Happy Monday morning! Yeah, that doesn’t sound quite right. Anyway, here are some of the stories we’re reading at Moyers & Company HQ this AM as we rev up for a new week…
Now it’s real –> WaPo’s Ariana Eunjung Cha and Lena Sun look at anger over Obamacare “sticker shock” among the 5 percent who buy insurance on the individual market. ALSO: TPM’s Dylan Scott finds that insurers are misleading their customers about the benefits of the law.
Political cash –> At TNR, Noreene Malone reports that VA gubernatorial candidate Terry McAuliffe represents the cutting edge of Democratic fundraising from left-leaning billionaires.
Twisted –> Robert Reich on the madness of cutting social safety net programs when they’re needed most.
Coal barron sues blogger for being mean –> A major donor to Ken Cuccinelli is suing Mike Stark and the Huffington Post for calling him an “extremist.” Steve Horn reports for Desmogblog.
Google “NSA” –> Google CEO Eric Schmidt is not terribly pleased by reports that the spy agency has been digging into the company’s data, reports Deborah Kan in the WSJ.
Hackery –> Texas tea partiers trying to recruit the widely discredited religious right “historian” David Barton to primary John Cornyn.
School showdown –> Josh Eidelson writes for Salon about a school board election in Connecticut that could prove pivotal in the battle over Michelle Rhee’s neoliberal school reforms.
Hipster Christians –> As more young people become turned off by the culture wars, over at AlterNet, Amanda Marcotte takes a look at a new crop of religious right leaders trying to make the church look hip and cool.
Trial gets underway –> Ousted Egyptian president Mohammed Morsi says he’s still president as his trial begins. Nancy Youssef reports for McClatchy.
Quite a headline –> “Hottest September on Record, Fastest Pacific Warming in 10,000 Years, Warmest Arctic in 120,000 Years.” Joseph Romm rounds up the dark facts at ThinkProgress.
Wedge –> ENDA, which would bar employers from discriminating based on sexual orientation, has broad public support, but Jeff Laz and Justin Phillips write at The Monkey Cage that Republican legislators tend to lag far behind their constituents when it comes to supporting LGBT rights. ALSO: Andrew Sullivan on why he isn’t cheering for ENDA.
Would he write his own challenge? –> Caught stealing passages from Wikipedia for a speech, Rand Paul says he wishes dueling were still legal so he could defend his honor.
Forgot something? –> Alligator found beneath an escalator at Chicago’s O’Hare airport, reports the AP.
What else? Tell us in the comments!
