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Senate Dems to call GOP's bluff on debt limit — Senate Democrats are planning to start the process this week for a Senate vote on a clean debt limit increase, sources tell me - a move that could call the bluff of Republicans in both chambers and force them to take a stand on whether …
Discussion:
Daily Kos and Hullabaloo
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A U.S. Default Seen as Catastrophe Dwarfing Lehman's Fall — Anyone who remembers the collapse of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. little more than five years ago knows what a global financial disaster is. A U.S. government default, just weeks away if Congress fails to raise the debt ceiling …
Discussion:
ThinkProgress, Firedoglake, Daniel W. Drezner, Daily Kos and Guardian


White House official says Obama would accept short-term agreement on debt ceiling — President Obama would accept a short-term increase in the debt ceiling, rather than a permanent one, a senior White House official said Monday, acknowledging that it may not be possible to reach agreement …
Discussion:
Hot Air, The Fix, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Guardian, Business Insider, The Plum Line, AEIdeas and ABC News


Tom Coburn: No default if ceiling stays — Sen. Tom Coburn said Monday that warnings of a U.S. default if Congress doesn't raise the debt ceiling by Oct. 17 are untrue. — “I would dispel the rumor that is going around that you hear on every newscast that if we don't raise the debt ceiling we will default on our debt.
Discussion:
neo-neocon, National Review, Washington Wire and Post Politics

Republicans Downplay ‘Default’, Dismiss Debt Deadline — Some GOP lawmakers say White House officials—and global financial experts—are exaggerating the potential impact of missed payments. — Secretary of the Treasury Jacob Lew arrives at the Capitol on Thursday during the government shutdown.
Discussion:
Washington Monthly, The Raw Story and susiemadrak.com


Obamacare or the Debt Ceiling
Discussion:
Washington Monthly and Wonkblog

Governing by Blackmail — SUPPOSE President Obama announced:
Discussion:
Crooks and Liars and The Hinterland Gazette


Reid plotting to stay in power — Republicans are eager for November 2016 — and not just because Barack Obama's presidency will be in its final days. — It's when Harry Reid, the man reviled by Republicans for his inflammatory rhetoric and hardball tactics during the government shutdown, could be booted from his Nevada Senate seat.
Discussion:
Reuters, Washington Post, Business Insider, Weasel Zippers, Taegan Goddard's … and Jammie Wearing Fools
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Harry Reid talks tough, ramps up for 2016
Discussion:
TheBlaze.com and National Review


In Conversation: Antonin Scalia — On the eve of a new Supreme Court session, the firebrand justice discusses gay rights and media echo chambers, Seinfeld and the Devil, and how much he cares about his intellectual legacy ("I don't"). — a day that just happened to be the 27th anniversary …
Discussion:
Yahoo! News, ThinkProgress, Advocate, Althouse, NewsBusters, TheBlaze.com, Talking Points Memo, Lawyers, Guns & Money, msnbc.com, Politico, Towleroad News #gay, SCOTUSblog, Mediaite, Betsy's Page, The Fix, The Raw Story, The Hill, BuzzFeed, The Volokh Conspiracy, The Agonist, Shakesville, Taegan Goddard's …, Conservatives4Palin, Liberaland and Gawker


AMBER WEBSITE NOW WORKING - Obama plays POLITICS with LOST CHILDREN, shuts down Amber Alert website — This is unbelievable. The Obama administration has shut down the Amber Alert website because of the government shutdown and it now renders this message when you attempt to access it:
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Amber Alert System Unaffected By Government Shutdown, Justice Department Says
Discussion:
Washington Free Beacon


Defects Cripple Health-Care Website — Six days into the launch of insurance marketplaces created by the new health-care law, the federal government acknowledged for the first time Sunday it needed to fix design and software problems that have kept customers from applying online for coverage.


ATF tries to block whistleblowing agent's ‘Fast and Furious’ book — 1st Amendment battle over ‘gun-walking’ expose — The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives is blocking the main whistleblower in the Fast and Furious case from publishing a book for pay …
Discussion:
The PJ Tatler, Scared Monkeys, Washington Free Beacon and The Lonely Conservative
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ATF tries to block Fast and Furious whistle-blower from publishing book
Discussion:
protein wisdom and Weasel Zippers


Obamacare epiphanies, part VII: Hey, somebody's got to pay for somebody else's ‘free’ stuff — This “Obamacare awakening” in a nutshell, coming soon to millions more (h/t Instapundit): … A little later: … Sorry, but... A greeting for those having similar epiphanies in the future:
Discussion:
Weasel Zippers
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Anxious Allies Aiding Booker in Senate Bid — Cory A. Booker is an undisputed star of a new generation of African-American leaders, electrifying liberal audiences with his oratory and charming the social media set with his digital savvy. — But the Senate campaign Mr. Booker, a Democrat …
Discussion:
Politico, Hit & Run, Ballot Box, Weasel Zippers, Hot Air, Taegan Goddard's … and msnbc.com
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TV ad in Wyoming Senate race hits Liz Cheney on gay marriage — U.S. Senate candidate Liz Cheney, right, campaigns in Emblem, Wyo., this summer at the same time as her opponent, Sen. Michael B. Enzi, left. (Dan Cepeda / Casper Star-Tribune / August 24, 2013)
Discussion:
Advocate, ThinkProgress and Towleroad News #gay
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U.S. terror raids: 2 operations. 2 outcomes. 5 questions — (CNN) — Two secret blitzes. Two high-value targets. Two very different results. — U.S. forces launched dual raids on the northern and eastern coasts of Africa over the weekend in the hunt for two alleged terrorists …
Discussion:
New York Times, Mediaite, AEIdeas and The Week
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The Boehner Bunglers — The federal government is shut down, we're about to hit the debt ceiling (with disastrous economic consequences), and no resolution is in sight. How did this happen? — The main answer, which only the most pathologically “balanced” reporting can deny, is the radicalization of the Republican Party.
Discussion:
The Mahablog, msnbc.com, The Week, Prairie Weather and The Moderate Voice


Some tea party congressmen find signs of political backlash at home — GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Nearly three years after a band of renegade congressmen brought the tea party insurgency to Washington, there are early rumblings of a political backlash in some of their districts.
Discussion:
Politico, Liberaland, The Hinterland Gazette, ABC News and Hit & Run