Top Items:
Steve Almasy / CNN:
There's a little pork in that bill: The 5 most surprising provisions in the debt deal — (CNN) — So much for a “clean” bill. The measure passed by Congress to fund the government and raise the debt ceiling also contains some goodies and gifts tucked into the 35-page bill.
Discussion:
Firedoglake, Politico, BizPac Review and The Fix
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Tom Jensen / Public Policy Polling:
Grimes leads McConnell by 2 — PPP's newest Kentucky poll finds voters in the state extremely unhappy about the government shutdown, and taking it out on Mitch McConnell. The Republican Senator Minority Leader now trails Alison Lundergan Grimes 45/43 for reelection.
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo and Taegan Goddard's …
Bob Cusack / The Hill:
Winners and losers of the debt-limit fight — The 2013 fiscal showdown was ugly, especially for Republicans. — Both parties have scoffed that there are winners and losers in the debate. — Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) recently said, “This isn't a damn game!”
Discussion:
CNN, Taylor Marsh, Politico and Reuters
Todd Starnes / Fox News:
American taxpayers betrayed by chicken-hearted RINOs — American taxpayers have once again been trampled by establishment Republicans - a thundering herd of chicken-hearted Republicans in Name Only (RINOs) galloping to the Left. — The debt ceiling deal struck between Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid …
Discussion:
The Dish, Reuters and The Right Scoop
Politico:
House stenographer hauled from floor — A House floor stenographer was abruptly hauled out of the chamber after charging the dais and screaming during Wednesday's late night vote on raising the debt ceiling and funding the federal government. — As the bill sailed toward final passage …
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Abby D. Phillip / ABC News:
House Stenographer Yanked From Chamber Ranting About God, Freemasons
House Stenographer Yanked From Chamber Ranting About God, Freemasons
Discussion:
Washington Monthly and JustOneMinute
New Jersey Online:
Cory Booker makes history as he defeats Steve Lonegan in U.S. Senate election — NEWARK — Cory Booker's star-quality and his skill at surviving the roughhouse politics of New Jersey's biggest city took him from the mayor's office to the U.S. Senate today in a hard-fought victory over Republican iconoclast Steve Lonegan.
Discussion:
New York Times, Washington Monthly, Taylor Marsh, Right Wing Watch and Balloon Juice
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Ian Millhiser / ThinkProgress:
Only Four African Americans Have Ever Been Elected To The U.S. Senate In All Of American History
Only Four African Americans Have Ever Been Elected To The U.S. Senate In All Of American History
Discussion:
NBCNews and Shakesville
Sarah Palin / BREITBART.COM:
ON TO KENTUCKY — Todd and I were proud to stand with Mark Levin …
ON TO KENTUCKY — Todd and I were proud to stand with Mark Levin …
Discussion:
The Gateway Pundit and Twitchy
Victoria Cavaliere / Reuters:
New Jersey voters elect Democrat Cory Booker to U.S. Senate
New Jersey voters elect Democrat Cory Booker to U.S. Senate
Discussion:
Advocate and Towleroad News #gay
David Dayen / Salon:
Right-wing nuts nab new way to sabotage Obamacare — One low-profile component could prove costly — The final deal to avert a breach of the debt limit and end the government shutdown included what has been described as a “small concession” to Republicans: tightening the income verification measures …
Discussion:
Crooks and Liars and ThinkProgress
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Nick Gillespie / The Daily Beast:
The Abysmal, Pathetic Obamacare Rollout — It's a colossal, expensive failure that projects a 1970s-era DMV experience into cyberspace. Welcome to Healthcare.gov, the botched website of Obama's botched health-care reform, writes Nick Gillespie. — The best jokes about the absolutely abysmal rollout …
Discussion:
Weekly Standard, Infowars, National Republican …, The Federalist and Hit & Run
Sarah Kliff / Wonkblog:
The GOP's income verification ‘concession’ is meaningless
The GOP's income verification ‘concession’ is meaningless
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo, Washington Examiner and The Week
Todd J. Gillman / Dallas Morning News:
Ted Cruz left with few friends after Obamacare fight fails, government shutdown ends, debt limit rises — Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, said he wouldn't try to block the Senate agreement. “There's nothing to be gained from delaying this vote one day or two days. The outcome will be the same,” Cruz said.
Discussion:
The Agonist, Sky Dancing, Houston Chronicle, Mediaite and Althouse
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Erick Erickson / RedState:
Advancing. Ever Advancing. — Much cynicism has been expressed over the past month about the effort, led by Ted Cruz and Mike Lee, to fight Obamacare. It was about money or defeating Republicans or something other than what it was about — undermining Obamacare with a united front.
