memeorandum: Jobless migrants to be DENIED housing benefit: Ministers insist UK's generous welfare system … (James Chapman/Daily Mail)

5:55 AM ET, January 20, 2014

Top Items:

David Remnick / New Yorker:

GOING THE DISTANCE … - ARCHIVE - PHOTO BOOTH - DAILY SHOUTS - CURRENCY - DAILY COMMENT - AMY DAVIDSON - JOHN CASSIDY - ANDY BOROWITZ - SHOP

Jeff Spross / ThinkProgress:

President Obama Says Pot Is Less Dangerous Than Alcohol For The Individual Consumer — In an interview published Sunday by the New Yorker, President Obama said pot is no more dangerous than alcohol — and that marijuana legalization in Colorado and Washington state is an “important” move towards a more just legal system.

Discussion: Hot Air, Washington Monthly and Talking Points Memo

Bloomberg:

Obama Says Racial Animus Blunts Approval, New Yorker Reports — President Barack Obama said that racial tensions may have softened his popularity among white voters within the last two years, according to a story posted on the New Yorker magazine's website today.

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit, Weasel Zippers and Mediaite

Justin Sink / The Hill:
Obama: ‘I would not let my son play pro football’

Discussion: Scared Monkeys, The Daily Caller, The PJ Tatler, National Review, Conservatives4Palin and CNN

msnbc.com:

US attorney inquiry into Christie widens — The New Jersey mayor who publicly claimed this weekend that Gov. Chris Christie's administration tried to withhold hurricane relief funds met Sunday in private with the U.S. attorney for the state of New Jersey. — “This afternoon I met …

Discussion: New Jersey Online, Politico, The Moderate Voice, Balloon Juice, NBCNews and ABC News

Caitlin MacNeal / Talking Points Memo:

Dem Mayor: I Got ‘Enhanced’ Access To NJ Officials After Endorsing Christie — Long Branch, N.J. Mayor Adam Schneider (D) on Saturday said he got “enhanced” access to state officials after he endorsed Gov. Chris Christie (R) during his re-election campaign.

Discussion: Washington Post

San Francisco Chronicle:
Chris Christie Is Going To War With MSNBC

Discussion: Politico, The Moderate Voice, Firedoglake, The Other McCain, Hot Air and Riehl World News

Salvador Rizzo / New Jersey Online:
Bridge scandal, Hoboken allegation dog Chris Christie during his Florida fundraising trip

Discussion: Wall Street Journal, New York Times and Balloon Juice

Justin Sink / The Hill:
Christie goes on Florida fundraising blitz (Video)

Discussion: Liberaland

Laura Smith-Spark / CNN:

Putin vows Winter Olympics will be secure — (CNN) — A claim of responsibility that emerged Sunday for last month's back-to-back bombings in the Russian city of Volgograd also threatens “a present” for visitors to the upcoming Winter Olympic Games in Sochi.

Discussion: Associated Press

Jason Lee / Reuters:

U.S. lawmaker investigates whether Russia behind Snowden's leaks — (Reuters) - The head of the U.S. House of Representatives Intelligence Committee said on Sunday he is investigating whether former spy agency contractor Edward Snowden had help from Russia in stealing and revealing U.S. government secrets.

Discussion: Guardian, Hullabaloo and ThinkProgress

ABC News:
Senator Concerned About Change in NSA Data Storage

Discussion: CNN and Politico

BBC:
Winter Olympics: Putin ‘friendly’ with gay people

Discussion: BuzzFeed

Cameron Joseph / The Hill:

Bush vets eye office as former president's image rebounds — As George W. Bush's public image improves, more former Bush officials are running for office — and are starting to tout their connections to the former president rather than running from them. — Top former Bush advisor Ed …

Discussion: Washington Monthly

James Chapman / Daily Mail:

Jobless migrants to be DENIED housing benefit: Ministers insist UK's generous welfare system will no longer be a magnet for citizens of other EU states — New rules mean EU arrivals claiming jobseeker's allowance will not be able to receive housing benefit as well — Jobless immigrants are to be denied housing benefit.

Discussion: BBC and Spectator

New York Times:

The Undeserving Rich — The reality of rising American inequality is stark. Since the late 1970s real wages for the bottom half of the work force have stagnated or fallen, while the incomes of the top 1 percent have nearly quadrupled (and the incomes of the top 0.1 percent have risen even more).

Discussion: Lawyers, Guns & Money and Paul Krugman

Wayne Slater / Dallas Morning News:

As Wendy Davis touts life story in race for governor, key facts blurred — FORT WORTH — Wendy Davis has made her personal story of struggle and success a centerpiece of her campaign to become the first Democrat elected governor of Texas in almost a quarter-century.

Discussion: BuzzFeed, LifeNews.com, Weasel Zippers and Conservatives4Palin

Ryan Grim / The Huffington Post:

Why Liz Cheney Couldn't Sell Neoconservatism To The Tea Party — Liz Cheney entered the Wyoming Senate race on the assumption that Republican primary voters there found incumbent Sen. Mike Enzi too accommodating of the Obama administration and would respond to a more conservative alternative.

Discussion: Blue Republican