memeorandum: GOP plummets, Obamacare soars in shutdown standoff (Benjy Sarlin/msnbc.com)

11:25 PM ET, October 10, 2013

Top Items:

No Quick Deal, but Offer by G.O.P. on Debt Shifts the Tone — WASHINGTON — President Obama and House Republicans failed to reach agreement on a six-week extension of the nation's borrowing authority during a meeting Thursday at the White House, but the two sides kept talking …

Discussion: Crooks and Liars, Talking Points Memo, Politico, Guardian, The Dish, Wonkblog, Weasel Zippers, Hot Air, Prairie Weather, Lawyers, Guns & Money and Calculated Risk

Robert Costa / National Review:

The Ryan Factor — According to my sources, the House is poised to pass a six-week extension of the debt ceiling. One member of the leadership team says he's “increasingly optimistic” that when the bill comes to the floor in the coming days, it'll have significant Republican support.

Discussion: CNN, Hot Air, Hullabaloo, Washington Post, Washington Wire, Prairie Weather and Associated Press

Ezra Klein / Wonkblog:

The shutdown just saved the world — There's nothing good about a government shutdown. But when this one began, a number of us welcomed it. A shutdown, we argued, made a breach of the debt ceiling less likely. Business Insider's Joe Weisenthal even gave the argument a hashtag: #TeamShutdown.

Discussion: National Review, CNN, Politico, Daily Kos and No More Mister Nice Blog

Sahil Kapur / Talking Points Memo:

GOP's New Strategy: Avert Default But Keep Government Shut — Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) announced Thursday that the House will move forward with a six-week debt limit extension after pitching the idea to his Republican conference during a closed-door meeting.

Discussion: American Prospect, Daily Kos, Little Green Footballs, No More Mister Nice Blog, Washington Monthly, The Dish and Shakesville

Damian Paletta / Washington Wire:

House Debt-Ceiling Plan Would Ban ‘Emergency’ Measures — WASHINGTON - The House Republican plan to extend the debt ceiling for six weeks would permanently ban the Treasury Department from using extraordinary measures to avoid default, congressional aides said.

Discussion: AMERICAblog News and Daily Kos

Politico:

John Boehner's bet: Democrats will talk — Speaker John Boehner's latest gambit — to lift the debt ceiling for six weeks while leaving government shut down — isn't exactly a magic bullet. — It's a bet that President Barack Obama and Democratic congressional leaders will want so desperately …

Discussion: National Review, Washington Examiner, CNN, Daily Kos, NewsBusters, NationalJournal.com, ABC News, Taylor Marsh, Wall Street Journal, The Hill, Washington Monthly and The Hill

Ed Kilgore / Washington Monthly:
The “Grand” Perspective

Discussion: Booman Tribune

Dylan Scott / Talking Points Memo:
Ted Cruz Backs House GOP's Temporary Debt-Limit Plan

Discussion: The Raw Story and Washington Monthly

Just Sink / The Hill:
White House: No budget talks until government reopens

Discussion: The Plum Line, Reuters, The Week, CNN and Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion

Ben Domenech / The Federalist:
Boehner's Smart Debt Ceiling Play

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Politico, The Hill and Washington Examiner

Andrew Taylor / Associated Press:
Boehner Offers Debt Extension; Interim Resolution?

Discussion: Associated Press

James Lankford / USA Today:
Rep. Lankford: Republicans seek fairness, less debt

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, The Lead with Jake Tapper and CNN

Sahil Kapur / Talking Points Memo:
Conservatives Clear The Way For Boehner's Six-Week Debt Limit Hike

Discussion: Roll Call, RedState, The World's Greatest … and Hullabaloo

Paul Kane / Washington Post:
House, Senate Republicans offer competing plans on debt-limit, government shutdown

Discussion: Bloomberg, The Plum Line, Wonkblog, Campaign for America's Future, The Fix, Post Politics, Los Angeles Times, Voices and The Hill

Mark Murray / NBCNews:

NBC/WSJ poll: Shutdown debate damages GOP — The Republican Party has been badly damaged in the ongoing government shutdown and debt limit standoff, with a new NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll finding that a majority of Americans blame the GOP for the shutdown, and with the party's popularity declining to its lowest level.

Discussion: Power Line, The Moderate Voice, The PJ Tatler, msnbc.com, Hot Air, The Week, Wonkblog, The Plum Line, The Dish, The Impolitic and Daily Kos

Benjy Sarlin / msnbc.com:
GOP plummets, Obamacare soars in shutdown standoff

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, The PJ Tatler, National Review, Prairie Weather and The Week

Quin Monson / Utah Data Points:
Senator Lee and the Shutdown

Discussion: Politico

Jonathan Easley / The Hill:

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.

Discussion: Daily Kos

Alexander Bolton / The Hill:
Senate GOP rallies around rival plan on debt ceiling, shutdown

Discussion: Washington Monthly

Jeffrey M. Jones / Gallup:
Americans Down on D.C. Leaders Since Shutdown Began

Discussion: Firedoglake, Post Politics, National Review, The New Civil Rights Movement, The Fix, Conservative Intelligence …, The Raw Story, Prairie Weather and Esquire

Michael Kinsley / The New Republic:

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.

Discussion: Lawyers, Guns & Money, Taegan Goddard's …, Shakesville and Capitol Report

David Martosko / Daily Mail:

EXCLUSIVE: Just 51,000 people completed Obamacare applications during the website's first week, out of tens of millions of Americans in 36 states — Obamacare's main signup engine attracted just 6,200 new customers on its launch day and 51,000 after the first week

Discussion: The Natural Truth, Weasel Zippers, The PJ Tatler, National Review and Twitchy

Bob Burns / Indian Country Today Media Network.com:

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.

Discussion: USA Today, Mediaite and Deadspin

Barry Petchesky / Deadspin:
Rick Reilly's American Indian Father-In-Law Says Reilly Misquoted Him

Discussion: ThinkProgress, City Desk and CBS DC

Hunter Walker / Talking Points Memo:

Steve Lonegan: Obama Will Cave On The Shutdown When I Win My Election — Republican New Jersey Senate candidate Steve Lonegan said Thursday he has a way to singlehandedly stop Obamacare and help the GOP emerge victorious in its shutdown standoff. — Lonegan's campaign issued …

Discussion: Washington Monthly

Rebecca Shabad / The Hill:
Cory Booker's father, 76, dies

Discussion: Politico

Amy Hollyfield / PolitiFact:

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.

Discussion: TVNewser, Mediaite and Poynter, more at Mediagazer »

Stephen Dinan / Washington Times:

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 …

Discussion: Hot Air

Benny Johnson / BuzzFeed:
Insane Tourists Blatantly Defying The U.S. Government's Demands

Discussion: Althouse, Wake up America, Hot Air and Hit & Run

Tim Mak / Washington Examiner:

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 …

Discussion: The Daily Caller, Weasel Zippers, Taegan Goddard's …, National Review and The PJ Tatler

Dylan Scott / Talking Points Memo:

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.

Discussion: Daily Kos, ThinkProgress and Balloon Juice

Harry J Enten / Guardian:

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.

Discussion: Balloon Juice