memeorandum: House Republicans lack votes to move plan to raise debt ceiling (Ian Swanson/The Hill)

11:00 AM ET, September 27, 2013

Top Items:

A Republican Ransom Note — On Wednesday, Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew sent the House a very serious warning that, for the first time, the United States would be unable to pay its bills beginning on Oct. 17 if the debt ceiling is not lifted. House leaders responded on Thursday …

Discussion: ThinkProgress, Daily Kos, PolicyMic, Real Clear Politics, Los Angeles Times, Post Politics, Politico, CNN, FreedomWorks and The Daily Caller

Ian Swanson / The Hill:

House Republicans lack votes to move plan to raise debt ceiling — House Republican leaders found themselves struggling to secure the votes on Thursday for a debt ceiling measure they hoped to swiftly pass through the House as the latest salvo in a multi-front fiscal fight.

Discussion: Booman Tribune, Salon, Talking Points Memo, Outside the Beltway, New York Times, Roll Call, Politico, The Plum Line, Daily Kos, Business Insider, The Reaction and Washington Monthly

Todd S. Purdum / Politico:

The GOP should just do it — Shut down the government! Blow through the debt ceiling! Subject the United States to fiscal chaos or financial ruin if your party can't get its way on unrelated ideological priorities! — With apologies to Nike, maybe it's time for the House Republicans to stop threatening and “Just do it.”

Jonathan Easley / The Hill:
White House adviser compares Republicans to terrorists in fiscal fight

Discussion: Power Line

Politico:
House GOP banking on Plan C

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Business Insider and The Hill

Jeremy W. Peters / New York Times:
Senate Is Set to Vote on Budget Bill as House Weighs Options

Discussion: The Plum Line, Post Politics, Prairie Weather and Business Insider

Peter Baker / New York Times:
Obama Scorns G.O.P. ‘Blackmail’ on Health Law

Discussion: The Week and Hot Air

Benjamin Bell / ABC News: Bill Clinton Calls Parts of House GOP Proposal To Raise Debt Ceiling ‘Chilling,’ ‘Spiteful’

Alexander Bolton / The Hill:
Corker takes on Cruz as GOP feuding moves to the Senate floor

Discussion: Politico, Washington Post, WJLA-TV and CNN

Jonathan Allen / Politico:
Dan Pfeiffer: W.H. not ‘negotiating with people with a bomb strapped to their chest’

Discussion: The Hugh Hewitt Show, The Lead with Jake Tapper, Mediaite, Weasel Zippers and Booman Tribune

Steve Beshear / New York Times:

My State Needs Obamacare. Now. — FRANKFORT, Ky. — SUNDAY morning news programs identify Kentucky as the red state with two high-profile Republican senators who claim their rhetoric represents an electorate that gave President Obama only about a third of its presidential vote in 2012.

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, ThinkProgress, Post Politics and Booman Tribune

Steve Liesman / CNBC:
What's in a name? Lots when it comes to Obamacare/ACA

Discussion: msnbc.com, NBCNews, Talking Points Memo, The Reaction and Yahoo! News

Jennifer Epstein / Politico:
White House says it isn't behind ‘Adorable Care Act’

Discussion: Heritage Action for America, americanthinker.com, CNN, msnbc.com, The Week and Talking Points Memo

Michael Falcone / ABC News:
Shutdown Forecast: 50-50 — NOTABLES — LOOKING FOR PROGRESS …

Discussion: NationalJournal.com

Michael R. Gordon / New York Times:

U.N. Deal on Syrian Arms Is Milestone After Years of Inertia — UNITED NATIONS — The five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council have agreed on a resolution that will require Syria to give up its chemical weapons, but there will be no automatic penalties if the Syrians fail to comply, officials said Thursday.

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, Reuters, Yahoo! News, The Week, Guardian, emptywheel, NPR, Taylor Marsh, Online NewsHour, Gawker and Lawfare

Joby Warrick / Washington Post:
Most of Syria's toxins can be destroyed more easily than officials initially thought

Discussion: ThinkProgress, Foreign Policy and Business Insider

Reuters:
Text of Draft United Nations Resolution on Syrian Chemical Weapons

Discussion: Lawfare

Martin Wolf / Financial Times:

Osborne has now been proved wrong on austerity — Nobody thought a recovery would never happen - merely that it would be delayed — The UK economy is recovering. The government is vindicated. Its critics should crawl into a hole. This, in essence, is what George Osborne …

Discussion: Paul Krugman

Ryan Lizza / Comment:

