memeorandum: Hard to kill the ACA (A.B. Stoddard/The Hill)

9:35 AM ET, February 5, 2015

Top Items:

Travis J. Tritten / Stars & Stripes:

NBC's Brian Williams recants Iraq story after soldiers protest — 'I spent much of the weekend thinking I'd gone crazy. I feel terrible about making this mistake' — Stars and Stripes — WASHINGTON — NBC Nightly News anchor Brian Williams admitted Wednesday he was not aboard …

John Hinderaker / Power Line:

Do Brian Williams's Lies Matter? [Updated] — If you haven't already heard about it-which seems unlikely-tonight's big news story is the downfall of NBC's Brian Williams. I am not sure I have ever seen Twitter more riled up over anything. The story, briefly, is this: for twelve years …

Discussion: Althouse

Lloyd Grove / The Daily Beast:
Brian Williams Lies to Cast Himself As an Iraq War Badass

Discussion: Talking Points Memo and The Daily Caller, more at Mediagazer »

Politico:
Brian Williams apologizes for false Iraq story

Discussion: TVNewser, Townhall.com, Twitchy, Hit & Run, The Daily Caller, Talking Points Memo, Raw Story and Business Insider

By Thr / Hollywood Reporter:
Brian Williams Admits He Never Came Under Fire in Iraq: “I Apologize” (Video)

Discussion: MichelleMalkin.com and The Powers That Be

Daniel Halper / Weekly Standard:
Brian Williams Admits: I Lied About Being Aboard Helicopter Shot Down By RPG in Iraq

Discussion: The Daily Caller, Mediaite and Mashable

A.B. Stoddard / The Hill:

Hard to kill the ACA — For Republicans, it sure was fun while their hopes lasted, but many have concluded the Supreme Court might not be able to kill off the Affordable Care Act after all. — When the high court rules this spring in King v. Burwell, even a decision that would invalidate subsidies …

Discussion: Prairie Weather

Linda Greenhouse / New York Times:

Overturning Obamacare Would Change the Nature of the Supreme Court — In the first Affordable Care Act case three years ago, the Supreme Court had to decide whether Congress had the power, under the Commerce Clause or some other source of authority, to require individuals to buy health insurance.

Stephanie Armour / Wall Street Journal:
Affordable Care Act Enrollment Near 10 Million

Discussion: Daily Kos

Brent Budowsky / The Hill:

An Obama resurgence? — There are signs that President Obama may be achieving a post-midterm resurgence as the Democratic doldrums of 2014 recede, the new Republican Congress does not inspire confidence in the GOP as a credible governing party, the American economy continues a steady recovery …

Paul Waldman / Washington Post:
Is it too early to call the new GOP Congress a failure?

Discussion: The Mahablog and Washington Monthly

Oregonian:

John Kitzhaber must resign: Editorial — The Oregonian Editorial Board By The Oregonian Editorial Board — “I'm not going to consider resigning,” said Gov. John Kitzhaber at a disastrous press conference held Friday following revelations about the apparently borderless world of public policy …

Discussion: Power Line and Weekly Standard

Alexandra Jaffe / CNN:

Past Bush immigration remarks shock conservatives — Washington (CNN)During a “Family Reunion” conference hosted by the Hispanic Leadership Network in April 2013, Jeb Bush spoke freely on the promise immigrants hold for America and his views on reform. — He said, during a discussion with Univision …

Discussion: Washington Times, Shark Tank, The Fiscal Times, Hot Air, BREITBART.COM, Hit & Run, Daily Kos, The Daily Caller, National Review and Washington Monthly

James Hohmann / Politico: Jeb Bush: I thought, a little, about NFL commissioner job

Ben Kamisar / The Hill:
Walker surges ahead in New Hampshire

Discussion: Washington Post, No More Mister Nice Blog, The Daily Caller and Political Wire

Michael Grunwald / Politico:

The College Loan Bombshell Hidden in the Budget — Obama's new repayment program comes with a record $22 billion shortfall. — In obscure data tables buried deep in its 2016 budget proposal, the Obama administration revealed this week that its student loan program had a $21.8 billion shortfall last year …

Discussion: Hot Air

George F. Will / Washington Post:

Defining economic failure down — Two phrases that Daniel Patrick Moynihan put into America's political lexicon two decades ago are increasingly pertinent. They explain the insufficient dismay about recent economic numbers. — Moynihan said that when deviant behaviors — e.g. …

Discussion: Betsy's Page

Ivan Plis / The Daily Caller:

Jordan's King May Participate Personally In ISIS Raids — Jordan's King Abdullah ibn al-Hussein, who has trained as a pilot, may fly a bomber himself on Thursday in the country's retaliation against the ISIS. — Several Arabic-language newspapers reported late Wednesday that the monarch …

Discussion: Hot Air, RealClearPolitics Videos, American Power and Washington Examiner

Karen Herzog / JSOnline:

Walker proposes changing Wisconsin Idea — then backs away — Students walk down Bascom Hill Tuesday on the UW-Madison campus. Gov. Scott Walker's proposed budget calls for essentially removing the public service language from the University of Wisconsin System's mission to focus more on workforce development.

Discussion: The Nation, Washington Post, The Daily Caller, rubber hose and ECHIDNE OF THE SNAKES

Alice Ollstein / ThinkProgress:
Wisconsin Officials Call Scott Walker's Budget ‘Nonsensical’

Discussion: Daily Kos, JSOnline and Office of the Governor

Nitasha Tiku / The Verge:

Twitter CEO: ‘We suck at dealing with abuse’ — Dick Costolo says trolls are costing Twitter users — Twitter CEO Dick Costolo is taking personal responsibility for his platform's chronic problems with harassment and abuse, telling employees that he is embarrassed for the company's failures …

Discussion: ThinkProgress, VentureBeat, Mediaite, Little Green Footballs, Mashable and Daily Mail, more at Mediagazer »

Wall Street Journal:

Top White House Official to Leave for Emerging Hillary Clinton Campaign — Communications Director Jennifer Palmieri to Leave in March At The Earliest — Another top aide to President Barack Obama will be leaving the White House to join Hillary Clinton 's would-be presidential campaign …

Discussion: New York Times and Political Wire

Jordan Chariton / The Wrap:

Inside MSNBC's Impending Shakeup: Cancellations, Reboots and Chief Phil Griffin — Amid the cable news network's declining ratings, insiders tell TheWrap changes are coming soon and “everything is on the table” — When President Obama was reelected in 2012, MSNBC was “leaning forward” …

Discussion: Hot Air, The Reaction, BREITBART.COM, The Democratic Daily, Mediaite, The Daily Caller and The PJ Tatler

Kory Watkins / Facebook:

This morning I removed a video from my Facebook because I thought there were those that would intentionally misinterpret my words. In this video I referred to treason, and the fact that the penalty for treason was death. My intent was to show that our founders took treason very seriously.

Discussion: Talking Points Memo and Raw Story

Nicky Woolf / Guardian:

Fox News website embeds unedited Isis video showing brutal murder of Jordanian pilot — Fox News is only US media company to display extremely graphic 22-minute video showing Muadh al-Kasasbeh being set on fire and burning to death in a cage — Fox News has chosen to embed on its website …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Business Insider, Mediaite, CNNMoney, TVNewser, CNN, The PJ Tatler, Washington Post, RedState, PoliticusUSA, The Daily Caller, No More Mister Nice Blog, The Huffington Post, Raw Story and Reuters, more at Mediagazer »

Brendan James / Talking Points Memo:
Fox Exec Explains Decision To Post Video Of ISIL Hostage Being Burned Alive

Discussion: Fox News, The Moderate Voice, The Jawa Report and The Huffington Post

David Eggert / Associated Press:

Michigan To Recognize About 300 Gay Marriages Performed In 2014 — LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Michigan will recognize more than 300 same-sex marriages performed during a brief window when they were allowed last year, Gov. Rick Snyder announced Wednesday. — The Republican governor …

Discussion: Daily Kos