memeorandum: Congressional candidate Tom Emmer appears in ad touting remodeling firm (Paul Demko/Politics in Minnesota)

4:15 PM ET, September 30, 2013

Top Items:

CNN:

CNN Poll: Americans would blame GOP if shutdown happens tonight — If the federal government shuts down 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.

NationalJournal.com:

State of Play: Republicans Getting Wobbly on a Government Shutdown — The most important updates on the brewing government shutdown. — The government will shut down at midnight unless Democrats and Republicans reach a budget deal to keep it open, but with just hours to go, the two sides remain very far apart.

Discussion: TIME, Roll Call, Weasel Zippers, Hot Air, Washington Post, Wonkblog, Taegan Goddard's …, American Spectator, Yahoo! News and Heritage Action for America

Alexander Bolton / The Hill:

Senate rejects House funding bill with shutdown in clear sight — Congress took another step toward a government shutdown Monday as the Senate voted 54-46 to strip language from a House funding bill that delayed ObamaCare by a year. [WATCH VIDEO] — Senate Democrats called on House Republicans …

Discussion: CNN, Outside the Beltway and The Other McCain

Noam Scheiber / The New Republic:

Countdown to Shutdown — Think 1996 was bad for the GOP? This time will be much, much worse — The year 1996, the last time the GOP took its toys and went home rather than fund the government, hasn't loomed so large in Washington since it actually was 1996.

Discussion: The Dish, Balloon Juice and The Hugh Hewitt Show

Robert Costa / National Review:

The Speaker's Slog — There were no tears, just cheers, when Speaker John Boehner announced his latest fiscal strategy on Saturday at a closed-door conference meeting. Even Boehner's longtime critics praised him for pushing a government-spending bill that also delayed Obamacare for one year and repealed the medical-device tax.

Discussion: Washington Post, The Hill, The Plum Line, The Raw Story and Taegan Goddard's …

Stephen Dinan / Washington Times:

Shutdown showdown hits brink as Senate kills House spending bill — The Senate voted Monday afternoon to kill House Republicans' latest stopgap spending offer, holding firm in their demand that Congress continue to fund Obamacare as part of any government-funding debate.

Discussion: The Lonely Conservative and Weekly Standard

Bloomberg:
Republicans' Shutdown Fight Exposes Simmering Civil War

Discussion: CANNONFIRE and Taylor Marsh

Greg Sargent / The Plum Line:
John Boehner doesn't have to let the Tea Party paralyze whole government

Discussion: ABC News, ABC News, PostPartisan, Daily Kos, Democratic Policy & … and National Review

John Hinderaker / Power Line:
The Associated Press Goes to Bat For the Democratic Party

Discussion: Associated Press, The Lonely Conservative, The Strata-Sphere, Prairie Weather and VodkaPundit

Politico:
Government shutdown: House GOP leaders huddle

Discussion: Daily Kos and Connecting.the.Dots

Justin Sink / The Hill:
Obama ‘not resigned’ to shutdown

Discussion: Politico

Avik Roy / Forbes:
New Poll: Only One-Third Of Americans Support Repealing, Defunding Or Delaying Obamacare

Discussion: Los Angeles Times and The Morning Consult

New York Times:
Senate Action on Health Law Moves to Brink of Shutdown

Discussion: Slate, The Other McCain, The Week, Business Insider, The Reaction, Wall Street Journal, First Read, msnbc.com, The Hugh Hewitt Show, The World's Greatest …, Politico and NBCNews

Tom Kludt / Talking Points Memo:
Republican Senator Denounces House GOP's Obamacare Strategy

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, Booman Tribune and Alan Colmes' Liberaland

Washington Post:
Senate rejects House amendments to spending bill as shutdown looms

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit, Wonkblog, GigaOM, Los Angeles Times, THEROOT.COM, Gawker, Daniel W. Drezner and Post Politics

Reuters:
Government shutdown: Harry Reid spearheads Democratic strategy

Discussion: CNN, Politico, The Daily Caller, The Hill, BizPac Review, Hot Air, WJLA-TV, National Review, Pirate's Cove and Pat Dollard

Ashley Parker / New York Times:
Senate Rejects House's Terms on Budget With Shutdown Near

