memeorandum: Senate approves measure to keep federal government operating (Alexander Bolton/The Hill)

3:40 PM ET, September 27, 2013

Top Items:

Cruz to House Conservatives: Oppose Boehner — On a Thursday conference call, a group of House conservatives consulted with Senator Ted Cruz of Texas about how to respond to the leadership's fiscal strategy. Sources who were on the call say Cruz strongly advised them to oppose it, and hours later, Speaker John Boehner's plan fizzled.

Discussion: American Prospect, Washington Monthly, The Hill, protein wisdom and Daily Kos

New York Times:

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, his vorpal sword, Hit & Run, Daily Kos, ThinkProgress, PolicyMic, Why I Still Talk to Jesus, Scared Monkeys, Outside the Beltway, Real Clear Politics, Los Angeles Times, Post Politics, Bloomberg and Politico

Tom Jensen / Public Policy Polling:

Cruz emerges as GOP leader — PPP's newest national poll finds Ted Cruz is now the top choice of Republican primary voters to be their candidate for President in 2016. He leads the way with 20% to 17% for Rand Paul, 14% for Chris Christie, 11% for Jeb Bush, 10% each for Marco Rubio and Paul Ryan …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Hullabaloo, The Daily Caller, Weasel Zippers, Taegan Goddard's …, Outside the Beltway and The Raw Story

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: Business Insider

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 …

Discussion: msnbc.com, Taegan Goddard's … and Yahoo! News

Washington Post:
Republican hard-liners block strategy to avoid federal government shutdown

Discussion: PostPartisan, The Fix, Post Politics, Yahoo! News, WJLA-TV, The Daily Caller, The Hill and New York Times

Joshua Green / The Boston Globe:
Shutdown is the best way to jolt Washington back to its senses

Discussion: Hit & Run, National Review, Taegan Goddard's … and Hot Air

New York Times:
Senate Passes Budget Bill as House Weighs Options

Discussion: Outside the Beltway, The Plum Line and NPR

Washington Post:

Gore accuses GOP of ‘political terrorism’ — By Aaron Blake and Karen Tumulty, Published: September 27 at 10:49 am — Former Vice President Al Gore on Friday called the GOP's strategy to defund Obamacare “political terrorism.” — Speaking at the Brookings Institution, Gore called it a …

Discussion: Weasel Zippers, Post Politics, TheBlaze.com and National Review

Justin Sink / The Hill:

Gore to GOP: ‘How dare you?’ — Former vice president Al Gore on Friday accused Republicans of engaging in “political terrorism” by using a government shutdown as leverage to defund ObamaCare. — “The only phrase that describes it is political terrorism,” Gore said at the Brookings Institution, according to ABC News.

Discussion: CNN, Politico and ABC News

Ramsey Cox / The Hill:
Harkin: Tea Party ‘every bit’ as dangerous to nation as the Civil War

Discussion: Weasel Zippers and Connecting.the.Dots

TIME:
Obama Senior Adviser Compares Republicans To Terrorists

Discussion: No More Mister Nice Blog, The Hugh Hewitt Show, The Lead with Jake Tapper, PostPartisan, Mediaite, The Huffington Post and Politico

Abby D. Phillip / ABC News:
Al Gore Accuses GOP of ‘Political Terrorism’ With Shutdown Threat

Discussion: Hot Air

Alexander Bolton / The Hill:

Senate approves measure to keep federal government operating — The Senate voted along party lines Friday to pass a stopgap spending measure lasting until Nov. 15 after removing controversial language to defund ObamaCare. — The 54-44 vote puts the Senate on a collision course with the House …

Discussion: Politico

Byron York / Washington Examiner:
Why should Congress get special exemption under Obamacare?

Discussion: Questions and Observations and protein wisdom

Terence P. Jeffrey / CNSNews:
House Conservatives Warn GOP Senators: Vote for Cloture ‘Same As a Vote for Obamacare Itself’

Discussion: protein wisdom and The Right Scoop

Wall Street Journal:
Senate Passes Funding Bill in Party-Line Vote

Discussion: Washington Wire, Washington Post and Taegan Goddard's …

The Lead with Jake Tapper:

Exclusive: Romney disagrees with GOP ‘tactics’ on Obamacare in D.C. — Mitt Romney thinks Obamacare is a bad law that will hurt the country, but disagrees with how conservatives in Washington are trying to get rid of it. — In an exclusive interview with CNN's Jake Tapper …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo and The Hill

Jonathan Cohn / The New Republic:
Obamacare Is About to Go Live. Here's Why It Was Worth the Wait.

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Wall Street Journal and Via Meadia

Sean Higgins / Washington Examiner:
SEIU unionists strike over Obamacare-related cuts

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

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: ThinkProgress, Daily Kos, Talking Points Memo, Post Politics and Booman Tribune

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

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

Darryl Fears / Washington Post:

IPCC report says humans almost certainly cause global warming — A panel of the world's leading climate scientists strongly asserted Friday that “it is extremely likely that human influence has been the dominant cause” of global warming since 1950 and warned of more rapid ice melt and rising seas …

Discussion: CBS DC, Taylor Marsh, Wonkblog, The Verge, Guardian and WTVR-TV

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

Discussion: ThinkProgress, RealClimate, Watts Up With That?, Gothamist, Guardian, NPR, Institute for Energy Research, The Agonist and Online NewsHour

USA Today:
U.N. panel delivers landmark climate change report

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

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 …

Catrina Stewart / The Independent:

Kenya shopping mall attack: Nairobi hostages were tortured before they were killed, says police doctor — Rumours of rapes, disfigurement and beheadings are rife in Kenya's capital — A police doctor scouring Nairobi's Westgate mall for bodies after a four-day siege by Islamist gunmen …

Discussion: National Review

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

Reuters:

U.S., Russia agree on Syria U.N. chemical arms measure — (Reuters) - Ending weeks of diplomatic deadlock, the United States and Russia agreed on Thursday on a U.N. Security Council draft resolution that would demand Syria give up its chemical arms, but does not threaten military force if it fails to comply.

Discussion: Firedoglake, Washington Post, Just Security and Yahoo! News

Michael R. Gordon / New York Times:
U.N. Deal on Syrian Arms Is Milestone After Years of Inertia

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

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: Washington Monthly and The Raw Story

Jessica Gross / New York Times:

Valerie Plame Is the Master of Her Own Universe — You're publishing a book this month called “Blowback,” a spy novel written with Sarah Lovett. Why fiction? — I've always been really dismayed at how female C.I.A. officers were portrayed in fiction. They're always these cartoonish …