memeorandum: You're still legally dead, judge tells Fostoria man (Ryan Dunn/Courier)

9:50 PM ET, October 9, 2013

Top Items:

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 …

Tom Kludt / Talking Points Memo:
Gallup: GOP Favorability Plunges To Record Low

Discussion: Daily Kos, National Review and Arkansas Blog, Arkansas Times

Ed O'Keefe / Post Politics:

Eleanor Holmes Norton confronts Obama on D.C. budget bill — Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.) had what some colleagues called “a heated exchange” and what she described as “a conversation” with President Obama during a White House meeting Wednesday afternoon regarding the District's budget constraints …

Discussion: The Hill and WJLA-TV

Justin Sink / The Hill:

House GOP ‘negotiators’ to meet Obama — Eighteen House Republicans, including leadership members and committee chairmen, will head to the White House Thursday for a meeting on the debt ceiling and government shutdown. — The White House invited the full Republican caucus to participate …

Discussion: Politico, The Hill, CNN and Taking Note

Caitlin MacNeal / Talking Points Memo:

Wolf Blitzer: White House Should Take GOP ‘Advice,’ Delay Obamacare Website — Wolf Blitzer said on CNN Wednesday that the Obama administration should have listened to Republicans and delayed the implementation of the Affordable Care Act. — “If they had three years to get this ready …

Discussion: Hullabaloo

Dana Bash / CNN:

Senior House GOP source: Debt deal may require Democratic help — Washington (CNN) - A Senior House GOP source concedes to CNN that to get the White House on board with a debt ceiling deal, House Republicans would likely have to agree to a clean short term debt ceiling increase.

Discussion: Booman Tribune and Politico

Justin Sink / The Hill:
White House: Obama orders military death benefits paid to families

Discussion: NBCNews, Reuters, Taylor Marsh, CNN and Jammie Wearing Fools

Jake Sherman / Politico:
GOP unity frays, frustration builds

Discussion: CNN, ThinkProgress, Hullabaloo and The Hill

Evan McMurry / Mediaite:
CNN's Blitzer: Obama Should ‘Accept GOP Advice, Delay Obamacare’ Over Glitchy Websites

Discussion: Hot Air

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: Talking Points Memo, PoliticusUSA and TheBlaze.com

Associated Press:

POLL: GOP GETS THE BLAME IN SHUTDOWN — You are here — Home » United States Congress » Poll: GOP gets the blame in shutdown — WASHINGTON (AP) — Americans are holding Republicans primarily responsible for the partial government shutdown as public esteem sinks for all players …

Tom Jensen / Public Policy Polling:

Democrats maintain edge for 2014 — PPP's newest national survey finds that Americans continue to lean toward voting Democratic for the House next year, as they pin most of the blame for the government shutdown on Republicans. — Democrats lead the generic Congressional ballot 46/41, including a 42/33 lead with independents.

Discussion: PoliticusUSA, Mediaite and Politico

John Nolte / BREITBART.COM:
MEDIA FAIL: OBAMA APPROVAL PLUMMETS TO 37%

Discussion: Power Line and The Lonely Conservative

First Read / NBCNews:

First Thoughts: The beginning of the end? — The beginning of the end? Paul Ryan op-ed appears to be an olive branch and a way out of the budget stalemate... But can conservatives accept that potential end (which has no Obamacare changes?)... Cantor's bad cop to Ryan's good cop? …

Discussion: Campaign for America's Future, Politicker, Hot Air, Mediaite, Connecting.the.Dots, CNN and Wall Street Journal

Eric Cantor / Washington Post:
Divided government requires bipartisan negotiation

Discussion: Slate, Roll Call, Talking Points Memo, PostPartisan, Daily Kos, The Plum Line, Ballot Box, Real Clear Politics, Post Politics and msnbc.com

Justin Sink / The Hill:
Obama heralds Yellen as a ‘proven leader’

Discussion: Politico

Brian Tashman / Right Wing Watch:

Bachmann: Obama ‘Committed Impeachable Offenses,’ Wants To Be A Dictator — Speaking with conservative talk show host Rusty Humphries on a conference call sponsored by TheTeaParty.net yesterday, Rep. Michele Bachmann of Minnesota suggested that the House hold hearings on impeaching the president.

Discussion: The Raw Story, Mediaite, PoliticusUSA, Talking Points Memo, Pushing Rope and The Hill

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

Dylan Scott / Talking Points Memo:

Ohio's GOP Governor May Adopt Obamacare Via Executive Order — Ohio Gov. John Kasich (R) is considering accepting Obamacare's Medicaid expansion in his state via executive order, his office confirmed to TPM, after the state legislature stymied his efforts earlier this year.

Patrick Howley / The Daily Caller:

White House, IRS exchanged confidential taxpayer info — Top Internal Revenue Service Obamacare official Sarah Hall Ingram discussed confidential taxpayer information with senior Obama White House officials, according to 2012 emails obtained by the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee and provided to The Daily Caller.

