memeorandum: Life on Mars? Well, Maybe Not (Kenneth Chang/New York Times)

3:10 PM ET, September 20, 2013

Top Items:

Paul Courson / CNN:

Peter King: Ted Cruz ‘is a fraud’ — Washington (CNN) - The government shutdown showdown is getting ugly. — Republican Rep. Peter King said Friday that his Republican colleague in the Senate, Ted Cruz, “is a fraud” who will “no longer have any influence in the Republican Party” …

Discussion: The Hill, Mediaite, Politico and National Review

Byron York / Washington Examiner:

Actually, Senate GOP can't filibuster to defund Obamacare — BELTWAY CONFIDENTIAL CONGRESS OBAMACARE SENATE HEALTH CARE TED CRUZ — Senate Republicans, along with GOP lawmakers in the House, know that Sen. Ted Cruz and his colleagues don't have the votes to pass a continuing resolution to defund Obamacare.

Discussion: Washington Post, National Review, Guardian, Outside the Beltway, Washington Monthly, Business Insider, Hot Air and The Daily Caller

Pete Kasperowicz / The Hill:

House votes 230-189 to fund government, defund ObamaCare — The House on Friday passed legislation that defunds ObamaCare but would keep the government running through mid-December. — The legislation was approved on a party line 230-189 vote, with Rep. Scott Rigell (Va.) the only GOP no vote.

Discussion: ThinkProgress, PJ Media and LifeNews.com

Tim Alberta / NationalJournal.com:

Inside Boehner's Plan To Avoid Shutdown (And Wound Obamacare) — Forget Friday's big spending bill vote. House leaders know the Senate will reject it and are ready to respond. Here's the GOP playbook. — House Republicans have orchestrated a master plan to avoid a government shutdown …

Discussion: USA Today, Washington Monthly, NBCNews, Washington Post, First Read, Taegan Goddard's …, The World's Greatest …, National Review, Politico, Hot Air and New York Times

Robert Costa / National Review:

Ted Cruz Punches Back — Even among Republicans, Senator Ted Cruz of Texas is one of Washington's most divisive figures. Activists love him, but leadership staffers and many of his colleagues can't stand him — especially his latest effort to connect a government-spending bill with the defunding of Obamacare.

Discussion: American Prospect, PostPartisan, Talking Points Memo, Right Turn, TheBlaze.com, The Daily Caller, Mediaite, The Lead with Jake Tapper, Hot Air, Balloon Juice, The Hill, Commentary Magazine and BuzzFeed

Politico:

Senate turns to CR that defunds Obamacare — It's now up to the Senate. — With ten days until a possible government shutdown, the battle over federal spending has shifted to the Democratic-controlled Senate, where Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's (D-Nev.) chamber will begin considering …

Discussion: Little Green Footballs, Crooks and Liars, The Week, Business Insider, The Plum Line, CNN, Connecting.the.Dots and The Hill

Politico:

Pelosi unplugged — Striking a tone of disgust, House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi ridicules the GOP as obsessed with its loathing of President Obama and hell-bent on hurting him politically, regardless the cost. She assigns little to no blame to the president (even though Democrats privately …

Discussion: National Review, Weasel Zippers, The Gateway Pundit, msnbc.com, Questions and Observations, Right Wing News, The Hill and Daily Kos

Greg Sargent / The Plum Line:

In blow to immigration reform, House ‘gang of seven’ bill looks dead — In a blow to the hopes of passing immigration reform anytime soon, the bipartisan House “gang of seven” plan is probably dead, and almost certainly won't be introduced this fall as promised, a top Democrat on the “gang” acknowledges.

Discussion: Washington Monthly, msnbc.com, Taegan Goddard's … and TechCrunch

New York Times:

Conservatives Take Turns Standing Up to the Speaker — WASHINGTON — Those in the circle of fiery House conservatives who are spearheading a fiscal showdown that threatens to shut down the government see themselves in vaunted company. — “It only takes one with passion — look at Rosa Parks …

Discussion: The Huffington Post, The Hill, Hullabaloo and Alan Colmes' Liberaland

Tom Kludt / Talking Points Memo:

GOP Rep: Obamacare Defunders Are Following Example Of Rosa Parks, MLK — Republicans who pressured House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) into taking up a bill to defund Obamacare and risk a government shutdown are following in the tradition of two American civil rights icons, according to one GOP lawmaker.

