memeorandum: BOOM: The Historic Proof Obamacare Foes Are Dead Wrong On Subsidies (Dylan Scott/Talking Points Memo)

8:45 PM ET, August 1, 2014

Top Items:

Obama: ‘We Tortured Some Folks’ — President Obama eschewed the opaque language of his predecessor on Friday and acknowledged that the United States engaged in “torture” after 9/11. — Obama made the comment while discussing CIA Director John Brennan, who was forced to apologize to members …

Discussion: Mashable and Booman Tribune

Dan Froomkin / The Intercept:

It's About the Lying — John Brennan at the Council on Foreign Relations on March 11, 2014. Photo credit: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images — I don't want to understate how seriously wrong it is that the CIA searched Senate computers. Our constitutional order is seriously out of whack …

Discussion: Taylor Marsh, The Atlantic Online, The Dish, New York Times, Booman Tribune, Informed Comment, Discourse.net, Daily Kos, The Huffington Post and Washington Post

Josh Gerstein / Politico:

Obama: ‘We tortured some folks’ — President Barack Obama on Friday defended CIA Director John Brennan and acknowledged the agency tortured prisoners after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. — “I have full confidence in John Brennan,” Obama said at a White House news conference.

Discussion: The Hill

Julian Hattem / The Hill:
Key Republican defends CIA head

Discussion: Politico, Washington Examiner, Techdirt and Hot Air

Lucy McCalmont / Politico:

Krauthammer: GOP ‘ridiculous’ — Charles Krauthammer is slamming the GOP for what he called a “ridiculous” contradiction after tabling legislation to tackle the border crisis within 24 hours after moving forward with a lawsuit against the president. — “It is ridiculous to sue the president …

Discussion: Washington Post, Speaker.gov, Daily Kos and Outside the Beltway

Robert Costa / Washington Post:
Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas is a rising Republican power in House, as well as a whip

Discussion: Latino Decisions, Politico, The Daily Caller, Daily Kos, American Prospect, Shakesville, Prairie Weather, Taylor Marsh, Washington Monthly, BillMoyers.com and New York Times

Sahil Kapur / Talking Points Memo: House GOP's New Plan: Rebuke Obama With Border Bill Then Leave Town

Esther Yu-Hsi Lee / ThinkProgress:
Dozens Of Democrats Line Up On House Floor To Stand Up For Children At The Border

Discussion: Hullabaloo

Pete Kasperowicz / TheBlaze.com:
Dem says GOP wants to send immigrant children ‘to their death’

Discussion: Hot Air and Mediaite

Washington Post:
Obama vows to ‘act alone’ to address border issue

Discussion: The Hill, Capitol Report, Bloomberg and Hot Air

Jeffrey Goldberg / The Atlantic Online:

The Most Dangerous Moment in Gaza — It is too early to say anything definitive about the Hamas decision to apparently break the ceasefire and attack an Israeli position, except that if it is true, as reports indicate, that Hamas militants came through a tunnel and carried underground …

Discussion: Business Insider, Mondoweiss and Ynetnews

New York Times:
Gaza Cease-Fire Collapses; Israeli Soldier Is Captured

Discussion: TalkLeft, Mondoweiss, American Spectator, The Diplomat, Business Insider, Gawker, The Huffington Post, rubber hose, National Review, The Dish and Hot Air, more at Mediagazer »

Yaakov Lappin / Jerusalem Post:
IDF soldier feared kidnapped

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit, Algemeiner.com, NO QUARTER USA NET, Israel Matzav, Elder Of Ziyon and The PJ Tatler

CNN:
Gaza cease-fire unravels; Israeli soldier possibly kidnapped

Discussion: Washington Post, Politico, Talking Points Memo, Hot Air, RedState, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Outside the Beltway, Power Line, The Times of Israel, National Review and New York Times

Dylan Scott / Talking Points Memo:

BOOM: The Historic Proof Obamacare Foes Are Dead Wrong On Subsidies — The story of whether Congress ever intended to limit Obamacare subsidies to state-based exchanges begins and ends with the Congressional Budget Office. And what it reveals about the latest legal threat …

Discussion: Daily Kos, Balkinization, Washington Monthly, The Reality-Based Community, RedState and Lawyers, Guns & Money

kff.org:

