memeorandum: The Beginning of the End for Washington (Ron Fournier/NationalJournal.com)

4:30 PM ET, October 1, 2013

Top Items:

John Bresnahan / Politico:

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.

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Business Insider, Talking Points Memo, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, The Daily Caller, Daily Kos, Mediaite, National Review, Booman Tribune and Roll Call

Meredith Shiner / The World's Greatest …:

Democrats Divulge Emails With Boehner Staff as Shutdown Fight Gets Personal (Updated) — Reid's office is considering leaking emails between his chief of staff, David Krone, above, and Boehner's chief. (CQ Roll Call File Photo) — Updated 11:30 a.m. | Senate Democrats are considering leaking …

Discussion: Defense One, No More Mister Nice Blog, Daily Kos, Roll Call, The Plum Line, Talking Points Memo and Politico

Rebecca Leber / ThinkProgress:

Six Headlines About The Government Shutdown That Will Destroy Your Faith In Journalism — The government shut down because a small group of Republicans, led by Sen Ted Cruz (R-TX), insist on linking continued funding to repealing, defunding, or delaying Obamacare.

Discussion: Washington Monthly, The Huffington Post, The Daily Banter, Center for American Progress, Daily Kos, CNN, Salt Lake Tribune and PolicyMic

Tom Kludt / Talking Points Memo:

‘House Of Turds’: NY Daily News Mocks Boehner As Shutdown Arrives (PHOTO) — A prominent New York City tabloid marked the first government shutdown since 1996 on Tuesday with a cover that parodies a hit political drama and mocks House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH).

Discussion: Paul Krugman, Mediaite, Balloon Juice and The Hinterland Gazette

Nick Gillespie / Reason:

Let Us Be Clear: Obama Deserves Chief Responsibility for Gov't Shutdown. — Boehner and the GOP may well be “anarchists” and Reid and the Dems may be useless. But it's the president who runs the show. — Whether it turns truly apocalyptic or ends up just being a short break …

Discussion: NPR, Outside the Beltway and Hit & Run

Charles P. Pierce / Esquire:

THE DEMOCRATS ARE BRINGING GUNS TO A GUNFIGHT — This is more like it, thank you. … This would only be responding in kind. For years, Washington worked on a system of both written and unwritten rules of behavior. One of the marked characteristics of the reign of the morons has been to trash …

Discussion: The Mahablog and No More Mister Nice Blog

Fox News:

Congressional stalemate rings in government slimdown — What the Obama administration is portraying as a “shutdown” of the federal government — complete with signs posted at the entrances to government buildings, parks and monuments — is turning out to be more of a “slimdown,” …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Mediaite and The Week

Ashley Killough / CNN:

Durbin: Medical device tax repeal could be ‘on the table’ — Washington (CNN) - A repeal of the medical device tax may be a point of compromise between the House and Senate as the two houses of Congress work to end the government shutdown, the number two Democrat in the Senate said Tuesday.

Discussion: Firedoglake, PoliticusUSA, The PJ Tatler, Politico, ABC News, Daily Kos and Red Alert Politics

Politico:
House GOP to vote on narrow funding bills

Discussion: CNN, The Plum Line, Firedoglake and The Reaction

Manu Raju / Politico:
GOP braces for shutdown fallout

Discussion: CNN and The Hill

James Fallows / The Atlantic Online:
Why This Is Not Just ‘Washington Breakdown,’ in 3 Graphs (and 1 Story)

Discussion: The Dish, Shakesville, Connecting.the.Dots, Taylor Marsh, The Frying Pan and The Moderate Voice

Jennifer Epstein / Politico:
Obama notes health care glitches, blasts ‘Republican shutdown’

Discussion: Colorlines

Politico:
Government shutdown: President Obama holds the line

Discussion: americanthinker.com and The Hill

Catalina Camia / Associated Press:
Polls: Americans put more blame on GOP for shutdown

Discussion: Economix, Mediaite, Right Wing Watch, Yahoo! News, Naked Politics, CNN, ABC News, his vorpal sword and msnbc.com

Dana Milbank / Washington Post:
In Congress, a not-so-brief case of delusion over government shutdown

Discussion: The Mahablog, Balloon Juice and The Raw Story

Joe Nocera / New York Times:
Those Banana Republicans

Discussion: Wall Street Journal, PolicyMic, CANNONFIRE, Booman Tribune, Hullabaloo, National Review, Daily Kos, The Verge, The Daily Banter and The Hinterland Gazette

Jonathan Chait / New York Magazine:
The House GOP's Legislative Strike

Discussion: New York Times, Post Politics, Associated Press, Hullabaloo, DownWithTyranny!, Truthout Stories, The Daily Banter and Prairie Weather

Daniel Halper / Weekly Standard:
Politico: Obama Shows ‘Resolve and Strength’ By Shutting Government

Discussion: Hot Air

CNN:

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.

