Government shutdown: John Boehner's private fight for Hill health subsidies  —  With the federal government nearing shutdown, House Speaker John Boehner stood on the House floor Monday and called on his colleagues to vote for a bill banning a “so-called exemption” that lawmakers and staffers receive for their health insurance.

Veterans break past World War II Memorial barricade  —  Update 1:45 p.m. ET: House GOP leadership sources tell CNN they plan to vote on a series of bills to fund the government, beginning Tuesday with three measures-spending for veterans, the District of Columbia and the Park Service.

The Saddest Paragraph You'll Read About the Government Shutdown Today  —  With NIH furloughs, children with cancer are being turned away from clinical trials.  —  You've heard about the Pandacam, the closed monuments and national parks, and the furloughed federal workers.

Technical problems plague launch of ObamaCare (Video)  —  ObamaCare's new health insurance marketplaces experienced a range of technical glitches Tuesday morning as they opened to enroll patients for the first time.  —  The federally facilitated online exchanges include functions for creating an account …

Perry: Wife Misspoke About Abortion  —  Texas Gov. Rick Perry, right, and his wife, Anita, arrive for his state of the state address in the house chambers at the state capitol, on, Jan. 29, 2013, in Austin, Texas.  —  Texas Gov. Rick Perry today owned up to an “oops” moment that wasn't even his.

Two Russians Walk Into a Parliamentary Crisis...  What is a president in a presidential constitutional republic to do when faced with an intransigent, bull-headed faction among his people's representatives?  —  Well, Boris Yeltsin, Russia's first democratically elected president …

Ted Cruz May Be Unwittingly Boosting Rand Paul's Brand  —  Cruz has redefined extremism in the Republican Party to such an extent that Paul doesn't come across as such a dangerous fringe candidate anymore.  —  WASHINGTON, DC - SEPTEMBER 30: Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) leaves a Republican Senate caucus meeting …

House Leaders Seize on Ted Cruz's Idea to End Shutdown (Updated)  —  Updated 4:23 p.m. |  The House will vote Tuesday evening on three bills to reopen various government programs that were shuttered when appropriations lapsed less than 24 hours ago.  —  One will allow veterans …

Is Republican Intransigence Reasonable?  —  Tyler Cowen on the politics of the looming government shutdown: … This is as good a summary as I've seen of the basic strategy being pursued by the savvier of what you might call the House Intransigents.  Not by all of them, however: Pace Cowen …

Ben Carson: ‘I had my first encounter with the IRS’ after challenging Obama  —  At an event in Birmingham, Ala. Monday night, former Johns Hopkins neurosurgeon Ben Carson revealed that he had received a visit from the Internal Revenue Service following his much-noted remarks at a National Prayer Breakfast earlier this year.

Biden Accidentally Shows Press Cover of Classified Document  —  Vice President Joe Biden appeared Monday to show the cover of a codeword-classified document to reporters during a meeting between President Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.  —  The contents of the document …

Why Aren't Those New, Millennial Liberals Protesting the Shutdown?  —  Is a new, young left really on the rise?  A few weeks ago, Peter Beinart wrote a long online essay which argued strongly in the affirmative.  It drew a lot of attention—20,000 “Likes” and almost 5,000 tweets, at last count.