memeorandum: Clinton World Hints at Ditching Old Baggage for Hillary Run (Abby D. Phillip/ABC News)

11:00 PM ET, September 23, 2013

Top Items:

Ted Cruz: The Distinguished Wacko Bird from Texas — In less than a year, Texas Republican Ted Cruz has become the most despised man in the U.S. Senate. He's been likened to Joe McCarthy, accused of behaving like a schoolyard bully, and smeared by senior members of his own party.

Sahil Kapur / Talking Points Memo:

Harry Reid Shoots Down Ted Cruz On Defunding Obamacare — Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) objected on Monday to Sen. Ted Cruz's (R-TX) request for unanimous consent to pass the House's continuing resolution to defund Obamacare. — Reid also objected to a request by Cruz …

Discussion: Daily Kos

Ramsey Cox / The Hill:
Reid, Cruz begin ObamaCare slugfest

Discussion: Politico

Jennifer Bendery / The Huffington Post:
Lindsey Graham Knocks Ted Cruz Strategy For Defunding Obamacare: ‘Not The Best Tactic’

Discussion: The Plum Line and ThinkProgress

Sen. Ted Cruz / Real Clear Politics:
The Path to Victory — Just a few weeks ago the Washington …

Discussion: The World's Greatest …, The Hill, Hot Air, Daily Kos, The Plum Line, NBCNews, USA Today, The Week, ABC News, ABC News, Politico, The Mahablog, RealClearPolitics Video Log, Yahoo! News, msnbc.com and National Review

Abby D. Phillip / ABC News:

Clinton World Hints at Ditching Old Baggage for Hillary Run … Hillary Clinton's first major print interview since leaving the Obama administration seven months ago leaves two inescapable impressions: She is running in 2016, and this campaign won't look anything like her failed 2008 run.

Discussion: Politico, CNN and Taylor Marsh

New York Magazine:

Hillary in Midair — Her former staffers argue that she managed a host of important, if underrecognized, global flare-ups along the way, from freeing a dissident in China to brokering the easing of sanctions against Burma. “She helped avert a second war in Gaza by going out and pulling off that cease-fire …

Discussion: Daily Kos and Runnin' Scared

Paul Steinhauser / CNN:
How long can Hillary Clinton wait?

Discussion: Fox News, Shakesville and KTLA 5

Igor Volsky / ThinkProgress:

Sorry, The Latest Anti-Obamacare Article To Go Viral Is Totally Wrong — An article published by Forbes claiming that Obamacare will increase health care costs by $7,450 for a typical family of four is spreading like wildfire across the internet, but causing eye rolls from economists across the country.

Chris Conover / Forbes:

Obamacare Will Increase Health Spending By $7,450 For A Typical Family of Four — It was one of candidate Obama's most vivid and concrete campaign promises. Forget about high minded (some might say high sounding) but gauzy promises of hope and change. This candidate solemnly pledged on June 5 …

Discussion: Liberal Values, Bookworm Room and Shakesville

Alex Pappas / The Daily Caller:
Exclusive: Rand Paul wants Chief Justice Roberts, all federal workers, to enroll in Obamacare

Discussion: Pirate's Cove, Shakesville and Talking Points Memo

Pew Research Center for the People and the Press:

Blame for Both Sides as Possible Government Shutdown Approaches — Tea Party Reps Say Stick to Principles, Even if Shutdown Results — If the federal government shuts down because Republicans and the Obama administration fail to agree on a budget, there will be plenty of blame to go around.

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, Los Angeles Times, NPR, Talking Points Memo, Hot Air, Post Politics, Taegan Goddard's … and p m carpenter's commentary

Jonathan Bernstein / American Prospect:
The Day after Shutdown — So it's October ... or maybe it's six …

Discussion: Economix, PostPartisan, Washington Monthly, Politico, A plain blog about politics and The Plum Line

Steve Liesman / CNBC:
Most Americans against defunding Obamacare: Survey

Discussion: msnbc.com, Gallup, Hot Air, Daily Pundit, Post Politics, Washington Post, Washington Wire, Taegan Goddard's …, Conservative Intelligence … and The Dish

Michael Laris / Washington Post:

E.W. Jackson says non-Christians are engaged in ‘some sort of false religion’ — At a morning sermon Sunday in Northern Virginia, Republican lieutenant governor candidate E.W. Jackson, a Chesapeake pastor, said people who don't follow Jesus Christ “are engaged in some sort of false religion.”

Discussion: Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Daily Kos, Mediaite, ThinkProgress and Outside the Beltway

Markus Schmidt / Richmond Times-Dispatch:

Jackson says he differs with pope on gays — Days after accusing his Democratic rival of running a socially divisive campaign, E.W. Jackson, the Republican candidate for lieutenant governor, lashed out against gay marriage, criticized the pope and told his audience that God had called him to run for office.

