The Commentariat -- Oct. 18, 2013

All of us need to stop focusing on the lobbyists and the bloggers and the talking heads on radio and the professional activists who profit from conflict and focus what the majority of Americans sent us here to do.... -- President Obama, speaking Thursday morning  ...

The President of the United States has accused me of being worse than useless. He is not attacking my ideas; he is attacking me as a person, suggesting not only that I have negative value but also that I profit from the harm I do to the rest of the American people. He says the same about half the writers whose works I link. I take these charges seriously. I will stop Reality Chex the moment I decide the POTUS is right or likely right. -- Marie Burns

Since Obama doesn't brook bloggers, he would not have read this before he condemned me.

Jonathan Weisman & Jackie Calmes of the New York Times: "With the government reopened and a debt default averted for now, Congressional negotiators on Thursday plunged into difficult budget talks to avoid a repeat crisis within months, and quickly agreed to lower their sights from the sort of grand bargain that has eluded the two parties for three years." ...

... Robert Kuttner of the American Prospect, Blogger: "Obama, in this [shutdown/default] crisis, has discovered that a spine is a very useful thing to have. He has discovered that when he hangs tough, the latent schisms in the Republican Party break open. He needs to carry that new toughness into December and January, and beyond. His own worst enemy is both his congenital desire to appease and his on- and-off flirtation with cutting social insurance."

Sixty-two percent of House Republicans voted against their own [budget] number, voted against opening up government and then voted against ending the default of our full faith and credit. What was squandered in that period of time, was not only quantitatively measured in terms of it slowed our GDP growth, jeopardized our credit rating, eroded consumer and investor confidence, it also diminished confidence in government, in governance. Did they know what this irresponsibility cost us? ... Was their tantrum worth $24 billion? [the estimated cost to the economy of the shutdown & debt default threat] I don’t think so. Perhaps they didn’t know how costly it would be…. We knew it was at a cost in addition to the cost to the working families. -- Nancy Pelosi, at a news conference Thursday

An interesting tidbit in this longish piece by Carrie Brown & Jonathan Allen of Politico: It was President Obama, not Leader Reid, who quashed Susan Collins' so-called bipartisan offer. ...

... Greg Sargent, Blogger: Obama's hard line makes Boehner's job easier. ...

... Alexander Bolton of the Hill: "Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell says he will not allow another government shutdown as part of a strategy to repeal ObamaCare." CW: Could have something to do with the polling back home. See Senate Race below. ...

... Caitlin MacNeal of TPM: "Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) said Thursday that he would not rule out pushing the federal government to shut down again in order to defund the health care law." ...

It should have been the Senate Republicans that rode like the cavalry to support the courageous stand House Republicans were taking. Instead, they became the Air Force, bombing our own troops, bombing House Republicans, bombing conservatives, and you can't win when one house of Congress turns its cannons on the other half. -- Ted Cruz, further endearing himself to his fellows at the 100 Club

... Todd Gillman of the Dallas Morning News: "... by the time Cruz’s crusade to defund Obamacare finally crashed to a halt Wednesday, the Texas senator had precious few friends left. The government shutdown alienated colleagues in both parties. It generated fresh animosity toward the tea party and a flurry of recriminations toward Cruz. Voter support for the Republican Party plunged. And the health care law survived unscathed." ...

... Ha Ha. The Houston Chronicle's editors are really, really sorry they endorsed Ted Cruz. Via Blogger Igor Volsky of Think Progress. ...

... "The GOP's Alamo." Dave Weigel, Blogger: "Republicans are wasting no time in rewriting the history of their own defeat." ...

... ** Huff Post Bloggers Sam Stein & Ryan Grim interview Harry Reid, who has a few choice word for David Vitter (R-La.) & Ted Cruz. CW: One thing Vitter & Cruz have succeeded in changing in Washington: those quaint Senate good manners. Nothing from Harry about "the distinguished gentleman...."

Eric Yoder of the Washington Post: "The budget measure that ended the partial government shutdown allows for a 1 percent raise for federal employees in January in addition to providing back pay for those furloughed...."

Jia Lynn Yang & Tom Hamburger of the Washington Post: The business community still loves John Boehner, and "Boehner’s friends in the business community are getting ready to take sides in a few Republican primary races against tea party candidates in Michigan, Idaho and Alabama who could cause the House speaker more trouble." ...

