memeorandum: No, this is not Jim Crow for gays, Part Two (Paul Mirengoff/Power Line)

2:25 PM ET, February 26, 2014

Top Items:

Dave Camp: How to Fix Our Appalling Tax Code — Every year Americans spend more than six billion hours and $168 billion to file their returns. — There have been so many changes to the tax code over the past decade that it is now 10 times the size of the Bible, but with none of the Good News.

Discussion: Post Politics, Business Insider, The Daily Caller, TIME, Mediaite, The Hugh Hewitt Show, Associated Press and Washington Post

Janet Hook / Wall Street Journal:

Why Lawmaking on a Grand Scale Is a Dying Art — When Rep. Dave Camp (R., Mich.) laid plans to unveil a big tax reform bill this week, it was as if he was operating in some kind of time warp. No one seemed to have told the Ways and Means Committee chairman that Congress isn't doing much legislating any more.

Discussion: Booman Tribune, Los Angeles Times, Althouse and Washington Wire

Politico:

Republicans take on Wall Street — Republicans are proposing what was once unimaginable: raising taxes on big Wall Street banks. — Ways and Means Chairman Dave Camp's Republican tax reform draft — slated to be released Wednesday afternoon — looks like it will reverse more than a decade …

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Business Insider, No More Mister Nice Blog and AEIdeas

Paul Mirengoff / Power Line:

No, this is not Jim Crow for gays, Part Two — As I explained here, Arizona S.B. 1062 would not subject gays to a regime of discrimination. The bill is simply an attempt (successful in my view) to balance the right to religious freedom and the right of non-discrimination.

Discussion: Hot Air and The Week

Ilya Shapiro / Cato Institute:

For Marriage Equality, Religious Liberty, and the Freedom of Association — Even though I'm for marriage equality - next week I'll be filing a brief supporting the challenge to the marriage laws of Oklahoma and Utah in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit - I have no problem with Arizona's SB 1062.

Discussion: National Review

Napp Nazworth / Christian News, The Christian Post:
Issue Analysis: Arizona Bill Does Not Give Businesses License to Discriminate Against Gays

Discussion: Washington Examiner, Washington Post, Power Line, The Gateway Pundit, Hot Air, Vox Popoli and Arizona Republic

CBS News:

Jeb Bush, Rand Paul top GOP's 2016 presidential wish list: Poll — Shares - — While the 2016 presidential election may be two years away, some prospective contenders have been getting a bit of media attention. The latest CBS News/New York Times Poll asked the public whether …

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, CNN, Politico, Hit & Run, Business Insider, Hot Air, Taylor Marsh and Post Politics

Dalia Sussman / New York Times:

Most Democrats Want Clinton to Run in 2016 — More than 8 in 10 Democrats say they want Hillary Rodham Clinton to run for president in 2016, showing a level of interest in her that no other potential candidates - Democrat or Republican - come close to matching among their party's voters, according to a New York Times/CBS News Poll.

Discussion: Talking Points Memo and OnPolitics

Virginian-Pilot:

Va. GOP official apologizes for genital slang “error” — UPDATE: In an email, FitzSimmonds said he thought the word he used had the same meaning as “twaddle,” which is defined as foolish speech. — “The minute I found out my error, I deleted the post and apologized,” he told Pilot on Politics.

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Mediaite, Taegan Goddard's … and The Raw Story

Tony Lombardo / Army Times:

Soldier flagrantly avoids flag salute, sets off online outrage — A soldier who hid in her car to avoid saluting the flag — and then flaunted it on Instagram — is the latest service member to come under attack via social media and be accused of dishonoring her service.

Discussion: Right Wing News, The PJ Tatler and The Daily Caller

Kathryn A. Wolfe / Politico:

President Obama to urge $302 billion transportation bill — President Barack Obama on Wednesday will call for a four-year, $302 billion transportation bill to replace the law that expires at the end of September, while repeating his pitch for tax reform to fill some of that gap.

Discussion: CNN

Kristen Soltis Anderson / The Daily Beast:
Obama Looks Weak Abroad to Those at Home

Discussion: Yahoo! News, PostPartisan, rubio.senate.gov and The Patriot Post

Wall Street Journal:
Viva Rubio — What a great, myth-destroying statement …

Discussion: The Daily Caller

Sabrina Tavernise / New York Times:

Obesity Rate for Young Children Plummets 43% in a Decade — Federal health authorities on Tuesday reported a stunning 43 percent drop in the obesity rate among 2- to 5-year-old children over the past decade, the first broad decline in an epidemic that often leads to lifelong struggles …

