Ted Cruz, House Republicans Meet in Secret at Tortilla Coast  —  Sen. Ted Cruz met with roughly 15 to 20 House Republicans for around two hours late Monday night at the Capitol Hill watering hole Tortilla Coast.  —  The group appeared to be talking strategy about how they should respond …

2 DAYS TO DEBT DEADLINE; SHUTDOWN DAY 15 — SENATE NEAR DEAL to postpone both cliffs to next year — HOUSE UNDER PRESSURE: 'won't be pretty' — WILL REPUBLICANS BE LEFT with little but bad polls?  —  DATA DU JOUR - DISapproval for handling of budget crisis, in new ABC News/WashPost poll …

The default has already begun  —  The big question in Washington this week is whether, in the words of the NYT, we're going to see “a legislative failure and an economic catastrophe that could ripple through financial markets, foreign capitals, corporate boardrooms, state budget offices and the bank accounts of everyday investors”.

NSA collects millions of e-mail address books globally  —  The National Security Agency is harvesting hundreds of millions of contact lists from personal e-mail and instant messaging accounts around the world, many of them belonging to Americans, according to senior intelligence officials …

13 THINGS THAT DEFINE THE NEW AMERICAN CENTER  —  It is bigger than you think...  An exclusive Esquire-NBC News survey shows us that everything we are told about politics in America today—that there is no middle ground between left and right, blue and red, us and them—is wrong.

McAuliffe leads Cuccinelli by 7 points as Va. voters blame GOP for shutdown  —  Virginia voters looking for somebody to blame for the government shutdown impacting federal workers in Northern Virginia and Hampton Roads have settled on gubernatorial candidate Ken Cuccinelli …

'The Kelly File's' surge is legit, Nielsen says  —  MSNBC had questioned Fox News show's 100% ratings increase  —  Megyn Kelly hosts the Fox News Channel's new show “The Kelly File.”  —  Nielsen has conducted an investigation into the ratings for Megyn Kelly's new Fox News Channel show …

I, Rielle Hunter, Apologize  —  I behaved badly.  That may seem obvious to you but it's taken me a long time to admit that, even to myself.  For years I was so viciously attacked by the media and the world that I felt like a victim.  I now realize that the attacks are actually beside the point.

What This Cruel War Was Over  —  It is not so much the behavior of the lone idiot that matters, but the tenor of the crowd around him.  —  On Sunday, a group of conservative radicals held a protest in Washington.  Eventually they walked to the White House.

House G.O.P. Backs Off Plan, Leaving Fiscal Talks in Limbo  —  WASHINGTON — House Republican leaders struggled late Tuesday morning to forge a new proposal to reopen the government and change the president's health care law, after a plan presented behind closed doors to the Republican rank …

A Fox Is Living on the White House Grounds and No One Can Catch It Because of the Shutdown  —  Really.  —  A fox.  Unfortunately, no pictures of the White House fox are available.  (jans canon/Flickr)  —  Illustrators of children's books, here is your next story:

Panetta rebukes Obama's handling of shutdown  —  Leon Panetta served in Washington with nine presidents, starting with Lyndon Johnson.  He has been a member of Congress, Office of Management and Budget director, White House chief of staff, director of the Central Intelligence Agency and secretary …

Filner faces 3 counts in harassment case  —  Former San Diego Mayor Bob Filner will face state charges this morning of false imprisonment and battery.  —  According to San Diego Superior Court, the former mayor faces a felony charge of false imprisonment by violence, fraud, menace and deceit and and two misdemeanor counts of battery.

Holy war in Harlem: Pastors want Al Sharpton out  —  Four prominent clergymen invited over 100 churches to unify in an attempt dethrone Reverend Al Sharpton.  —  (left to right) Carl Washington, Pastor New Mt Zion Baptist Church, Kris Erskine, Pastor Bethany Baptist Church and Patrick Young …

Three GOP Faces Who Are Outshining Their Party  —  Paul, Christie and Ryan Manage to Improve Their Standing During the Shutdown  —  At this point, it's both an understatement and a statement of the obvious to say the government-shutdown showdown hasn't been good for the Republican Party.