... Molly Ball of the Atlantic, Blogger: "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." ...

... CW: Ball's discussion of internal hostility reminds me of Obama press secretary Robert Gibbs' 2010 extended comments derogating the "professional left" who "wouldn't be satisfied if Dennis Kucinich was president." In reviewing some of Gibbs' complaints, it's kind of obvious that those on the "professional left" (including bloggers!) have been vindicated. Obama has realized the errors inherent in his willingness to negotiate with Republicans -- from rolling over for a grand bargain to the sequester ploy that backfired. He knows that the surge in Afghanistan was a mistake, that Guantanamo remains a festering disaster, & that the NSA should be reined in. The economy -- at least for most of us -- continues to stagnate because the stimulus wasn't big enough & the aid to homeowners (legislated but minimally implemented) continued the drag on the housing market. (But bankers are doing fine!) Obama's decision to throw Elizabeth Warren under the bus had a silver lining that emerged through no fault of his. And the problems ObamaCare is experiencing -- caused in great part by the Supreme Court's allowing states to opt out -- might have been avoided under a single-payer plan. You can probably add to the list.

Alec MacGillis of the New Republic, Blogger: "They’re back! Barely had Harry Reid and Mitch McConnell announced their agreement to reopen the government and raise the debt ceiling than zooming in from the leaden skies came our old friends, the fiscal hawks. Fix the Debt, the organization that took flight last year from the very deep pockets of octagenarian Blackstone co-founder Pete Peterson, held an afternoon event at the National Press Club to remind everyone that, crisis averted, the real problem in this country remained our crushing long-term debt.... One by one, the officials offered the usual above-it-all bipartisan bromides, scrupulously avoiding naming the people or even the party that brought the crisis to a head." ...

... Paul Krugman, Blogger: "Fix the Debt didn’t just help create a climate of crisis with its fearmongering over the deficit; the fiscal scolds actively cheered GOP hostage-taking in 2011, and were still lending support to hostage tactics this time around.... Fix the Debt isn’t just ineffectual in its pursuit of a Grand Bargain, it’s an actively malign force in our politics, in effect acting as an ally of the extortionists." ...

... Charles Pierce, Blogger: "This is the real threat to the recovery right here.... It is this permanent class of deficit fetishists and austerian fantasts. These are the people who will wreck lives. These are people who get heard in the White House.... Every time the president mentons the deficit, these guys get their semi-annual woodies and a little bit of actual progressive politics dies again. These are the people whose credentials really should have been revoked last night, if there actually was the kind of Democratic triumph that we're being sold today." ...

... Humor Break. Wonkblog: Fix the Debt hosted a TwitterChat after their dog-and-pony show. "They got trolled." Enjoy.

Ezra Klein, Blogger: Democrats should forget about raising taxes on the wealthy & concentrate on policies that promote economic growth.

Humor Break. John McCain & Louie Gohmert trade jabs about who's smarter.

Obama 2.0. Nedra Pickler of the AP: "President Barack Obama has chosen former Pentagon lawyer Jeh Johnson as the new secretary of the Homeland Security Department. Obama plans to announce Johnson's nomination Friday. He must be confirmed by the Senate before taking over the post most recently held by Janet Napolitano." ...

... Brian Resnick & Matt Berman of the National Journal, Bloggers: "Johnson's legacy at the Defense Department is marked by two high-profile issues: his advocacy of the repeal of 'don't ask, don't tell,' and — as chief lawyer at the Pentagon — his legal authority over all drone strikes carried out by the Defense secretary and President Obama." ...

... Obama 2.0. Reuters: Gen. Keith Alexander, "the director of the National Security Agency, and his deputy are expected to depart in the coming months, US officials said on Wednesday, in a development that could give President Obama a chance to reshape the eavesdropping agency. ...

... Greg Miller, et al., of the Washington Post: "... documents provided to The Washington Post by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden ... reveal the agency’s extensive involvement in the targeted killing program that has served as a centerpiece of President Obama’s counterterrorism strategy." ...

... James Risen of the New York Times: "Edward J. Snowden ... said in an extensive interview this month that he did not take any secret N.S.A. documents with him to Russia when he fled there in June, assuring that Russian intelligence officials could not get access to them.... He also asserted that he was able to protect the documents from China’s spies because he was familiar with that nation’s intelligence abilities.... 'There’s a zero percent chance the Russians or Chinese have received any documents,' he said."

