Boehner: The Nation Will Be On ‘The Path’ To Default If Obama Doesn't Accept GOP Demands  —  House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) said the nation would default on its debt later this month if President Obama does not agree to GOP's demands to cut spending and change parts of the Affordable Care Act.

200 House Democrats Send Letter to Speaker Boehner to #DemandAVote on Bill to Reopen Government  —  Washington, D.C. - Today, 200 Members of the House Democratic Caucus, led by Congressmen Timothy H. Bishop and Patrick Murphy, sent a letter to Speaker John Boehner demanding a vote on behalf …

A Federal Budget Crisis Months in the Planning  —  WASHINGTON — Shortly after President Obama started his second term, a loose-knit coalition of conservative activists led by former Attorney General Edwin Meese III gathered in the capital to plot strategy.  Their push to repeal …

Cuccinelli shuns Cruz limelight  —  RICHMOND, Va.— That was awkward.  —  In the clearest sign yet of the potent effect of the government shutdown on the Virginia governor's race, Republican Ken Cuccinelli avoided being photographed with Ted Cruz at a gala they headlined here Saturday night …

GOP congressman: We stumbled into war over Obamacare  —  BELTWAY CONFIDENTIAL OBAMACARE REPUBLICAN PARTY HARRY REID JOHN BOEHNER  —  On Thursday afternoon, as the government shutdown entered its third day, a Republican member of the House sat down with a group of reporters in an office building not far from the Capitol.

U.S. forces strike in Libya, Somalia, capture al Qaeda operative  —  (CNN) — In two operations in Africa nearly 3,000 miles apart, U.S. military forces went after two high-value targets over the weekend.  —  One operation took place early Saturday in the Libyan capital of Tripoli …

CBS Host Takes Apart GOP's Shutdown Argument  —  Senate Minority Whip John Cornyn (R-TX) was unable to explain why Republicans needed to threaten economic disaster to try to get their way on Obamacare during an interview on CBS's Face The Nation on Sunday.  —  Bob Schieffer, Face the Nation's host …

Where's sense of crisis in a 17% government shutdown?  —  BELTWAY CONFIDENTIAL CONGRESS GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN  —  Everyone knows the phrase “government shutdown” doesn't mean the entire U.S. government is shut down.  So in a partial government shutdown, like the one underway at the moment …

The rise of the New Confederacy  —  It took on new force with fears of the federal government in Washington interfering with their cherished way of life.  It gathered steam with the election of Abraham Lincoln in 1860.  And it all came into full flower when shore batteries fired on Fort Sumter.

OBAMA OPEN TO NAME CHANGE FOR WASHINGTON REDSKINS  —  WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama says he would “think about changing” the Washington Redskins' name if he owned the football team as he waded into the controversy involving a word many consider offensive to Native Americans.