Top Items:
Alexander Bolton / The Hill:
GOP's McConnell promises no more shutdowns over ObamaCare — Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell says he will not allow another government shutdown as part of a strategy to repeal ObamaCare. — McConnell (Ky.) told The Hill in an interview Thursday afternoon that his party learned …
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Robert Costa / National Review:
McConnell's Exit Interview — On Thursday morning, I sat down with Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the minority leader, in his Capitol office. We discussed his role in brokering the recent fiscal deal, his outlook on future talks, and Republican expectations for divided government.
Discussion:
Watchdog Earth, Taegan Goddard's …, The Dish, Guardian and Wonkblog
Brian Beutler / Salon:
GOP's huge Tea Party mess has only just begun — The coming months could present him with even more headaches — Last night, Republicans stood aside as Congress increased the debt limit and reopened the government. In return, they got nothing. Or more accurately, they got something …
Discussion:
The Plum Line, The Dish and New York Times
Sahil Kapur / Talking Points Memo:
GOP Frees The Debt Ceiling Hostage — Maybe For Good — “We're not going to pass a clean debt limit increase,” House Speaker John Boehner warned the country on Oct. 6. “I told the president, there's no way we're going to pass one. The votes are not in the House to pass a clean debt limit.
Abby D. Phillip / ABC News:
Ted Cruz Won't Rule Out Another Shutdown, But McConnell Does
Ted Cruz Won't Rule Out Another Shutdown, But McConnell Does
Discussion:
msnbc.com, Talking Points Memo, Daily Kos and Business Insider
Todd J. Gillman / Dallas Morning News:
Ted Cruz left with few friends after Obamacare fight fails, government shutdown ends, debt limit rises
Ted Cruz left with few friends after Obamacare fight fails, government shutdown ends, debt limit rises
Discussion:
Boston Herald, The Reaction, Sky Dancing, Mediaite, Althouse and Houston Chronicle
Steve Almasy / CNN:
There's a little pork in that bill: The 5 most surprising provisions in the debt deal
There's a little pork in that bill: The 5 most surprising provisions in the debt deal
Discussion:
Politico, The Lead with Jake Tapper, Firedoglake, BizPac Review, The Fix and Senate Conservatives Fund
Alex Pappas / The Daily Caller:
There's no actual debt ceiling right now
There's no actual debt ceiling right now
Discussion:
The Heritage Foundation
Tom Jensen / Public Policy Polling:
Grimes leads McConnell by 2
Grimes leads McConnell by 2
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo and Taegan Goddard's …
Todd Starnes / Fox News:
American taxpayers betrayed by chicken-hearted RINOs
American taxpayers betrayed by chicken-hearted RINOs
Discussion:
The Dish, Reuters, The Right Scoop and Twitchy
Tal Kopan / Politico:
Eureka! Tea partiers know science — A finding in a study on the relationship between science literacy and political ideology surprised the Yale professor behind it: Tea party members know more science than non-tea partiers. — Yale law professor Dan Kahan posted on his blog this week …
Discussion:
Rush Limbaugh, Weasel Zippers, Mediaite, Viking Pundit, CANNONFIRE and Pew Research Center …
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The Atlantic Online:
The Conservative War on the GOP — What was once an uneasy alliance between Tea Partiers and Republican loyalists is increasingly marked by hostility—and many on the right now want a divorce. — On his radio show recently, Glenn Beck urged his listeners to “defund the GOP.”
Discussion:
Doug Ross, Political Algebra, The Dish, Outside the Beltway, Yahoo! News, NationalJournal.com and Talking Points Memo
Daniel Strauss / Talking Points Memo:
GOP Sen. Thad Cochran Gets Tea Party Challenger
GOP Sen. Thad Cochran Gets Tea Party Challenger
Discussion:
Hullabaloo
Kelly Kennedy / USA Today:
Tech experts: Health exchange site needs total overhaul — WASHINGTON — The federal health care exchange was built using 10-year-old technology that may require constant fixes and updates for the next six months and the eventual overhaul of the entire system, technology experts told USA TODAY.
Discussion:
Reason, National Review, “The Lid”, Hot Air and Washington Free Beacon
Per Kaplan / Gretawire:
This is what happened ..... Click to read — From FNC CHAD PERGRAM: — Urgent: House Stenographer says Holy Spirit woke her up at night to deliver message to the House — Karrah Kaplan spoke with the husband of House stenographer Dianne Reidy last night. There's an emailed statement here from Dan Reidy.
