memeorandum: My State Needs Obamacare. Now. (Steve Beshear/New York Times)

12:25 PM 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: Crooks and Liars, ThinkProgress, Why I Still Talk to Jesus, Daily Kos, PolicyMic, Real Clear Politics, Los Angeles Times, Post Politics, Politico, CNN, FreedomWorks, The Daily Caller and Bloomberg

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.”

Discussion: The Boston Globe and Hot Air

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: The Lead with Jake Tapper, Business Insider, DCCC, Salon, Booman Tribune, Outside the Beltway, Roll Call, New York Times, Talking Points Memo, Politico, The Plum Line, Daily Kos and The Reaction

Politico:
House GOP banking on Plan C

Discussion: Washington Monthly and Business Insider

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

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

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

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

Discussion: Power Line and The Week

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, Daily Kos, Post Politics and Booman Tribune

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

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

Discussion: Firedoglake, msnbc.com, NBCNews, Talking Points Memo and The Reaction

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

First Read / NBCNews:

First Thoughts: Boehner's bluff? — Back to talk of a government shutdown, but is it real or does Boehner blink? ... If GOP had any hope of blaming Obama and Democrats for a shutdown, the Corker-Cruz spat on the Senate floor didn't help its cause ... Let's remember how we got here …

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

Discussion: Politico, Daily Kos, WJLA-TV and CNN

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

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, Guardian, The Week, Lawfare, NPR, Online NewsHour, emptywheel, Gawker and Taylor Marsh

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

Discussion: Yahoo! News, ThinkProgress, Foreign Policy and Business Insider

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, Washington Monthly and Booman Tribune

USA Today:

U.N. panel delivers landmark climate change report — United Nations climate change study says man to blame for Earth's warming. — CONNECT — Global warming is “unequivocal” and it is “extremely likely” that humans are the primary contributors to this warming, according …

Discussion: The Week, National Review, Watchdog Earth, Right Wing News, Capital Weather Gang and CNN

Justin Gillis / New York Times:
U.N. Climate Panel Endorses Ceiling on Global Emissions

Discussion: Guardian, Institute for Energy Research, NPR, The Agonist and Online NewsHour

Matthew Yglesias / Slate:

Average Is Over—if We Want It to Be — Tyler Cowen's new book Average Is Over makes an excellent followup to his previous work The Great Stagnation and I expect it will set the intellectual agenda in much the way that its predecessor did. I want to offer not so much a review as an effort at explication …

Discussion: American Prospect and National Review

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

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

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, Scared Monkeys and emarketing.yumasol.com

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: Washington Monthly and Pirate's Cove

Jonathan Cohn / The New Republic:

Obamacare Is About to Go Live. Here's Why It Was Worth the Wait. — Obamacare's new insurance marketplaces are scheduled to open for business on October 1, just a few days from now. For all the attention that date has received, it is less important than it might seem.

Discussion: Wonkblog, Wall Street Journal and Via Meadia

Sean Higgins / Washington Examiner:

SEIU unionists strike over Obamacare-related cuts — BELTWAY CONFIDENTIAL BARACK OBAMA OBAMACARE LABOR HEALTH CARE AFL-CIO — Members of the Chicago-based Service Employees International Union Local 1 have gone on strike over recent job cuts by a janitorial company called Professional Maintenance.

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit, Betsy's Page, americanthinker.com, Weasel Zippers and Instapundit

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

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

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

Stephen F. Hayes / Weekly Standard:

What Cruz Wrought — Ted Cruz has sparked a Republican civil war. He has done the bidding of the GOP fringe, in a self-aggrandizing crusade. And while he has enhanced his own position in the conservative fantasyland he seeks to rule, the practical effect of his quixotic campaign …