memeorandum: Think Trump's 45 Percent Tariffs Are Bad? Try Obama's 10,000 Percent Tariffs (Truthout Stories)

6:25 PM ET, March 29, 2016

Top Items:

Trump aide charged with misdemeanor battery vs. ex-Breitbart reporter — Corey Lewandowski, Donald Trump campaign manager, was charged this morning with misdemeanor battery after allegations of forcefully grabbing a reporter at a Jupiter news conference, town police confirmed this morning.

Rebecca Savransky / The Hill:

Trump threatens to press charges against reporter — Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump — on Tuesday threatened to press charges against former Breitbart reporter Michelle Fields, claiming she grabbed him after a press conference. — “Victory press conference was over.

Discussion: ThinkProgress, RedState, Mike Cernovich Presents …, Mediaite, Little Green Footballs and Political Wire

Ben Brody / Bloomberg Business:

Trump Fiercely Defends Campaign Manager Charged With Battery — Corey Lewandowski is innocent, the billionaire says: “Look at tapes-nothing there!” — Donald Trump's campaign manager was charged with misdemeanor battery against a journalist Tuesday, an accusation the Republican presidential front-runner slammed as meritless.

Discussion: Politico, Yahoo Politics, Washington Post, New York Magazine, NY State of Politics, Talking Points Memo and WKBN-TV

Katherine Krueger / Talking Points Memo:
Trump Spox: Campaign Manager Will Stay On Even If Convicted Of Battery

Discussion: Death and Taxes and CBS Philly

New York Times:
Corey Lewandowski, Donald Trump's Campaign Manager, Is Charged With Battery

Caleb Howe / RedState:
Rush Limbaugh Suggests Corey Lewandowski Arrest Nothing But A Political Attack

Discussion: Mediaite

Christina Wilkie / The Huffington Post:
Trump Campaign Manager Charged With Battery Of Reporter He Called ‘Delusional’

Discussion: Washington Post, USA Today and Talking Points Memo

Emily Atkin / ThinkProgress:

Republican Senator: I'm ‘Perplexed’ At Mitch McConnell's Decision To Block Merrick Garland — Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) says Republican Senate Leader Mitch McConnell is “not real happy” with her. — That's because Collins is part of a growing group of Republican Senators who have decided …

Discussion: NBC News, Talking Points Memo, Washington Post, Christian Science Monitor and Independent Journal …

Ian Millhiser / ThinkProgress:

How To Make Sense Of The Baffling Order The Supreme Court Just Handed Down On Birth Control — The biggest birth control case to reach the Supreme Court in 40 years just got a whole lot more confusing. — On Tuesday, the Supreme Court handed down an unusual order seeking more briefing in Zubik v. Burwell …

Discussion: Bloomberg Business, Mother Jones, Washington Post, USA Today and SCOTUSblog

Libby Nelson / Vox:

Public sector unions just avoided a huge defeat at the Supreme Court — If Antonin Scalia were alive, things could have turned out very differently. — A case that had the potential to weaken public sector unions across the United States ended with a somewhat unexpected victory for unions on Tuesday …

Discussion: Bloomberg Business, SCOTUSblog, The Huffington Post and Balloon Juice

Robert Barnes / Washington Post:

Supreme Court deadlocks over public employee union case; Calif. teachers must pay dues … The Supreme Court on Tuesday said it was unable to resolve a major challenge to organized labor, and the result was a defeat for a group of California teachers who claim their free speech rights …

Discussion: The Hill, Talking Points Memo, The Atlantic, National Review and Politico

Adam Liptak / New York Times:
Victory for Unions as Supreme Court, Scalia Gone, Ties 4-4

Discussion: Wall Street Journal, Slate, National Review, CitiesSpeak, BuzzFeed, Forbes, Outside the Beltway, The Daily Caller, Business Insider, The Daily Signal, Consumerist, Lawyers, Guns & Money and ON LABOR

Burgess Everett / Politico:
Kirk rips ‘closed-minded’ GOP on Garland nomination

Discussion: ABC News, Chicago Sun Times, Chicago Tribune, Mediaite and ACS Blog

Los Angeles Times:
Supreme Court's tie vote upholds public employee fees for unions

Discussion: Reuters, Investor's Business Daily, SCOTUSblog, Mediaite, The Week and Shakesville

Ian Millhiser / ThinkProgress:
BREAKING: The Biggest Legal Attack On Unions In Decades Is Dead

Discussion: USA Today, Associated Press, CNN, Forbes, New York Magazine, Guardian, Reuters, Bloomberg View, NBC News, Mother Jones and The Bob and Chez Show

Nina Totenberg / NPR:
Supreme Court Deadlocks On Challenge To Union Fees

Discussion: Joanne Jacobs

Governor Andrew M. Cuomo:

Governor Cuomo Bans Non-Essential State Travel to North Carolina — Governor Andrew M. Cuomo today signed an executive order banning all non-essential state travel to North Carolina. The order requires all New York State agencies, departments, boards and commissions to immediately review …

Discussion: BostonGlobe.com, Yahoo Politics, NC Family Policy Council, Daily Wire, Mediaite, The Bob and Chez Show, The Daily Caller, NPR, Washington Free Beacon, Fox News Insider and The New Civil Rights Movement

Colin Campbell / The Charlotte Observer:
McCrory blames ‘inaccurate’ news stories for backlash against NC LGBT law

Discussion: The Bob and Chez Show, Talking Points Memo, Consumerist, Human Rights Campaign, High Point Market, Washington Post and WRAL-TV

Anne Blythe / Raleigh News & Observer:
NC transgender law draws lawsuit; Gov. Pat McCrory goes on offense