Discussion: Politico, ABC News, ThinkProgress, Taylor Marsh, Gawker and Connecting.the.Dots

Catherine Thompson / Talking Points Memo:

KKK Rally At Gettysburg Military Park Canceled Due To Gov't Shutdown — A planned Ku Klux Klan gathering in Gettysburg, Pa. was canceled due to the government shutdown, Philadelphia's WCAU reported Tuesday. — A Maryland-based KKK group was approved to hold a rally on Saturday at Gettysburg National Military Park, according to WCAU.

Discussion: Alan Colmes' Liberaland and Fox News

Leo Shane III / Stars & Stripes:
WWII veterans storm D.C. memorial closed by government shutdown

Discussion: ThinkProgress, msnbc.com and WJLA-TV

Philadelphia News, Local News, Weather …:
Gettysburg KKK Rally Scuttled by Shutdown

Discussion: The Huffington Post and The Raw Story

Washington Post:
Visiting veterans storm closed war memorials

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit

Hunter Walker / Talking Points Memo:
Witness: Mississippi Congressman ‘Opened The Barricade’ To Closed WWII Memorial

Discussion: The Raw Story

Elise Viebeck / The Hill:

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 …

Discussion: ThinkProgress, The CT Mirror, Weekly Standard, Washington Post, The Daily Caller, National Republican …, Reuters, Talking Points Memo and The PJ Tatler

Washington Post:
Obamacare site goes live, with some glitches

Discussion: NBCNews, WND, PJ Media, Guardian, Forbes, Questions and Observations and Pat Dollard

Matthew Yglesias / Slate:
Sebelius: “Give Us the Same Slack You Give Apple”

Discussion: Firedoglake, Via Meadia and Unfair Park

Louise Radnofsky / Washington Wire:
Sebelius: Obamacare, It's Like an iPhone

Discussion: National Review, The PJ Tatler, Hit & Run and National Republican …

Charlie Spiering / Washington Examiner:

The glitchy error-filled misadventures of creating an account on healthcare.gov — BELTWAY CONFIDENTIAL BARACK OBAMA OBAMACARE GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN — A friend and I spent the morning trying unsuccessfully to create an account on healthcare.gov and shop for cheaper health insurance.

Discussion: Americans for Tax Reform …, Rush Limbaugh, National Republican … and Weasel Zippers

Misstripleem / Twitchy:
Surprise! Obamacare health insurance exchange websites don't work; HealthCare.gov a total mess

Discussion: New York Times, Outside the Beltway, The Lonely Conservative, National Review, Althouse, NewsBusters and Pirate's Cove

Tom Kludt / Talking Points Memo:

Poll Indicates GOP Has Been Deeply Damaged By Shutdown Fight — Republicans in Washington insist they have simply been upholding the wishes of the American people throughout their efforts to block the Affordable Care Act, but a poll released Tuesday tells a very different story.

Discussion: TIME, Taegan Goddard's …, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Politico, The Moderate Voice and Democracy in America

CNN:
CNN Poll: Will Obamacare help you?

Discussion: The Week, The Hill, The Other McCain, Heritage Action for America, Politico, Weasel Zippers and The Right Scoop

CNN:
Sen. Durbin: “It's conceivable” …

Discussion: The Daily Caller, Talking Points Memo and National Review

Mackenzie Weinger / Politico:

Rand Paul: Open the government — Sen. Rand Paul on Tuesday said he would support a short-term funding measure “to keep the government open while we negotiate.” — “I think what we could do is pass a very short term, maybe not six weeks, but what about one week, so we could negotiate over a week …

Discussion: Hot Air, The Right Scoop and National Review

Charlie Cook / NationalJournal.com:
Ted Cruz May Be Unwittingly Boosting Rand Paul's Brand

Discussion: Politico and Conservatives4Palin

The Daily Show with Jon Stewart:

Jon Stewart's Rockin' Shutdown Eve — If President Obama can make a deal with the most intransigent mullahs in the world but not with House Republicans, maybe he is not the problem. (07:20)

Discussion: The Daily Banter, Talking Points Memo, Business Insider, Towleroad News #gay and Mediaite

Ron Fournier / NationalJournal.com:

The Beginning of the End for Washington — This impasse could be the breaking point for a political system that has gone from dysfunctional to nonfunctioning. — U.S. President Barack Obama signs H.R. 3210, Pay Our Military Act, which provides continuing appropriations for members of the Armed Forces during the government shutdown.

Discussion: Yahoo! News, Washington Examiner, Slate, Wall Street Journal and Washington Wire