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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 …
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Yahoo! News, National Review, Business Insider, Hullabaloo, Daily Kos and ABC News
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White House, Senate Democrats step up pressure to raise federal debt ceiling — The White House and Senate Democrats on Monday sought to increase pressure on House Speaker John A. Boehner (R-Ohio) to raise the federal debt ceiling — if only for several weeks — with just 10 days until …
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Post Politics, Washington Monthly, Hot Air, CNN, Outside the Beltway, VodkaPundit, Voices, Ed Driscoll, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Prairie Weather, Guardian and AEIdeas


White House: Obama Will Never Negotiate On The Debt Limit Again — White House spokesman Jay Carney said Monday that lifting the debt ceiling will be non-negotiable for as long as Barack Obama is president. — “Whether it's today, or a number of weeks from now, or a number of months from now …
Discussion:
American Prospect and Little Green Footballs


Obamacare or the Debt Ceiling — Republicans are winning the shutdown fight, and Democrats know it. — People turning on the news this week came away with the knowledge that it was about Obamacare and kept hearing that Democrats wouldn't negotiate. They also learned that for some reason …
Discussion:
Wonkblog and Washington Monthly


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.

Senate to Move Ahead on ‘Clean’ Debt-Limit Increase — The Senate is preparing to move ahead this week on legislation to raise the nation's debt ceiling, Senate aides told ABC News, with Majority Leader Harry Reid expected to file a bill later today or Tuesday on a “clean” debt-limit increase, without any restrictions.
Discussion:
Taegan Goddard's …

Smash-mouth Reid (Video)
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CNN, The PJ Tatler, FreedomWorks blogs and Weasel Zippers


Obama to Boehner: 'Hold a vote. Call a vote right now. Let's see what happens'
Discussion:
Balloon Juice and Daily Kos

Republicans Lose Ground vs. Obama in the Shutdown Blame Game — The Republicans in Congress have lost ground against Barack Obama in blame over the government shutdown, with Americans expressing increasing criticism of both parties in Washington, while the president's avoided that rise in public ire.
Discussion:
Little Green Footballs and Taegan Goddard's …
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Republican disapproval grows in budget battle, Post-ABC poll finds
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Pew Research Center …, The Plum Line, Wonkblog, PoliticusUSA, Real Clear Politics, The Hill, Talking Points Memo and National Review


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 …
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ThinkProgress, Mediaite, The Big Picture, Daily Kos, Firedoglake, Daniel W. Drezner and Guardian
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Tom Coburn: No default if ceiling stays
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Power Line, National Review, neo-neocon, Washington Wire and Post Politics


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.
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GOP Rep Blames Cruz For Shutdown: ‘He Took A Lot Of Folks Into The Ditch’ (VIDEO) — A Republican congressman said Monday that Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) is largely responsible for the first government shutdown since 1996. — Rep. Charlie Dent (R-PA) told CNN's Wolf Blitzer that while he believes …
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The Raw Story
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Obamacare epiphanies, part VII: Hey, somebody's got to pay for somebody else's ‘free’ stuff
Discussion:
Weasel Zippers and Mediaite


MSNBC Host: “I am Suggesting that” Ted Cruz Doesn't Love America — Kudos to Joe Scarborough this morning for calling out his fellow co-anchor. On Morning Joe today, Mika Brzezinski said that Senator Ted Cruz and all the other conservatives in Congress who want to defund Obamacare …
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protein wisdom
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Mika: Ted Cruz, Like-Minded Republicans Don't Love America
Discussion:
Independent Journal Review and Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion


Want to know why the government is shut down? This chart explains it. — Looking for the roots of the current morass in Washington? Look no further than the chart — built by the WaPo graphics wizards — below that shows the percentage of the vote that all House Members won with in the 2012 election.
Discussion:
Outside the Beltway


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)
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Advocate, ThinkProgress and Towleroad News #gay
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Liz Cheney hit from right on gay marriage
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Arkansas Blog, Arkansas Times, Politico and CNN


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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The Gateway Pundit, nbclosangeles.com, Politico, Post Politics, New Urban Legends, Independent Journal Review, Flopping Aces, BizPac Review, Mediaite, FreedomWorks blogs, Outside the Beltway, The Jawa Report, Scared Monkeys, Ridgewood-Glen Rock Patch News, NewsBusters, Patterico's Pontifications, The PJ Tatler, NewsHounds blog, WQAD-TV and Michelle Malkin
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Amber Alert System Unaffected By Government Shutdown, Justice Department Says
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Washington Free Beacon


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 …
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Crooks and Liars, Yahoo! News, The BRAD BLOG, ThinkProgress, Ricochet Conversations Feed, Advocate, Booman Tribune, Althouse, TheBlaze.com, Mediaite, SCOTUSblog, Lawyers, Guns & Money, msnbc.com, NewsBusters, Betsy's Page, Politico, Towleroad News #gay, Talking Points Memo, The Fix, The Raw Story, The Volokh Conspiracy, Shakesville, BuzzFeed, The Hill, Conservatives4Palin, The Agonist, Taegan Goddard's …, Gawker and Liberaland


If the 1% stifles New York's creative talent, I'm out of here — Rampant inequality is squeezing out the artistic genius that made New York such a vibrant cultural capital. We can't let that happen — I'm writing this in Venice, Italy. This city is a pleasantly confusing maze …
Discussion:
Pitchfork and Boing Boing

He Beat Us in War but Never in Battle — To defeat any adversary, the late North Vietnamese Gen. Vo Nguyen Giap permitted immense casualties and the near total destruction of his country. — I met Gen. Vo Nguyen Giap—who died on Friday—twice. The first time was in the Vietnamese military hospital …


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:
ABC News, Politico, Gawker, The Week, Independent Journal Review, CNN, Weasel Zippers, Hot Air, Hit & Run, Ballot Box, Taegan Goddard's … and msnbc.com