Charles Pierce, Blogger: "Everyone in the courtier press, and a good portion of the blogosphere, is making great sport of that poor stenographer who apparently snapped last night and started yelling about the Freemasons and the Constitution.... There is no intellectually honest way to say that what that poor woman started shouting on the House floor last night, and what Michele Bachmann or Ted Cruz say every day as a perfect illustration of how they view the world. Our courtier media doesn't hate crazy. It just hates improv." ...

... Geoff Earle of the New York Post: Dianne Reidy's husband, Dan Reidy, says the long hours she had to work during the shutdown made her snap. Both Reidys are Pentacostals, who believe God can speak through them.

Humor Break. Ben Yakas of Gothamist: "Stephen Colbert was the keynote speaker at the 68th annual Alfred E. Smith Memorial Foundation charity dinner last night at the Waldorf Astoria — and he spent the full 14 minutes of his speech zinging NYC's rich and powerful. And that motley crew included Christine Quinn, Ray Kelly, Cardinal Timothy Dolan, Governor Andrew Cuomo, and of course, diminutive Mayor Bloomberg."

Jonathan Cohn of the New Republic, Blogger, reviews the botched ObamaCare rollout, which isn't so botched in most of the states that are running their own exchanges. (Exception: Hawaii, which used the same contractor the feds did.)

Senate Races

Tom Jensen of Public Policy Polling: "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." (CW: this doesn't mean too much at this point, but any time a Republican's numbers look squishy in Kentucky, it's news.)

Mississippi GOP Senator Gets Tea Party Challenger. Daniel Strauss of TPM: "Mississippi State Sen. Chris McDaniel (R) jumped into the Senate race for Sen. Thad Cochran's (R-MS) seat on Thursday and was immediately endorsed by two prominent conservative organizations.... Cochran has not officially announced whether he is running for reelection."

The Commentariat -- Oct. 17, 2013

This victory for common sense is a testament to his profound tenacity, the trust his colleagues have in him and his ability to lead. And it is clear it would not have happened without him. -- Neera Tanden, President of the Center for American Progress, on Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid

P.S. Nancy Pelosi did some mighty fine cat-wrangling, too. -- Constant Weader

... Erin McClam of NBC News: "President Barack Obama said Thursday, as the federal government blinked back to life, that the 16-day shutdown and threat of national default had inflicted 'completely unnecessary damage on our economy.'" CW: AND he took a shot at me! It's at 5:45 in that the POTUS calls me a piece of dirt. I'm going to have to think about that:

... Tom Cohen, et al., of CNN: "President Barack Obama signed a bill that ends the 16-day partial government shutdown and raises the debt ceiling, the White House said early Thursday morning." ...

... Russell Berman of the Hill: "Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) split with his party's leadership and voted against the Senate fiscal agreement on Wednesday night.... Shortly after the House vote, Boehner announced four Republican appointees to the conference committee: Ryan, Rep. Tom Cole (R-Okla.), Rep. Tom Price (Ga.) and Rep. Diane Black (Tenn.). Price and Black also voted against the Senate bill." CW: So, one semi-normal ultra-conservative (Cole) and three crazed ideologues. This should work well. ...

... CW: Boehner's continued support for the Tea Party crazies, as evidenced by his budget conference nominees is a terrible sign of times to come. Not only did he not listen to the so-called moderates who urged him to distance himself from the wingnuts, he eschewed advice like this from William Galston, writing in the Wall Street Journal on Tuesday: "It's hard to see how the U.S. can govern itself unless corporate America pushes the Republican establishment to fight back against the tea party -- or switches sides." It would be a mistake to think Boehner somehow redeemed himself by consenting to allow Democrats & some Republicans to spare the nation from default & re-start the government. He is just as horrible a hack today as he was on Tuesday. ...

... Alex Altman of Time: "... while the shutdown fight may be the nadir of congressional dysfunction, things aren't getting better anytime soon." ...

... ** Jonathan Cohn of the New Republic on why Democrats prevailed. ...

... While for Republicans, writes Molly Ball of the Atlantic, "it was basically for nothing."

... If you thought things couldn't get more bizarre.... Politico: "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, the presiding lawmaker suddenly began pounding the gavel. Witnesses on the floor said the woman, identified as Dianne Reidy, seized a microphone and began yelling during the vote." ...

