memeorandum: Legalization by Edict — Many people in Washington seem … (Yuval Levin/National Review)

2:20 PM ET, July 29, 2014

Top Items:

GOP internal debate: Is party repeating mistakes of 1998? — BARACK OBAMA BILL CLINTON JOHN BOEHNER 2014 ELECTIONS — For anyone who was around, it's hard to compare 1998 — the year of the Monica Lewinsky scandal, the Starr Report, and Bill Clinton's impeachment — with any other year.

Discussion: RedState, BuzzFeed and Booman Tribune

Erica Werner / Associated Press:

Obama Mulls Massive Move on Immigration — WASHINGTON (AP) — Even as they grapple with an immigration crisis at the border, White House officials are making plans to act before November's mid-term elections to grant work permits to potentially millions of immigrants who are in this country illegally …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Hot Air, Washington Monthly, Patterico's Pontifications, The Hill and Shakesville

Politico:

Politicking off impeachment chatter — Something very strange is happening on Capitol Hill. Democrats can't talk enough about impeaching a president of their own party. And Republicans keep saying that there isn't a chance they'll give it a try. — With just three days left until Congress recesses …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, alicublog, No More Mister Nice Blog, Washington Post, Liberaland, Business Insider, Mediaite and The Raw Story

Cristina Marcos / The Hill:

Boehner: Impeachment a Dem ‘scam’ — The idea that Republicans would impeach President Obama is a “scam” perpetuated by Democrats, Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) said Tuesday. — He accused Democrats of hyperbolizing talk of impeaching President Obama to boost their fundraising and turn out their base.

Discussion: Firedoglake, Washington Post and Politico

Sahil Kapur / Talking Points Memo:

Boehner: Impeachment Talk Is A ‘Scam’ By Democrats To Raise Money — House Speaker John Boehner torched Democrats on Tuesday over talk of impeaching President Barack Obama, insisting that Republicans have no such plans and that Democrats are using the issue to gin up their base.

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Mediaite and BuzzFeed

Alexandra Jaffe / The Hill:

DCCC chairman: GOP impeachment talk ‘moving our base’ — Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee Chairman Steve Israel (N.Y.) said the Republican lawsuit against and push for impeachment of President Obama is paying dividends for his party. — “I think that the Republican strategy of lawsuits …

Discussion: Politico, Talking Points Memo and Taegan Goddard's …

Juan Williams / The Hill:

Shame of the GOP on border — Even on Capitol Hill, there is a God. — Last week, the nation's religious leaders stood up to ask their elected officials to look past politics and see that children — not theoretical abstractions but real, young individuals — are suffering because of inaction by Congress.

Discussion: Politico

Patricia Murphy / The Daily Beast:
Red State Democrats Ditch Obama

Discussion: Politico, National Review and OnPolitics

Chris Cillizza / Washington Post:
One of the most anti-Obama ads of the election is being run by a Democrat in West Virginia

Discussion: Mediaite, Truth Revolt, Washington Free Beacon, CNN and Fox News

Associated Press:

LAWMAKERS TRY TO SEAL $225M AID PACKAGE FOR ISRAEL — WASHINGTON (AP) — Democratic and Republican members of Congress scrambled Tuesday to seal a $225 million boost to Israel's Iron Dome missile defense system before they break this week for a month-long recess.

Discussion: RedState, NewsBusters, Twitchy, The PJ Tatler and The Daily Caller

Josh Rogin / The Daily Beast:

Inside the Kerry-Israel Meltdown — The secretary of state has been furiously working on a Mideast ceasefire, but his ad hoc efforts were dealt another blow Monday when Israel rejected his latest peacemaking plan. — On Monday, Secretary of State Kerry took to the podium at the State Department …

Discussion: Washington Post, blogs.telegraph.co.uk, Guardian, The Federalist, The Dish, Washington Free Beacon, The Times of Israel, Truth Revolt, Israel Matzav and New York Times

David Ignatius / Washington Post:
John Kerry's big blunder in seeking an Israel-Gaza cease-fire

Discussion: Power Line, Hot Air, Adam Garfinkle, National Review, VodkaPundit and Associated Press

Brian Krebs / Krebs on Security:
Hackers Plundered Israeli Defense Firms that Built ‘Iron Dome’ Missile Defense System

Discussion: Guardian, The Times of Israel, Business Insider and RT

Associated Press:
Obama administration officials were fuming Monday over a torrent …

Discussion: Mediaite, Talking Points Memo and The PJ Tatler

Jerusalem Post:
Hamas denies agreeing to 72-hour cease-fire

Discussion: Truth Revolt, Elder Of Ziyon, The Times of Israel, Washington Free Beacon, Israel Matzav, Hot Air and Algemeiner.com

Rebecca Shabad / The Hill: White House: Israel has ‘no stronger defender’ than John Kerry

Michael Lind / Salon:

Break up the states! The case for the United Statelets of America — Here's how Wyoming, Vermont and North Dakota are exercising tyranny over the rest of us — and how to stop them — A ballot initiative that would support breaking California into six smaller and more coherent states …

Discussion: Washington Monthly

James R. Carroll / Courier-Journal:

Rand Paul planning 2015 book. Mean anything? — WASHINGTON - Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul is working on a new book that will come out early next year - about the same time he will decide whether to run for president. — “Just coincidence, probably just coincidence, yeah,” the Republican said …

Discussion: Politico, CNN and Washington Post

Anna Mulrine / Christian Science Monitor:

US is no safer after 13 years of war, a top Pentagon official says — The nation is no safer after 13 years of war, warns a top US military official who leads one of the nation's largest intelligence organizations. — “We have a whole gang of new actors out there that are far more extreme than Al Qaeda …

Discussion: Weekly Standard, Outside the Beltway and The Long War Journal

Julian E. Barnes / Wall Street Journal: The Iraq Enigma: Urgency Subsides, But Danger Persists

Yuval Levin / National Review:

Legalization by Edict — Many people in Washington seem to be talking about the prospect of the president unilaterally legalizing the status of several million people who entered the country illegally as though it were just another political question. But if reports about the nature …

Discussion: Instapundit

Ray Stern / Valley Fever:

Peter Nathan Steinmetz, Barrow Brain Scientist, Arrested at Airport With AR-15 — Dr. Peter Nathan Steinmetz, a brain scientist with Barrow Neurological Institute in Phoenix, was arrested on Friday for mishandling his AR-15 in Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport.

Discussion: Liberaland, KPHO-TV, Arizona Republic, Talking Points Memo and The Raw Story

Stan Diel / al.com:

Pray God blocks EPA plan, chief regulator of Alabama utilities tells consumers — BIRMINGHAM, Alabama - Alabama's coal industry will lose jobs and consumers will see their utility bills increase should the EPA implement proposed regulations on coal-fired power plants, Alabama regulators …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Right Wing Watch, Washington Post, The Raw Story and ThinkProgress

Ravi Somaiya / New York Times:

Despite Circulation Gains, Profit Falls 21% at New York Times Co. — Increased investments in digital products and a decline in print advertising weighed on The New York Times Company's second-quarter earnings, as profit slipped 21 percent. — The company on Tuesday reported $55.7 million …

Discussion: Poynter, FishbowlNY and The Huffington Post, more at Mediagazer »

Harry Enten / FiveThirtyEight:

Crist And Scott Could Make History by Being So Unpopular in Florida — While the national political scene has decayed into polarized stagnation, Americans' views of state governments have remained mostly positive. That's probably part of the reason why governors seem to have an advantage when running for president.

Discussion: Washington Monthly and SaintPetersBlog