memeorandum: Let's Get Cynical (James Taranto/Wall Street Journal)

8:55 AM ET, October 10, 2013

Top Items:

GOP quietly backing away from Obamacare — A fight over Obamacare? That's so last week. — With the government shutdown firmly in its second week, and the debt limit projected to be reached next Thursday, top House and Senate Republicans are publicly moving away from gutting the health care law …

Discussion: MadMike'sAmerica …, Ricochet Conversations Feed, The Lead with Jake Tapper and Ross Douthat

Jonathan Weisman / New York Times:

As Pressure Mounts, House G.O.P. Weighs Short-Term Debt Deal — WASHINGTON — House Republicans, increasingly isolated from even some of their strongest supporters more than a week into a government shutdown, began on Wednesday to consider a path out of the fiscal impasse that would raise …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, The Hill, WJLA-TV, The Moderate Voice, The Hugh Hewitt Show, Washington Post, Prairie Weather, Daily Kos, The Fix, Gawker and Calculated Risk

Wall Street Journal:

CONNECT — WASHINGTON—The partisan logjam that has paralyzed the capital showed signs of easing Wednesday, as conservative Republicans warmed to the idea of a short-term increase in the country's borrowing limit and House GOP leaders prepared for their first meeting with President Barack Obama since the government shutdown began.

Discussion: Washington Wire, Taegan Goddard's …, Washington Post and The World's Greatest …

Ed O'Keefe / Post Politics:
Eleanor Holmes Norton confronts Obama on D.C. budget bill

Discussion: Politico, Washington Post and WJLA-TV

Howard Fineman / The Huffington Post:
Heritage Action Bails On Debt Ceiling Fight

Discussion: Campaign for America's Future, Business Insider, Firedoglake, National Review, Hot Air, Conservative Intelligence … and The New Republic

Politico:
Mitch McConnell, Senate GOP search for way out

Discussion: RedState, naked capitalism and Roll Call

Michael Isikoff / NBC Politics:
Kochs to Congress: Focus on spending, not Obamacare

Discussion: NBCNews, Taylor Marsh, his vorpal sword, Crooks and Liars, msnbc.com and Politico

Justin Sink / The Hill:
House GOP ‘negotiators’ to meet Obama

Discussion: The Hill, CNN and Taking Note

Caitlin MacNeal / Talking Points Memo:
Wolf Blitzer: White House Should Take GOP ‘Advice,’ Delay Obamacare Website

Discussion: Hullabaloo

Dana Bash / CNN:
Senior House GOP source: Debt deal may require Democratic help

Discussion: NationalJournal.com, Hot Air, The Impolitic, Politico, Booman Tribune and Hullabaloo

Andrew Dugan / Gallup:

Republican Party Favorability Sinks to Record Low — Falls 10 percentage points from September's 38% — This article is part of an ongoing series analyzing how the government shutdown and the debate over raising the debt ceiling are affecting Americans' views of government, government leaders …

David M. Drucker / Washington Examiner:

Ted Cruz poll shows GOP gained in fight over Obamacare despite shutdown — BARACK OBAMA OBAMACARE REPUBLICAN PARTY DEMOCRATIC PARTY POLLS TED CRUZ PENNAVE GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN — Sen. Ted Cruz during a closed-door lunch on Wednesday argued to his Republican colleagues that the campaign …

Discussion: PoliticusUSA, TheBlaze.com and Talking Points Memo

Washington Post:
Key Republicans signal willingness to back down on effort to defund health-care law

Discussion: Slate, CANNONFIRE, The Week, The Lead with Jake Tapper, Townhall.com, The Raw Story, Booman Tribune, Daily Kos, ABC News, BillMoyers.com, PoliticusUSA, National Review and CNN

CNN:

Rebels kidnap Libyan PM Ali Zeidan, his office says — (CNN) — Armed men kidnapped Libyan Prime Minister Ali Zeidan at dawn Thursday and took him to an undisclosed location, his office said. — The gunmen escorted the prime minister from the Corinthian Hotel in Tripoli into a convoy of waiting cars …

Discussion: Outside the Beltway

Reuters:

Libyan PM briefly held by gunmen angry at U.S. Qaeda capture — (Reuters) - Libya's prime minister was seized and held for several hours on Thursday by former rebel militiamen angry at the weekend capture by U.S. special forces of a Libyan al Qaeda suspect in Tripoli.

Discussion: The Hill and Spectator

BBC:
Libyan PM Ali Zeidan detained by militia

Discussion: Telegraph, TalkLeft and Informed Comment

James Taranto / Wall Street Journal:

Let's Get Cynical — Why should we trust the government—especially now? — “An old friend who has been active in politics for more than 30 years tells me he's giving up,” claims Robert Reich in a Puffington Host post: " 'I can't stomach what's going on in Washington anymore,' he says.

