SENIORS COULD DECIDE THE 2014 ELECTION

Frequency Questionnaire When all the dust is settled in the off-year elections, we may decide it was seniors who gave the Democrats their chance for a comeback.  We have flagged this growing trend before, but the pattern is now too consistent to ignore.  When Republicans swept Democrats in the 2010 off-year elections, they won seniors by 21 points.  Repeat, 21 points.  They lost white seniors by 24 points.  Just this past November, Republicans won seniors by 12 points in the vote for Congress.  We will be releasing on Wednesday our congressional battleground poll – in the 49 most competitive Republican districts and 24 most competitive Democratic seats. When we do, pay attention to the seniors.  In the Republican battleground, the vote is tied among seniors and the Democratic candidate has gained 5 points among this group since June.  In the Democratic battleground, Democratic incumbents lead by 14 points among seniors and by 9 points (48 percent to 39 percent)among white seniors. This is not unique to the battleground.  It reflects the results we have seen in all Democracy Corps’ national polls this year.  In the latest national conducted with Women’s Voices Women Vote Action Fund, a Republican candidate for Congress leads by just 6 points (49 percent to 43 percent) among seniors, well below the GOP’s 21-point margin in the 2010 and 12-point margin in 2012 elections. With seniors some of the most immediate beneficiaries of The Affordable Care Act, President Obama no longer on the ballot, and with Republicans seeking to make Medicare and Medicaid cuts, it is possible seniors are moving to a new place.

- See more at: http://www.democracycorps.com/Battleground-Surveys/seniors-could-decide-this-election/#sthash.zzGdQkTn.dpuf

Peter Dreier on a New Generation of Activists

In his interview with Bill this week, historian Peter Dreier shares why he’s optimistic about America’s future, shining a spotlight on grass-roots initiatives around the country that remind us of our collective capacity to make a real difference. Dreier, author of The 100 Greatest Americans of the 20th Century: A Social Justice Hall of Fame, also explains why the radical politics of Dr. Seuss, the late children’s book author and illustrator, is a source of inspiration.

“The message that Dr. Seuss is sending in his books to young people is to stand up to arbitrary authority and take back your own life and be a fighter for justice and for your own integrity,” Dreier tells Bill. “I think that Dr. Seuss would be very pleased with a lot of the movements today because these are people standing up to authority and big power and trying to take the country back.”

Interview Producer: Gina Kim. Editor: Sikay Tang.
Intro Producer: Danielle Varga.

More about Peter Dreier »

Democrats Could Take House

Incumbent Republicans now lag behind generic Democrats in 15 out of 25 Congressional districts in a poll of  600 to 1,000 voters in each district conducted Oct. 15-18 by Public Policy Polling. The poll was commissioned by the  organization MoveOn.org. 

"Republicans will likely find this third round of surveys to be the most alarming yet, given that the new results show Republican vulnerability in many districts that were not even supposed to be close," Jim Williams of PPP said in a letter. 

This poll comes in the wake of an earlier survey by the same polling group, and brings the total number of GOP-held districts surveyed to 61. 

The surveys show Democrats leading in 37 of those districts. That rose to 48 when a respondent was told that his member of Congress had supported the government shutdown, with one additional district polling as a tie.

CNN's Reliable Sources Covers The "Propaganda" Of Hannity's Fake Obamacare Victims

