Government shutdown: John Boehner's pivotal moment  —  Speaker John Boehner spent months trying to avoid a government shutdown.  —  Now he's staring one straight in the eye with no obvious way out.  —  Despite his backroom pleas and carefully crafted strategies, Boehner …

STATES OF HEALTH  —  Ours can be an unforgiving country.  Paul Sullivan was in his fifties, college-educated, and ran a successful small business in the Houston area.  He owned a house and three cars.  Then the local economy fell apart.  Business dried up.

Key players in the shutdown debate  —  Washington (CNN) — If the federal government shuts down starting Tuesday because of a bitter partisan battle over the new health care law, more people say congressional Republicans rather than President Barack Obama would be responsible, according to a new national survey.

House Republican Hostage-Takers Are Unfit to Govern  —  They're threatening an economic shutdown that will cause financial hardship and even ruin for millions of Americans.  So let's call these House Republicans what they are, says Jon Favreau.  —  The most terrifying speech I ever wrote for President Obama was one he never gave.

Top MIT scientist: Newest UN climate report is ‘hilariously’ flawed  —  Not all scientists are panicking about global warming — one of them finds the alarmism “hilarious.”  —  A top climate scientist from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology lambasted a new report by the UN's climate bureaucracy …

Justice Department Poised to File Lawsuit Over Voter ID Law  —  WASHINGTON — The Justice Department is expected to sue North Carolina on Monday over its restrictive new voting law, further escalating the Obama administration's efforts to restore a stronger federal role in protecting minority voters …

The frauds on the Hill target Obama  —  Who are these people?  Of what are they made that they can say and do such things on the floor of Congress?  —  No nonsense is too great, no act too low.  —  House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) leaves the floor of the House in the wee hours of Sunday morning …

The JP Morgan apologists of CNBC  —  I don't know which producer at CNBC had the genius idea of asking Alex Pareene on to discuss Jamie Dimon with Dimon's biggest cheerleaders, but the result was truly great television.  What's more, as Kevin Roose says, it illustrates “the divide between …

Lawyers Olson and Boies want Virginia as same-sex marriage test case  —  The legal team that overturned California's ban on same-sex marriage is targeting Virginia to launch another challenge aimed at convincing the Supreme Court that gays and lesbians have a constitutional right to marry no matter where they live.

Jeanne Shaheen raises cash plea off Scott Brown threat  —  Scott Brown will appear at another GOP function in New Hampshire Monday night, continuing to fan flames that he might move there to run for Senate in 2014 even though the likelihood of that happening looks increasingly remote.

Rebels Without a Clue  —  This may be the way the world ends — not with a bang but with a temper tantrum.  —  O.K., a temporary government shutdown — which became almost inevitable after Sunday's House vote to provide government funding only on unacceptable conditions — wouldn't be the end of the world.

Qaeda Plot Leak Has Undermined U.S. Intelligence  —  WASHINGTON — As the nation's spy agencies assess the fallout from disclosures about their surveillance programs, some government analysts and senior officials have made a startling finding: the impact of a leaked terrorist plot by Al Qaeda …

Texas First Lady Calls Abortion 'A Woman's Right'  —  Texas first lady Anita Perry told an interviewer on Saturday that she thinks abortion is “a woman's right.”  —  Perry's husband, Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R), has helped push through a slew of laws restricting and eroding access to abortion in the state.