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2:10 PM ET, October 16, 2013

Top Items:

House to vote first on Senate plan — The House will vote first on an emerging Senate proposal to open government and lift the debt ceiling, a move that would expedite bipartisan legislation developed by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell.

Houston Chronicle:

Why we miss Kay Bailey Hutchison — Things surely would look far different with Sen. Hutchison in office in the nation's capital — Does anyone else miss Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison? — We're not sure how much difference one person could make in the toxic, chaotic, hyperpartisan atmosphere in Washington …

Discussion: BuzzFeed, CNN, Taegan Goddard's …, Politico, DownWithTyranny!, PoliticusUSA, Gawker, The Hinterland Gazette, The Fix, The Dish, The Hill and Mediaite

Wall Street Journal:

It's time to wrap up this comedy of political errors. — The Beltway budget melodrama rolls on to its predictable and dreary end, with both sides now split over increasingly small differences. None of this is worth a partial government shutdown, much less the risk of a debt default, and both sides are looking like losers.

Discussion: KDVR.com, Bloomberg, CANNONFIRE, Washington Post, ABC News, Talking Points Memo, NPR, Roll Call, Questions and Observations, The Huffington Post, Connecting.the.Dots and The Hill

ThinkProgress:

Houston Chronicle Yanks Ted Cruz Endorsement — As the federal government enters its sixteenth day of shutdown and stands just hours away from defaulting on the national debt, the largest newspaper in Texas has pulled its endorsement of Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX).

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, Mediaite, Talking Points Memo, theGrio and Connecting.the.Dots

Ed Morrissey / Hot Air:

Breaking: Boehner to take vote on Senate compromise 1st, pass it with Dem votes — The endgame will arrive a little sooner than expected, thanks to a deal cut with John Boehner to take the first plunge on a bipartisan plan to end the budget standoff before the theoretical debt-ceiling limit gets breached.

Discussion: ThinkProgress, The Strata-Sphere, Weasel Zippers, Outside the Beltway, Independent Journal Review and Instapundit

Sahil Kapur / Talking Points Memo:

GOP Prepares For Surrender On Debt Ceiling And Shutdown — Republicans demanded a king-size ransom and are poised to walk away with virtually nothing. — The majority House GOP has flamed out, unable to settle on any proposal to lift the debt ceiling and avert a catastrophic default.

Discussion: Mediaite, New York Magazine, FreedomWorks, Liberaland and FIRST DRAFT

Associated Press:

Senate leader announces bipartisan budget deal — WASHINGTON (AP) — Democratic leader Harry Reid says Senate leaders have reached a bipartisan deal to avoid default and end the government shutdown, now in its 16th day. — Reid made the announcement at the start of the Senate session on Wednesday.

Discussion: The Verge and Outside the Beltway

Igor Volsky / ThinkProgress:

Ted Cruz Admits Budget Standoff Was All About Building Fundraising Lists — Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) conceded on Wednesday that he would not hold up a vote on an emerging Senate deal to re-open the federal government and avert federal default, but admitted that the three-week long budget standoff …

Discussion: Gallup and The Atlantic Wire

TIME:

John Boehner's Bad Night Clears a Path for a Deal — House GOP pulls vote on debt bill, leaving Senate to probe a path forward — In another era, for a different leader, it would have been a stunning rebuke. For John Boehner, it was just another embarrassing stumble in a speakership studded with them.

Discussion: Heritage Action for America, The Dish, The American Conservative, A plain blog about politics, PoliticusUSA, Politico and The Fix

New York Times:

Senate Paves Way to End Debt Impasse — WASHINGTON — Senate Democratic and Republican leaders on Wednesday reached final agreement on a deal to reopen the government and extend its borrowing authority into February, with final passage looking increasingly possible by Wednesday evening.

Discussion: The Hinterland Gazette and Washington Free Beacon

Igor Bobic / Talking Points Memo:

Republicans Berate National Parks Director For Shutdown As Deal Is Announced (VIDEO) — Just as Senate leaders were announcing Wednesday morning a deal to reopen the government and raise the debt ceiling, House Republicans on the other side of the Capitol held a previously scheduled hearing berating …

Discussion: Mediaite

Erik Wasson / The Hill:
Boehner to allow House vote on emerging Senate debt-ceiling deal

Discussion: Daily Kos and Pat Dollard

Tom Kludt / Talking Points Memo: Houston Chronicle Expresses Regrets For Endorsing Cruz

Tom Kludt / Talking Points Memo:
Matt Drudge Predicts Pelosi Will Be Next Speaker

