Collision course: CR and debt ceiling  —  A harsh reality began setting into Capitol Hill on Tuesday: The U.S. government may not reopen until the two parties reach a deal to raise the national debt ceiling.  —  Hours after federal agencies shuttered their doors for the first time in nearly two decades …

Obama admin. knew about WWII veterans' request and rejected it  —  The White House and the Department of the Interior rejected a request from Rep. Steven Palazzo's office to have World War II veterans visit the World War II memorial in Washington, the Mississippi Republican told The Daily Caller Tuesday.

House votes down GOP's piecemeal spending bills  —  The House on Tuesday night rejected three appropriations resolutions that would have funded the District of Columbia, veterans programs and national parks, after House Republicans set them up in a way that required Democratic support for passage.

Why Boehner doesn't just ditch the hard right  —  Robert Costa is the National Review's Washington editor and one of the best-sourced reporters among House Republicans.  Like many others, I've relied on his reporting in recent days about how House Republicans are strategizing around the government shutdown.

Rick Perry calls Obamacare ‘a criminal act’ as he stumps for Lonegan in Bergen County  —  Republican U.S. Senate candidate Steve Lonegan (left) stands next to Texas Gov. Rick Perry (right) at a rally outside the Bendix Diner in Hasbrouck Heights this afternoon.  (Brent Johnson/The Star-Ledger)

Business leaders dread debt-limit battle  —  The Treasury Department estimates the government will exhaust its borrowing capacity by Oct. 17, which is just three weeks away.  —  Lobbyists have been pushing Congress to raise the debt ceiling without drama or delay, but say the chances …

Staunch Group of Republicans Outflanks House Leaders  —  WASHINGTON — They have had their fleeting moments on cable television.  Their closed-door run-ins with Speaker John A. Boehner spill occasionally into the pages of Capitol Hill newspapers.  But outside their districts …

Jellyfish Invasion Paralyzes Swedish Reactor  —  In an episode that evokes B-grade sci-fi movie plots from the 1950s, but actually reflects a continuing global problem, nuclear engineers in southeastern Sweden have been wrestling with a giant swarm of jellyfish that forced the shutdown of the world's largest boiling-water reactor.

The real story of the shutdown: 50 years of GOP race-baiting  —  A House minority from white districts want to destroy the first black president, and the GOP majority abets them  —  On the day the Affordable Care Act takes effect, the U.S. government is shut down, and it may be permanently broken.