Discussion: Yahoo! News, Taking Note and Shakesville

Tara Culp-Ressler / ThinkProgress:
POLL: Voters Are ‘Unmoved’ By Government Shutdown Drama, Still Don't Want To Delay Obamacare

Discussion: ThinkProgress

Paul Begala / CNN:
Three ways to score the shutdown battle

Discussion: Roll Call, PoliticusUSA and The Week

Tal Kopan / Politico:
Dow drops amid government shutdown fears

Discussion: Alan Colmes' Liberaland, The Hill and CNN

Robert Stacy McCain / American Spectator:
Extremely Extreme Extremists

Discussion: The Lonely Conservative

Wall Street Journal:
Government Heads Toward Shutdown

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, The Huffington Post, No More Mister Nice Blog, Taegan Goddard's …, Daily Record, Daily Kos, The Week, Washington Post, Washington Wire, Speaker.gov and david-frum

Politico:
Government shutdown update: Mitch McConnell weighs one-week CR

Discussion: Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion

Holly Yan / CNN:
(CNN) — Let's start with the obvious question: Will the government shut down this week?

Discussion: Guardian, PolicyMic, Global Public Square, Firedoglake and Shakesville

Charles Ferguson / The Huffington Post:

Why I Am Cancelling My Documentary on Hillary Clinton — In late 2012, CNN Films approached me about directing a documentary. We discussed a number of potential subjects, and eventually settled on Hillary Rodham Clinton. The film would be ambitious, controversial, and highly visible.

Brian Beutler / Salon:

Right-wing extremists “are guilty of murder,” Sen. Angus King tells Salon — In an interview with Salon, Independent senator unloads on conservatives who urge young people to remain uninsured — Tuesday begins a 6-month race to enroll as many uninsured people as possible in the Affordable Care Act's insurance exchanges.

Discussion: Balloon Juice, Talking Points Memo, Weasel Zippers, Mediaite, The Raw Story, The Daily Caller, The PJ Tatler and National Review

Gallup:
Two in Three Uninsured Americans Plan to Buy Insurance

Discussion: ThinkProgress, Washington Monthly, Politico and Talking Points Memo

New York Times:

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 …

Discussion: JustOneMinute, Little Green Footballs, The Jawa Report, emptywheel, americanthinker.com, Prairie Weather, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Hot Air, Hullabaloo, NPR and VodkaPundit, more at Mediagazer »

Bill Keller / New York Times:

The Right Gets Its '60s — “Something's happening here. — What it is ain't exactly clear. The right-wing campaign to sabotage the Affordable Care Act has driven a lot of normally temperate people past the edge of exasperation. Pundits have described the crusade as crazy, stupid …

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Hullabaloo, The Raw Story, The Mahablog and alicublog

NY Daily News:

'Because you're black': Framboise Patisserie in Middle Village, Queens, hit with $25,000 in fines, penalties in discrimination case — 'I can't hire you because you're black,' Jamilah DaCosta, 25, said she was told when she tried to get a job at the bakery.

Discussion: ThinkProgress, The Raw Story and Jezebel

Jeryl Bier / Weekly Standard:

Obamacare Website Quietly Deletes Reference to ‘Free Health Care’ — Even as President Obama and his administration are making a last minute push to encourage enrollment in Obamacare, a quiet change was made on the Healthcare.gov website regarding those who will still not be able to afford coverage after the program kicks in.

Discussion: Michelle Malkin, Weasel Zippers, msnbc.com and WND

Paul Krugman / New York Times:

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.

Discussion: Alan Colmes' Liberaland and Washington Monthly

Jeryl Bier / Weekly Standard:

Most Popular Question at Healthcare.gov: How to Get Exemption From Lack-of-Coverage Penalty Fee? — One day away from the launch of the Obamacare marketplaces, the question most on the minds people visiting the Healthcare.gov website is not about coverage, but rather about avoiding the penalty, or tax, for not having health insurance.

Discussion: The PJ Tatler, Weasel Zippers and Conservatives4Palin

Ben Child / Guardian:

Star Wars lightsabers finally invented — Scientists in America have ‘accidentally’ found a way forward to the creation of real-life weapons as used by Jedi Knights — • Star Wars pet clothing range has puppies feeling the force — Wannabe Jedi Knights rejoice …

Discussion: Scared Monkeys