What Is Obamacare and how does it work

• Basic benefits package defined by the federal government     
• Increased Medicare payroll tax on upper income earners
• Penalty for employers (with 50+ employees) who do not offer healthcare
• If an employer doesn’t offer insurance, people will be able to buy it directly in the Health Insurance Marketplace.
• Tax credits to small business – by 2014, 50 percent of the employer’s contributions.
• The Medical Loss Ratio. At least 85 percent of all premium dollars collected by insurance companies for large employer plans must be spent on healthcare services. For plans sold to individuals and small employers, at least 80 percent of the premium must be spent on benefits.
• Eliminating annual limits on insurance coverage for new plans and existing group plans.
• No out-of-pocket for many preventive services. All new plans must cover certain preventive services such as mammograms and colonoscopies without charging a deductible, co-pay or coinsurance.
• Children up to age 26 can stay on their parent’s health insurance plan.
• No denial of coverage due to a pre-existing condition.
• Insurance companies cannot limit the coverage someone receives over his or her lifetime.
• Expand who will be eligible for Medicaid. States will receive 100 percent federal funding for the first three years, phasing to 90 percent federal funding in subsequent years.
• The law provides consumers with a way to appeal coverage determinations or claims to their insurance company.
• Tax credits for middle-low income uninsured. These individuals may also qualify for reduced copayments, co-insurance, and deductibles.
•  The Individual Mandate. People who are not already covered or fully subsidized will be required to purchase coverage or face a penalty – with some eligible to receive subsidies towards private insurance premiums.  
• https://www.healthcare.gov/  
• We can help you complete the entire application process from beginning to end with information you provide over the phone, including reviewing your options and helping you enroll in a plan. We can also answer questions as you fill out an online or paper application. We’re available 24/7.
  1-800-318-2596
  TTY: 1-855-889-4325
  
  

  Small businesses resources

  Have questions about the SHOP Marketplace for businesses with 50 or fewer employees?
  Call: 1-800-706-7893
  TTY: 1-800-706-7915
  Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. EST. Agents and brokers may also use this number.
  
  

  Help in your community

  In all states, there will be people trained and certified to help you understand your health coverage options and enroll in a plan. They will be known by different names, depending on who provides the service and where they are located. All will provide similar kinds of help:
  • Navigators
  • Application assisters
  • Certified application counselors
  • Government agencies, such as State Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) Offices
  Insurance agents and brokers can also help you with your application and choices.
  Visit LocalHelp.HealthCare.gov to find help in your area. You can search by city and state or zip code to see a list of local organizations with contact information, office hours, and types of help offered, such as non-English language support, Medicaid or CHIP, and Small Business Health Options Program (SHOP).
  These organizations can assist you in finding the kind of help that works for you. Some may be available earlier to set up a future appointment to help you in the Marketplace.
  
  
  
  

Obama: More than just a website

More than just a website

On October 1st, even as the federal government was shutting down, HealthCare.gov -- the new Health Insurance Marketplace where people can find and apply for affordable health insurance plans as part of Obamacare -- opened for business nationwide.

As you may have heard, the website launch hasn’t gone nearly as smoothly as it should have. And with nearly 20 million visits to the site in the first several weeks, the problems were aggravated by the website's popularity.

But even in spite of those problems, thousands of Americans are currently signing up and saving money. Nearly half a million Americans have already applied for health insurance through the federal and state Marketplaces. It's not hard to see why: Once people get through the door, they overwhelmingly like the benefits and cost of the products available to them -- especially when compared with the discriminatory private market that was previously the only game in town.

Some of the best and brightest are now doing everything they can to fix the site as quickly as possible. People are working overtime, 24/7, and we've brought in some of the best IT experts from across the country to join the team at the federal agency responsible for running the Marketplace. And as President Obama said today, "Nobody's madder than me about the fact that the website isn't working as well as it should, which means it's going to get fixed."

It's also important to remember that the website is not the only way to enroll. You can dial the call center at 1-800-318-2596 and apply directly over the phone. Typically, it takes about 25 minutes for an individual or about 45 for a family. You can also find local "navigators" who can help you enroll in person at LocalHelp.HealthCare.gov.

Learn more about what we're doing to make the site better and enrollment easier.

The President is the first to admit that the website's problems are unacceptable. But Obamacare is more than just a website. Most Americans already have health insurance through their employer, Medicare, or Medicaid, and they don't need to go to the Marketplace for new coverage. Instead, the health care law provides new benefits and increased protection: Young people can stay on their parents' insurance plans until they are 26, seniors are receiving more affordable prescription medicine, and preventive care like mammograms are free.