Discussion: Hit & Run, BillMoyers.com, Centers for Disease Control, Taylor Marsh, Capital New York, Talking Points Memo, VodkaPundit, Taegan Goddard's Wonk Wire and The Week

jama.jamanetwork.com:
Prevalence of Childhood and Adult Obesity in the United States, 2011-2012

Discussion: Wonkblog, BBC, CNN and Gothamist

irs.gov:

Four Tax Facts about the Health Care Law for Individuals — There are a few basic tips to keep in mind about the new health care law. Health insurance choices you make now may affect the income tax return you file in 2015. — Most people already have qualified health insurance coverage …

Discussion: Independent Journal Review

John Kartch / Americans for Tax Reform RSS:
IRS Warns: Obamacare Tax Must Be Paid with Tax Return

Discussion: irs.gov, National Republican …, Scared Monkeys and The Gateway Pundit

Guy Benson / Townhall.com:

New Sebelius Lie: Seven Million Obamacare Enrollments Was Never Our Goal — The woman lies routinely — see here, here, and here — but this one's a real whopper: — February 2014: “Seven million was not the administration['s enrollment goal].” — September 2013: “Success looks …

Discussion: The PJ Tatler and National Republican …

Andrew Kaczynski / BuzzFeed:
Kathleen Sebelius Has Changed Her Mind About What Obamacare “Success” Is

Discussion: The Switch, Americans for Tax Reform …, Hot Air, The Daily Caller and Ed Driscoll

Ed Rogers / PostPartisan:

The Insiders: Another day, another Obamacare disaster — In a colossal “oh by the way” revelation, last Friday afternoon the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), a federal agency under the United States Department of Health and Human Services (that would be the executive branch run …

Discussion: Betsy's Page, The Week, VodkaPundit, Speaker.gov, Hot Air and The Daily Caller

Philip Rucker / The Fix:

What Mitch McConnell and a twice-heated biscuit have in common — Shortly after wrapping up her event with former President Bill Clinton, Kentucky Senate Democratic candidate Alison Lundergan Grimes sat down with me in Louisville to talk about why she thinks she can beat Sen …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo

Katie Glueck / Politico:
Bill Clinton helps Alison Lundergan Grimes raise $700K

Discussion: New York Times and Taylor Marsh

Sy Mukherjee / ThinkProgress:

Rand Paul Blocks Surgeon General Nominee For Saying Gun Violence Is A Public Health Threat — On Wednesday — two years to the day after George Zimmerman shot and killed Trayvon Martin — Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) placed a hold on President Barack Obama's nominee for Surgeon General, Dr. Vivek Murthy …

Discussion: Daily Kos

Catherine Thompson / Talking Points Memo:

Fox Hosts Wonder If Anti-Gay Bill Is ‘Overreaction’ By Religious Right (VIDEO) — The rising tide of conservatives doubting the viability of Arizona's SB 1062 measure, which would allow businesses to discriminate against LGBT individuals on the basis of “religious freedom,” has now swept through Fox News.

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Mediaite and Associated Press

kff.org:

Kaiser Health Tracking Poll: February 2014 — Liz Hamel, Jamie Firth and Mollyann Brodie … Overall, more prefer expensive broad-network plans over cheaper narrow-network plans, but potential ACA exchange customers lean in the opposite direction — There has been a lot of discussion …

Discussion: The Hill, The Fix, The Plum Line and Jammie Wearing Fools

Bernie Becker / The Hill:

Issa, House GOP to recall Lois Lerner — House Oversight Chairman Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) is hauling Lois Lerner back to Congress. — Issa told Lerner's attorney in a Tuesday letter that he expected the retired IRS official to appear before his committee on March 5.

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit, Politico and Patterico's Pontifications

Brooks Hays / UPI:

Radioactive water from Japan's Fukushima power plant reaches Canada — Fukushima water has arrived off Canada, but scientists say there's no reason to panic. — Researchers say radioactive cesium isotopes from Japan's severely damaged Fukushima nuclear power plant have made their way to the waters just off the coast of Canada.

Discussion: Bloomberg, Shakesville and Firedoglake

Betsy Rothstein / The Daily Caller:

Tommy Christopher out at Mediaite — Mediaite and its illustrious White House Correspondent Tommy Christopher have parted ways, The Mirror has learned. And it wasn't voluntary. We're told Christopher was fired. Details are still forthcoming. — In the past year there were murmurings …

Discussion: Patterico's Pontifications and Politico

Bridget Williams / Mediaite: Hello Mediaite Changes! And Farewell to Tommy Christopher

Maeve Reston / Los Angeles Times:

Hawaii health marketplace off to an especially rough start — Four months in, Hawaii Health Connector has allocated $120 million but signed up only about 4,300 people — fewer than any other state. Some lawmakers want to put the nonprofit under state control.

Discussion: National Review, Hot Air and ABC News