Discussion: Daily Kos

John McCormack / Weekly Standard: Never Surrender — Since January 2011, Republicans have tried …

Dylan Scott / Talking Points Memo: Reminder: Obamacare Will Continue If Government Shuts Down

Jonathan Weisman / New York Times:
House Passes Spending Bill That Would Cut Health Funds

Discussion: CNN

Alex Roarty / NationalJournal.com:
The Republicans Who Fear a Shutdown

Discussion: Politico and First Read

Sahil Kapur / Talking Points Memo:
House GOP Passes Bill To Defund Obamacare Or Shut Down The Government

Discussion: The Raw Story

Stephen Dinan / Washington Times:
House passes spending bill to defund Obamacare

Discussion: Independent Journal Review and AMERICAN DIGEST

Fox News:
House votes to keep government open, defund ObamaCare

Discussion: Washington Free Beacon

Charles Krauthammer / Washington Post:

The real Navy Yard scandal — In the liberal remake of “Casablanca,” the police captain comes upon the scene of the shooting and orders his men to “round up the usual weapons.” — It's always the weapon and never the shooter. Twelve people are murdered in a rampage at the Washington Navy Yard …

Discussion: The PJ Tatler, Betsy's Page and Ricochet Conversations Feed

Lydia Saad / Gallup:
Americans Fault Mental Health System Most for Gun Violence

Discussion: ThinkProgress, The Hill, Real Clear Politics, Politico and Post Politics

Ashley Halsey III / Washington Post:
Navy Yard rampage began with gunman's colleagues, sources and witnesses say

Discussion: WJLA-TV, The Hill and The Week

Jonathan Easley / The Hill:
Firm that ran background check on Snowden also vetted Navy Yard shooter

Discussion: ABC News and Shakesville

Wall Street Journal:

Pricing Glitch Afflicts Rollout of Online Health Exchanges … Less than two weeks before the launch of insurance marketplaces created by the federal health overhaul, the government's software can't reliably determine how much people need to pay for coverage, according to insurance executives and people familiar with the program.

Discussion: Wonkblog, Hit & Run, National Review, Via Meadia, The Heritage Foundation, The PJ Tatler, Washington Free Beacon and Corrente

Avik Roy / Forbes:
WSJ: Obamacare Software Can't ‘Reliably Determine’ Enrollees' Eligibility For Subsidies

Discussion: Hit & Run and The PJ Tatler

Gina McCarthy / The Huffington Post:

Time to Act on Climate Change — I didn't plan for a life built around protecting the environment. In fact, I started my career as a health agent in the town of Canton, Mass., and later worked for the Stoughton Board of Health. But at some point I realized that at its core …

Discussion: ThinkProgress, epa.gov and E2-Wire

Andrew Restuccia / Politico:
Al Gore: New EPA rule puts U.S. on path to solve climate crisis

Discussion: Reuters, E2-Wire, Al's Journal and Weasel Zippers

Tamara Cohen / Daily Mail:
World's top climate scientists told to ‘cover up’ …

Discussion: Weasel Zippers, Climate Depot and Vox Popoli

Hassan Rouhani / Washington Post:

Why Iran seeks constructive engagement — Hassan Rouhani is president of Iran. — Three months ago, my platform of “prudence and hope” gained a broad, popular mandate. Iranians embraced my approach to domestic and international affairs because they saw it as long overdue.

Discussion: New York Times, Guardian, AEIdeas, The Daily Caller, Business Insider, Consortiumnews.com, NBCNews, The Week, Politico, Gawker, Via Meadia, The Hill, Talking Points Memo and CNN

Paul Krugman / New York Times:

The Crazy Party — Early this year, Bobby Jindal, the governor of Louisiana, made headlines by telling his fellow Republicans that they needed to stop being the “stupid party.” Unfortunately, Mr. Jindal failed to offer any constructive suggestions about how they might do that.

Discussion: The Federalist, BillMoyers.com, Power Line, msnbc.com, PostPartisan and PoliticusUSA

Jennifer Jacobs / Des Moines Register:

Iowa's Chuck Grassley: I am running for re-election (updated) — Republican U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley, 80, said today that he will run again, which likely means at least one of Iowa's U.S. Senate seats will remain in Republican hands. — “I'm planning on running for re-election,” he said on the public television show Iowa Press.

Discussion: Talking Points Memo and Roll Call

Lucy McCalmont / Politico:

Rand Paul: ‘We are winning’ like Charlie Sheen — Sen. Rand Paul said Thursday that Republicans are like Charlie Sheen and are actually “winning” despite criticisms this week of party disarray over a budget strategy that would defund Obamacare, according to reports.

Discussion: Daily Kos

Andrew Rafferty / First Read:
Rand Paul says recent GOP wins a roadmap for party's future

Discussion: NBCNews, Prairie Weather and Talking Points Memo

Lacey Rose / Hollywood Reporter:

Benghazi Movie From Jerry Weintraub in Development at HBO (Exclusive) — The 2012 terrorist attack will be the subject of a telepic, based on the recently published New York Times best-seller “Under Fire: The Untold Story of the Attack in Benghazi.” — HBO is getting political.

Discussion: Mediaite, The Daily Caller and NewsBusters