by decades of questions about business deals — In early 1989, seven weeks after his father moved into the White House, Jeb Bush took a trip to Nigeria. — Nearly 100,000 Nigerians turned out to see him over four days as he accompanied the executives of a Florida company …

Discussion: The Week

Mark Oppenheimer / TIME:

Now's the Time To End Tax Exemptions for Religious Institutions — Mark Oppenheimer writes the biweekly “Beliefs” column for The New York Times and is editor-at-large for Tablet. He also reports for The Atlantic, The Nation, This American Life, and elsewhere.

Discussion: The Federalist and RedState

Karl Rove / Medium:

A Time for Setting the Record Straight — I'm surprised Senator Ted Cruz criticizes me in his new book, particularly since I have been promoting it on my website, Rove.com, since April. Regardless, my recollection of the phone call he references from six years ago (2009) differs from his reported account.

Discussion: Trail Blazers Blog, Politico, BREITBART.COM, Dallas Morning News, Fox News, Washington Post and Cruz for President

Peter Spence / Telegraph:

The world is defenceless against the next financial crisis, warns BIS — Monetary policymakers have run out of room to fight the next crisis with interest rates unable to go lower, the BIS warns — The world will be unable to fight the next global financial crash as central banks have used …

New York Times:
Greece Will Close Banks to Stem Flood of Withdrawals

Discussion: Reuters, Washington Post, The Week, The Daily Caller, The Atlantic, NPR, Slantpoint, Outside the Beltway and BBC

Stephen Rex Brown / New York Daily News:

Subway vigilante Bernie Goetz fighting the possible eviction of his pet squirrel — Notorious subway vigilante Bernhard Goetz is going nuts over the possible eviction of his beloved three-legged squirrel. — The eccentric gunman's pet, named Glinda's Sister, has had a rear leg amputated, and the other is paralyzed.

New York Times:

David Sweat, Escaped New York Convict, Is Shot and Captured as Hunt Ends — CONSTABLE, N.Y. — David Sweat, the remaining prison escapee on the run in northern New York, was shot by a state trooper and taken into custody on Sunday after a 23-day manhunt that began with an improbable escape …

Discussion: Scared Monkeys, ABC News, The Daily Caller, The Week, Washington Post, Blazing Cat Fur, Refinery29 and Althouse

Gil Ronen / Reuters:

Report: Powers Give in - No Inspection of Iran's Nuke Facilities — P5+1 cave in to Iranian demands and will not insist on inspections of nuclear installations, says Channel 1. — Iranian FM Javad Zarif (R) at press conference announcing nuclear deal — The P5+1 countries led …

Discussion: Power Line, Hot Air, John Hawkins' Right Wing News and The Gateway Pundit