     ... Geoff Earle of the New York Post has more, with video. Thanks to James S. for the link. ...

... David Nakamura, et al., of the Washington Post: "Sixteen days after a federal shutdown began and one day before the United States would have exhausted its ability to borrow money, Congress approved a bill to reopen the government and raise the debt ceiling until Feb. 7. President Obama has promised to sign the legislation immediately, meaning hundreds of thousands of federal workers could be back at work Thursday." ...

... CW: The House is now expected to vote tonight. ...

     ... Update: The house voted on a voice vote; the chair declared the "yeas" won; i.e., the Senate bill passed. There was a call for a recorded vote & a 15-min. vote is ongoing at 9:57 pm ET. ...

     ... Update 2: The vote has passed the 220 mark, with 60 Republicans voting yea at this point. Final vote: 285 to 144; all 198 Democrats in attendance voted "yea"; 87 Republicans also voted "yea" to 144 "nays." President Obama to speak at 10:30 am Thursday.

... Jonathan Weisman & Ashley Parker of the New York Times: "... the Senate voted overwhelmingly, 81-18, on Wednesday evening to approve a proposal hammered out by Republican and Democratic leaders after the House was unable to move forward with any resolution. The House was expected to follow suit within hours and approve the Senate plan, which would finance the government through Jan. 15 and raise the debt limit through Feb. 7. Shortly after the vote, Mr. Obama praised Congress for action and said the vote cleared the way for substantive budget negotiations." ...

... CW: In the Senate the motion to invoke cloture on the bill to re-open the government & raise the debt ceiling passed 83-15 (I think). Update: The bill itself passed 81-18. ...

... Jonathan Weisman & Jennifer Steinhauer of the New York Times: "Speaker John A. Boehner ... said that the House would not block a bipartisan agreement reached in the Senate that yielded virtually no concessions to the Republicans.... The Senate is expected to vote on the bill Wednesday evening, with final passage coming late Wednesday or early Thursday. ...

... David Nakamura, et al., of the Washington Post: "Boehner, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) and Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) told Republicans at a closed-door afternoon meeting that they all plan to vote for the deal, said Aaron Schock (R-Ill.).... [Boehner] told conservative radio host Bill Cunningham that he would encourage his caucus to support the Senate measure.... Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) has pledged the support of all 200 Democrats, meaning Boehner would have to supply at least 17 votes." ...

... Here's the full text of the bill. ...

... Joan McCarter of Daily Kos has a rundown of the key provisions. As contributor Dave S. points out, "It also includes language allowing President Obama to waive the debt ceiling, which could be overridden by a vote of disapproval by Congress that could then be vetoed by the president." CW: This provision begins on Page 24 of the bill, linked above. As I read it, this presidential privilege expires February 7, 2014. In addition, Rachel Maddow pointed out this evening that the "modification" to the ACA -- verifying income eligibility for ACA subsidies -- is something that's already in the Affordable Care law. So Republicans got nothing, & giving the President the ability to raise the debt ceiling (which I think is an old idea of Mitch McConnell's) is a big plus for the economy. ...

     ... CW Update: Okay, I read the bill right, but I didn't consider this significant wrinkle: Jack Lew can still use "extraordinary measures" after February 7. Ergo, Lori Montgomery & Rosalind Helderman write in the WashPo: "Enforcement of the debt limit is suspended until Feb. 7, setting up another confrontation over the national debt sometime in March, independent analysts estimated." So whether or not there's another debt ceiling debacle in March could depend upon whether or not House Republicans think it's a good for their re-election. However, since the government is funded only till January 15 under the bill, the Next Big Crisis will likely occur in the dark days of winter, & maybe the debt ceiling issue will be worked out then. Democrats probably will demand it as part of the budget deal. ...

... Pete Kasperowicz of the Hill outlines some "surprises" in the bill, including a McConnell kickback: a hefty increase in the "authorization for spending on construction on the lower Ohio River in Illinois and Kentucky." ...

No one should be surprised that this is the response of the Washington establishment. The American people rose up and spoke with an overwhelming voice and at least at this stage Washington isn't listening to them. The House listened, but the Senate has not.... [I] never had any intention to delay this vote. -- Sen. Ted Cruz (RTP-Texas), who yesterday would not say whether or not he would delay the vote

(The dream of keeping poor people from seeing a doctor must never die. -- Ted Cruz [paraphrase by Andy Borowitz])

For the party, this is a moment of self-evaluation, we are going to assess how we got here. If we continue down this path, we are really going to hurt the Republican Party long term.... This has been a really bad two weeks for the Republican Party. -- Sen. Lindsay Graham (R-S.C.)

