memeorandum: Your daily jolt: Statue of white supremacist to be removed from Capitol entrance (Ajc Blogs: &lsquo)

3:50 PM ET, October 21, 2013

Top Items:

Contractors See Weeks of Work on Health Site — Federal contractors have identified most of the main problems crippling President Obama's online health insurance marketplace, but the administration has been slow to issue orders for fixing those flaws, and some contractors worry that the system …

TIME:

No More Apologies: Why Obama Has to Get Mad About His Broken Obamacare Websites — Whenever a President of the U.S. stops believing his own spin, the people should take notice — When the Obamacare website debuted on Oct. 1, Barack Obama walked into the Rose Garden and compared it to Amazon.com, Kayak.com and the iPhone.

Discussion: Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, CBS DC, NewsBusters and Althouse

Politico:

Obama on ACA website: ‘No excuse for these problems’ — Three weeks after Obamacare's launch, President Barack Obama tossed aside months of messaging about how easy it would be to sign up for health care under his signature law and sought to remind Americans that the Affordable Care Act …

Discussion: CNN, New York Times, Power Line, PERRspectives and Talking Points Memo

Kyle Cheney / Politico:

Kathleen Sebelius to testify on Obamacare — HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius plans to testify before Congress about the rocky Obamacare rollout as early as next week, her office confirmed Monday. — Sebelius intends to testify before the House Energy and Commerce Committee whenever they can find a …

Discussion: The Hill and National Review

Justin Sink / The Hill: Obama: ‘No one is madder than me’ about healthcare website

Andrew Kaczynski / BuzzFeed: Flashback: Obama Told People They Could Keep Their Health Care Plan

Greg Sargent / The Plum Line:
The Morning Plum: Don't squander your shutdown gains, Dems

Discussion: The New Republic and AMERICAblog News

Scott Wilson / Washington Post:
Obama on health-care site: 'There's no excuse for the problems, and they are being fixed.'

Discussion: Washington Monthly, The Fix and Post Politics

John Fund / National Review:
Reality Check for HealthCare.gov

Discussion: Hot Air and The Hill

Paul Krugman / New York Times:
Lousy Medicaid Arguments

Discussion: The Mahablog and Daily Kos

Billy House / NationalJournal.com:
House Starts What Could Be a Bellwether Week

Discussion: Politico and Taegan Goddard's …

Paul Steinhauser / CNN:

GOP, Boehner take shutdown hit in new CNN poll — Washington (CNN) — Just over half the public says that it's bad for the country that the GOP controls the House of Representatives, according to a new national poll conducted after the end of the partial government shutdown.

Ajc Blogs: &lsquo:

Your daily jolt: Statue of white supremacist to be removed from Capitol entrance — For decades, visitors to the state Capitol have been greeted by a statue of the Georgia populist who gave rural America free postal service - a racist, anti-Catholic politician whose anti-Semitic screeds …

Discussion: Liberaland and The Raw Story

Ashley Killough / CNN:
Cruz: Senate Republicans are ‘single-most damaging thing’ for the GOP in 2014

Discussion: PoliticusUSA, Talking Points Memo, Connecting.the.Dots, Politico, The Caucus and Daily Kos

Marc Santora / New York Times:

Christie Withdraws Appeal of Same-Sex Marriage Ruling in New Jersey — Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey announced on Monday that his administration would drop its legal challenge to allowing gay marriage in the state, hours after same-sex couples started exchanging vows.

Discussion: National Review, The Week, The Fix, No More Mister Nice Blog, The Dish and GLAAD

app.com:
NJ OKs gay marriage, Shore same-sex couples among first to wed

Discussion: Advocate

Vivian Yee / New York Times:
At 12:01, Same-Sex Couples in New Jersey Say ‘I Do’

Discussion: News Desk and NPR

Dan Goldberg / New Jersey Online:
As midnight strikes, same-sex couples wed across New Jersey

Discussion: Politicker NJ, BuzzFeed, Outside the Beltway, Taylor Marsh and ThinkProgress

Byron York / Washington Examiner:

At the White House: Obamacare success stories that aren't — BELTWAY CONFIDENTIAL WHITE HOUSE BARACK OBAMA OBAMACARE PRESIDENT HEALTH CARE — President Obamainvited a number of people to stand behind him as he delivered his speech on the state of Obamacare at the White House Monday morning.

Discussion: Hot Air and The PJ Tatler

Caroline May / The Daily Caller:

Of the 13 people who flanked President Obama during his speech defending Obamacare in the Rose Garden Monday, just three had successfully registered for the new Obamacare exchanges. — A list of the people who joined Obama on stage provided by the White House included people who have or …

Discussion: VodkaPundit

Roby Brock / Talk Business:

Cong. Tim Griffin Won't Seek Third Term (UPDATED) — Second District Cong. Tim Griffin (R) says he will not seek a third term in the U.S. House of Representatives, citing his young family as his primary reason. — “God has blessed me with a wonderful wife, Elizabeth, and two precious children …

Discussion: ABC News, Politico, CNN and The Caucus

Emily Cahn / Roll Call:
Tim Griffin to Retire After 2 Terms (Updated)

Discussion: Rothenblog, Daily Kos, Politico and Booman Tribune

Kaiser Health News:

Thousands Of Consumers Get Insurance Cancellation Notices Due To Health Law Changes — Health plans are sending hundreds of thousands of cancellation letters to people who buy their own coverage, frustrating some consumers who want to keep what they have and forcing others to buy more costly policies.

Discussion: ThinkProgress, protein wisdom and Weasel Zippers

Richmond Times-Dispatch:

Our choice for governor in 2013: none of the above — The Times-Dispatch is not endorsing a candidate for governor in 2013. — The words that follow should not come as a surprise. During recent months, numerous editorials in The Times-Dispatch have lamented the gubernatorial campaign.

Discussion: CNN, Talking Points Memo, Mediaite, Washington Wire, Outside the Beltway, First Read, TheBlaze.com, CBS DC, Ballot Box, Politico and The Raw Story

Daily Progress:
Bill Bolling for governor

Discussion: Taegan Goddard's …

Reno Gazette-Journal:

Shooting this morning at Sparks Middle School — Police: Shooting at Sparks Middle School: 10/21/13 8:18 AM — Sparks police will hold a press conference at around 9 a.m. on the shooting at Sparks Middle School. — Vickie Campbell of the Washoe County School District said Agnes Risley and Sparks Middle School closed.

Discussion: NBCNews, Talking Points Memo, Associated Press, ThinkProgress, NPR, Gawker, KDVR.com and The Hinterland Gazette

Dylan Scott / Talking Points Memo:

One Big Problem With Heritage's New Obamacare Study — The conservative Heritage Foundation released last week a new report on insurance premiums under Obamacare, and the conclusion was that favorite of conservative talking points: people are going to pay more for insurance under Obamacare.

Discussion: JustOneMinute, The Heritage Foundation, Washington Free Beacon and Hit & Run

Allison Linn / NBCNews:

Food stamp benefits going down before the holidays — Cheyenne Phillips, 17, Angela Phillips, 44, and Cassidy Phillips, 14, stand outside their home in Knoxville, Tenn. Phillips used SNAP from from July 2012 to February 2013, and will be applying for the benefit again on Monday because her temp job ended on Friday.

Discussion: Liberaland, Weasel Zippers, Shakesville and Gothamist