Discussion: Mediaite and Talking Points Memo

Washington Post:

McAuliffe leads Cuccinelli in Virginia governor's race — Democrat Terry McAuliffe has vaulted into the lead over Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli II in a Virginia governor's race that has left many voters sour on both candidates, according to a new Washington Post/Abt SRBI poll.

Discussion: Taegan Goddard's …, Outside the Beltway, WJLA-TV and American Spectator

Richmond Times-Dispatch:
Today's Top Opinion: Unserious

Discussion: Hot Air, National Review, Politico, Moe Lane and msnbc.com

Robert Pear / New York Times:

Lower Health Insurance Premiums to Come at Cost of Fewer Choices — WASHINGTON — Federal officials often say that health insurance will cost consumers less than expected under President Obama's health care law. But they rarely mention one big reason: many insurers are significantly limiting …

Discussion: Hot Air, Washington Post, Politico, Sister Toldjah, The Feehery Theory, Wonkblog, National Review, Flopping Aces, The Heritage Foundation, Corrente, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Washington Free Beacon, Marginal Revolution, Twitchy and Seeing the Forest

Wall Street Journal: Health-Law Results Will Vary by State

Washington Post:

Nationalities of Kenya shopping mall gunmen unknown — NAIROBI — Kenyan security forces on Monday seized control of a luxury shopping mall that had been attacked by Islamist militants, but officials said some assailants remained hidden inside stores in the mall and little was known …

Discussion: New York Times, ThinkProgress, Simply Left BehindThe … and The Agonist

NBCNews:
‘Bodies everywhere’: Survivor stories emerge as Kenya mall siege goes on

Discussion: msnbc.com

Jamie Dettmer / The Daily Beast:
Were Americans Among the Al-Shabab Nairobi Mall Attackers?

Discussion: New York Times, American Spectator, Hit & Run, Yahoo! News, Business Insider, NPR, Taylor Marsh, Real Clear Politics, TIME, The Moderate Voice and CNN

Lauren French / Politico:

Lois Lerner still Hill's favorite piñata — Lois Lerner is the political piñata that Congress still loves to whack months after she awkwardly acknowledged that the IRS wrongly scrutinized conservative groups for years. — Her sudden retirement on Monday after 12 years at the agency won't change that.

Discussion: Ricochet Conversations Feed and White House Dossier

Stephen Dinan / Washington Times:
Lois Lerner, IRS official at heart of tea party scandal, retires

Discussion: NewsBusters, The Heritage Foundation and Ed Driscoll

Bryan Koenig / CNN:

Who is Obama scared of? — (CNN) - President Barack Obama has made it clear to the public that he's quit smoking. But Monday he may have hinted at the real reason why: he's afraid of his wife. — The moment of candor followed a roundtable discussion during a conversation caught on camera …

Discussion: Politico

Andrew Kaczynski / BuzzFeed:
Obama: I Haven't Had A Cigarette In Six Years Because I'm Scared Of My Wife

Discussion: Alan Colmes' Liberaland

Andy Fox / WAVY-TV:

Boys suspended for airsoft guns in yard — Has zero tolerance gone too far? — (1/7)Andy Fox reports on zero tolerance incident at VB middle school — (2/7)Andy Fox reports on VB 7th grader facing expulsion — (3/7)Andy Fox reports on zero gun tolerance at VB schools

Discussion: Weasel Zippers, Hit & Run and National Review

Neil King Jr / Washington Wire:

One Big Trader Lost Millions Betting on Romney, Study Finds — A new academic paper digging into presidential betting in the final weeks of the 2012 election finds that a single trader lost between $4 million and $7 million placing a flurry of Intrade bets on Mitt Romney …

Discussion: Taegan Goddard's … and Balloon Juice

Joy Wilke / Gallup:

Americans' Belief That Gov't Is Too Powerful at Record Level — Record number of Republicans say the federal government has too much power — PRINCETON, NJ — Six in 10 Americans (60%) believe the federal government has too much power, one percentage point above the previous high recorded in September 2010.

Discussion: BuzzFeed and The Daily Caller

Justin Sink / The Hill:

Bush: Obama should play golf — Former President George W. Bush said President Obama should not be criticized over his frequent golf outings. — Former President George W. Bush said President Obama should not be criticized over his frequent golf outings.

Discussion: Politico, Hot Air, Mediaite, Alan Colmes' Liberaland and CNN

Rebecca Evans / Daily Mail:

'If they found me, I'm white... so I'm dead': Survivors reveal how gunman executed non-Muslims - after asking them to name Prophet Mohammed's mother — Survivors said they saw fellow shoppers mercilessly executed after being singled out as non-Muslim — Shoppers said people were lined …

Discussion: Ed Driscoll, americanthinker.com and Daily Pundit

Daily Local News:

CASD in crisis after racially-charged text messages surface — The abrupt departure of the Coatesville Area School District superintendent and another senior administrator came two weeks after numerous exchanges of inappropriate and racially-charged text messages were discovered …

Discussion: The Raw Story, The Hinterland Gazette, Mediaite and The Other McCain