Let's just say sometimes learning what can't be accomplished is an important long-term thing, and hopefully for some of the members they've learned it's impossible to defund mandatory programs by shutting down the federal government. -- Sen. Richard Burr (R-N.C.)

... Jonathan Strong of National Review about the last House Republican conference before the vote. Boehner received a standing O. CW: Maybe because he didn't "disrespect" the kidnappers. Or maybe because that "respect" cost billions of dollars & untold hardship. Whatever. "Representative Aaron Schock of Illinois said the lesson of the episode was that Boehner should cut out the far-right flank and work with centrist Democrats. Most of the top conservatives who pushed the House GOP into an Obamacare fight weren't very introspective, offering positive words about the fight and hope for victories to come." ...

... M. J. Lee of Politico: "Wall Street cheered a long-awaited deal to re-open the government and increase the nation's borrowing cap that emerged Wednesday, as Congress is poised to end a government shutdown now in its third week and squash fears that the United States may default on its financial obligations. The Dow Jones industrial average, which climbed quickly after the opening bell and remained steady throughout the day, closed 205.82 points higher. The Nasdaq also shot up 45.42 points, while the S&P 500 was up 23.48 points." ...

Something has gone terribly wrong when the biggest threat to our American economy is the American Congress. -- Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.V.), December 31, 2012, after the fiscal cliff deal

... Annie Lowrey, et al., of the New York Times: "... the cost of Congress's gridlock has already run well into the billions, economists estimate. And the total will continue to grow even after the shutdown ends, partly because of uncertainty about whether lawmakers might reach another deadlock early next year." ...

... Gail Collins: "... it's fair, if you have the urge, to say that this whole ordeal has been for nothing whatsoever." ...

Jeanne B. writes, "Republicans have too many masters":

      ... Daniel Strauss of TPM: Mike Kibbe, "the President and CEO of the tea party group Freedomworks, predicted that House Republicans who vote in favor of the latest plan to avert a debt default and re-open the federal government, will face primary challengers." ...

      ... Igor Bobic of TPM: "Heritage Action announced Wednesday that it will include the Senate deal to avert default and reopen government as a key vote in its scorecard, urging members to vote oppose the measure." ...

      ... Caitlin MacNeal of TPM: "The U.S. Chamber of Commerce announced Wednesday that it supports the new Senate plan to end the shutdown and raise the debt ceiling, and it will include the measure as a key vote."

David Corn of Mother Jones: "About two weeks ago, as tea partiers in the GOP-controlled House were forcing a government shutdown, some House Democrats sent a private and informal message to House Speaker John Boehner: If you need to break with the die-hard conservatives of your caucus to keep the government running and avoid a debt ceiling crisis, we might be able to try to help you protect your speakership, should far-right Republicans rebel and challenge you."

Thanks to contributor Roger H. for this (see yesterday's thread). Speaking of education, you've educated MAG & me:

      ... BTW, wingers repeatedly attribute the saying to Joe Biden; also found one kid-you-not claim it came from Keith Ellison (D-Minn.).

Sarah Kliff of the Washington Post reports on her experience shopping for health insurance on Healthcare.gov

** Beth Reinhard of the National Journal: "Twelve states, as well as the House of Representatives, have voted to outlaw abortion after 20 weeks -- the exact moment when some parents are just learning about severe or even fatal defects. Only Georgia, Louisiana, and Texas include exceptions for fetal impairment.... These 20-week bans...predominantly target women who are carrying gravely impaired babies or whose pregnancies are putting their own health at risk.... The overlap between states with tougher abortion restrictions and lower standards of living is rarely mentioned...."

Dylan Byers of Politico: "James Risen, the New York Times investigative reporter who has refused to testify against his alleged CIA source, has pledged to take his case to the Supreme Court following a federal appeals court decision not to reconsider his case."

