memeorandum: Dr. Ben Carson's prescription: Abolish Medicare (Jason Millman/Politico)

1:20 PM ET, October 23, 2015

Top Items:

Matthew Yglesias / Vox:

Conservative pundits were not impressed with the GOP's disastrous Benghazi hearing — Hillary Clinton is a top-tier politician who's been the subject of nearly constant national media scrutiny for more than 20 years. She also happens to have worked at the House Judiciary Committee during …

Discussion: Salon, ThinkProgress, The Week and Hullabaloo

Byron York / Washington Examiner:

Benghazi bust — Share Tweet Reddit Digg Mail Print SMS More — There's a reason Benghazi Committee chairman Rep. Trey Gowdy offered Hillary Clinton the chance to testify in a private, closed hearing. And there's a reason Clinton wanted to appear in an open setting, with the whole world watching.

Discussion: Politico, Washington Post, alicublog, New York Times, Talking Points Memo, Slantpoint, Daily Kos, National Review, The Gateway Pundit and ThinkProgress

Jennifer Bendery / The Huffington Post:

Trey Gowdy Says His 11-Hour Benghazi Hearing Didn't Reveal Anything New — Hillary Clinton had nothing better to do anyway.

Discussion: ThinkProgress, Talking Points Memo, addictinginfo.org, Daily Kos and Washington Post

Erick Erickson / Erick on the Radio:

The Benghazi Hearing Should Not Be, But Is, A Waste of Time — There are still, despite a media effort to deny it, a lot we do not know about Libya and Benghazi. Only now do we have Ambassador Stephens' emails. Only recently did we learn that Hillary Clinton was being privately advised …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, New York Post, Raw Story and PoliticusUSA

Washington Post:
The GOP's unfortunate Benghazi hearing

Discussion: The Slot, The Week, Weekly Standard and Daily Wire

Gabriel Debenedetti / Politico:
5 takeaways from Clinton's marathon Benghazi testimony

Discussion: Political Insider blog and Bloomberg Business

Annie Karni / Politico:
Clinton emerges stronger for next phase of campaign

Discussion: Bloomberg Business

Sahil Kapur / Bloomberg Business:
The Conservative Reviews Are In: Benghazi Hearing a Bust

Discussion: Politico, Bloomberg.com news, USA Today, Los Angeles Times, Washington Monthly, Shakesville, Select Committee on Benghazi …, Daily Kos, Taylor Marsh, Bloomberg View, NBC News, Poynter., Washington Post, ThinkProgress, Fox News, Hollywood Life and CNN

Kimberley A. Strassel / Wall Street Journal:
She Knew All Along — The House hearing on Benghazi reveals …

Discussion: neo-neocon and The Federalist

Caitlin MacNeal / Talking Points Memo:
Washington Examiner's Byron York Says Benghazi Hearing Was A ‘Bust’

Discussion: The Mahablog, Arkansas Blog, Arkansas Times, National Review and Newsweek

Catherine Thompson / Talking Points Memo:
GOPer Mocks ‘Clinton Doctrine,’ Accuses Her Of Hogging Limelight On Libya

Discussion: Mother Jones

Elizabeth Harrington / Washington Free Beacon:
Feds Have Spent More on Origami Condoms, Fat Lesbian Studies Than on Benghazi Committee

Discussion: Truth Revolt, Betsy's Page, The Last Tradition, Democratic Strategist and Washington Post

Stephen Collinson / CNN:
Marathon Benghazi hearing leaves Hillary Clinton largely unscathed

Discussion: addictinginfo.org, The Great Debate, Raw Story, New York Times, fox13now.com, FOX5 San Diego, WTVR-TV, FOX6Now.com, Washington Free Beacon and WHNT-TV

RealClearPolitics:
Rep. Jim Jordan vs. Hillary Clinton: Why Did You Tell Egyptians Benghazi Was a Terrorist Attack …

Discussion: BREITBART.COM, RedState, The Daily Caller, Hit & Run, Independent Journal and The Gateway Pundit

Gail Collins / New York Times:
Hillary and Benghazi — When Americans are killed in a terror attack …

Discussion: The Moderate Voice

Bloomberg Business:

Jeb Bush Orders Across-the-Board Pay Cuts for Struggling Campaign — Bush's advisers, under pressure from their donors and from falling and stagnant poll numbers, came to the conclusion that a course correction was essential. — michaelcbender — MarkHalperin

Eli Stokols / Politico:

