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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:
Yahoo! News, Business Insider, National Review, Taylor Marsh, Daily Kos, Campaign for America's Future and ABC News
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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 The Reaction


Conservatives Wary of Deal — Speaker John Boehner may be trying to finalize a plan to raise the debt limit, but House conservatives are already skeptical of his efforts. In interviews, several of them tell me they're unlikely to support any deal that may emerge.
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo, PoliticusUSA, Business Insider and Hullabaloo


Obama, Senate Dems hope to break logjam soon with debt ceiling bill — President Obama and Senate Democrats on Monday decided to try to break a political logjam that threatens the U.S. economy by advancing legislation to raise the federal debt ceiling as soon as possible.
Discussion:
Post Politics, Hot Air, CNN, Voices, VodkaPundit, Washington Monthly, Ed Driscoll, Prairie Weather, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Guardian, AEIdeas and Shakesville

Why Obama Must Talk to the GOP — The president doesn't need to cave on Obamacare to help end the GOP-inspired fiscal crisis. — President Barack Obama visits M. Luis Construction on October 3, 2013 in Rockville, Maryland. (Dennis Brack-Pool/Getty Images) — I am on record advocating two seemingly incongruous positions.

Obama dares Boehner to hold vote on ‘clean’ funding bill — President Obama dared Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) on Monday to prove there aren't enough votes in the House to pass a “clean” bill to reopen the government. — “The House should hold that vote today,” Obama said during a visit …
Discussion:
Politico and Taylor Marsh


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:
National Review and Washington Monthly

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:
The Raw Story and Taegan Goddard's …

Smash-mouth Reid (Video)
Discussion:
CNN, Washington Post, “The Lid”, The PJ Tatler, Weasel Zippers and FreedomWorks blogs

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

‘House of Indecision’ — House Republican leaders met today …
Discussion:
PoliticusUSA and Business Insider


Republican disapproval grows in budget battle, Post-ABC poll finds — By Scott Clement and Peyton M. Craighill, Published: October 7 at 3:01 pm — Disapproval of congressional Republicans' budget wrangling after a weeklong shutdown has shot up to 70 percent, with 51 percent disapproving …
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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.

CNN Shutdown Poll: Plenty of blame to go around — Washington (CNN) - Most Americans say the government shutdown is causing a crisis or major problems for the country, according to a new national poll. — And while a CNN/ORC International survey also indicates that slightly more people …
Discussion:
Outside the Beltway and Shakesville


‘Truckers for the Constitution’ Plan to Slow D.C. Beltway, Arrest Congressmen — Police must detain ‘accessories’ to ‘treason’ or truckers will, organizer says — Tractor-trailer drivers will intentionally clog the inner loop of the Washington, D.C., beltway beginning on the morning of Oct. 11 …
Discussion:
Firedoglake, Liberaland, Mediaite, ThinkProgress, The Hinterland Gazette, Gawker and The Right Scoop


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, msnbc.com, The Daily Banter, Hot Air, The Big Picture, Talking Points Memo, Mediaite, Firedoglake, Daily Kos, Daniel W. Drezner and Guardian
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Tom Coburn: No default if ceiling stays
Discussion:
Hot Air, National Review, Power Line, neo-neocon, Washington Wire and Post Politics

Republican Congressman Compares U.S. Default To His Household Budget
Discussion:
Crooks and Liars, msnbc.com and Salon


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 …
Discussion:
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


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.
Discussion:
Firedoglake, Washington Wire, The Lead with Jake Tapper, Hot Air, Reuters, Hit & Run, Wonkblog, The Strata-Sphere, Wake up America, Weasel Zippers, The Gateway Pundit, National Review, Business Insider, Jammie Wearing Fools, The Lonely Conservative, First Read, Prairie Weather, The Daily Caller and Washington Free Beacon


Nebraska Decides 16-Year-Old Must Give Birth Because She Isn't ‘Mature’ Enough For An Abortion — The highest court in Nebraska has decided that a 16-year-old in foster care must carry her unintended pregnancy to term because she hasn't proven that she's “sufficiently mature and well informed” enough to choose to have an abortion.
Discussion:
Liberaland, RH Reality Check and Balloon Juice


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


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 …
Discussion:
The Raw Story
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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 …
Discussion:
The Moderate Voice


Kerry ‘very pleased’ at Syria compliance over chemical weapons — Secretary of State John Kerry lauded Syria Monday, saying he was “very pleased” at news that experts had already begun the process of destroying Syria's chemical weapons. — In unusual praise for Damascus …
Discussion:
Daily Kos, World News and Washington Free Beacon
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Kerry: ‘Inviting catastrophe’ on climate
Discussion:
Day's End Round-Up and Pirate's Cove