memeorandum: Senator Ted Cruz listens to Iowa farmers, supports Renewable Fuel Standard through 2022 (America's Renewable Future)

1:35 AM ET, January 7, 2016

Top Items:

Trump Maintains Lead in NH; Dem Race Close — PPP's newest New Hampshire poll finds Donald Trump leading in the state by 14 points. Trump's position in the state has been steady over the last three months- we found him at 28% in mid-October, 27% in early December, and we find him at 29% …

Discussion: Daily Kos, Hot Air, Daily Mail, The Last Refuge and NBC News

CBS News:

John McCain: Ted Cruz's citizenship is “worth looking into” — PHOENIX — Sen. John McCain, R-Arizona, who faced questions as the 2008 GOP presidential nominee about his birth abroad, is now posing the same question to Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas. — In an interview Wednesday …

Discussion: MichelleMalkin.com, The Resurgent, PoliticusUSA, Trail Blazers Blog and Washington Post

Daniel Strauss / Politico:

Trump fumes as Cruz steals wall mojo — In recent days, Donald Trump has been airing a new complaint: Ted Cruz is getting in on his wall game. — “People are picking up all of my ideas, including Ted, who started talking about building a wall two days ago,” Trump told POLITICO on Tuesday.

Discussion: ABC News, CNN, The Hill, The Texas Tribune, BuzzFeed, Hot Air, Bloomberg Business, Daily Mail, Washington Post and TheBlaze.com

Ben Schreckinger / Politico:
Donald Trump's low-energy campaign

Discussion: The Week and Political Wire

Alex Griswold / Mediaite:
Donald Trump Has Now Flip-Flopped Twice on Ted Cruz's Eligibility

Discussion: alan.com

Allegra Kirkland / Talking Points Memo:
Ann Coulter Now Suggests Ted Cruz Isn't A ‘Natural Born Citizen’

Discussion: National Review, Hot Air, New York Times, Joe.My.God., RedState, Washington Post, Daily Kos, Vox, NBC News, Outside the Beltway and Politico

St. John Barned-Smith / Houston Chronicle:

Grand jury indicts DPS trooper who arrested Sandra Bland — A Waller County grand jury has indicted Texas Department of Public Safety Trooper Brian Encinia - the trooper who arrested Sandra Bland - on perjury charges. — Darrell Jordan, a special prosecutor, said the charge is a Class A misdemeanor …

Discussion: Los Angeles Times, Raw Story, Mediaite, Hit & Run, Mashable, ThinkProgress and Daily Kos

David Montgomery / New York Times:

Texas Trooper Who Arrested Sandra Bland Is Indicted on Perjury Charge — HEMPSTEAD, Tex. — The state trooper who arrested Sandra Bland, the Chicago-area woman who three days later was found hanged in her cell at the Waller County jail, was indicted on a perjury charge, a special prosecutor said here Wednesday.

Discussion: NPR, Daily Kos and all

New York Times:

White House Disputes North Korea's Claim of Hydrogen Bomb Test — SEOUL, South Korea — The White House said Wednesday that initial data from its monitoring stations in Asia were “not consistent” with North Korea's claim that the nuclear test it carried out earlier in the day was its first test …

Discussion: Washington Post, Slate, NK News, Tech Insider, Business Insider, Bloomberg View, Mashable, Mother Jones, Slantpoint, defensetech.org, Maxim and Outside the Beltway

Associated Press:
GOP Sen. Cruz Says ‘Bad Actors’ Will Get Worse Under Obama

Discussion: ABC News, abc13.com and Bloomberg.com

CNBC:
North Korea says it has the ‘H-bomb of justice’ after nuclear test

Discussion: Washington Post, The Daily Caller, Business Insider, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion and Clayton Cramer

Margaret Talev / Bloomberg Business:
Republicans Say North Korea Bomb Test Claims are Hillary Clinton's Fault

Discussion: The Hill, Politico, ABC News and Daily Kos

Euan McKirdy / CNN:
North Korea says it successfully conducts hydrogen bomb test

Discussion: Vox, NK News, Wall Street Journal, Mediaite, 89 WLS | WLS-AM, Speaker.gov, Associated Press, The Diplomat, FOX2now.com, Los Angeles Times, Washington Free Beacon, New Atlanticist, Business Insider, Fox 59, Hit & Run, The Gateway Pundit, Instapundit and The Last Tradition

Peter Sullivan / The Hill:

House passes ObamaCare repeal, sending measure to president — The House on Wednesday passed legislation that would repeal much of ObamaCare and defund Planned Parenthood for one year, sending the measure to President Obama's desk. — The bill passed by a vote of 240 to 181.

Discussion: Mother Jones and Yahoo

Mike DeBonis / Washington Post:
Congress sends health care repeal to Obama, setting up certain veto

Discussion: CNBC, Power Line, Real Clear Politics and Lawyers, Guns & Money

CNN:
House sends Obamacare repeal bill to White House

Discussion: Washington Post and The Week

Benjamin Siegel / ABC News:
Republicans Start 2016 by Trying to Repeal Obamacare Again

Discussion: Politico and Associated Press

Mike Cason / al.com:

Roy Moore says probate judges have duty to enforce same-sex marriage ban — Chief Justice Roy Moore issued an order today saying that a ruling issued last March by the Alabama Supreme Court remains in effect and that probate judges “have a ministerial duty not to issue any marriage license contrary” …

Discussion: WIAT-TV, The Free Thought Project, Towleroad, Outside the Beltway, Hot Air and Human Rights Campaign

WKRG-TV:
Roy Moore: Alabama Same-Sex Marriage Ban in ‘Full Effect’

Discussion: Towleroad

WDRB 41 Louisville News:

Louisville woman accused of assaulting, robbing disabled man after he jokes that he doesn't believe in God — LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) — A woman was arrested at the Hall of Justice in downtown Louisville Tuesday afternoon, months after police say she assaulted and robbed a man after he joked that he did not believe in God.