Jeb Bush slashes pay, spending as campaign struggles — Jeb Bush on Friday ordered a wholesale restructuring of his struggling campaign after suffering miserably in the polls despite massive spending and a deep donor network.The campaign will cut payroll costs by 40 percent …

Discussion: Washington Monthly, The Federalist and The Daily Banter

Lawrence Brinton / National Review:

Jeb Bush Is Toast

Discussion: RedState, The American Conservative, Politico, The Week, Hot Air and Real Clear Politics

Caitlin Cruz / Talking Points Memo:
Jeb's Campaign Downsizes Staff At HQ And Cuts Payroll By 40 Percent

Discussion: The Week

Eliza Collins / Politico:
Megyn Kelly to Jeb Bush: Will you drop out?

Discussion: The Week

Jennifer Jacobs / Des Moines Register:

Iowa Poll: Carson surges to 9-point lead; Trump slides — Donald Trump is the biggest loser in the new Iowa Poll. — The pious Ben Carson has plowed past the braggadocious New York businessman to take the front-runner crown, unseating Trump as the most popular choice for president among …

Discussion: Wall Street Journal, NBC News, Talking Points Memo, New York Times, Hot Air, Independent Journal, LifeNews.com, The Week, Mediaite and Daily Mail

John McCormick / Bloomberg Business:

Carson Surges Past Trump in Latest Bloomberg Politics/Des Moines Register Iowa Poll — Republican presidential candidate Ben Carson has moved into a dominant position in Iowa, surpassing former front-runner Donald Trump as evangelical Christians begin to coalesce around him in the state that will cast the first 2016 nomination ballots.

Discussion: RedState, Politico, Trail Blazers Blog, Bloomberg View, Daily Kos, Business Insider, Outside the Beltway, Scared Monkeys and Bloomberg.com news

Jason Millman / Politico:

Dr. Ben Carson's prescription: Abolish Medicare — Republicans have fended off accusations for years that they'd gut Medicare for seniors and end the program "as we know it." Not Ben Carson. The former neurosurgeon acknowledges he would abolish the program altogether. Carson …

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Allen B. West and Balloon Juice

Gabriel Debenedetti / Politico:

Lincoln Chafee ends quixotic presidential bid — Democratic presidential candidate Lincoln Chafee, always a long shot, dropped out of the race for his party's nomination on Friday morning. "As you know I have been campaigning on a platform of Prosperity Through Peace," …

Discussion: Mother Jones, Power Line, Bloomberg Business, ABC News, Bloomberg.com news, Daily Kos, Political Wire, The Week and VICE

Lincoln Chafee for President 2016:
CHAFEE WITHDRAWS FROM 2016 DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL RACE

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Slantpoint, The Daily Caller, twitchy.com and Balloon Juice

CNN:
Lincoln Chafee drops out of Democratic primary race

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Ben Swann's Truth In Media, Forbes, Hot Air and Towleroad

John Wagner / Washington Post:
Lincoln Chafee ends Democratic bid for president

Discussion: Outside the Beltway, Front Page Magazine and American Spectator

New York Times:

Conservative PACs Attack Republicans, and It Pays — WASHINGTON — The petitions that started surfacing online over a year ago were as incendiary as they were urgent, begging recipients to sign up to “Boot Boehner,” “Dump McConnell,” “Drop a Truth-Bomb on Kevin McCarthy” and “Fire Paul Ryan.”

Discussion: Althouse and Jay Bookman

Travis Gettys / Raw Story:

Revealed: Anti-abortion protester is a sex offender who raped a family member at knifepoint — DON'T MISS STORIES. FOLLOW RAW STORY! — A convicted rapist and domestic abuser is among the anti-abortion protesters complaining about an admitted Internet troll who's been annoying them outside a North Dakota women's health clinic.

Discussion: Liberaland, LiberalAmerica.org, addictinginfo.org and WDAY-TV

Anna Palmer / Politico:

McConnell presses Paul to focus on Senate bid — Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and his allies are quietly ratcheting up pressure on Rand Paul to pay more attention to his Senate reelection next year — and less to his flagging 2016 presidential candidacy. So far …

Discussion: Real Clear Politics and Washington Post

Lauren French / Politico:
The fragile marriage of Ryan and the Freedom Caucus

Discussion: New York Times, Belmont Club, Outside the Beltway and ABC News

John Podhoretz / Daily Kos:

The GOP blew it with the Benghazi committee, and conservatives know it — Ooh, it's wonderful seeing conservatives deflate as the committee hearing goes on.

Discussion: ECHIDNE OF THE SNAKES