memeorandum: Obama falls for Iran's fake fatwa against nuclear weapons, according to MEMRI (Neil Munro/The Daily Caller)

5:50 PM ET, September 30, 2013

Top Items:

Paul Steinhauser / CNN:

Poll: Shutdown would be GOP's fault — 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.

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, Taylor Marsh, Roll Call, Washington Post, Wonkblog, Hot Air, Weasel Zippers, Yahoo! News, American Spectator, ThinkProgress, Heritage Action for America, Daily Kos and National Review

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 Week, Washington Times, The Dish, Balloon Juice and The Hugh Hewitt Show

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

ThinkProgress:

49 Republicans Who Say Shutting Down The Government Over Obamacare Is A Big Mistake — The government may very well shut down on Tuesday, thanks to a set of Republicans who refuse to pass any legislation to continue funding it unless the law also defunds or delays Obamacare.

Discussion: No More Mister Nice Blog, Press & Sun-Bulletin, Salt Lake Tribune, PolicyMic, Talking Points Memo, The Huffington Post and The Hinterland Gazette

Politico:

Government shutdown: House GOP leaders huddle — House Speaker John Boehner and his leadership team will meet twice Monday morning, as House Republicans mull how - and if - they will avoid a government shutdown. — The Senate is expected to reject House-passed legislation that would keep …

Discussion: The Daily Caller, Daily Kos, Outside the Beltway and Connecting.the.Dots

Greg Sargent / The Plum Line:

John Boehner doesn't have to let the Tea Party paralyze whole government — The New York Times reports this morning that GOP Rep. Charlie Dent, a moderate from Pennsylvania, is working to round up House GOP support for allowing a “clean CR” funding the government, with no Obamacare defunding, to get a vote in the House.

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

Avik Roy / Forbes:

New Poll: Only One-Third Of Americans Support Repealing, Defunding Or Delaying Obamacare — Polls consistently show that Americans aren't happy with Obamacare. They think the law will make health care more expensive, and decrease its quality. But a new survey of 1,976 registered voters finds …

Discussion: CNN, ThinkProgress, Hot Air, PoliticusUSA, Los Angeles Times, PolicyMic and The Morning Consult

Pew Research Center for the People and the Press:

Anger at Government Most Pronounced among Conservative Republicans — Young Adults Largely Tune Out Shutdown Drama — With a possible government shutdown just hours away, public anger at the federal government is as high as at any point since the Pew Research Center began asking the question in 1997.

Discussion: Washington Free Beacon

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

Robert Stacy McCain / American Spectator:
Extremely Extreme Extremists

Discussion: The Lonely Conservative

Bloomberg:
Republicans' Shutdown Fight Exposes Simmering Civil War

Discussion: CANNONFIRE, Politico and Taylor Marsh

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

Discussion: Yahoo! News, The Hinterland Gazette, Shakesville and Taking Note

Robert Costa / National Review:
The Speaker's Slog

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

Russell Berman / The Hill:
Shutdown looms as House GOP tries again on ObamaCare

Discussion: Washington Free Beacon, The Plum Line and Red Alert Politics

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

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

Catalina Camia / USA Today:
5 things to know today about the government shutdown

Discussion: NBCNews, Planet Washington, The Reaction and NPR

Gary Langer / ABC News:
Disapproval on Budget Debate Puts the GOP at Greater Risk

Discussion: Outside the Beltway

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

Discussion: Wonkblog, ECHIDNE OF THE SNAKES, The Raw Story, The Gateway Pundit, The Daily Caller, Post Politics, Los Angeles Times, THEROOT.COM, GigaOM, Gawker, Daniel W. Drezner and Washington Wire

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

Discussion: Politico

Tal Kopan / Politico:
Dow drops amid government shutdown fears

Discussion: Alan Colmes' Liberaland, The Hill and CNN

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

Discussion: Politico, Roll Call, PoliticusUSA and The Week

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

Discussion: Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion

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

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

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.

Dylan Byers / Politico:
CNN Films cancels Hillary Clinton doc, director cites pressure from Clinton aides

Discussion: Deadline.com, National Review, Talking Points Memo and The Right Scoop

Guardian:
CNN's Hillary Clinton film scrapped as director blames lack of co-operation

Discussion: Alan Colmes' Liberaland and Rush Limbaugh

Jack Mirkinson / The Huffington Post:
CNN's Hillary Clinton Movie Has Been Canceled, Director Says

Discussion: Spectator, Weasel Zippers, Mediaite, National Review, Talking Points Memo and WND, more at Mediagazer »

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: Pat Dollard, Red Alert Politics, The Daily Caller, Balloon Juice, Weasel Zippers, Mediaite, Talking Points Memo, The Raw Story, The PJ Tatler and National Review

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

Eric Garland / The Hill:

GOP Rep. Pompeo: I'll try to enroll in ObamaCare exchange — Rep. Mike Pompeo (R-Kan.), an opponent of ObamaCare, said he will try to sign up for the healthcare exchange when it opens Tuesday. — “I'm going to try to enroll tomorrow morning, October 1,” Pompeo vowed.

Discussion: Politico

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

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

Henry J. Aaron / New York Times:

Obama Should Ignore the Debt Ceiling — WASHINGTON — THE United States government is likely to shut down nonessential services tomorrow, after House Republicans voted before dawn yesterday to attach a one-year delay of President Obama's health care law (and a repeal of a tax to pay for it) …

Discussion: PostPartisan, Balkinization and Lawyers, Guns & Money

Jon Favreau / The Daily Beast:
House Republican Hostage-Takers Are Unfit to Govern

Discussion: VodkaPundit

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: The Raw Story, ThinkProgress and Jezebel

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

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