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 …

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 …

The default has already begun  —  The big question in Washington this week is whether, in the words of the NYT, we're going to see “a legislative failure and an economic catastrophe that could ripple through financial markets, foreign capitals, corporate boardrooms, state budget offices and the bank accounts of everyday investors”.

13 THINGS THAT DEFINE THE NEW AMERICAN CENTER  —  It is bigger than you think...  An exclusive Esquire-NBC News survey shows us that everything we are told about politics in America today—that there is no middle ground between left and right, blue and red, us and them—is wrong.

Ugly rebel yell in front of the White House  —  If you want to curdle the blood of an African American and send a message of menace without resorting to burning a cross on the lawn or marching around in white sheets all one need do is wave the Confederate flag.

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 …

'The Kelly File's' surge is legit, Nielsen says  —  MSNBC had questioned Fox News show's 100% ratings increase  —  Megyn Kelly hosts the Fox News Channel's new show “The Kelly File.”  —  Nielsen has conducted an investigation into the ratings for Megyn Kelly's new Fox News Channel show …

Three GOP Faces Who Are Outshining Their Party  —  Paul, Christie and Ryan Manage to Improve Their Standing During the Shutdown  —  At this point, it's both an understatement and a statement of the obvious to say the government-shutdown showdown hasn't been good for the Republican Party.

British authorities break up terror plot  —  British law enforcement agencies averted a plot to orchestrate a large-scale terror attack similar to the assault on Kenya's Westgate mall, an official said Monday.  —  Police were questioning four men in their 20s on suspicion of terrorism …

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.