Senate Race

Jonathan Tamari of the Philadelphia Inquirer: "Gov. [Chris] Christie [of New Jersey] has until Nov. 13 to certify the results of the special Senate election, though he doesn't expect to take that long. 'The winner of (Wednesday's) election will be sworn in as quickly as possible after the results have been verified and certified. We fully anticipate this to happen before the Nov. 5th election day,' said a statement from Gov. Christie's office." Cory Booker's win means Democrats pick up another Senate seat, which Christie filled shortly after Sen. Frank Lautenberg's (D) death with Republican Jeff Chiesa.

The Commentariat -- Oct. 16, 2013

Lori Montgomery, et al., of the Washington Post: "Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.) and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) announced a bipartisan deal on Wednesday to raise the debt limit through Feb. 7 and end the 16-day-old government shutdown. The bill must be passed by both the Senate and the House of Representatives, and signed by the president, and it is unclear whether all that can happen before the Treasury Department exhausts its borrowing power Thursday. It avoids any major concessions on Obama's signature Affordable Care Act, a major victory for Democrats and a repudiation to House and Senate Republicans who for weeks tried to use the threat of a shutdown and potential default to force changes in the health-care law." ...

... Jonathan Chait: The debt ceiling crisis is over. ...

** Boehner Bites the Bullet? Burgess Everett, et al., of Politico: "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. The move means that there is now a clear path to end the first government shutdown in 17 years, and the country now appears closer to avoiding the first potential economy-shaking default on U.S. debt.... The fact that House Republicans are now planning to go that route marks a stunning reversal for the speaker...." ...

... Jonathan Weisman, et al., of the New York Times: "House Republican leaders, who had appeared stymied in their efforts earlier in the day, rushed out a new proposal Tuesday afternoon that would reopen the government through Dec. 15, extend the government's borrowing authority until Feb. 7 and eliminate government contributions to lawmakers, White House officials and their staffs for their purchases of health insurance on the new insurance exchanges. Under the new plan, the Treasury Department would be forbidden to use 'extraordinary measures' -- juggling government accounts -- to extend its borrowing capabilities. Speaker John A. Boehner was hoping to bring a bill to a vote as early as Tuesday evening." CW: Sounds as if they want the government to default; otherwise, why prevent extraordinary measures, which has been the only thing keeping Treasury afloat while Congress fiddles. ...

     ... Update. New Lede: "On the brink of a historic default, House Republicans on Tuesday abruptly postponed a vote on their latest proposal to reopen the government and raise the debt limit, as a major credit agency warned that the United States was on the verge of a costly ratings downgrade. Hard-line conservatives and more pragmatic Republicans were in open revolt Tuesday evening, after the House Republican leadership rushed out a new bill in the afternoon, forcing a postponement of any vote on the measure. With the latest delay, chances increased that a resolution would not be reached before the Treasury exhausted its borrowing authority on Thursday." ...

     ... Update 2. According to the latest version of the story, Reid & McConnell are back to negotiating with each other, to what end I know not....

     ... ** Update 3. Clusterfuck Strategy. Let's hope Zeke Miller & Alex Altman of Time are right: "... in the perverse ways of modern Washington, [John Boehner's] Tuesday-night defeat may soon be marked in the history books as a step forward.... The path forward, which looked murky for a moment on Tuesday afternoon, now looks clear: the Senate will cut a bipartisan deal, and Boehner will be forced to pass it with Democratic votes. He has said repeatedly that the U.S. will not and cannot default." ...

... CW: My big mistake -- & I wasn't the only one to make it -- was believing that John Boehner & some of his House colleagues had the fortitude to stand up the the Tea Party. Maybe Boehner & Co. will pull something out of a hat Wednesday, but I don't know that today is so much different from two-plus weeks ago when they allowed the shutdown. Maybe nobody's using firearms, but this is a civil war, & the revolutionaries include ALL the House Republicans, not just the Tea Party tail that's wagging the dog. From Boehner on down, they're all traitors. Saul Jackman of the Brookings Institution just wrote a post urging President Obama to sign an executive order raising the debt ceiling, & he cites the President's emergency powers. I have been thinking along those lines exactly. The President no longer has the luxury of standing around making sandwiches for a few poor people. He has a duty to act on behalf of the country. Impeachment is a small price to pay. ...

... Jackie Calmes of the New York Times: "Obama's debt ceiling gamble may be paying off.... Scorched by the July 2011 fight that hurt the economy and his political standing (though not so badly as the Republicans'), Mr. Obama was determined to undo the precedent he had set by making concessions -- in that case, more than $2 trillion in spending cuts over 10 years, including the across-the-board reductions known as sequestration -- so that Congress would ensure that the government paid its bills." ...

