memeorandum: Tax reform can finally drain the swamp by getting rid of lobbyists (Kevin Glass/Washington Examiner)

1:40 PM ET, October 13, 2017

Top Items:

Paul Demko / Politico:

Trump will scrap critical Obamacare subsidies — President Donald Trump plans to cut off subsidy payments to insurers selling Obamacare coverage in his most aggressive move yet to undermine his predecessor's health care law. — The subsidies, which are worth an estimated $7 billion this year …

The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation:

Kaiser Health Tracking Poll - October 2017: Open Enrollment and the ACA Marketplaces — , Cailey Muñana, and Mollyann Brodie — KEY FINDINGS: — The October Kaiser Health Tracking Poll focuses on the Affordable Care Act's (ACA) marketplaces as the November 1st open enrollment …

Discussion: Axios and Talking Points Memo

Sam Baker / Axios:
Trump takes a sledgehammer to the ACA

Discussion: Politico, Washington Post and Daily Kos

Sarah Kliff / Vox:
Trump's acting like Obamacare is just politics. It's people's lives.

Discussion: ABC News

David Anderson / New York Times:
Trump's Obamacare Order Will Deepen Health Inequality

Discussion: The White House, Daily Kos, Raw Story, Health Affairs Blog, The Commonwealth Fund, Washington Post, The Daily Signal, CNBC and Forbes

Jonathan Chait / New York Magazine:
Trump Unveils Full-bore Obamacare Sabotage

Discussion: BillMoyers.com, Hullabaloo, Talking Points Memo, Mother Jones, Lawyers, Guns & Money, NBC News, ThinkProgress and New York Times

Kate Feldman / New York Daily News:

Former Playboy Playmate Carrie Stevens accuses Oliver Stone of sexual assault after director defends Harvey Weinstein — While Oliver Stone defended Harvey Weinstein amid more than a dozen allegations of sexual harassment and assault, a former Playboy Playmate accused the “Platoon” director of sexual assault.

Discussion: Mediaite, IJR, AOL, The Daily Caller, Mashable and Washington Free Beacon

Michelle Goldberg / New York Times:

Put Women in Charge — Most women I know — and probably most women you know — have stories about sexual harassment. Mine happened in college, with a professor who was older than my father and who made me think he was genuinely interested in my writing. One day in his office, he told me he wanted to “kiss and molest” me.

Discussion: Da Tech Guy Blog, Washington Post, Right Wing Watch, BuzzFeed and NewsBusters

Patrick Brzeski / Hollywood Reporter:

Oliver Stone on Harvey Weinstein: “It's Not Easy What He's Going Through” — The director addressed the international media at the Busan International Film Festival, where he is serving as chair of the event's competition jury. — Oliver Stone intitially declined to condemn Harvey Weinstein …

TMZ.com:
Harvey Weinstein's Contract Allowed for Sexual Harassment

Discussion: Raw Story, Power Line, Instapundit, Althouse, Hot Air, Mediaite, RedState, IndieWire, twitchy.com, Fox News Insider, PerezHilton and IJR

Lisa O'Carroll / The Guardian: Harvey Weinstein: English actor says alleged sexual assault ruined film career

Dade Hayes / Deadline:
The Weinstein Co. Nears The Brink As Agencies Cut Off Talent Supply

Discussion: Washington Post, Infowars, Instapundit and CNNMoney, more at Mediagazer »

Christopher Flavelle / Bloomberg:

How the Pentagon Spun Hurricane Maria — U.S. officials inadvertently included a Bloomberg reporter on an internal email list. Here's a glimpse into their bid to put relief efforts in a positive light. — Late last month, Pentagon communications officials inadvertently included Bloomberg …

Discussion: Raw Story

Cristina Marcos / The Hill:
69 Republicans vote against aid for Puerto Rico, other disaster sites

Discussion: Politico, Wall Street Journal and The Daily Caller

Eliza Barclay / Vox:
This CNN clip shows why we need an accurate death count from Puerto Rico

Discussion: ABC News and The Hill

The Daily Beast:

McMaster Wants to Save the Iran Deal by Hiding It From Trump … In a meeting with Senate Democrats last week, President Donald Trump's top national security aide had a message for those worried that the administration may scuttle the Iran nuclear deal: If Trump doesn't have to see it, he won't be able to kill it.

