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Holding Firm — The same question keeps popping up: why doesn't Speaker John Boehner just pass a “clean” continuing resolution to fund the government? It's a ubiquitous query at the Capitol, and it was asked many times this afternoon as House Republicans left their closed-door conference meeting.
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With Traditional GOP Allies Defecting, Big Business Takes Sides With Obama — WASHINGTON (AP) — Having failed to persuade their traditional Republican allies in Congress to avert a government shutdown, business leaders fear bigger problems ahead, and they're taking sides …
Discussion:
Associated Press, The Week, Booman Tribune, Taylor Marsh and Balloon Juice


US government shutdown: Barack Obama looks like a bitter, petty and partisan president — The American Left's hatred for all things conservative has been on full display in Washington in recent days, with the White House and its allies in Congress heaving with anger and indignation …
Discussion:
ThinkProgress, CANNONFIRE, Questions and Observations, Washington Post, VodkaPundit and Post Politics


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.
Discussion:
Obsidian Wings, Hullabaloo, Daily Kos and Post Politics


The Sad and Predictable Death of the “Fund Our Veterans” Republican Gambit — Ideally, as of this morning, Republicans were hoping that Democrats would come to Jesus and agree to form a conference committee to hammer out the continuing resolution. As of this afternoon …
Discussion:
Hit & Run, Balloon Juice, Hot Air, Politico and National Review


Obama Reaches Out to Congressional Leaders — Lawmakers From Both Parties Invited for Talks on Budget, Debt Limit … WASHINGTON—President Barack Obama invited congressional leaders from both parties to the White House on Wednesday to discuss the partial government shutdown and looming debt-limit crisis, a White House official said.
Discussion:
Taegan Goddard's …, Washington Wire, Taylor Marsh and The Right Scoop


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 …


Hold Your Ground and Shut John Cornyn Up — After three years of getting ready, yesterday the nation signed on to get Obamacare only to have websites across America crash. The ones that were not crashing were scam sites designed for identity theft. Amid all of that, if you tried …
Discussion:
protein wisdom and LifeNews.com


How the government shutdown is tearing the GOP apart — Entering day two of the shutdown, Republicans have turned this into a fight between themselves — I — n the past few weeks, as Congress has lumbered inexorably toward a government shutdown, we've seen the emergence of a new faction …
Discussion:
Little Green Footballs, GovBeat and Trail Blazers Blog

Dems: Prolonged shutdown will give us leverage on debt limit — Senate Democrats believe the longer the government remains shut down, the more leverage they will wield in the debt-limit debate later this month. — There is growing sentiment among Democrats that the short-term funding resolution …
Discussion:
PoliticusUSA and Taegan Goddard's …


Rand Paul: ‘Goons’ blocked WWII Memorial
Discussion:
American Spectator, Conservatives4Palin, WND, Hot Air, The Daily Caller, The Atlantic Wire, The Mississippi Press and WJLA-TV

Where leadership is needed, Obama stays on the sidelines—except when he's attacking Republicans.
Discussion:
Betsy's Page

What We Need to Fix Congress: More Partisanship
Discussion:
A plain blog about politics, Daniel W. Drezner and NationalJournal.com

Staunch Group of Republicans Outflanks House Leaders
Discussion:
susiemadrak.com and Talking Points Memo

News analysis: Can this government be saved?
Discussion:
First Read, Liberal Values, Washington Post, Talking Points Memo and Daily Kos

Republicans following Cruz's playbook as shutdown crisis unfolds
Discussion:
Prairie Weather

House Republicans are failing Americans in their effort to kill Obamacare
Discussion:
Mediaite, theGrio, Brad DeLong, The Huffington Post, The Raw Story and Daily Kos

This time, it's different: Negotiations have no place in latest fiscal crisis
Discussion:
The Fix and First Read

The real story of the shutdown: 50 years of GOP race-baiting
Discussion:
Pirate's Cove, The Gateway Pundit, National Review, Hit & Run and Liberty Street

Is It Time To Abolish Congress? — It's always been hard …
Discussion:
Power Line, Washington Post, Hot Air and protein wisdom

White House turns to star power for ObamaCare boost
Discussion:
Weasel Zippers and Politico

Boehner-Reid Relationship Unravels Over Health Care Benefits Fight
Discussion:
Business Insider


Sources: Author Tom Clancy dead — Tom Clancy: The Cold War's novelist — (CNN) — Author Tom Clancy, whose novel, “The Hunt for Red October” propelled him to fame, fortune and status as a favorite storyteller of the American military, has died, according to sources with his publisher and family.
Discussion:
Alan Colmes' Liberaland and BizPac Review
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Tom Clancy, Best-Selling Novelist of Military Thrillers, Dies at 66
Discussion:
Outside the Beltway, Gawker and Taylor Marsh


Shutdown overreach: More guards at WWII memorial than Benghazi; Park Service closes park it doesn't run — WASHINGTON SECRETS BENGHAZI GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN — The National Park Service is sending so many officials out to shut down federal parks from visiting Americans that at this rate …
Discussion:
Michelle Malkin, Twitchy, The PJ Tatler and The Right Scoop
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WWII veterans storm DC memorial closed by government shutdown
Discussion:
The Week, National Review, Law Blog, Guardian, Washington Post, Outside the Beltway, msnbc.com, ThinkProgress and Gawker, more at Mediagazer »

What Happens to Conservatism When the Obamacare War Is Over? — When we look back decades from now, one of the keys to understanding this period in our political history will be the story of how a set of market-based health insurance reforms that started as a proposal from the Heritage Foundation …
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Americans to anti-Obamacare Congressmen: Give Up Your Health Care
Discussion:
Firedoglake, CNN, NBCNews, BOR and Taegan Goddard's …


Rick Perry: Implementing Obamacare “a Criminal Act” — HASBROUCK HEIGHTS, N.J. — In a campaign appearance Tuesday on behalf of New Jersey Republican Senate nominee Steve Lonegan, Texas Gov. Rick Perry said the government's implementation of the national health care reform law constituted “a criminal act.”
Discussion:
The Dish, ThinkProgress, Hullabaloo, Roll Call and Prairie Weather
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Rick Perry calls Obamacare ‘a criminal act’ as he stumps for Lonegan in Bergen County
Discussion:
The Raw Story


Shutdown coverage fails Americans … U.S. news reports are largely blaming the government shutdown on the inability of both political parties to come to terms. It is supposedly the result of a “bitterly divided” Congress that “failed to reach agreement” (Washington Post) or …
Discussion:
Poynter, The Week, Shakesville and Hullabaloo, more at Mediagazer »


America flirts with self-destruction — The fallout of a US government default, particularly one that lasts, is beyond prediction — Is the US a functioning democracy? This week legislators decided to shut down a swath of the federal government rather than allow an enacted health law go into operation at the agreed moment.
Discussion:
Salon and Crooks and Liars

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.
Discussion:
The Mahablog, Shakesville, Politico, voteview blog and Conservatives4Palin
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Obama Summons Congressional Leaders to White House
Discussion:
Washington Times, Hit & Run, Politico and The Atlantic Online