NSA collects millions of e-mail address books globally  —  The National Security Agency is harvesting hundreds of millions of contact lists from personal e-mail and instant messaging accounts around the world, many of them belonging to Americans, according to senior intelligence officials …

Reid, McConnell near deal to end shutdown, raise $16.7T debt limit  —  An emerging Senate deal would raise the nation's $16.7 trillion debt ceiling until mid-February, according to Senate aides.  —  There were conflicting claims on how long the extension would last, with one aide saying …

Sarah Palin: Barack Obama flirts with impeachment  —  President Barack Obama is risking “impeachable” offenses with the way he is handling the debt limit debate, former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin said in a post on her Facebook page Monday.  —  “Defaulting on our national debt is an impeachable offense …

Ted Cruz, House Republicans Meet in Secret at Tortilla Coast  —  Sen. Ted Cruz met with roughly 15 to 20 House Republicans for around two hours late Monday night at the Capitol Hill watering hole Tortilla Coast.  —  The group appeared to be talking strategy about how they should respond …

Senators Near Fiscal Deal, but the House Is Uncertain  —  WASHINGTON — Senate leaders neared the completion Monday night of a bipartisan deal to raise the debt ceiling and end the government shutdown while the rest of the world braced for the possibility of an American default that could set off a global financial disaster.

How federal cronies built — and botched — Healthcare.gov  —  Many contractors for Healthcare.gov site seem to have been picked based on past government work rather than IT expertise  —  The biggest problem with Healthcare.gov seems simple enough: It was built by people who are apparently far …

Government shutdown unleashes racism  —  Question: If Ted Cruz and John Boehner were both on a sinking ship, who would be saved?  —  Answer: America.  —  Harsh?  Look around you at what is happening to America and you will see harsh.  I am not talking about closed parks and monuments.

Panetta rebukes Obama's handling of shutdown  —  Leon Panetta served in Washington with nine presidents, starting with Lyndon Johnson.  He has been a member of Congress, Office of Management and Budget director, White House chief of staff, director of the Central Intelligence Agency and secretary …

Poll: Republicans losing no-win game  —  All of Washington's elected leaders earn negative marks for handling budget negotiations, but the public's ire toward Republicans in Congress has hardened quicker than disapproval of President Obama and Democrats through a fortnight of failed negotiations.

Five thoughts on the Obamacare disaster  —  1. So far, the Affordable Care Act's launch has been a failure.  Not “troubled.”  Not “glitchy.”  A failure.  But “so far” only encompasses 14 days.  The hard question is whether the launch will still be floundering on day 30, and on day 45.

Angela Ahrendts to Join Apple as Senior Vice President of Retail and Online Stores  —  Apple® today announced that Angela Ahrendts, CEO of Burberry, will be joining Apple in a newly created position, as a senior vice president and member of our executive team, reporting to CEO Tim Cook.

Obamacare Needs a Drop-Dead Date  —  Exactly how bad are things on the federal health-care exchanges?  The working assumption among most journalists, including me, is that they would be fixed in a few weeks — that is, by the end of this week.  But yesterday's New York Times brought …

A tea party exit would be a blessing for GOP  —  Editor's note: David Frum, a CNN contributor, is a contributing editor at The Daily Beast.  He is the author of eight books, including a new novel, “Patriots,” and a post-election e-book, “Why Romney Lost.”  Frum was a special assistant to President George W. Bush from 2001 to 2002.