Discussion: Balloon Juice, The Atlantic and Al Jazeera English

Katharine Q. Seelye / New York Times:

Senator Susan Collins Will Not Run for Governor of Maine — ROCKPORT, Me. — After several months of open deliberations about her future, Senator Susan Collins of Maine announced Friday that she would not run for governor and would remain in the Senate. — Ms. Collins, a Republican …

Discussion: NBC News, The Daily Caller, Outside the Beltway, Refinery29 and LifeNews.com

Daniel Strauss / Politico:
Collins declines run for Maine governor

Discussion: Axios

New York Times:

Social Media Guidelines for The Times Newsroom — The New York Times has been a dominant force on social media for years. Our newsroom accounts have tens of millions of followers. Many of our journalists are influential voices on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and other platforms.

Discussion: The Daily Caller, more at Mediagazer »

Sean Illing / Vox:

20 of America's top political scientists gathered to discuss our democracy. They're scared. — “If current trends continue for another 20 or 30 years, democracy will be toast.” — Is American democracy in decline? Should we be worried? — On October 6, some of America's top political …

Discussion: Raw Story

Josh Meyer / Politico:

Twitter deleted data potentially crucial to Russia probes — Twitter has deleted tweets and other user data of potentially irreplaceable value to investigators probing Russia's suspected manipulation of the social media platform during the 2016 election, according to current and former government cybersecurity officials.

Discussion: Daily Kos, AOL and Political Wire, more at Mediagazer »

Seth Stevenson / Slate:

The Massachusetts congressman is a white, centrist, Harvard-educated war hero who wants to remake the Democratic Party. Too bad no one wants that. — I'm squinting through the sun at the Polk County Steak Fry, trying to size up Seth Moulton. — It's a late September Saturday in Des Moines …

Kara Scannell / CNN:

Background check chief has ‘never seen’ mistakes and omissions at level of Jared Kushner forms — STORY HIGHLIGHTS — (CNN)The head of a government bureau responsible for clearing background checks told lawmakers Wednesday he has “never seen that level of mistakes” when asked …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo and Raw Story

Avery Anapol / The Hill:

RNC chair: GOP is 'in the best place we've ever been' — Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna Romney McDaniel says the GOP is “in the best place” it's ever been. — During a visit to Denver, McDaniel said the party's high fundraising shows a strong base, the Denver Post reported.

Discussion: Denver Post, Washington Monthly and Booman Tribune

Kim Masters / Hollywood Reporter:

Amazon TV Producer Goes Public With Harassment Claim Against Top Exec Roy Price (Exclusive) — “You will love my d**k,” Price allegedly said to Isa Hackett, a producer on ‘The Man in the High Castle,’ who details a July 2015 incident at Comic-Con in San Diego.

Discussion: Variety, CNBC, Zero Hedge, CNNMoney, Washington Free Beacon, NBC News, NPR, Mediaite, New York Times, KTLA, AOL, Washington Post, Mashable, The Guardian and Axios, more at Mediagazer »

Stephanie Kirchgaessner / The Guardian:

Flynn ally sought help from ‘dark web’ in covert Clinton email investigation — Barbara Ledeen, a staffer on the committee looking into Trump's Russia ties and a friend of Mike Flynn, tried to launch her own investigation into Clinton's emails … A close associate of Donald Trump's former …

Nancy Dillon / New York Daily News:

Hillary Clinton in talks with Columbia University to take on professor role — Hillary Clinton is testing the waters on a return to academia. — The former U.S. Secretary of State and presidential nominee is in talks with Columbia University to take on a formal role at the Ivy League …

Discussion: The Daily Caller, Political Wire and Washington Free Beacon

Greg Norman / Fox News:

Las Vegas security guard Jesus Campos disappears moments before TV interviews — Where in the world is Jesus Campos? — The Mandalay Bay security guard shot by Stephen Paddock in the moments leading up to the worst mass shooting in modern U.S. history was set to break his silence Thursday night …

Discussion: TheBlaze and The Daily Caller

Washington Post:

‘Just ash and bone’: Death toll in California wildfires reaches historically grim heights — SANTA ROSA, Calif. — The horrific scale of death and destruction is coming into focus, even as the wildfires continue to rage throughout Northern California. — Thirty-one confirmed dead, many of them elderly.

Discussion: The Daily Caller and NPR

Andrew Restuccia / Politico:

Trump's pick for NOAA chief causes a storm — As a top executive at AccuWeather, Barry Myers has pushed for limits on the kinds of products that the National Weather Service offers to the public, saying they offered unfair competition to his industry. — Now, President Donald Trump's nomination …

Discussion: New York Magazine, Washington Post, Union of Concerned Scientists and Political Wire

Robin Abcarian / Los Angeles Times:

California Journal They survived six hours in a pool as a wildfire burned their neighborhood to the ground — (Video by Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times) — Jan Pascoe and her husband, John, were trapped. The world was on fire, and Jan was hyperventilating from fear.

Discussion: New York Post, IJR, Shakesville and Althouse