Kaiser Health Tracking Poll: July 2014 — Liz Hamel and Jamie Firth and Mollyann Brodie … Unfavorable Views Of ACA Increase In July — After remaining steady for several months, the share of the public expressing an unfavorable view of the health care law rose to 53 percent in July …

Discussion: Fox News, Washington Post, Taegan Goddard's Wonk Wire, Bloomberg View, Outside the Beltway, Wall Street Journal, Hit & Run, Liberal Values, Daily Signal, The Dish, BuzzFeed and Weekly Standard

Jason Millman / Washington Post:
Suddenly, Obamacare is more unpopular than ever

Discussion: The PJ Tatler and The Lonely Conservative

Deroy Murdock / National Review:
Off the Radar, Obamacare Festers Away

Discussion: VodkaPundit and American Thinker

Plain Dealer:

Call about suspicious car led Westlake police to Cuyahoga County Executive Ed FitzGerald and an unidentified woman in 2012, records show — The Mayo Society of Greater Cleveland identifies the woman in this photo as Joanne Grehan, who was found by Westlake Police in a parked car …

Discussion: Business Insider, Washington Post and Taegan Goddard's …

James Fallows / The Atlantic Online:

On David Frum, The New York Times, and the Non-Faked ‘Fake’ Gaza Photos — What they reveal about the three words that are journalists' only source of self-respect — 1. A colleague at The Atlantic made a major journalistic error this week. As he has himself admitted, in the first half of a post on our site.

Discussion: Hullabaloo, Bloomberg View and Gawker, more at Mediagazer »

Paul Krugman / New York Times:

Knowledge Isn't Power — One of the best insults I've ever read came from Ezra Klein, who now is editor in chief of Vox.com. In 2007, he described Dick Armey, the former House majority leader, as “a stupid person's idea of what a thoughtful person sounds like.”

Discussion: The PJ Tatler

John Solomon / Washington Times:

Ben Carson takes major step toward presidential campaign — Former neurosurgeon launches PAC, names national chairman — Ben Carson, the former neurosurgeon turned conservative sensation, is taking a major step toward a 2016 presidential bid by forming a political action committee …

Discussion: Joe. My. God., CNN, Mediaite and Washington Post

Roll Call:

GOP Leaders Pitch Revised Border Package, Hope to Vote Today (Updated) — House Republicans emerged from a closed-door meeting Friday morning with a revised plan to address the child migrant border crisis — one leaders hope to pass later today. — The latest plan will still require …

Discussion: New York Times, Right Wing Watch, Daily Kos and Hullabaloo

Joan Biskupic / Reuters:

U.S. Justice Ginsburg hits back at liberals who want her to retire — WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg has a message for liberals who have been saying the 81-year-old should step down while Democratic President Barack Obama is in office so he can appoint her successor …

Discussion: Washington Post, National Review and Yahoo! News

Celeste Katz / NY Daily News:

Vice President Biden loves to skinny dip, says tell-all book — Naked from head to Joe? In ‘The First Family Detail,’ author Robert Kessler quotes unnamed Secret Service agents dishing about the private lives of Presidents and those they protect. — It's the Joe Biden you didn't know — and might not want to see.

Discussion: Hot Air, TheBlaze.com, NewsBusters, The Daily Banter, Politico, Fox News, Mediaite, The Lonely Conservative and CBS DC

Nicole Lafond / Talking Points Memo:

Candidate For Governor Films Video Pretending To Be Homeless For A Week — California Republican gubernatorial candidate Neel Kashkari said Thursday he spent a week pretending to be homeless and he made a video to prove it. — The video featured Kashkari traveling to Fresno, Calif. …

Discussion: Daily Kos, Mediaite, The Daily Banter, Wall Street Journal, Businessweek and New York Times

Dr Margaret Chan / who.int:

WHO Director-General assesses the Ebola outbreak with three West African presidents — Director-General of the World Health Organization — Excellencies, honourable ministers, members of the press, ladies and gentlemen, — West Africa is facing its first outbreak of Ebola virus disease.

Discussion: Firedoglake, The Verge, New York Times, Boing Boing and USA Today