WHERE THE G.O.P.'S SUICIDE CAUCUS LIVES — On August 21st, Congressman Mark Meadows sent a letter to John Boehner. Meadows is a former restaurant owner and Sunday-school Bible teacher from North Carolina. He's been in Congress for eight months. Boehner, who has served in Congress for twenty-two years …

Discussion: The Dish, Taylor Marsh, Booman Tribune and Washington Monthly

Candida Moss / The Daily Beast:

The Gospel According to Bill O'Reilly's New Book ‘Killing Jesus’ — Jesus was killed because of taxes. That's more or less the message of Bill O'Reilly's new book. Professor Candida Moss on what else the Fox host gets wrong—and what he leaves out. — In Killing Jesus: A History …

Discussion: The Raw Story

Tom Holbrook / The Numbers:

States of Change — Not long after the 2012 election some observers noted an increasing Democratic “lock” on the Electoral College. Although Republican nominee Mitt Romney's campaign took a lot of heat for losing election, there has developed a general sense that changing demographics …

Paul Steinhauser / CNN:
First on CNN: NRSC targets vulnerable Democrats

Discussion: The Hill, emarketing.yumasol.com and Bloomberg

Daily Mail:

So much for keeping a low profile: George Zimmerman is pulled over for the THIRD time since he was acquitted — George Zimmerman was pulled over by police for the third time since his acquittal, it emerged today. — Zimmerman was stopped by Florida Highway Patrol troopers in Brevard County on August 19 just after 11am.

Discussion: Connecting.the.Dots, FOX News Radio, Mediaite, Gawker, Scared Monkeys, Fox News and Weasel Zippers

John McCormick / Bloomberg:

Young Voters Backing Gay Rights 69% Is Republican Hurdle — Fifty-five percent of Americans and 7 out of 10 young people support allowing gay couples to marry. A majority of Republicans, 52 percent, oppose it. — Forty percent of Republicans say state legislatures should continue pushing for laws curbing abortion rights.

Discussion: Taegan Goddard's …, Talking Points Memo and Yahoo! News

Sen. Rand Paul / Washington Times:

Why must the American people suffer when even so many Democrats don't want Obamacare? — Officials who implemented the law should not escape its pain — Earlier this week, in an effort led by Sen. Ted Cruz, some of my Republican colleagues and I took to the Senate floor with the intent of making Washington listen.

Discussion: Pirate's Cove

Rosie Gray / BuzzFeed:

Allen West Out At PJ Media — Sources say he had an anti-Semitic exchange with a staffer, calling her a “Jewish American princess.” — Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images — Former Congressman Allen West is leaving his job at Pajamas Media after an altercation with a female staffer …

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, The Daily Banter, Joe. My. God., Gawker, Mediaite, TheBlaze.com, The Raw Story, Little Green Footballs, Hullabaloo and The Hill

Mara Gay / NY Daily News:

Mayor Bloomberg on the brink: Testy exchange with reporters leads to threat of ending press conferences — Mayor Bloomberg, the billionaire founder of a business news and media company, has frequently boiled over when dealing with probing journalists but his temper seems to be reaching …

Discussion: Politico and Mediaite

Susan Page / USA Today:

Heitkamp warns Obama on Keystone XL Pipeline approval — Senator predicts a partial government shutdown Tuesday in ‘a game of Russian roulette.’ — WASHINGTON — Sen. Heidi Heitkamp, a freshman Democrat from North Dakota, is ready to take on President Obama over the long-delayed approval …

Discussion: The Hill and Weekly Standard

CNN:

Tom DeLay: 'I'll keep fighting' — (CNN) - Former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, who resigned amid scandal in 2006, said he's “coming back” now that his 2010 conviction for money laundering has been overturned. — DeLay also weighed in on the current showdown in Congress over the spending bill and debt limit.

Discussion: Politico

Tal Kopan / Politico:

Inspector general: NSA spied on significant others — Some employees of the National Security Agency inappropriately used surveillance to snoop on significant others, the agency's inspector general says. — The IG laid out 12 instances of wrongdoing in his response to a letter from Sen. Chuck Grassley …

Discussion: Firedoglake

Byron York / Washington Examiner:

Why should Congress get special exemption under Obamacare? — CONGRESS OBAMACARE SENATE HARRY REID MITCH MCCONNELL HEALTH CARE OPM CHUCK GRASSLEY — “I'm going to get a vote,” says Republican Sen. David Vitter of Louisiana. “I can't tell you how, or when, but I'm going to get a vote.”

Discussion: Questions and Observations and protein wisdom