Bethania Palma Markus / Raw Story:
Woman beats disabled man with his own cane for saying he doesn't believe in God: police

Discussion: LiberalAmerica.org

Jon Nicosia / Mediaite:

Gun Store Owner Who Gave Trump a Rifle Has Armed Standoff with CNN Hosts — If you've ever wondered what it would look like if a First Order stormtrooper did a cable news hit while his armor was at the dry cleaners, today is your lucky day. Mark Limoges, the New Hampshire gun owner who gifted …

M.G. Oprea / The Federalist:

How You Pronounce ‘Muslim’ Says A Lot About Your Politics — You may have noticed something different in the way some people, including various presidential candidates, talk about Islam depending on whether they are Republicans or Democrats. No, I'm not referring to the Democrats' refusal to say …

Discussion: alicublog and Instapundit

Dan Good / New York Daily News:

Ammon Bundy compares Oregon militia's fight to the heroism of Rosa Parks: ‘We are doing the same thing as Rosa Parks did’ — This might be the most provocative thing he's done. — Ammon Bundy, who's leading the armed anti-government group occupying a remote national wildlife preserve in Oregon …

Discussion: Gizmodo, Rolling Out, Washington Post, New Republic, ThinkProgress, USA Today, TIME, Talking Points Memo, theGrio and Salon

Cristina Marcos / The Hill:
GOP lawmaker: Oregon armed protests are ‘civil disobedience’

Discussion: Talking Points Memo and Hot Air

Alex Kuczynski / Harper's BAZAAR:

Melania Trump's American Dream — Donald Trump's first lady talks candidly about her husband's controversial presidential bid, the secrets to their happy marriage, and why she's stayed out of the spotlight—until now. — By Alex Kuczynski and Photographs by Douglas Friedman

Discussion: Daily Mail, NBC News, The Daily Caller and The Week

Sam Wang / Princeton Election Consortium:

The predictive value of GOP Presidential polls — The New Year is not a bad time for a fresh start. So please let me acknowledge that back in July, I was too pessimistic about Donald Trump's chances. Like Harry Enten, I was led astray by his high unfavorables.

Discussion: Business Insider, The Week and FiveThirtyEight

Ana Marie Cox / New York Times:

Debbie Wasserman Schultz Thinks Young Women Are Complacent — After the Bernie Sanders campaign improperly accessed voter data, the Democratic National Committee was swift with its punishment, suspending his campaign from having access to the database. How did you come up with that sanction?

Discussion: The Daily Caller, LifeNews.com, Politico, Balloon Juice, Mother Jones and FishbowlDC

Katie Pavlich / Townhall.com:

Citizen Asks ATF: Do I Need a Federal Firearms License to Sell Thousands of Guns to Mexican Cartels? — The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms has posted a link to their Facebook page clarifying requirements for people selling guns to obtain a Federal Firearms License.

Jesse Byrnes / The Hill:

Rand Paul pokes Rubio over his ‘cute new boots’ — GOP presidential hopeful Sen. Marco Rubio (Fla.) may have gotten more than he bargained for after donning a pair of stylish, high-heeled black leather boots on the campaign trail. — Sen. Rand Paul (Ky.) stopped by co-host Whoopi Goldberg's …

Discussion: Politico, New York Times, The Week, Bloomberg.com, Vanity Fair, Yahoo Politics and RedState

Eliza Collins / Politico:

Libertarian Gary Johnson launches presidential bid, lowers expectations — Former New Mexico Gov. Gary Johnson has joined the crowded 2016 presidential race. But he's not making any promises about his ability to defeat the likes of Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump.

Discussion: Bloomberg Business, Hit & Run, The Week and Mediaite

Gina Harkins / Marine Corps Times:

Marine Corps boot camp, job titles to be gender neutral by April — The Marine Corps has been ordered to come up with a plan to make its enlisted entry-level training coed, and to make its job titles more gender-neutral following the recent move to open all military combat roles to women.

Discussion: Washington Free Beacon, Mashable and The Daily Caller

Lindsey Ellefson / Mediaite:

Trump Supporters Back Up ‘Birther’ Claims, Accuse Obama of Being Part of ‘New World Order’ — Here's a treasure from our friends at The Young Turks, just in time for the end of your work day: Jordan Chariton interviewed a few supporters of GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump last night …

America's Renewable Future:

Senator Ted Cruz listens to Iowa farmers, supports Renewable Fuel Standard through 2022 — SIOUX CENTER—During a bus tour stop in Sioux Center, Iowa last night, Senator Ted Cruz expressed support for the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) through 2022. — Responding to a question …

Discussion: Patterico's Pontifications, Hot Air, Washington Examiner, Des Moines Register, RedState and The Last Refuge