memeorandum: Why labor loves robots (Matthew Karnitschnig/Politico)

2:50 PM ET, September 21, 2017

Top Items:

Behind the Senate GOP's high-stakes health-care gamble: Unrelenting criticism back home — (Michael Reynolds/European Pressphoto Agency/EFE/Rex/Shutterstock) — Senate Republicans have made a calculated decision: Better to fail again trying to repeal the Affordable Care Act then not to try at all.

Discussion: Daily Kos, Washington Monthly, Talking Points Memo, Shareblue and Des Moines Register

Haley Byrd / IJR:

Republicans Attempt to Buy Murkowski's Vote in New Draft of Health Care Bill — A Republican Senate aide told Independent Journal Review Thursday that Sens. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) and Bill Cassidy (R-La.) are attempting to buy Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski's support through new changes …

Discussion: Axios and Political Wire

Margot Sanger-Katz / New York Times:

The G.O.P. Bill Forces States to Build Health Systems From Scratch. That's Hard. — In 2003, health care policy makers in Massachusetts agreed that the state should build a system to expand coverage to its uninsured residents. — It took four years before Romneycare was fully up and running.

Discussion: Daily Kos and Balloon Juice

The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation:

State-by-State Estimates of Changes in Federal Spending on Health Care Under the Graham-Cassidy Bill — A new health care bill recently introduced by a number of senators led by Senators Lindsey Graham and Bill Cassidy would repeal major elements of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo and FiveThirtyEight

Marlow Stern / The Daily Beast:
Jimmy Kimmel Threatens ‘Fox & Friends’ Host Brian Kilmeade: 'I'll Pound You When I See You'

Discussion: Washington Post, Hullabaloo, New York Times and FiveThirtyEight

Dylan Scott / Vox:
Republicans aren't voting for Graham-Cassidy. They're just voting for Obamacare repeal.

Discussion: Washington Monthly, ThinkProgress, naked capitalism, New York Magazine, Business Insider, CNN, PolicyShop, The Week, The Atlantic, Talking Points Memo, NBC News, neo-neocon and NPR

Greg Sargent / Washington Post:
Cassidy-Graham could still blow up in the GOP's face. Here's how.

Discussion: Bloomberg, Daily Kos, Talking Points Memo, Axios, Politico, Los Angeles Times, CNN, ABC News, Weekly Standard, Politicus USA and KTLA

Dylan Scott / Vox:
Graham-Cassidy needs to pass this final test before it can come to a vote

Discussion: ABC News and Whatever Source Derived

Robert Pear / New York Times:
Insurers Come Out Swinging Against New Republican Health Care Bill

Discussion: Shareblue, Washington Post, Business Insider, NBC News, Common Dreams, IJR, baker, Mother Jones, ABC News, Raw Story, Axios, The Daily Caller and Political Wire

Rachael Bade / Politico:
The unlikely group who brought Obamacare repeal back to life

Discussion: ABC News, New York Times, Lawyers, Guns & Money, The Hill and Washington Examiner

Dean Obeidallah / CNN:
Kimmel more effective than Dems on healthcare

Discussion: Shareblue, The Federalist, Business Insider, The Week, Media Matters for America and thecut

Dan Boyd / Albuquerque Journal:
Gov. Martinez gives thumbs-down to latest GOP health care bill

Discussion: The Hill

Calvin Woodward / Associated Press:
Sen. Graham implores colleague to vote for GOP health bill

Discussion: Washington Free Beacon, Shakesville, The Week, The Daily Caller and Occupy Democrats

Peter Sullivan / The Hill:
GOP takes heavy fire over pre-existing conditions

Discussion: Washington Post, NBC News and The Federalist

Mike Allen / Axios:

Another potential Mueller honey pot: Spicer's notebooks — The Watergate resonance of the Bob Mueller probe rose this week with a CNN report that the special counsel has details of wiretaps of “former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort under secret court orders before and after the election.”

Catherine Thorbecke / Yahoo:

Sean Spicer defends brief WH tenure: I 'don't think' I lied to American people — Sean Spicer acknowledges that he's “made mistakes,” but says that for those who “want some blanket apology — that's not happening.” — “I made mistakes,” Spicer, who's been out at the White House for less than a month, told ABC News' Paula Faris.

Discussion: Mother Jones, Washington Post, Talking Points Memo, The Week, Axios, twitchy.com and Political Wire

Rebecca Morin / Politico:
Spicer: I have not ‘knowingly’ lied to America

Discussion: The Root, ABC News, Axios, Washington Post, The Daily Caller, Talking Points Memo, Business Insider, The Guardian and CNBC

Noor Al-Sibai / Raw Story:

Ex-CIA chief stuns Nicole Wallace: It's ‘absolutely’ possible Russia ‘dispatched Manafort to the Trump campaign’ — As headlines surrounding former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort, a former defense and intelligence official raised the possibility that Special Counsel Robert Mueller …

Discussion: Washington Monthly and Washington Post

Travis Gettys / Raw Story:
Manafort planning to leave US — as Mueller's team prepares to indict him in Russia probe

