Good morning! Just three days to go until Yarn Appreciation Day, according to the yarn association trade group (“Big Yarn”). While you’re planning the day’s festivities, here are some of the stories we’re reading today at Moyers & Company HQ…
Will it ever end?
- Robert Costa reports forNRO that House conservatives are “wary” of their leaders cutting a deal to restart the government and avert a default.
- Costa and Jonathan Strong say the (Republican) votes aren’t there for “a big deal, small deal, or short-term deal.”
- WaPo’s Ezra Klein looks at research showing that the executive branch has always shouldered less blame than its opposition in the legislature during shutdowns.
- But at WaMo, Ed Kilgore cautions that we shouldn’t be reading too much into various “blame polls” just yet.
- Senate Dems are preparing to pass a debt limit increase this week, reports Greg Sargent at The Plumline.
- TPM’s Sahil Kapur reports that the White House says it will never ever negotiate on a debt limit again; offers double-dog swear.
- Markets not “roiled” just yet, reports Nathaniel Popper in the NYT.
Other news…
Not dead yet –> Business leaders are still quietly pressing for immigration reform on the Hill, reports Franco Ordonez for McClatchy.
No biggie –> MoJo‘s Stephanie Mencimer explains why it doesn’t really matter that people aren’t signing up for Obamacare in droves at this stage.
It’s the recession, stupid –> Dave Johnson runs down six lies about foodstamps for AlterNet.
SCOTUS’s hot bench –> Adam Liptak writes in the NYT that the current Supreme Court justices may be the most inquisitive in history. Also: Slate’s Adam Winkler writes about the “savvy genius” of Justice Elena Kagan.
Three things to watch for –> Election law expert Rick Hasen reveals the top things he’ll be looking for in today’s McCutcheon v. FEC oral arguments to determine “how big this ruling is likely to be.”
Perverse family values –> Nebraska to force 16-year-old ward of the state to give birth against her will, AP reports.
Keeping their own house –> Marcy Wheeler wonders how the NSA can protect our power grid when it can’t keep its own electricity running.
We got a mighty convoy –> Group of “right-wing truckers” is headed to DC to cause trouble, and “arrest” members of Congress they don’t like, reports Annie-Rose Strosser for ThinkProgress.
Other cheek –> Malala Yousafzai, the Pakistani girl shot in the head last year by the Taliban for advocating girls’ education, says talks with Taliban are a must for achieving peace, according to the BBC.
This is not my beautiful city –> In the Guardian, David Byrne writes that rising inequality is stifling New York’s creative scene.
Asymmetric comment trolling –> At The Monkey Cage, Henry Farrell looks at a study which finds that conservatives are driven nuts by liberal online commenters, but not so much in the reverse.
Uh-oh –> Scientists think they’ve identified huge streams of melted ice beneath the Antarctic ice sheet, reports Nick Collins for The Telegraph.
What else? Tell us in the comments!
