Top Items:
New York Times:
Boehner Urges G.O.P. Unity in ‘Epic Battle’ — WASHINGTON — With his troops anxious for a way forward, Speaker John A. Boehner began a closed-door meeting of House Republicans on Friday morning with a recitation of letters from local schoolchildren on how they deal with stress.
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo, Gawker, Taegan Goddard's …, PoliticusUSA, Prairie Weather, Liberaland and The Monkey Cage
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Cameron Joseph / The Hill:
GOP finds its shutdown message — Republicans are seeking to paint Democrats as the “party of no” to help dig themselves out of a hole on the government shutdown. — The effort is aimed at softening the political blow of the shutdown while buying Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) time to figure out an end game.
Discussion:
Prairie Weather and New York Times
David Weigel / Slate:
How Democrats Got a Spine — The Republican Party taught them how to be uncompromising. — It's easy to forget, but this year began with a nick-of-time congressional compromise. At the 11th hour, with Washington's supply of clichés nearly depleted, the House and Senate approved a deal to avoid the fiscal cliff.
Discussion:
Taylor Marsh, The Mahablog, Daily Kos and No More Mister Nice Blog
Julie Pace / Associated Press:
OBAMA TO PUBLIC: DON'T GIVE UP ON HEALTH SIGN-UPS — WASHINGTON (AP) — Defending the shaky rollout of his health care law, President Barack Obama said frustrated Americans “definitely shouldn't give up” on the problem-plagued program now at the heart of his dispute with Republicans over reopening the federal government.
Discussion:
Post Politics and Taegan Goddard's …
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Associated Press:
Parties Race to Use Shutdown for 2014 Leverage — Republicans and Democrats have wasted little time trying to use the first federal government shutdown in a generation for political advantage ahead of next year's midterm elections, seizing on the plight of furloughed workers …
Discussion:
Politico, Associated Press, CNN and Weasel Zippers
Marc A. Thiessen / Washington Post:
The Seinfeld shutdown — Quick: What do Republicans want in exchange for ending the government shutdown? If you know the answer, congratulations — because Republicans sure don't. — When this saga began, it was about defunding Obamacare. House Republicans passed legislation to keep …
Discussion:
Taegan Goddard's … and Ed Driscoll
Igor Bobic / Talking Points Memo:
Cruz: GOP Already Compromised By Demanding To Defund, Not Repeal Obamacare
Cruz: GOP Already Compromised By Demanding To Defund, Not Repeal Obamacare
Discussion:
Politico and Hullabaloo
Ramesh Ponnuru / Bloomberg:
How to Make a Non-Disastrous Debt-Limit Deal
How to Make a Non-Disastrous Debt-Limit Deal
Discussion:
Wall Street Journal, Fix the Debt, The Dish, National Review, Townhall.com and Hot Air
Mike Lillis / The Hill:
Dems plan discharge petition to force vote on ending shutdown — House Democratic leaders will begin circulating a discharge petition Friday in hopes of forcing a vote on a “clean” spending bill. — GOP leaders have so far refused to stage a vote on the Senate-passed continuing resolution …
Discussion:
Liberaland
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Matt Fuller / Roll Call:
Democrats Plan to Discharge GOP Bill to End Shutdown (Updated)
Democrats Plan to Discharge GOP Bill to End Shutdown (Updated)
Discussion:
Outside the Beltway and voteview blog
Dylan Scott / Talking Points Memo:
House Democrats Propose Hail Mary Strategy For Ending Shutdown
House Democrats Propose Hail Mary Strategy For Ending Shutdown
Discussion:
Balloon Juice, Arkansas Blog, Arkansas Times and Eschaton
Pema Levy / Newsweek:
THE WOMAN WHO KNOWS THE NSA'S SECRETS — Trawling for needles in the data haystack
Discussion:
emptywheel, more at Mediagazer »
Alex Pappas / The Daily Caller:
Priests threatened with arrest if they minister to military during shutdown — In a stunning development, some military priests are facing arrest if they celebrate mass or practice their faith on military bases during the federal government shutdown. — “With the government shutdown …
Discussion:
The Strata-Sphere, The Gateway Pundit, americanthinker.com and The PJ Tatler
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John Schlageter / milarch.org:
Shutdown Impacts Chapel Services
Shutdown Impacts Chapel Services
Discussion:
The Hill, Ed Driscoll, Independent Journal Review, Weasel Zippers and National Review
New York Times:
Pent-Up Demand for Health Insurance — There were plenty of computer glitches when millions of Americans went online to check out their options for affordable insurance policies on the new health care exchanges that opened for business this week. It was frustrating, but it was also an indication …
Discussion:
Prairie Weather
Ed Kilgore / Washington Monthly:
Devil's Xmas Tree Lite — So long as House Republicans maintain the initiative in the current fiscal fight, we're all living in Robert Costa's world. His latest missive from Boehnerland (entitled “The Emerging Offer") suggests that the Speaker and such helpmeets as Paul Ryan are already far advanced …
Discussion:
Booman Tribune
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Reuters:
Swiss to vote on 2,500 franc basic income for every adult — (Reuters) - Switzerland will hold a vote on whether to introduce a basic income for all adults, in a further sign of growing public activism over pay inequality since the financial crisis. — A grassroots committee is calling …
Discussion:
Hullabaloo
EIA:
U.S. expected to be largest producer of petroleum and natural gas hydrocarbons in 2013 — The U.S. Energy Information Administration estimates that the United States will be the world's top producer of petroleum and natural gas hydrocarbons in 2013, surpassing Russia and Saudi Arabia.
Discussion:
E2-Wire, EcoWatch, The Daily Caller and The Raw Story
Mila Mimica / nbcwashington.com:
Man Found With Burns on Nat'l Mall in Critical Condition — The man may have set himself on fire, police said. — Park Police officials tell NBC Washington a man may have set himself on fire at the National Mall in Washington, D.C. on Friday afternoon. — The incident was reported around 4:30 p.m …
Discussion:
NBCNews, The Gateway Pundit and The Raw Story