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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 …
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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, Hot Air and Business Insider


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

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 …
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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 …


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:
protein wisdom and Daily Kos

Senate approves measure to keep federal government operating
Discussion:
Politico

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
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Harkin: Tea Party ‘every bit’ as dangerous to nation as the Civil War
Discussion:
Weasel Zippers


Obama Senior Adviser Compares Republicans To Terrorists
Discussion:
The Lead with Jake Tapper, PostPartisan, The Hugh Hewitt Show, Mediaite, The Huffington Post and Politico

Al Gore Accuses GOP of ‘Political Terrorism’ With Shutdown Threat
Discussion:
Hot Air

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, Daily Kos, ThinkProgress, Post Politics and Booman Tribune
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White House says it isn't behind ‘Adorable Care Act’
Discussion:
ABC News, americanthinker.com, Talking Points Memo, Heritage Action for America, CNN, The Plum Line, msnbc.com and The Week


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 …
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U.N. Climate Panel Endorses Ceiling on Global Emissions
Discussion:
ThinkProgress, RealClimate, Watts Up With That?, Gothamist, Guardian, Institute for Energy Research, NPR, The Agonist and Online NewsHour

CLIMATE PANEL: WARMING ‘EXTREMELY LIKELY’ MAN-MADE
Discussion:
Washington Free Beacon and Alan Colmes' Liberaland


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:
The Jawa Report and National Review
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‘Eyes gouged out, bodies hanging from hooks, and fingers removed with pliers’: Horrific claims …
Discussion:
Weasel Zippers, Power Line and The Gateway Pundit


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:
Washington Monthly, Wall Street Journal and Via Meadia
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SEIU unionists strike over Obamacare-related cuts
Discussion:
Betsy's Page, The Gateway Pundit, americanthinker.com, Weasel Zippers and Instapundit


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


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

NSA: Analysts spied on love interests — The National Security Agency has admitted that analysts have abused their authority to spy on love interests on several occasions. — In response to a letter from Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), the NSA identified 12 incidents since 2003 …
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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:
Reuters, Yahoo! News, National Review, Washington Post, BBC, The Moderate Voice, Guardian, The Week, Gawker, ThinkProgress, emptywheel, Taylor Marsh, NPR, Online NewsHour and Lawfare
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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


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 …

Plutocrats Feeling Persecuted — Robert Benmosche, the chief executive of the American International Group, said something stupid the other day. And we should be glad, because his comments help highlight an important but rarely discussed cost of extreme income inequality — namely …
Discussion:
The Mahablog and Cafe Hayek

NRA wading into Va. governor's race with $500K ad campaign against McAuliffe — The National Rifle Association is wading into the Virginia governor's race with a six-figure ad campaign, potentially reviving a debate over gun issues that has been mostly dormant in the contest.
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo and National Review