memeorandum: Donald Trump is the perfect “moderate” (Ezra Klein/Vox)

11:45 PM ET, August 15, 2015

Top Items:

Jesse Byrnes / The Hill:

Trump gives kids helicopter rides at Iowa State Fair — Billionaire businessman Donald Trump offered kids helicopter rides in a show of wealth as he bragged Saturday that he is willing to spend $1 billion on his presidential campaign. — “I'm turning down so much money,” …

Discussion: ABC News, CNN, Business Insider and Hullabaloo

Mark Hensch / The Hill:

Sanders rips Trump: ‘We left the helicopter at home’ — Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) mocked GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump on Saturday for offering rides in his helicopter outside of the Iowa State Fair. — “Oh look, what can you do? It's Donald Trump,” he quipped during the event …

Discussion: Raw Story

NBC News:

Donald Trump: Undocumented Immigrants ‘Have to Go’ — Donald Trump would reverse President Obama's executive orders on immigration and deport all undocumented immigrants from the U.S. as president, he said in an exclusive interview with NBC's Chuck Todd. — “We're going to keep …

Discussion: Guardian, The Gateway Pundit and Political Wire

Eli Stokols / Politico:

Trump Force One lands at the Iowa State Fair — Donald Trump vowed to spend as much as $1 billion to defeat Hillary Clinton as he brought his unique brand of pandemonium to Des Moines. — DES MOINES — There in the center of the sweaty, frothing mob of bodies and cameras and microphones …

Discussion: New York Times, Washington Post and NPR

Robert Costa / Washington Post:
Trump to reveal immigration, tax policy plans next month

Discussion: Power Line and Business Insider

New York Times:

AT&T Helped U.S. Spy on Internet on a Vast Scale — The National Security Agency's ability to spy on vast quantities of Internet traffic passing through the United States has relied on its extraordinary, decades-long partnership with a single company: the telecom giant AT&T.

Discussion: Liberaland and Reuters

ProPublica:

NSA Spying Relies on AT&T's ‘Extreme Willingness to Help’ — by Julia Angwin and Jeff Larson, ProPublica; Charlie Savage and James Risen, The New York Times; and Henrik Moltke and Laura Poitras, special to ProPublica

Discussion: The Verge, Guardian, The Week and NPR

Daniel Strauss / Politico:

Donald Trump bad-mouths his rivals — The billionaire real estate mogul attacks Bush, and Paul, and Walker, and Graham, and Fiorina. — HAMPTON, N.H. — Donald Trump, doing a giddy victory lap after surviving another seemingly campaign-sinking controversy, went on a tear on Friday night, delivering take-downs of many of his rivals.

Discussion: Political Wire and The Gateway Pundit

Washington Post:
Republican presidential candidates' reckless anti-tax crusade

Discussion: Scrutiny Hooligans

Ezra Klein / Vox:

Donald Trump is the perfect “moderate” — At the New York Times, Josh Barro argues that Donald Trump is a moderate Republican. — Here's the argument: Trump's affect is much more confrontational than his (occasionally self-contradictory) policy pronouncements.

Discussion: Christian Science Monitor and Democratic Strategist

Politico:

Joe Biden strategy for White House run taking shape — 'I think he's getting closer to saying yes,' one Biden ally says. — CHICAGO — With his blessing, confidants to Vice President Joe Biden have begun strategizing about travel to early primary states and identified potential donors …

Discussion: Slate, RedState, Political Wire and Balloon Juice

Jesse Byrnes / The Hill:

Jeff Flake comes out against Iran deal — Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.), one of the few potential GOP supporters of the international accord over Iran's nuclear program, announced Saturday he would oppose the deal, dealing a blow to the White House. — Flake said in a lengthy statement …

Discussion: The PJ Tatler

Vicki Needham / The Hill: Democrat to block Obama trade nominee

New York Times:

Inside Amazon: Wrestling Big Ideas in a Bruising Workplace — SEATTLE — On Monday mornings, fresh recruits line up for an orientation intended to catapult them into Amazon's singular way of working. — They are told to forget the “poor habits” they learned at previous jobs, one employee recalled.

Discussion: Lawyers, Guns & Money, Gothamist, The Week, The Verge and Unfogged, more at Mediagazer »

Steven W Thrasher / Guardian:

Missouri police officer brags about spending ‘annual Michael Brown bonus’ — Patrolman investigated over Facebook post in which he shows off about extra cash made working during protests in Ferguson this week — St Louis County police are investigating a Facebook comment …