memeorandum: President Obama's Tough, Achievable Climate Plan (New York Times)

11:15 AM ET, August 4, 2015

Top Items:

Donald Trump Dominates Republican Field in Pre-Debate Bloomberg Poll — Billionaire Donald Trump is lapping the Republican field, a new Bloomberg Politics national poll shows, as two prominent governors, Chris Christie of New Jersey and John Kasich of Ohio, rank in the top 10 ahead of the first presidential debate.

Discussion: New York Times, Politico, Political Wire, OnPolitics, Oliver Willis and FiveThirtyEight

John DiStaso / WMUR:

WMUR poll: Donald Trump surges to top of GOP primary field in NH — Outspoken business exec leads Jeb Bush, 24 percent to 12 percent — For the first time in the 2016 Republican presidential primary campaign, there is a clear Granite State frontrunner. Business executive Donald Trump's …

Discussion: Washington Post, Political Wire, CNNMoney and Real Clear Politics

Eli Stokols / Politico:

New Hampshire Voters First Forum: 5 takeaways — For some GOP candidates, the desperation is beginning to show. — MANCHESTER, N.H. — The candidate forum that drew 14 Republican presidential candidates to New Hampshire Monday night served as a practice round ahead of the first official GOP primary debate …

Discussion: USA Today and Hot Air

Janet Hook / Wall Street Journal:

Unhappy Voters Shake Up Presidential Race — Unsettled electorate gives a lift to antiestablishment candidates, a new Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll finds — Pollsters Fred Yang and Bill McInturff sit down with WSJ's Jerry Seib to break down the new poll numbers on the 2016 candidates …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, CNBC and Taylor Marsh

Peter Nicholas / Wall Street Journal:

Hillary Clinton Loses Ground With White Women — WSJ/NBC Poll — Many Democrats have long hoped that Hillary Clinton might expand Barack Obama's electoral coalition by drawing in more white women voters. — A new Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll suggests she may have a tough time pulling it off.

Discussion: Hot Air

Dana Blanton / Fox News:

Fox News Poll: New high for Trump, new low for Clinton — Businessman Donald Trump continues to gain ground in the race for the Republican nomination. What's more, the number of GOP primary voters saying they would at least consider backing Trump has more than doubled in the last two months.

Discussion: Mediaite, Outside the Beltway, The Week, The Right Scoop and Political Wire

CBS News:
CBS News poll: Donald Trump leads GOP field in 2016 presidential race

Discussion: The Right Scoop

The Hill:

Senate GOP thwarted in effort to defund Planned Parenthood — A measure to defund Planned Parenthood failed in the Senate on Monday in a 53-46 vote, likely punting the issue into the fall debate over preventing a government shutdown. — Republicans fell short of the 60 votes needed …

Discussion: ThinkProgress, New Orleans Times-Picayune, Associated Press, NBC News and The Federalist

John McCormack / Weekly Standard:
Democrats Who Blocked Bill to Defund Planned Parenthood Admit They Haven't Watched Undercover Videos

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit, The Daily Caller, The Daily Signal and Chicago

Brian Beutler / The New Republic:
The Campaign Against Planned Parenthood Is Causing a Headache for Republicans

Discussion: Daily Kos, No More Mister Nice Blog, Bloomberg View, Slate, Hullabaloo and Forbes

Chris Grillot / New Orleans Times-Picayune:
NOFD investigating car fire at Planned Parenthood construction site

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Raw Story, Oliver Willis, RH Reality Check, ThinkProgress and Washington Post

Eliza Collins / Politico:
Hillary Clinton comes out in support of Planned Parenthood

Discussion: The Daily Caller, The Hill, Patterico's Pontifications, Weekly Standard and LifeNews.com

Niall Stanage / The Hill:

Biden challenge to Clinton would face high hurdles — Vice President Biden would have to clear high hurdles to defeat Hillary Clinton if he launched a bid for the Democratic presidential nomination. — The biggest one? Carving out a niche — and a reason for his candidacy …

Discussion: Political Wire

John Dickerson / Slate:
Raw Emotion — Joe Biden's “end of summer” decision is near.

