Top Items:
Ron Johnson / New York Times:
Where the Senate Health Care Bill Fails — Speaking at a rally for his wife's presidential campaign last year, Bill Clinton called Obamacare “the craziest thing in the world.” As he put it, “The people who are out there busting it, sometimes 60 hours a week, wind up with their premiums doubled and their coverage cut in half.”
Discussion:
Politico, No More Mister Nice Blog, The Week, AOL and Political Wire
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Elana Schor / Politico:
Why Dems can't break through on Obamacare repeal — Even before Senate Republicans released their Obamacare repeal plan last week, a call went out from liberal activists: Head to the airport and greet departing senators with a furious protest. — About five dozen demonstrators showed …
Sarah Kliff / Vox:
Privately, health plan worries Senate bill would “cause most small employers' premiums to go up” — A large health plan is privately expressing concern that a little-noticed provision in the Senate health bill could drive up premiums for small business health plans. — Sign up for VoxCare
Discussion:
Media Matters for America
Jonathan Cohn / HuffPost:
Kellyanne Conway Defends Medicaid Cuts, Says Adults Can Always Find Jobs — Reality check: Most of them have jobs already. — White House counselor Kellyanne Conway on Sunday came right out and said what so many Republicans are probably thinking that taking Medicaid away from able-bodied adults …
Discussion:
Washington Monthly, CNN, CNBC, Los Angeles Times, Fox News Insider, New York Magazine, Daily Kos, Politicus USA, Talking Points Memo, Shareblue, Mediaite and New York Times
Sarah Kliff / Vox:
The cruel reality of high-speed health care legislating — Four days ago, Senate Republicans got their first glimpse at their leadership's plan to repeal and replace Obamacare. — Three days from now, Senate Republicans are expected to vote on that plan.
Discussion:
Politico, Axios and Daily Wire
Hugh Hewitt / Washington Post:
Replacing Obamacare is a make-or-break moment for Republicans
Replacing Obamacare is a make-or-break moment for Republicans
Discussion:
NBC News
David Lat / Above the Law:
No, Justice Anthony M. Kennedy Is Not Retiring Tomorrow — Based on this weekend's reunion of his law clerks, reports of AMK's retirement are greatly exaggerated. — [Please note the UPDATES I have added, and will continue to add, at the end of this story.]
Discussion:
Weekly Standard, Fusion, The Daily Caller, Slate, Outside the Beltway, TheBlaze, Politico, LifeZette and AOL
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Robert Barnes / Washington Post:
Supreme Court to take case on baker who refused to sell wedding cake to gay couple
Supreme Court to take case on baker who refused to sell wedding cake to gay couple
Discussion:
Shakesville
Politico:
Supreme Court to take up Trump's travel ban, let parts of it take effect
Supreme Court to take up Trump's travel ban, let parts of it take effect
Discussion:
New York Times
Mike Allen / Axios:
D.C. on edge: rumors of new Supreme Court vacancy swirl
D.C. on edge: rumors of new Supreme Court vacancy swirl
Discussion:
Washington Post, Politico, ABC News and Political Wire
Michael Kranish / Washington Post:
Kushner firm's $285 million Deutsche Bank loan came just before Election Day — One month before Election Day, Jared Kushner's real estate company finalized a $285 million loan as part of a refinancing package for its property near Times Square in Manhattan. — The loan came at a critical moment.
Discussion:
HuffPost, TheStreet, Talking Points Memo, The Week and Balloon Juice
RELATED:
Jacqueline Thomsen / The Hill:
Kushner company received $285M loan from Deutsche Bank shortly before election: report
Kushner company received $285M loan from Deutsche Bank shortly before election: report
Discussion:
RedState
Maggie Haberman / New York Times:
Trump's Deflections and Denials on Russia Frustrate Even His Allies — In the span of 72 hours, President Trump described the email hacking that roiled the 2016 campaign as a Democratic “hoax” and as clear aggression by Russia that his predecessor, President Barack Obama, failed to address.
Discussion:
CNN, The Week, Business Insider and Conservative News Today
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Jon Passantino / BuzzFeed:
CNN Is Imposing Strict New Rules On Its Russia Coverage — The decision came after the network deleted and retracted a post on Friday. — CNN is imposing strict new publishing restrictions for online articles involving Russia after the network deleted a story and then issued a retraction late Friday …
Discussion:
Daily Wire, TVNewser, Breitbart, Conservative News Today, RedState, MILO NEWS, Mediaite and SARAH PALIN, more at Mediagazer »
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Jeffrey Toobin / New Yorker:
The National Enquirer's Fervor for Trump — The tabloid is defined by its predatory spirit. Why has it embraced the President with such sycophantic zeal? — Every Wednesday afternoon, in a windowless conference room in an office building at the tip of lower Manhattan …
Discussion:
Political Wire and The Week
Max Ehrenfreund / Washington Post:
A ‘very credible’ new study on Seattle's $15 minimum wage has bad news for liberals — When Seattle officials voted three years ago to incrementally boost the city's minimum wage up to $15 an hour, they'd hoped to improve the lives of low-income workers. Yet according to a major new study …
Discussion:
CityLab
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Frank Rich / New York Magazine:
Frank Rich: Nixon, Trump, and How a Presidency Ends — “Let others wallow in Watergate, we are going to do our job,” said Richard Nixon with typical unearned self-righteousness in July 1973. By then, more than a year had passed since a slapstick posse of five had been caught in a bungled burglary …
Louis Nelson / Politico:
Ivanka Trump: ‘I try to stay out of politics’ — Ivanka Trump may keep an office in the White House and hold an official position within her father's administration, but when it comes to politics, the first daughter said in an interview that aired Monday that she tries to stay out of President Donald Trump's way.
Dylan Scott / Vox:
The Senate health care bill's biggest fan makes the case for it — “I'm an advocate of market-based universal coverage.” — This week, Senate Republicans could pass a health care bill that leading conservative health care expert Avik Roy would consider “the greatest policy achievement by a GOP Congress in my lifetime.”
Discussion:
Washington Post and Balloon Juice
Harriet Sinclair / Newsweek:
Gay Pride marchers with Jewish flags told to leave Chicago parade — U.S. LGBT PRIDE LGBT ISRAEL-PALESTINE — Jewish people celebrating LGBT Pride in Chicago were told not to display Star of David flags because other people found them ‘offensive.’ — The Jewish Star of David flag …
Discussion:
TheBlaze, Washington Free Beacon, RedState, MILO NEWS and The Daily Caller
RELATED:
Byron York / Washington Examiner:
On Russia, a senator's deception and a timeline of Trump frustration — Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley's accusation that Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer lied about President Trump and the Russia investigation — that Schumer said the president was under investigation after he, Schumer …
Numbers / Pew Research Center:
Support for Same-Sex Marriage Grows, Even Among Groups That Had Been Skeptical — For first time, as many Republicans favor as oppose gay marriage — Two years after the Supreme Court decision that required states to recognize same-sex marriages nationwide, support for allowing gays …
Discussion:
Political Wire