Discussion: RedState, TheBlaze.com, ThinkProgress, Washington Blade, governor.nc.gov, Outsports and The Daily Signal

myfox8.com:
North Carolina Attorney General Roy Cooper won't defend transgender law in court

Discussion: Daily Kos, Towleroad, Gothamist, Fusion, Advocate, New York Magazine, NBC News and Guardian

Gary Robertson / Associated Press:
North Carolina Attorney General Won't Defend Anti-Gay Law In Court

Discussion: Daily Kos

Matt Wilstein / The Daily Beast:

Susan Sarandon: Trump Might Be Better for America Than Hillary Clinton — If Bernie Sanders fails to get the Democratic nomination, Susan Sarandon isn't sure she'll vote for Hillary Clinton. She even said Monday that Trump could be the better option. — One of the biggest question marks …

Discussion: Washington Post, Mother Jones, Shakesville, Slate, TalkLeft, Politico, No More Mister Nice Blog, AMERICAblog NewsAMERICAblog …, Sky Dancing, Washington Monthly, MSNBC, Taylor Marsh, Lawyers, Guns & Money, Washington Times and Washington Free Beacon

Amanda Marcotte / Salon:

The strange silence about Hillarymania: Clinton fires up voters more than Bernie does, so why is no one talking about it? — More Clinton supporters are enthusiastic than those backing Sanders, but the media won't tell you that — Hillary Clinton suffers from an “enthusiasm gap.”

Discussion: Balloon Juice, Shadowproof, The Week, Politicus USA and Gallup

Ben Jacobs / Guardian:

Donald Trump berates Scott Walker for not raising taxes in Wisconsin — After the governor's endorsement of Ted Cruz the Republican frontrunner said Walker had failed to tackle a $2.2bn deficit and ‘the schools were going begging’ — Donald Trump attacked Wisconsin governor Scott Walker …

Discussion: Townhall.com, ThinkProgress, CNN, JSOnline, American Spectator, Independent Journal …, The Right Scoop and Washington Post

Michael Gerson / Washington Post:
Rush Limbaugh's blessing of Trump is killing conservatism

Discussion: RedState, No More Mister Nice Blog, Mediaite and Althouse

Ben Schreckinger / Politico:
Trump brings GOP civil war to Paul Ryan's backyard

Discussion: ABC News and Yahoo Politics

Nick Corasaniti / New York Times: Donald Trump vs. Ted Cruz Creates a Headache for Talk Radio Hosts

David Mitchell / FOX31 Denver:

Widower gets charged $853 ‘rebooking’ fee when wife dies before cruise … LOVELAND, Colo. — A Loveland man had just lost his wife only to be dealt another painful blow. — He received an $850 charge from Viking River Cruises because his late wife wasn't going on the prepaid trip.

Discussion: Consumerist and WREG-TV

Cnycentral / WRGB:

Nurse who snapped photo of patient's penis surrenders license — FULTON, N.Y. — A Fulton nurse convicted of taking a photo of an unconscious patient's penis with her iPhone last year surrendered her license, according to the New York State Education Department.

Discussion: CBS Chicago, The Daily Caller, FOX31 Denver, FOX2now.com, WREG-TV, New York's PIX11, KTLA, fox8.com and CBS New York

David A. Fahrenthold / Washington Post:

Nev. candidate says Reid urged him to quit, because ‘a Muslim cannot win this race.’ … A Muslim Democrat running for a U.S. House seat in Nevada says that — in a private meeting last year — Senate Minority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.) had encouraged him to end his campaign by saying, “a Muslim cannot win this race.”

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, RedState, Washington Free Beacon, The Week and Independent Journal …

Paul Mirengoff / Power Line:
Harry Reid accused of telling candidate to stand down because “a Muslim can't win”

Discussion: Ralston Reports

Andrea Cavallier / New York's PIX11:

New Jersey hospital emergency room becomes first in U.S. to end use of opioid painkillers — PATERSON, N.J. — St. Joseph's Regional Medical Center announced it has become the first hospital in the country to implement a program that will manage patients' pain in the emergency room without the use of opioid painkillers.

Discussion: Fox 59, WREG-TV and CBS New York

Juliet Perry / CNN:

Real ‘Siberian unicorn’ remains found — (CNN)New research has revealed the ‘Siberian unicorn’ roamed the planet far more recently than we originally thought. — The bad news is it looked nothing like the mythical creatures portrayed in so many fairy tales. — Real unicorns — not so pretty.

Discussion: WGN-TV and The Week

Liam Stack / New York Times:

James Noble, Absent-Minded Governor on ‘Benson,’ Dies at 94 — James Noble, the actor best known for his role as the absent-minded governor on the hit 1980s sitcom “Benson,” died on Monday at Norwalk Hospital in Connecticut. He was 94. — His death was confirmed by Douglas Moser …

Discussion: AOL and Deadline

Heather Holeman / KFOR-TV:

Man invents gun that looks exactly like a cell phone — Good idea or bad? — Kirk Kjellberg from Minnesota says he came up with the “Ideal Conceal” pocket gun, designed to look identical to a smartphone, after a little boy pointed out Kjellberg's own larger, not-so-concealed gun at a restaurant.

Discussion: FOX6Now.com

Cameron Easley / Morning Consult:

Half of Voters Back Muslim Travel Ban, Patrols of Muslim Neighborhoods — Have the terrorists won? The main motif to emerge from a new Morning Consult survey taken after the attacks in Brussels last week is that the threat of terrorism may diminish how much people worry about privacy and civil rights.