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, The Hinterland Gazette and The Raw Story

Tom Kludt / Talking Points Memo: Cruz Blasts Senate GOP But Vows Not To Delay Vote On Deal (VIDEO)

Politico:
Senate reaches deal to end shutdown, avert default

Discussion: Reuters and The Hill

Abby D. Phillip / ABC News:
Ted Cruz's Hometown Newspaper Regrets Endorsement

Discussion: TheBlaze.com

Jonathan Strong / National Review:
Stunned Republicans React to Canceled Vote

Discussion: Washington Examiner, Washington Post, Outside the Beltway, News Desk, The American Conservative, Hit & Run, Daily Kos, Taegan Goddard's … and Hot Air

Mario Trujillo / The Hill:
Ayotte urges Cruz to allow quick vote in Senate on debt deal

Discussion: CNN and Politico

Politico:
Markets expect a deal — they better get one

Discussion: CNN and Taegan Goddard's …

Ashley Alman / The Huffington Post:
John Boehner Reportedly Tells Harry Reid He Will Move Quickly

Discussion: Liberaland

Kelly Ayotte / CNN:
Republican senator wants Cruz to stay out of the way in debt vote

Discussion: Talking Points Memo

Josh Barro / Business Insider:
House Republicans Show Themselves To Be Dangerously Incompetent, Again

Discussion: The American Conservative, Talking Points Memo, Firedoglake, Washington Monthly, The Dish, Washington Examiner, The Week, The Moderate Voice and Daily Kos

Tal Kopan / Politico:

Carl Bernstein: GOP leadership ‘cancerous’ — Journalist and author Carl Bernstein said Wednesday that Republican Party leadership is “cancerous” and has put the United States at risk by letting the tea party lead the GOP. — “The Republican Party today has become a rabid organization from the top down.

Matthew Boyle / BREITBART.COM:
CONGRESSMAN: ‘CONSTITUTIONAL CRISIS’ IF GOP CAVES ON DEBT CEILING

Discussion: protein wisdom and The Gateway Pundit

Abby D. Phillip / ABC News:
Senate Leaders ‘Very Close’ to Debt, Shutdown Deal

Discussion: NBCNews, Hot Air, CNN, Mother Jones, ABC News and Shakesville

Politico:
Warring GOP factions sink John Boehner plan

Discussion: The Huffington Post, Crooks and Liars, Washington Wire, NPR, The Raw Story and Gawker

Erick Erickson / RedState:

Bridge Burning and Bridge Building — House Republicans have signaled they are giving up. — They'll merge their ideas with Mitch McConnell's ideas. The result will be a funded government, raised debt ceiling, and nothing done with Obamacare. — Throughout this fight, Harry Reid has outsmarted Mitch McConnell.

Discussion: Slate, The Daily Beast, The New Republic, Hullabaloo, A plain blog about politics, Hot Air, The Dish and Washington Monthly

Jonah Goldberg / National Review:

Move On Everybody, It Just Doesn't Matter — The ugliness of the GOP schism will probably have a long half life, as various parties feel the need to point fingers and shout “I didn't do it!” But if at all possible, I think conservatives and Republicans would be well-served by putting …

Discussion: Power Line, Hot Air and alicublog

Tom Jensen / Public Policy Polling:

Shutdown hurts GOP Senate chances — New PPP polls of 6 key Senate races that will determine control of the body after next year's election finds voters extremely unhappy about the government shutdown. As a result Republicans trail in 5 of the 6 key races and are tied in the 6th.

Discussion: Firedoglake and The Daily Caller

Thomas L. Friedman / New York Times:

Sorry, Kids. We Ate It All. — Eventually this shutdown crisis will end. And eventually the two parties will make another stab at a deal on taxes, investments and entitlements. But there's one outcome from such negotiations that I can absolutely guarantee: Seniors …

Discussion: American Prospect and Hullabaloo

Carl Campanile / New York Post:

Obama adviser ‘architect’ of showdown: author — President Obama's top adviser Valerie Jarrett was behind a plan to force a showdown with Republicans over ObamaCare as part of a strategy to regain Democratic control of the House next year, claims author Ed Klein.

Discussion: TheBlaze.com, Weasel Zippers and “The Lid”

Marti Maguire / Reuters:

North Carolina is first state to cut welfare amid federal shutdown — (Reuters) - North Carolina has become the first state to cut off welfare benefits to poor residents in the wake of the partial federal government shutdown, ordering a halt to processing November applications until a deal is reached to end the federal standstill.

Discussion: Guardian, Infowars and The Daily Caller