Discussion:
The Hill, ABC News, Mediaite, Gawker and East Idaho News
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ABC News:
Obama To Name Jeh Johnson Next Homeland Security Secretary … President Obama is expected to nominate former Pentagon lawyer Jeh Johnson as the next Homeland Security secretary, ABC News has learned. — The Department of Homeland Security has been without a Senate-confirmed leader for six weeks …
Discussion:
Politico
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David Jackson / USA Today:
Obama to tap ex-Pentagon official for Homeland Security
Obama to tap ex-Pentagon official for Homeland Security
Discussion:
Weekly Standard, Pat Dollard and Washington's Blog
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 …
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:
Weasel Zippers, The Long War Journal, Firedoglake, The Daily Caller, Shakesville, Mashable, Liberaland, The Raw Story, Techdirt and Hot Air
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James Risen / New York Times:
Snowden Says He Took No Secret Files to Russia
Snowden Says He Took No Secret Files to Russia
Discussion:
Techdirt and Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion
Evan McMorris-Santoro / BuzzFeed:
Design Firm Removes All Reference To Its Work On Obamacare From Its Website — Teal Media was founded by a former member of Obama's campaign design team. The firm says it took down all reference to its work on HealthCare.gov “in consultation” with the administration.
Discussion:
Weasel Zippers, Hot Air and National Review
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:
NBCNews, Talking Points Memo, Pat Dollard, Weasel Zippers, Mediaite and National Review
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Louie Gohmert / CNN:
McCain, Gohmert spar over who's ‘intelligent’
McCain, Gohmert spar over who's ‘intelligent’
Discussion:
Washington Monthly, Politico and GQ Magazine Online
Domenico Montanaro / firstread.nbcnews.com:
Poll: Amid shutdown, Republican falls further behind in race for Va. governor — National Republicans may be glad the midterm elections are a year away after polls have shown the party's favorability at all-time lows because of the federal government shutdown. But one Republican - in a swing state - is caught in the buzz saw.
Discussion:
PoliticusUSA, Taegan Goddard's … and NBCNews
CNN:
Rep. Bill Young ‘gravely ill,’ family says — Washington (CNN) - Rep. Bill Young of Florida, the longest-serving Republican member of the House, is “gravely ill,” his family said in a statement Wednesday. — “[Young's] condition turned for the worse over night and he is gravely ill …
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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, Taylor Marsh, Wonkblog, Hot Air and The Hinterland Gazette
Bloomberg:
Shutdown Hit Boehner's Favorite Diner as $24 Billion Lost — Gum Tong owns a diner in Washington, D.C., and Matt Bellinger charters fishing boats in the Florida Everglades. They have this in common: The shutdown of the U.S. government cost them money they will never get back.
Discussion:
Crooks and Liars
Paul Steinhauser / CNN:
Another GOP Senator facing primary challenge — (CNN) - Add Mississippi's Thad Cochran to the list of Republican Senators up for re-election next year who are facing primary challengers. — State Senator Chris McDaniel launched a campaign on Thursday to try to unseat Cochran, who's served in Congress for more than four decades.
Discussion:
Politico
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Rebecca Shabad / The Hill:
McConnell: ‘There was no earmark’
Jeryl Bier / Weekly Standard:
Obamacare Website Violates Licensing Agreement for Copyrighted Software — Healthcare.gov, the federal government's Obamacare website, has been under heavy criticism from friend and foe alike during its first two weeks of open enrollment. Repeated errors and delays have prevented many users …
Discussion:
Pat Dollard, The Greenroom and National Review
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, Lawyers, Guns & Money and PopWatch
Associated Press:
Va. removes 40K from voter rolls over Democrats' objections — Democrats seek to have names restored; case to be heard Friday — Virginia elections officials say they have already purged nearly 40,000 names from the voter rolls, despite a lawsuit filed by Democrats seeking to keep those voters registered.
Discussion:
GovBeat and The Raw Story
Hamilton Nolan / Gawker:
What If Dick Cheney's First Heart Attack Had Killed Him? — Dick “Dick” Cheney, the defining political figure of 21st century America, is publishing a book next week called “Heart: An American Medical Odyssey,” about his own health problems. Cheney had the first of his five heart attacks in 1978.
Discussion:
Mediaite, Twitchy, NewsBusters and New York Times
Bruce Vielmetti / JSOnline:
Milwaukee man gets jail time for voting twice in presidential election — By Bruce Vielmetti of the Journal Sentinel — Chad Gigowski said he was not part of any organized election fraud effort, just high on alcohol and drugs when he voted twice in November's presidential election.
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo