memeorandum: Republicans finally confronting reality: They're trapped! (Brian Beutler/Salon)

8:05 AM ET, October 4, 2013

Top Items:

Ezra Klein / Wonkblog:

How the White House sees the shutdown (and debt ceiling!) fight — To the White House, the shutdown/debt ceiling fight is quite simple, and quite radical: Republicans are trying to create a new, deeply undemocratic pathway through which a minority party that lost the last election can enact …

Discussion: Hullabaloo and Washington Monthly

Brian Beutler / Salon:

Republicans finally confronting reality: They're trapped! — Obama's ironclad resolve not to negotiate over the debt limit appears to finally be sinking in among GOP leaders — After struggling for weeks and weeks in stages one through four, Republicans are finally entering the final stage …

Discussion: The Mahablog, Hullabaloo, NPR and The Reaction

Politico:

Bad blood: Four feuding leaders — Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid privately told fellow Democratic senators this week what he really thought of Speaker John Boehner. — “He's a coward,” Reid angrily said, referring to Boehner's private push for federal health care contributions for lawmakers and their staff.

Discussion: New York Times and NPR

New York Times:

Boehner Pledges to Avoid Default, Republicans Say — WASHINGTON — Speaker John A. Boehner has privately told Republican lawmakers anxious about fallout from the government shutdown that he would not allow a potentially more crippling federal default as the atmosphere on Capitol Hill turned increasingly tense on Thursday.

nbcwashington.com:
Obama to Boehner: “Take a Vote. End This Shutdown Right Now”

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit and The PJ Tatler

Joseph A. Morris / Washington Post:
Shutdowns have been frequent tools of policy. Just ask Reagan.

Discussion: msnbc.com

Zachary A. Goldfarb / Washington Post:
GOP aides: Boehner tells colleagues he will avoid a default on federal debt

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Wall Street Journal, NPR, The Plum Line, Post Politics, Wonkblog, American Prospect and Daily Kos

Charles Babington / Associated Press:
Politically Safe Lawmakers See No Shutdown Urgency

Discussion: Associated Press, Politico, Fix the Debt, CNN and Reuters

Roberta Rampton / Reuters:
Obama blames Republican ‘obsession’ for government shutdown

Discussion: The Week, Weasel Zippers and Telegraph

Larry Celona / New York Post:

DC attacker a dental hygienist, shot dead after chase — Alex Leary tweeted, “Something happening outside Capitol. Police running around with guns at ready.” — @learyreports via Twitter — @MarcSchloss tweeted: “No joke on Capitol Hill as Cops are running with machine guns as reports of shots being fired at Capitol.”

Discussion: Weasel Zippers, The Moderate Voice, Hot Air and The Hinterland Gazette

Washington Post:

Police suspect dental hygienist Miriam Carey was behind the wheel of Capitol chase — She had a toddler with her, confounding everyone who watched the car crash through barriers and lead police through the heart of high-security Washington. — Law enforcement officials said the black Infiniti …

Discussion: NBCNews, BBC, theGrio and NewsBusters

Peter Hermann / Washington Post:

Driver killed after car chase from White House to Capitol — A woman with a 1-year-old child in her car was fatally shot by police near the U.S. Capitol on Thursday, after a chase through the heart of Washington that brought a new jolt of fear to a city already rattled by the recent Navy Yard shooting and the federal shutdown.

Discussion: WJLA-TV, The Hill, The PJ Tatler, The Democratic Daily, NBCNews, Talking Points Memo, Fox News and Alan Colmes' Liberaland

NY Daily News:
U.S. Capitol shooting: Brooklyn neighbor says Connecticut woman shot dead outside Capitol 'seemed …

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit

ABC News:
Attempt to Ram White House Gate Ends With Female Suspect Dead

Discussion: ABC News, NPR, NBCNews, Washington Post, Gawker, The Other McCain, The Lonely Conservative, The Raw Story, Scared Monkeys, Connecting.the.Dots, ThinkProgress and Talking Points Memo

Michael S. Schmidt / New York Times:
Car Chase, White House to Capitol, Has Fatal End

Discussion: The Lede, Towleroad News #gay, Althouse and Ridgewood-Glen Rock Patch News

Jake Sherman / Politico:
Capitol lockdown lifted after shots fired

Discussion: CBS DC, The Week, Outside the Beltway, CNN, Shakesville and Guardian

Adobe Blogs:

Important Customer Security Announcement — Cyber attacks are one of the unfortunate realities of doing business today. Given the profile and widespread use of many of our products, Adobe has attracted increasing attention from cyber attackers. Very recently, Adobe's security team …

Discussion: Guardian, Mashable, BBC, New York Times, The Verge, TechCrunch, The Raw Story and The Daily Caller

Noah Rothman / Mediaite:

Chad Henderson Signed Up for Obamacare and Every... Single... Media Outlet Is on It! — On October 1, Chad Henderson successfully signed up for a health care exchange as part of the Affordable Care Act. He was instantly catapulted into the national spotlight as the White House …

Discussion: Twitchy, Weasel Zippers and The PJ Tatler

Sarah Kliff / Wonkblog:

Meet Chad Henderson, the Obamacare enrollee tons of reporters are calling — Ask and, apparently, you shall receive. — Just moments after writing a blog post Thursday morning, about the lack of information on Obamacare enrollees, Enroll America reached out with contact information for Chad Henderson …

Discussion: Cato Institute, The Huffington Post, Wall Street Journal, Weasel Zippers, Mediaite, Michelle Malkin, Hit & Run, ThinkProgress, Hot Air and NewsBusters

Ezra Klein / Wonkblog:

Why we won't mint the coin, why we can't just pay off bonds, and other scary debt-ceiling facts — Mark A. Patterson is senior fellow at the Center for American Progress. He was chief of staff at the Treasury Department from 2009 until May 2013 where he was deeply involved in the 2011 debt-ceiling negotiations.

Stephen Dinan / Washington Times:

Senate Democrats block reopening of NIH, national parks — Shutdown positions hardening on both sides — Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid on Thursday blocked a House bill providing funding to reopen national parks amid the government shutdown, saying he would not allow the GOP to pick …

Discussion: Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion

John McCormack / Weekly Standard:
Schumer: No Funding for Veterans and NIH ‘Because We Have a Tea Party’

Discussion: Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Hot Air, Weasel Zippers and Politico

Peter Schroeder / The Hill:
Cantor: House GOP forging ahead with piecemeal bills

Discussion: CNN and voteview blog

Byron York / Washington Examiner:
Out of ideas, House GOP considers Hail Mary

Discussion: Power Line, Hot Air, Mediaite, Firedoglake, RedState, Washington Post, Politico, Betsy's Page and JustOneMinute

Maggie Haberman / Politico:

Cory Booker's lackluster campaign — Cory Booker is all but certain to win the New Jersey special election for U.S. Senate. — But as polls show Republican rival Steve Lonegan tightening the race, Booker is getting an uncomfortable reminder that he will have to campaign hard to defend …

Mark Segraves / nbcwashington.com:

Congressman Confronts Park Ranger Over Closed WWII Memorial — Conflict over the responsibility for the government shutdown got personal at the World War II Memorial in Washington, D.C. Wednesday when a member of Congress confronted a U.S. Park Service Ranger over access to the closed park land.

Discussion: Voices, Mediaite, BillMoyers.com, NPR, DCist, The Raw Story, Politico, msnbc.com, The Gateway Pundit, Daily Kos, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Taegan Goddard's … and Gawker

David French / National Review:
The World War II Memorial Shutdown: A Symbol of Government Malice

Discussion: alicublog

Timothy Egan / Opinionator:

Wrong Side of History — Sarah Palin finally got her death panels — a direct blow from the Republican House. In shutting down the government, leaving 800,000 people without a paycheck and draining the economy of $300 million a day, the Party of Madness also took away last-chance cancer trials …

Discussion: Balloon Juice

CNN:

Gulf Coast hurricane watch as Karen moves north — Are you affected by the storm? Share your photos and videos with CNN iReport if you can do so safely. — (CNN) — A hurricane watch is in effect for parts of the U.S. Gulf Coast after Tropical Storm Karen formed in the southeastern portion …

Discussion: The Moderate Voice

Jonathan Martin / New York Times:

G.O.P. Elders See Liabilities in Shutdown — WASHINGTON — The hard-line stance of Republican House members on the government shutdown is generating increasing anger among senior Republican officials, who say the small bloc of conservatives is undermining the party and helping President Obama …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Washington Post and Prairie Weather

Hadas Gold / Politico:

GOP rep. to CNN host: 'You're beautiful, but ...' — Republican Rep. Todd Rokita told CNN's Carol Costello Thursday morning that she and the media are part of Washington's problems — despite the fact that she's “beautiful.” — In an exchange over the Republican opposition to the Affordable Care Act …

Discussion: The Huffington Post, NewsBusters, Mediaite and Talking Points Memo, more at Mediagazer »