memeorandum: To Fill Budget Hole, Kansas G.O.P. Considers the Unthinkable: Raising Taxes (John Eligon/New York Times)

6:50 PM ET, May 30, 2015

Top Items:

Manu Raju / Politico:

Exclusive: Rand Paul: ‘I will force the expiration’ of the PATRIOT Act — In a statement to POLITICO, Paul warns that he would not consent to any efforts to pass either an extension of current law or the USA Freedom Act. — Rand Paul plans to force the expiration of the PATRIOT Act Sunday …

Discussion: ThinkProgress, The Talking Dog, Washington Post, Mediaite, Slantpoint, The Hill and New York Times

Michael Hirsh / Politico:

Can Martin O'Malley Take Flight? — The former Maryland governor wants to seize Elizabeth Warren's mantle and take on Hillary too. Problem is almost no one knows him. — Lead image by Greg Kahn for Politico Magazine. — BALTIMORE—Martin O'Malley grins gamely when I ask him why there isn't yet a …

Discussion: Bloomberg Business, The Reaction, ABC News, The Moderate Voice and OnPolitics

Dustin Volz / National Journal:

Rand Paul Vows to Force Expiration of Patriot Act — “Tomorrow, I will force the expiration of the NSA illegal spy program.” — Sen. Rand Paul announced Saturday he intends to force the expiration of the Patriot Act's surveillance authorities this weekend by refusing to allow votes …

Discussion: New York Times, Outside the Beltway, Hit & Run and Viking Pundit

Jesse Singal / New York Magazine:

The Case of the Amazing Gay-Marriage Data: How a Graduate Student Reluctantly Uncovered a Huge Scientific Fraud — “What’s the book? There’s no book for this. What do we do? ’” — 7.5k — Shares — 6.4k — The exposure of one of the biggest scientific frauds …

Discussion: Washington Post and Pharyngula

Charlotte Alter / TIME:

Martin O'Malley Announces Presidential Run — “The presidency is not a crown to be passed back and forth by you between two royal families” — Two-term Maryland governor Martin O'Malley announced his presidential campaign Saturday with a swing at Hillary Clinton and Jeb Bush.

Discussion: Advocate

Robert McCartney / Washington Post:
Baltimore's blight puts O'Malley on defensive in bid for presidency

Discussion: Hinterland Gazette

Sahil Kapur / Bloomberg Business:
Martin O'Malley Announces Democratic Presidential Bid

Discussion: Yahoo Politics, Washington Post and Liberal Values

Rummana Hussain / Chicago:

Muslim chaplain from NU claims racist remarks on United flight — A Muslim chaplain from Northwestern University said a United Airlines flight attendant made derogatory comments to her after she requested an unopened can of Diet Coke on a flight from Chicago to Washington D.C.

Discussion: BARE NAKED ISLAM and Raw Story

Redditt Hudson / Vox:

I'm a black ex-cop, and this is the real truth about race and policing — On any given day, in any police department in the nation, 15 percent of officers will do the right thing no matter what is happening. Fifteen percent of officers will abuse their authority at every opportunity.

Discussion: The Reaction

John Eligon / New York Times:

To Fill Budget Hole, Kansas G.O.P. Considers the Unthinkable: Raising Taxes — TOPEKA, Kan. — With the state facing a $400 million budget hole for the coming fiscal year, the conservatives who dominate the Legislature here say they are agonizing over the likelihood of doing something …

Discussion: PoliticusUSA, ThinkProgress, Kansas City Star, Arkansas Blog, Arkansas Times and Associated Press

Emmakristina Sveen / The Daily Caller:

University Feminist Group Vandalizes Fraternity On The Eve Of Graduation Weekend — On the night of Thursday, May 21 as numerous alumni and families of soon-to-be graduates crowded the Wesleyan University campus, a student feminist group vandalized the house and lawn of Delta Kappa Epsilon …

Discussion: John Hawkins' Right Wing News and Instapundit

Kevin Cirilli / The Hill:

House Dem: Left has ‘hijacked’ party message — Rep. John Delaney (Md.), a centrist House Democrat, on Friday warned that voices on the left have “hijacked” his party's message. — “With Washington already broken, the last thing we need is a left-wing version of the tea party,” …

Discussion: The Reaction and Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion

Ana Marie Cox / The Daily Beast:

How ‘Public Servant’ Hastert Got His Riches — Former House Speaker Dennis Hastert was paying hush money to protect his reputation. The question, however, is what reputation? — Not-so-frequently Asked Questions About the Hastert Indictment — It's clear that the indictment …

Discussion: Liberaland, The Week, The Moderate Voice, NPR and Hinterland Gazette

Kim Barker / New York Times:

A Choice for Recovering Addicts: Relapse or Homelessness — After a lifetime of abusing drugs, Horace Bush decided at age 62 that getting clean had become a matter of life or death. So Mr. Bush, a homeless man who still tucked in his T-shirts and ironed his jeans, moved to a flophouse …

Gina Kolata / New York Times:

‘Devious Defecator’ Case Tests Genetics Law — Seven years ago, Congress prohibited employers and insurers from discriminating against people with genes that increase their risks for costly diseases, but the case that experts believe is the first to go to trial under the law involves something …

Discussion: Washington Post