House G.O.P. Discusses Short-Term Fix on Debt Limit  —  WASHINGTON — House Republicans, looking for a way out of a budget standoff they began, will offer to President Obama at a White House meeting Thursday a plan to increase the debt limit through Nov. 22, in exchange for a promise to negotiate …

Gallup: Cruz's favorability rating plunges  —  Sen. Ted Cruz's (R-Texas) favorability rating has collapsed as the public has become more familiar with him, according to a Gallup survey released on Thursday.  —  The survey found that 26 percent have a favorable view of the Texas Republican, against 36 percent unfavorable.

Obama Should Just Give in to the Republicans  —  President Obama should give in.  Yes, this mess is all the Republicans' fault.  Yes, it's outrageous that they can hold the government hostage in order to reargue a law that's been voted on, signed, enacted, and upheld by the Supreme Court.

Blackfeet Elder Says Rick Reilly Misquoted Him; Wants ‘Redskins’ Banned  —  There are a few things I'm passionate about in life, and one is to share the true history of how our people have overcome the trauma of 150 years of attempts to erase the Blackfeet people.

Cory Booker's father, 76, dies  —  Newark Mayor Cory Booker's father died Thursday morning after battling to recover from a recent stroke.  His death comes just days before the New Jersey Democrat faces voters in the state's Oct. 16 special Senate election.

Scarborough: A NYT Editor Told Me Krugman's Column Is ‘Their Biggest Nightmare’ (VIDEO)  —  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.”  —  During a segment on “Morning Joe …

John McCain regrets ‘wacko birds’ comment, worries about GOP infighting  —  SENATE REPUBLICAN PARTY TEA PARTY PENNAVE JOHN MCCAIN SEQUESTER  —  Sen. John McCain said Thursday that he's worried about the Republican Party's future and the infighting that is dividing it, calling efforts …

The House GOP's Little Rule Change That Guaranteed A Shutdown  —  Late on the night of Sept. 30, with the federal government just hours away from shutting down, House Republicans quietly made a small change to the House rules that blocked a potential avenue for ending the shutdown.

PolitiFact to launch PunditFact, checking pundits and media figures  —  PolitiFact, the Pulitzer Prize-winning fact-checking website of the Tampa Bay Times, will soon launch PunditFact, a site dedicated to checking claims by pundits, columnists, bloggers and the hosts and guests of talk shows.

What the Virginia governor's race tells us about the 2014 midterms  —  Against trend, Democrat Terry McAuliffe is set to win.  After running a ‘strong conservative’, Republicans should take a hint  —  I'm hesitant to read too much into elections that don't occur during the midterms or presidential election years.

Obama Just Made a Terrible Mistake on Egypt  —  In a certain sense, the Obama administration's decision to withhold much of the $1.3 billion in annual aid given to Egypt isn't surprising.  U.S. law mandates cutting off aid to countries in which a coup has taken place, and the Egyptian military's ouster …

The Final Insult in the Bush-Cheney Marriage  —  In the final days of his presidency, George W. Bush sat behind his desk in the Oval Office, chewing gum and staring into the distance as two White House lawyers briefed him on the possible last-minute pardon of I. Lewis Libby.  —  “Do you think he did it?”

We're not gonna take it!  Americans use 1st Amendment to storm shutdown barriers  —  Taking their lead from the veterans who first pushed through the barricades to visit the World War II Memorial, Americans nationwide are defying the federal government shutdown, tossing aside traffic cones …

Conservative Media's Tribal Loyalty Weakens the GOP  —  Instead of rewarding smart political strategy or policy substance, right-wing outlets celebrate those who are merely in a state of conflict with Democrats or liberals.  —  The strategy that House Republicans have imprudently embraced in recent weeks has many causes.