Discussion:
Commentary Magazine, firstread.nbcnews.com, Balloon Juice, Rothenblog, Right Turn, BuzzFeed, alicublog, No More Mister Nice Blog, Doug Ross, The Dish and Hot Air
Marshall Sella / GQ Magazine Online:
The Year of Living Carlos Dangerously — Anthony Weiner's sexting addiction nuked his political career (twice!), endangered his marriage (twice!), and turned him into a walking penis joke (forever!). — Marshall Sella tails Weiner through his doomed campaign for New York mayor …
Discussion:
The Hill, Politico, Weasel Zippers, Liberaland, Talking Points Memo, Gawker, The Daily Caller, Politicker, Infowars and Gothamist
New York Times:
The Republican Surrender — President Obama signed the bill reopening the government and lifting the debt ceiling early Thursday morning. — The Republican Party slunk away on Wednesday from its failed, ruinous strategy to get its way through the use of havoc.
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Russell Berman / The Hill:
Ryan breaks from Boehner, votes ‘no’
Ryan breaks from Boehner, votes ‘no’
Discussion:
CNN, News Desk, Taylor Marsh, Politico, The Fix, NewsMax.com, Talking Points Memo, National Review, The Reaction and The Reality-Based Community
Jennifer Steinhauer / New York Times:
Hands Empty but Spirit Unbowed, House Republicans Take Stock
Hands Empty but Spirit Unbowed, House Republicans Take Stock
Discussion:
BuzzFeed, ABC News, Democracy in America, CANNONFIRE, Daniel W. Drezner and Daily Kos
Greg Miller / Washington Post:
Documents reveal NSA's extensive involvement in targeted killing program — It was an innocuous e-mail, one of millions sent every day by spouses with updates on the situation at home. But this one was of particular interest to the National Security Agency and contained clues that put …
Discussion:
Firedoglake, Mashable, RIA Novosti, Shakesville, The Raw Story, Hot Air, Liberaland, Techdirt and The Hill
Michael Hirsh / NationalJournal.com:
Hillary Clinton, Welcome to the White House — She has no Democratic challenger, and the Republican Party is no longer a credible opposition force. — Former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton smiles as she waits to answer questions from an audience at Chatham House on October 11, 2013 in London, England.
Discussion:
Yahoo! News, The Hinterland Gazette, Wonkblog and Outside the Beltway
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John Hall / The Independent:
Kenya shopping mall attack: Chilling new footage from inside Westgate shows terrorists casually gunning down innocent shoppers — The video also shows terrorists calmly chatting on their mobile phones and taking turns to kneel down and pray — Warning: Video contains images that some may find disturbing.
Discussion:
Jihad Watch and Atlas Shrugs
Ashley Killough / CNN:
McCain: No more shutdowns, ‘I guarantee it’ — Washington (CNN) - Sen. John McCain promised Thursday the government will not shut down again in the near future, and argued the President, as the victor in the recent showdown, will now have to engage with his political opponents on Capitol Hill.
Discussion:
Politico
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Mental Floss:
Mental Floss Exclusive: Our Interview with Bill Watterson! … For the December issue of mental_floss magazine, Jake Rossen managed to do something we thought was impossible—he snagged an interview with the legendary Bill Watterson! Since we're guessing there are a few Calvin and Hobbes enthusiasts …
Discussion:
ThinkProgress, Guardian, Poynter, The Verge and Lawyers, Guns & Money
Ben Jacobs / The Daily Beast:
Gohmert Responds to McCain's Dimwit Dig — After Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) called Tea Party stalwart Rep. Louie Gohmert “a person of no intelligence” in an interview on NBC Nightly News on Wednesday, the back and forth between the two continued Thursday with Gohmert suggesting that McCain “would be better off with ‘no intelligence.’”
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo, NBCNews, Weasel Zippers, Pat Dollard, Mediaite and National Review
David Weigel / Slate:
Republicans are wasting no time in rewriting the history of their own defeat. — For the men and women of the U.S. Senate, Wednesday morning was a time of jubilation. Hark—a deal was born! Sens. Harry Reid and Mitch McConnell came bearing a bipartisan agreement that punted the debt …
Discussion:
Hullabaloo, The Week and Politico
Dylan Scott / Talking Points Memo:
Conservatives Learned The Wrong Lessons From The Shutdown Debacle — For a certain block of House conservatives, the ones who drove Speaker John Boehner toward a government shutdown and near-default against his will, the lesson of the last few weeks isn't that they overreached.
Discussion:
Taking Note and The Mahablog