... Wall Street Journal Editors urge the House to throw in the towel: "Republicans can best help their cause now by getting this over with and moving on to fight more intelligently another day." ...

I ran on defunding, burying and getting rid of Obamacare ... a lot of the members of our house, of our conference, ran on the same thing. So for us not to speak up is not to speak up for the American people. -- Rep. Ted Yoho (RTP-Fla.), defending his refusal to vote for any House bill that doesn't defund the ACA

... CW: During the interview (by Jake Tapper of CNN), economist Yoho claimed that "... You know, we hit the debt ceiling in 1985. We didn't raise the debt ceiling. We hit it and we didn't raise it for three and a half months. We're still here. We hit it again in 1995. For four and a half months, they didn't raise the debt ceiling. We survived that. We will survive this." What that genius Yoho doesn't understand is that in 1985 & 1995 the Secretary of the Treasury took extraordinary measures to pay the bills, something Jack Lew began doing months ago. ...

... Jonathan Bernstein in the Washington Post: "It's extortion for the sake of extortion," as it has been all along. ...

... Josh Barro, a self-described Republican, of Business Insider: "There is no serious argument for Republican governance right now, even if you prefer conservative policies over liberal ones. These people are just too dangerously incompetent to be trusted with power." ...

... Dana Milbank captures some of the absurdity of the moment, including House Republicans joining in a few choruses of "Amazing Grace." ...

... Maureen Dowd writes perhaps her worst column ever, tho she does have a few good grafs about Cruz & Palin & Vitter. ...

... Greg Sargent: "Dem Rep. Chris Van Hollen, a key ally of the Dem leadership and White House, told House Democrats at a private meeting today that a vote for the new House GOP plan is a vote for a deliberate Tea Party effort to sabotage the emerging Senate deal. In an interview with me, Van Hollen strongly suggested it will get no Democratic votes, which could call into question the ability of Republicans to pass this plan through the House, as some conservatives are already balking at it because it raises the debt limit 'This has no Democratic support,' Van Hollen told me." ...

... Neil Irwin of the Washington Post explains the "sunk cost fallacy" to House dimwits. "If there is to be a successful resolution of the debt ceiling and government shutdown standoff, it will be because House Republicans come to grips with an important concept that they have, to date, showed little appreciation for. It is called the sunk cost fallacy. A sunk cost is something you're not going to get back.... The fact that House Republicans have 'fought so hard' is irrelevant to the future costs and benefits of any deal. The more the caucus is making decisions based on what happened in the past, the less likely they are to make strategy decisions that are best for both the country's and their own future prospects." ...

... CNBC/Reuters: "Fitch Ratings put the US government's 'AAA' credit rating on 'rating watch negative' Tuesday, saying that the standstill on the U.S. debt ceiling negotiations risks undermining the effectiveness of the country's government and political institutions. U.S. stock index futures fell." ...

... Jim Tankersley of the Washington Post: The impending default could cause delays in distribution of Social Security payments.

Issa Unaware Government Shutdown Means Government Shuts Down. Andrew Restuccia of Politico: "Closing national monuments to make life difficult for the public during a government shutdown is 'disgusting' and 'despicable,' House Oversight and Government Reform Chairman Darrell Issa said at the start of a hearing Wednesday on the National Park Service's decision-making. Democrats responded by asking who shut down the government."

Frank Rich: "The present-day anti-government radicals in Congress, and the Americans who voted them into office, are in the minority, but they are a permanent minority that periodically disrupts or commandeers a branch or two of the federal government, not to mention the nation's statehouses. Their brethren have been around for much of our history in one party or another, and with a constant anti-­democratic aim: to thwart the legitimacy of a duly elected leader they abhor, from Lincoln to FDR to Clinton to Obama, and to resist any laws with which they disagree. So deeply rooted are these furies in our national culture that their consistency and tenacity should be the envy of other native political movements." ...

... Harold Meyerson of the Washington Post: "Today’s tea party-ized Republicans speak less for Wall Street or Main Street than they do for the seething resentments of white Southern backwaters and their geographically widespread but ideologically uniform ilk. Their theory of government, to the extent that they have one, derives from John C. Calhoun's doctrine of nullification -- that states in general and white minorities in particular should have the right to overturn federal law and impede majority rule. Like their predecessors in the Jim Crow South, today's Republicans favor restricting minority voting rights if that is necessary to ensure victory at the polls."