Discussion: Scared Monkeys

Quinnipiac News + Events:

Release Detail — October 10, 2013 - Christie Holds Almost 2-1 Lead In New Jersey Gov Race, Quinnipiac University Poll Finds; Voters Say Override Gov Veto On Same-Sex Marriage — Despite strong support for same-sex marriage, which New Jersey Gov. Christopher Christie is blocking …

Discussion: Taegan Goddard's …, msnbc.com and CNN

New York Times:

Business Groups See Loss of Sway Over House G.O.P. — WASHINGTON — As the government shutdown grinds toward a potential debt default, some of the country's most influential business executives have come to a conclusion all but unthinkable a few years ago: Their voices are carrying little weight …

Discussion: Taegan Goddard's …, Prairie Weather and DealBook

Binyamin Appelbaum / New York Times:

Yellen's Path From Liberal Theorist to Fed Voice for Jobs — BERKELEY, Calif. — When the economists Janet L. Yellen and George A. Akerlof hired a baby sitter for their son in the early 1980s, they decided to pay more than the going wage. They reasoned that a happier baby sitter would provide better care.

Discussion: DealBook, Campaign for America's Future, NBCNews, Real Time Economics, National Review, Economix and CNN

Jackie Calmes / New York Times:
Announcing Fed Nomination, Obama Praises Yellen

Discussion: The Talking Dog and The Mahablog

Robert Gehrke / Salt Lake Tribune:

Most Utahns disapprove of Sen. Mike Lee, want him to compromise — Public opinion » The senator says his position won't change. — | The Salt Lake Tribune — More than half of Utah voters now disapprove of the performance of Utah Sen. Mike Lee, with support for the junior senator …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo

Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System:

Developments in Financial Markets and the Federal Reserve's Balance Sheet — The Manager of the System Open Market Account reported on developments in domestic and foreign financial markets as well as the System open market operations during the period since the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) met on July 30-31, 2013.

Discussion: New York Times

Julian Assange / WikiLeaks:

Press Release - First Letter from Julian Assange to Benedict Cumberbatch Over The Fifth Estate — Today WikiLeaks publishes the first letter from Julian Assange to Benedict Cumberbatch regarding “The Fifth Estate”, a Dreamworks movie about WikiLeaks set to open in the UK on Friday 11 Oct …

Discussion: The Verge, Gawker, Mashable, Politico and Washington Free Beacon

Caitlin McDevitt / Politico:

Alec Baldwin dishes on new show — Set your DVR. Actor Alec Baldwin is making his MSNBC debut this weekend. The star's weekly show, “Up Late With Alec Baldwin,” premieres on Friday night from 10-11, ET. — Ahead of the launch, Baldwin told POLITICO's Patrick Gavin how the show came together and what viewers can expect:

Discussion: NewsBusters, Deadline.com and TVNewser

Tom Kludt / Talking Points Memo:

Scarborough: A NYT Editor Told Me Krugman's Column Is Newspaper's ‘Biggest Nightmare’ — MSNBC host Joe Scarborough said Thursday that a public editor at the New York Times considers liberal columnist Paul Krugman's work to be an ongoing “nightmare” for the newspaper.

Discussion: Washington Free Beacon and Weekly Standard

James Hohmann / Politico:

Virginia governor election: Less money, more problems for Cuccinelli — Ken Cuccinelli is getting crushed on the Virginia airwaves, and it's probably only going to get worse - a major factor thwarting the Republican's hopes of a comeback in a governor's race that's been slipping away.

Discussion: Taegan Goddard's …, Right Wing Watch and Talking Points Memo

Lizette Alvarez / New York Times:

Florida Defends New Effort to Clean Up Voter Rolls — LAUDERHILL, Fla. — Paving the way for a new attempt to remove noncitizens from voter rolls, Florida's election chief tried to stoke confidence on Wednesday in the revamped plan before a largely skeptical crowd in immigrant-heavy South Florida.

New York Times:

In Crackdown Response, U.S. Temporarily Freezes Some Military Aid to Egypt — WASHINGTON — The Obama administration on Wednesday announced a modest and temporary freeze on military assistance to Egypt, even as American officials stressed their desire to avoid rupturing a security relationship …

Discussion: Washington Post, Jerusalem Post, Outside the Beltway, Israel Matzav, Reuters, New Atlanticist, The Heritage Foundation and CNN

Washington Post:
U.S. plans to curb military aid to Egypt

Discussion: Power Line, Hot Air and National Review

Rich Lowry / Reuters:

Train wreck: The Obamacare rollout — 'I'm not yet ready to be tsar," Nicholas II reportedly said in 1894 when his predecessor died. “ I know nothing of the business of ruling. The tsarina of Obamacare, Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius, must know how he felt.

Discussion: Politico