Discussion: US News, Politico, The Week, Associated Press and Hot Air

Michael Falcone / ABC News:
The Note: Donald Trump on Top

Discussion: National Journal, Washington Free Beacon and LifeNews.com

New York Times:

President Obama's Tough, Achievable Climate Plan — President Obama's Clean Power Plan, announced on Monday, is unquestionably the most important step the administration has taken in the fight against climate change. — It imposes the first nationwide limits on carbon dioxide pollution from power plants …

Discussion: ThinkProgress, Washington Post, The Hill, Shakesville and Daily Kos

Coral Davenport / New York Times:
5 Questions About Obama's Climate Change Plan

Discussion: New York Times, John Hawkins' Right Wing News, The Hill, Washington Post and Slantpoint

Emma Green / The Atlantic:

The Freakishness of Christianity — Evangelical Christianity has long had a stranglehold on how Americans imagine public faith. Vague invocations of “religion”—whether it's “religion vs. science” or “religious freedom”—usually really mean “conservative, Protestant, evangelical Christianity …

Discussion: National Journal and The Hugh Hewitt Show

Matea Gold / Washington Post:

Charles Koch's focus on ‘injustices’ is fueled by an unlikely partnership — DANA POINT, Calif. — Last month, billionaire industrialist and conservative donor Charles Koch was meeting in his Wichita office with Michael Lomax, president of the United Negro College Fund …

Discussion: OnPolitics, Daily Kos and Jezebel

Philip Eliott / TIME:
Charles Koch Mocks Common Measure of Prosperity

Discussion: Hit & Run, Hot Air, The Daily Caller and Instapundit

Los Angeles Times:

2 immigrants in U.S. illegally are named to Huntington Park commissions — Julian Zatarain always assumed the doors of City Hall were closed to him because he is here illegally, arriving from Sinaloa in 2007 when he was 13. — The 21-year-old college student found other outlets for service …

Discussion: ImmigrationProf Blog

Debbie Meron / CBS Los Angeles:
Huntington Park Councilman To Appoint 2 Undocumented Immigrants As Commissioners

Discussion: John Hawkins' Right Wing News, Los Angeles Times and The Right Scoop

Steven Shepard / Politico:

New polls suggest Rick Perry out of debate — It appears increasingly unlikely that Rick Perry will get a chance to atone for his disastrous 2012 debate performance — or attack his 2016 nemesis, Donald Trump — when Republicans spar for the first time Thursday in Cleveland.

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Fox News and New York Times

Gabriel Sherman / New York Magazine:
Here Are the Polls Fox News Will Use to Select the Candidates for the First GOP Debate

Discussion: New York Times, Politico, Talking Points Memo, No More Mister Nice Blog, Raw Story, Mock Paper Scissors, Mediaite and The Last Refuge

KC Downey / WMUR:

2 killed in tent collapse at Lancaster fairgrounds, initial reports say — Approximately 15 people injured in accident — Initial reports said two people were killed when a circus tent collapsed at the Lancaster fairgrounds as severe weather moved through the area Monday evening.

Discussion: Fox News, Associated Press, Scared Monkeys and WREG-TV

Jenna Johnson / Washington Post:

Scott Walker just got punked at a New Hampshire pizza shop — MANCHESTER, N.H. — Maybe it should have been a tip-off that the two 20-somethings were so overly excited to meet Scott Walker. Like dramatically excited. The young woman was literally bouncing with excitement.

Discussion: The Week, Addicting Info, New York Times and Prairie Weather

Neetzan Zimmerman / The Hill:

Harvard Lampoon tricks Trump with fake endorsement — Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump appears to be the latest victim in the longstanding rivalry between storied humor publication The Harvard Lampoon and its more staid alter ego, The Harvard Crimson.

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Harvard News, The Gateway Pundit, Mediaite, The Week and Raw Story

ACLU:

S.R. v. Kenton County Sheriff's Office — UNPUBLISHED — The children, an 8-year-old boy and a 9-year-old girl, were so small that the school resource officer, Kenton County Deputy Sheriff Kevin Sumner in Covington, Kentucky, locked the handcuffs around the children's biceps and forced …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Mashable, Addicting Info, NBC News, Mediaite and Oliver Willis

Katie Glueck / Politico:

Crisis in Santorum campaign — The moves leave the winner of the 2012 Iowa Caucuses without a campaign manager and raise questions about whether he can last until Iowa votes on Feb. 1 next year. — Several top staffers have left Rick Santorum's campaign to create a new super PAC …

Discussion: Political Insider blog and Mock Paper Scissors

Joel Currier / St. Louis Post-Dispatch:

Man claimed he rammed St. Louis police car ‘for the black people,’ charges say — ST. LOUIS • A Bellefontaine Neighbors man was charged Sunday with ramming a St. Louis squad car and injuring two city officers on Friday night. — Kevin Labriado, 48, of the 1500 block of Comet Drive …

Discussion: Mediaite, The Jawa Report and Twitchy