memeorandum: Obama to use executive action to raise minimum wage for federal contractors (Mario Trujillo/The Hill)

2:50 PM ET, January 28, 2014

Top Items:

Tal Kopan / Politico:

Obamacare: Tom Coburn loses cancer doctor — Cancer-stricken Sen. Tom Coburn revealed Tuesday that his health insurance under Obamacare doesn't cover his oncologist, but said he still is receiving excellent care. — “I'm doing well from a health standpoint, got great docs,” Coburn said on MSNBC's …

Discussion: Rush Limbaugh, Mediaite, National Review and The PJ Tatler

Matthew Yglesias / Slate:

The End of the Beginning on Obamacare Repeal — Sens. Tom Coburn, Richard Burr, and Orrin Hatch rolled out an Obamacare replacement plan today that I think offers us a good window into how the health care debate is evolving on Capitol Hill. I recommend Philip Klein's rundown …

Discussion: Washington Examiner, Washington Center …, Salon, The Dish, National Review and AEIdeas

Washington Free Beacon:
Tennesseans Losing Their Doctors Because of Obamacare

Discussion: Weekly Standard and Hot Air

Daniel Halper / Weekly Standard:

Gibbs: Obama ‘Stopped Trying’ to Change Washington Long Ago — Former press secretary Robert Gibbs said today on TV that President Obama and his White House “long ago” gave up on “trying” to change Washington: — Gibbs first thanked God that he's no longer working in this White House …

Discussion: The Daily Caller, Hot Air and National Review

CNN:

Boehner warns Obama headed for ‘brick wall’ — Washington (CNN) - House Speaker John Boehner warned President Barack Obama that he will “run into a brick wall” by using his executive power and bypassing Congress, as the White House has signaled the President intends to do.

Discussion: PoliticusUSA, Daily Kos and Politico

Mario Trujillo / The Hill:

Obama to use executive action to raise minimum wage for federal contractors — President Obama will announced plans to use his executive authority to raise the minimum wage to $10.10 per hour for federal contract workers during the State of the Union address, the White House said Tuesday.

Discussion: Politico, CNN, Daily Kos, Hot Air and Althouse

Ashley Killough / CNN:
‘Duck Dynasty’ to represent at State of the Union

Discussion: Politico

Zachary A. Goldfarb / Washington Post:
Obama to raise minimum wage for government contract workers

Discussion: ThinkProgress, NPR, The Week, The Plum Line, The Fact Checker, Guardian, The Gateway Pundit and The Fix

Carrie Budoff Brown / Politico:
State of the Union 2014: How far will Obama go?

Discussion: Associated Press, The Hill, CNN, Washington Center … and Washington Wire

Tal Kopan / Politico:

Wendy Davis hits back at Bristol Palin — Texas gubernatorial hopeful Wendy Davis brushed off criticism about her life story from Bristol Palin, saying that nothing Palin accused her of was true. — Davis was responding to a blog post from the daughter of former Gov. Sarah Palin …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, americanthinker.com and The Daily Banter

Erick Erickson / RedState:

A Very Sincere Thank You to @Gretawire — Greta Van Sustern wishes you to know I'm a creepy jerk. She does not know who I am and thinks no one should listen to me. I appreciate her letting someone she's never heard of who she thinks should not be listened to live rent free in her head.

Discussion: The Raw Story, Riehl World News and Mediaite

Tom Kludt / Talking Points Memo:

Erick Erickson Responds To Greta Van Susteren With Graphic Anti-Abortion Screed — Erick Erickson is grateful to fellow Fox News colleague Greta Van Susteren. Thanks to Van Susteren, Erickson reasoned, more people will see Texas gubernatorial hopeful Wendy Davis as the abortion lover she is.

Greta Van Susteren / Gretawire:
What is wrong with this guy? He is such a jerk! He is a repeat offender!

Discussion: Taylor Marsh, The Other McCain and Talking Points Memo

Peter Baker / New York Times:

With Minimum Wage as Start, Obama to Press Past Congress — WASHINGTON — President Obama plans to sign an executive order requiring that janitors, construction workers and others working for federal contractors be paid at least $10.10 an hour in the future, using his own power to enact …

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, The Huffington Post, The Plum Line, Truthdig, Wonkblog, USA Today, Washington Monthly, Taylor Marsh, Right Wing News, No More Mister Nice Blog, Patterico's Pontifications, Booman Tribune, Campaign for America's Future, americanthinker.com, Liberaland, Business Insider and Riehl World News

Franco Ordonez / McClatchy Washington Bureau:
Will Boehner's immigration ‘principles’ help struggling GOP?

