Grover Norquist on Ted Cruz: ‘He pushed House Republicans into traffic and wandered away’  —  Grover Norquist is the president of Americans for Tax Reform and the creator of the anti-tax pledge that nearly every Republican in Congress has signed.  We spoke on Tuesday about the government shutdown and its consequences for his agenda.

EXCLUSIVE VIDEO: McDonald's Employee Admits Being Paid $15 to Protest WW2 Veterans (UPDATED)  —  Yesterday I reported from the National World War Two Memorial on several members of Congress crashing the barricades set up by the National Park Service that were keeping out several hundred Honor Flight veterans …

Obama to Wall Street: This time be worried  —  Obama to Wall Street: You should be concerned this time  —  In an exclusive interview with CNBC's John Harwood, President Obama says Wall Street should be concerned about the ongoing impasse between him and House Republicans over funding the government and the debt limit.

Meet Butch Matthews, A Republican Who Came To Love Obamacare After Realizing It Will Save Him $13,000  —  61-year-old Butch Matthews, left, with his wife Debbie  —  Butch Matthews is a 61-year-old former small business owner from Little Rock, Arkansas who used to wake up every morning at 4 …

President Obama Turns His Back on Veterans  —  The White House and congressional Democrats aren't satisfied with simply shutting the government down.  Today the president reiterated his threat to veto a simple, common-sense measure to stand with our nation's veterans and ensure that veterans' programs are funded during the shutdown.

Reid: ‘Why Would We Want To’ Help One Kid With Cancer?  —  Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D., Nev.) asked why Senate Democrats would want to fund the National Institutes of Health to “help one child who has cancer” Wednesday when asked that question by CNN reporter Dana Bash.

Juan Linz's Bad News for America  —  The Yale political scientist died this week.  His life's work tells us that American democracy is doomed.  —  Juan Linz, the distinguished Yale political scientist, died on Tuesday morning in New Haven, Conn., at the age of 86.

Exclusive: Mia Farrow and Eight of Her Children Speak Out on Their Lives, Frank Sinatra, and the Scandals They've Endured  —  See a slide show of Mia's children and quotes from Orth's piece.  —  Twenty years after Vanity Fair special correspondent Maureen Orth reported on the sexual-abuse …

Tom Clancy, Best-Selling Novelist of Military Thrillers, Dies at 66  —  Tom Clancy, whose complex, adrenaline-fueled military novels made him one of the world's best-selling and best-known authors, died on Tuesday in a hospital in Baltimore.  He was 66.  —  Ivan Held, the president …

Why Are So Many People in a Blind Rage These Days?  —  Paul Waldman, as he so often does, says what I've been thinking: … Roger that.  But then he adds this: … This is conventional wisdom, of course.  The reason the tea party caucus isn't willing to compromise is because there's no pressure on them to compromise.

Bank CEOs huddle with Obama  —  Top banking executives emerged from a meeting with President Obama on Wednesday warning of the “extremely adverse” consequences of a national default.  —  Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein said there is broad agreement in the banking industry that the debt ceiling …

Cruz warns shutdown could lead to terrorist attacks  —  Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) warned on Wednesday that the government shutdown could leave the United States vulnerable to terrorist attacks.  —  “If, God forbid, we see an attack on the United States because the intelligence community …

President praises pope  —  President Obama said Wednesday he had been “hugely impressed” by Pope Francis after being asked about the new pontiff's comments that issues of homosexuality and abortion had consumed too much of the church's attention.  —  The president said that his admiration came …