Paul Krugman on "the GOP tax": researchers at Macroeconomic Advisers have bound that bad fiscal policy promulgated by Republicans has cost the country billions & has resulted in a 1.4 percent higher unemployment rate. (And they're not even talking about the effects of the shutdown & looming default.)

Karen Tumulty of the Washington Post: "The greatest threats to the ultimate success of the new health-care law come not from the technical problems that have plagued its rollout, but from a hostile political climate in many individual states and from potentially serious weaknesses in its design. Those are the conclusions of a cautionary report just published by the Brookings Institution's new Center for Effective Public Management."

Adam Liptak of the New York Times: "The Supreme Court on Tuesday agreed to hear a major case challenging Environmental Protection Agency regulations concerning greenhouse gases. The case is a sequel to Massachusetts v. Environmental Protection Agency, a 2007 decision that required the agency to regulate emissions of greenhouse gases from new motor vehicles if it found they endangered public health or welfare. Two years later, the agency made such a finding, saying that 'elevated concentrations of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere' pose a danger to 'current and future generations.' It set limits on emissions from both new vehicles and stationary sources.

Tom Edsall of the New York Times on campaign finance: "... more than a quarter of the money spent on political campaigns in 2012 came from 0.1 percent of the American population.... Corruption and the appearance of corruption are here to stay. The difference now is that the squalid character of the system has become institutionalized. It's so deeply integrated into the routine of Congress that, McCutcheon [-- the case before the Supreme Court --] notwithstanding, the American political-monetary complex provokes cynicism and apathy rather than outrage, protest or indignation. It is also kindling for fiery populists on both the left and the right."

President Obama awarded the Medal of Honor to former Capt. Will Swenson. Quite a moving ceremony & the President got in a dig at Republican obstructionists:

... BUT. Jonathan Landay of McClatchy News: videos show that the story told by Marine Sgt. Dakota Meyer, who also received the Medal of Honor for his part in the battle for which Swenson received his, is inaccurate & "show no Taliban in that vicinity or anywhere else on the floor of the Ganjgal Valley at the time and location of the 'swarm.' The videos also conflict with the version of the incident in Marine Corps and White House accounts of how Meyer, now 25, of Columbia, Ky., came to be awarded the nation's highest military decoration for gallantry." Swenson's account, and others, contradict Meyer's story. Landay does not question Swenson's actions. Via Charles Pierce, who writes glowingly of Landay.

President Obama made remarks Monday at Martha's Table about the government shutdown:

Local News

Greg Moran of the San Diego Union-Tribune: "Former San Diego Mayor Bob Filner’s professional and personal collapse continued Tuesday when he pleaded guilty to three criminal charges that he grabbed and fondled women during his brief time at City Hall. The 71-year-old Filner pleaded guilty to one felony charge of false imprisonment and two misdemeanor charges of battery at a hearing in San Diego Superior Court. The former 10-term congressman's pleas came just two days before a criminal grand jury was set to hear evidence against him. As part of the plea deal with the state Attorney General's Office, Filner will not face any jail or prison time. Instead he will be sentenced to three years of probation. He will also have to serve three months of home confinement and will be banned from ever seeking or holding public office again."

News Ledes

New Jersey Star-Ledger: "After an abbreviated but heated two month campaign, polls are now open and voters can cast their ballots in the special U.S. Senate election between Democrat Cory Booker and Republican Steve Lonegan." ...

     ... UPDATE: Election results at nj.com (No winner called as of 8:30 pm ET) ...

     ... UPDATE 2: The Associated Press has called the vote for Booker.

New York Times: "A month after JPMorgan acknowledged that 'severe breakdowns' had allowed a group of traders in London to run up $6 billion in losses, the bank has preliminarily reached a rare agreement to admit that the trading blowup itself represented reckless behavior, according to people briefed on the negotiations." ...

     ... UPDATE: "... the Commodity Futures Trading Commission ... announced on Wednesday that JPMorgan Chase, the nation’s biggest bank, agreed to pay $100 million and admit wrongdoing to settle an investigation into market manipulation involving the bank's multibillion-dollar trading loss in London."