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.

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.

College Women: Stop Getting Drunk  —  It's closely associated with sexual assault.  And yet we're reluctant to tell women to stop doing it.  —  In one awful high-profile case after another—the U.S. Naval Academy; Steubenville, Ohio; now the allegations in Maryville, Mo.—we read about a young woman …

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 …

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.

My Next Adventure in Journalism  —  As many of you know, I've had an interest in journalism for some time now.  I've been working on Civil Beat for three years and through my philanthropic work at Omidyar Network and Democracy Fund, we've supported many efforts around the world related to media …

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 …

GOP shutdown disaster could give Dems a big lift  —  With the news breaking that John Boehner will allow a House vote on a Senate deal to end the crisis, meaning Republicans surrendered with nothing to show for weeks of crisis brinkmanship, how does that impact GOP fortunes heading into 2014?

Club for Growth, Heritage: Vote no; U.S. Chamber of Commerce urges yes vote  —  The conservative Club for Growth and Heritage Action announced Wednesday that they opposes the Senate deal that raises the debt ceiling and ends the government shutdown.  —  Both groups urged members to vote down the deal …

Anderson Cooper decides GOP strategist is ‘high’ after he says Cruz is ‘having bunny sex’  —  CNN host Anderson Cooper decided on Tuesday that CNN contributor Alex Castellanos must be “high” after the Republican strategist tried to explain Sen. Ted Cruz' (R-TX) push to shut down the government by saying “he's having bunny sex.”

The Strangelove Republicans  —  Today I heard an update on the radio from the fiscal crisis in Washington, and thought, “The Republicans really are going to push us over the edge.”  I hope I'm wrong, of course, but it becomes more thinkable with each passing hour.