Discussion: The Lonely Conservative, National Review, Weasel Zippers and The PJ Tatler

ThinkProgress:
Congressman Asks IRS Official: Are You A Witch?

Discussion: The Hill and Mediaite

Ryan Dunn / Courier:

You're still legally dead, judge tells Fostoria man — Donald Eugene Miller Jr. walked out of Hancock County Probate Court on Monday as legally dead as ever. — In 1994, the court ruled that Miller was legally dead, eight years after he disappeared from his Arcadia rental home.

Discussion: Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Techdirt and Liberaland

John Podhoretz / New York Post:

Suicide of the Right — Every piece of evidence we have so far on the government shutdown shows the public is blaming Republicans most of all for the standoff. On Monday, an ABC poll showed 71 percent fault the GOP; 61 percent fault Congressional Democrats; 51 percent fault President Obama.

Discussion: American Prospect, Prairie Weather, The Moderate Voice, The Dish, Ricochet Conversations Feed and Talking Points Memo

Michael Isikoff / NBC Politics:

Kochs to Congress: Focus on spending, not Obamacare — In a move that highlights a growing rift in conservative ranks, Koch Industries — the privately held energy conglomerate owned by billionaires Charles and David Koch — today distanced the firm from allied political groups lobbying …

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

Erick Erickson / RedState:

This is the Strategy. Now Do It. — Conservatives need to push the debt ceiling fight off the front burner to after Christmas. — Republican Leaders are begging us to merge the continuing resolution fight and debt ceiling fight. They covet this with all their mind and heart.

Discussion: The Huffington Post, Yahoo! News, Politico, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Conservative Intelligence …, Roll Call, National Review, Gawker, Business Insider, BillMoyers.com, Ross Douthat, ThinkProgress, Hot Air, Outside the Beltway, Booman Tribune and Washington Monthly

Ed Kilgore / Washington Monthly:
The Republican Arcade Claw Machine

Discussion: PoliticusUSA, Yahoo! News, The Lead with Jake Tapper and Hullabaloo

Dahlia Lithwick / Slate:

The Supreme Court clamors to protect the right of Richie Rich, Scrooge McDuck, and the Koch brothers to further corrupt American politics. — Sing in me, Money, and through me tell the story of that man skilled in all ways of earning, the jobs-provider, harried for years on end …

Discussion: American Prospect, BillMoyers.com, Lawyers, Guns & Money, Talking Points Memo, Althouse and New York Times

Jacob Sullum / Reason:
Let Money Talk — The Supreme Court should ditch the dubious …

Discussion: The Atlantic Online, The Dish, American Prospect, Taking Note and Hit & Run

Venessa Wong / Businessweek:

Unpaid Intern Is Ruled Not an ‘Employee,’ Not Protected From Sexual Harassment — There's plenty for unpaid interns to complain about—mainly, the lack of money—but apparently it gets worse. Because they're not paid and don't receive remuneration such as pension and life insurance …

Discussion: Gawker, The Raw Story, ThinkProgress and Shakesville

Ben Smith / BuzzFeed:

Waterboarding Is A Big Joke At Cheney Roast — A sentimental evening at the Plaza for Cheney, Rumsfeld, Mukasey, and Lieberman. “Really tasteless,” says a guest. — The cover of the program at the Oct. 7 “Roast of Dick Cheney.” — Dick Cheney is ready to laugh about waterboarding.

Discussion: Firedoglake, Gawker, The Dish, Crooks and Liars, Mediaite and The Daily Caller

Amanda Marcotte / Slate:

Sarah Lacy Writes Every Female-Penned Defense of Gender Inequality Ever — As reported here earlier, there is a kerfuffle over the revelation that Twitter's board, investors, and almost all of its executives are male. This is playing out by the book: The initial criticisms, the defensive retorts, the anger at the defensive retorts.

Discussion: Feministing, ECHIDNE OF THE SNAKES and Gawker

Guardian:

Chelsea Manning statement: 'I don't consider myself anti-war or a conscientious objector' — US soldier convicted over WikiLeaks disclosures says she did not leak the documents because she was explicitly motivated by pacifism

Discussion: The Law Office …, Firedoglake, NBCNews, Hit & Run, Talking Points Memo, WJLA-TV and Mashable, more at Mediagazer »

Paul Waldman / American Prospect:

Is the Shutdown Creating a Dystopic Political Future? — Let's cast our minds forward a few weeks, to after the shutdown/default crisis is over. At that point, the 2014 off-year elections will be only a year away. And what will the lasting effect of this episode be? Maybe not all that much.

Discussion: Washington Monthly and Princeton Election Consortium

Kristin Roberts / NationalJournal.com:

Republicans Are Awfully Close to Violating the Constitution — Who cares if President Obama has 14th Amendment obligations? The critical sentence in that block of text should be read as instruction for lawmakers first, and last. — Have Republicans forgotten that they too must abide by the Constitution?

Discussion: Booman Tribune, The Mahablog, Taegan Goddard's … and Prairie Weather