Discussion: National Review

Domenico Montanaro / NBCNews:

Poll: Christie numbers tank as scandals continue — Chris Christie's political future looks to be in serious danger with more Americans believing the embattled New Jersey governor is lying about the bridge closure scandal than telling the truth, according to the latest NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll.

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Politico, The Star-Ledger Editorial Page and Real Clear Politics

Patrick O'Connor / Washington Wire:
WSJ/NBC Poll: Sharp Reversal on Chris Christie

Discussion: National Review and TIME

First Read / NBCNews:
First Thoughts: A decade of pessimism

Discussion: Daily Kos

Mark Murray / NBCNews:
NBC News poll: Pessimism defines the state of the union

Discussion: Shakesville, Washington Free Beacon and National Review

Jon Pareles / New York Times:

Pete Seeger, Songwriter and Champion of Folk Music, Dies at 94 — Pete Seeger, the singer, folk-song collector and songwriter who spearheaded an American folk revival and spent a long career championing folk music as both a vital heritage and a catalyst for social change, died Monday.

The Hill:

56 Dems endorse Hillary for 2016 — Fifty-six Democratic lawmakers say they would endorse Hillary Clinton for president if she launches a 2016 White House bid, according to a survey conducted by The Hill. [SEE COMPLETE LIST] — Twenty-two congressional Democrats had already publicly endorsed Clinton.

Discussion: CNN, Taylor Marsh, The Caucus, Talking Points Memo, Politico, New York Times, Real Clear Politics and Fox News Insider

Tal Kopan / Politico:

Matthews goes after McCain critic — Sen. John McCain, under fire from the Arizona GOP for not being conservative enough, got an unlikely ally in his defense against the state party's censure of the senator, as MSNBC host Chris Matthews went after the author of the Arizona GOP's critique of McCain.

Discussion: CNN

Burgess Everett / Politico:
John McCain on reprimand: ‘It fires me up’

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Hot Air, CNN, OnPolitics and Independent Journal Review

Yahoo! News:

Exclusive: Democratic senators to file amicus brief in Hobby Lobby birth control case — In a brief to be filed with the U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday, 19 Democratic senators are siding with the Obama administration against evangelical Christian businessmen who argue that paying …

Discussion: Hot Air, The Daily Caller, The Greenroom, The PJ Tatler, americanthinker.com, Independent Journal Review and Twitchy

Molly Ball / The Atlantic Online:

How Republicans Lost the Farm — On a recent Monday in San Antonio, Texas, Tom Vilsack, the secretary of agriculture, got up to speak to an auditorium full of farmers. Vilsack, a doughy, wavy-haired former governor of Iowa, wore a grim expression as he gripped the lectern.

Discussion: New York Times, The Week and The Fix

Burgess Everett / Politico:

Max Baucus nomination set to move forward — Several tough questions and suggestions from Republicans interrupted a mostly placid confirmation hearing for Sen. Max Baucus to be the next U.S. Ambassador to China. — Testifying on Tuesday before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Hot Air and Twitchy

David Plotz / Slate:

The California Supreme Court's cruel, self-righteous decision to reject the disgraced journalist's bar application. — Stephen Glass, the disgraced New Republic journalist, and once my friend, lied to me most of the times we spoke. My wife Hanna Rosin was one of his closest confidantes at the New Republic …

Discussion: The Dish, New York Times, emptywheel and Washington Post

Victor Davis Hanson / National Review:

Governing by Pen and Phone — Obama used to sigh that he was not a dictator who could act unilaterally. No more. — Lately a weakened President Obama has fashioned a new attitude about consensual government: “We're not just going to be waiting for legislation in order to make sure …

Matt Ford / The Atlantic Online:

Giant Hologram of Turkish Prime Minister Delivers Speech — Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan couldn't attend a political party meeting in the city of Izmir on Sunday, so he decided to send the next best thing: a giant hologram of himself. — In a scene straight out of Star Wars …

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Guardian and The Verge