Discussion: New York Times, Talking Points Memo, Business Insider and Jezebel

Kara Zupkus / Washington Examiner:
Corey Lewandowski: If Paul Manafort, Roger Stone colluded to influence 2016 election …

Discussion: IJR, AOL, Talking Points Memo and Mediaite

CNN:

Senate candidate Roy Moore in 2005: ‘Homosexual conduct should be illegal’ — STORY HIGHLIGHTS — (CNN)Roy Moore, a Republican US Senate candidate in Alabama, said in a 2005 interview that he believes “homosexual conduct” should be illegal. — Moore, a hardline conservative Christian …

Discussion: Washington Post

Michael Scherer / Washington Post: Roy Moore disrupts Alabama Senate race — and prepares for new level of defiance in Washington

Geoffrey Skelley / Sabato's Crystal Ball:
Unsweet Home Alabama

Discussion: Financial Times and US News

New York Times:

Law Firm Faces Questions for Ukraine Work With Manafort — WASHINGTON — Five years ago, Paul Manafort arranged for a prominent New York-based law firm to draft a report that was used by allies of his client, Viktor Yanukovych, the Russia-aligned president of Ukraine, to justify the jailing of a political rival.

Discussion: Raw Story

Daily Oklahoman:

Neighbor of disabled man shot and killed by police says family will hire attorney — A man who witnessed a police officer shoot and kill his disabled neighbor said he does not think the shooting was justified and that the family of the man killed is planning to hire an attorney.

Discussion: Talking Points Memo and fox8.com

James Doubek / NPR:
Oklahoma City Police Fatally Shoot Deaf Man Despite Yells Of 'He Can't Hear'

Discussion: The Daily Caller and TheBlaze

Ellie Silverman / Washington Post:
Neighbors yell 'he can't hear you' before Oklahoma City officer fatally shoots deaf man

Discussion: New York Times, ThinkProgress and The Root

The Unz Review:

America's Jews Are Driving America's Wars — Shouldn't they recuse themselves when dealing with the Middle East? — I spoke recently at a conference on America's war party where afterwards an elderly gentleman came up to me and asked, “Why doesn't anyone ever speak honestly about the six-hundred-pound gorilla in the room?

Discussion: The First Street Journal, Business Insider, CBS Los Angeles, The Daily Caller, Raw Story, Washington Free Beacon and Mediaite

Reuters:

China's central bank tells banks to stop doing business with North Korea: sources — BEIJING/HONG KONG (Reuters) - China's central bank has told banks to strictly implement United Nations sanctions against North Korea, four sources told Reuters, amid U.S. concerns that Beijing has not been tough enough …

Discussion: The Atlantic, Talking Points Memo, The Daily Caller and Associated Press

Joe Concha / The Hill:
‘The View’ co-host: Trump making ‘phallic reference’ with ‘Rocket Man’ talk

Discussion: Politico, Washington Free Beacon, Althouse and JustOneMinute

Mark Murray / NBC News:

NBC/WSJ Poll: Public Likes Trump's Bipartisan Move — But Little Else — WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump's approval rating has inched up, and more than 70 percent of Americans support his recent deal with Democratic leaders to provide hurricane relief and keep the government open for 90 days …

Discussion: Business Insider, The Hill, Shareblue, RedState, America Rising PAC, IJR, Washington Post and Talking Points Memo

Charles Robinson / Yahoo Sports:

Memo: NFL players ask Roger Goodell for support in racial equality campaign — Current and former NFL players campaigning for racial equality and criminal justice reform — wrote a lengthy memo to league commissioner Roger Goodell officially seeking overt league support in their effort …

Discussion: RedState, TheBlaze, Deadspin, ProFootballTalk and The Root

Jonathan Capriel / Tampa Bay Times:

Tampa girl, 4, dies of gunshot reaching for candy — TAMPA — One day last week, 4-year-old Yanelly Zoller reached into her grandmother's purse looking for candy, her father says. — Instead, she found a gun. She accidently pulled the trigger and was shot in the chest.

Discussion: abc7ny.com, KTLA, Raw Story and WTVR-TV

John Burnett / Around the Nation : NPR:

Border Patrol Arrests Parents While Infant Awaits Serious Operation — When 2-month-old Isaac Enrique Sanchez was diagnosed with pyloric stenosis, a condition that causes vomiting, dehydration and weight loss in infants, his parents were told that their son's condition was curable.

Discussion: Raw Story and The Week

Julia Horowitz / CNNMoney:

Bill Gates: Sorry about Control-Alt-Delete — Bill & Melinda Gates: Keeping score of global goals — Bill Gates is sorry that he made it so annoying to log in to your computer. — The billionaire Microsoft (MSFT, Tech30) co-founder admitted Wednesday that the Control-Alt-Delete function originally used …

Discussion: AOL

Ben Strauss / Politico:

Jim Acosta Is the White House's Favorite Reporter — As he walked to work down Pennsylvania Avenue, Jim Acosta, CNN's senior White House correspondent, was wondering if today would be the day he busted out of the doghouse. — It was an afternoon in early September and it had been three weeks since …

Discussion: The Daily Caller and Mediaite