So while there are major improvements to make on the new website, millions of Americans are already benefiting from the health care law. And we're making sure that those who don't have access to affordable health insurance today can sign up -- online, on the phone, and even in person.

Here are some of the things we've done in the meantime to make the process easier. Take a look, and pass this message along to those you know who are trying to sign up for health care:

• You can now preview plans and prices available in your area without filling out the online application.
• You can find out, with an improved calculator, whether your income and household size may qualify you for lower costs on your monthly premiums and out-of-pocket costs.
• You can apply for coverage 4 ways: by phone, online, by mail with a paper application, or with the help of an in-person assister.

U.S. Senator-elect Cory Booker will spend his last days as mayor of Newark officiating at weddings of both gay and heterosexual couples

U.S. Senator-elect Cory Booker will spend his last days as mayor of Newark officiating at weddings of both gay and heterosexual couples now that New Jersey is allowing same-sex marriage.

New Jersey's highest court on Friday ruled unanimously to uphold an order that gay weddings must start Monday and to deny a delay sought by Republican Gov. Chris Christie.

“For more than seven years, Mayor Booker has refused all requests to officiate New Jersey marriages because gay couples have been denied that equal right,” spokesman James Allen said. “After today’s wonderful news, Mayor Booker is excited to marry both straight and gay couples in City Hall on Monday morning at 12:01 a.m.”

Booker, a Democrat, was elected to the Senate in a special election on Wednesday.

But the court said in its ruling that the state had "not shown a reasonable probability it will succeed on the merits." All seven judges on the court joined the opinion, strongly suggesting they are prepared to accept same-sex marriage permanently.

Hannity/Fox News lie machine

Sean Hannity has been following the Ted Cruz "Obamacare is ruining all our lives" on his Fox show, reinforcing the baseless belief in most Fox viewers that the law is somehow going to throw them to the health insurance wolves. That's despite the fact that the Fox demographic is pretty much all on Medicare. But Fox exists to reinforce Republican lies, so that's what they've been doing. Salon's Eric Stern happened to catch Hannity in the act, featuring four couples who swore they had been hurt by Obamacare, and decided to do a little fact checking. Debunking Hannity turned out to be "appallingly easy" for Stern when he conducted follow up interviews Hannity's guests.

First up was Paul Cox of Leicester, North Carolina, and his wife Michelle. They told Hannity that they have had to cut the hours of their employees in their construction business because they couldn't afford to insure them.

Obamacare has no effect on businesses with 49 employees or less. But in our brief conversation on the phone, Paul revealed that he has only four employees. Why the cutback on his workforce? “Well,” he said, “I haven’t been forced to do so, it’s just that I’ve chosen to do so. I have to deal with increased costs.” What costs? And how, I asked him, is any of it due to Obamacare? There was a long pause, after which he said he’d call me back. He never did.

Actually, Cox could be getting a tax credit under Obamacare to help provide insurance to his four employees. I think he probably doesn't care as much about his employees' well-being as he wanted the Fox audience to believe. The only requirement for Cox under the law is that he informs his employees of the existence of the new health insurance exchange.

Then there's Allison Denijs who told Hannity that she pays over $13,000 a year in premiums and just got a letter from Blue Cross saying that her current policy wasn't in compliance with the law, so it was being discontinued and replaced. She also has a daughter with a pre-existing condition who hasn't been covered. She's angry because Obama promised that we could keep our existing policies. Stern asked if she'd actually checked out the exchange. She hadn't. Stern found "that they would be able to get a plan for around $7,600, which would include coverage for their uninsured daughter. This would be about a 60 percent reduction from what they would have to pay on the pre-Obamacare market."

Not a bad deal. Likewise, Stern found a pretty good deal on the exchange for the final couple, Robbie and Tina Robison from Franklin, Tennessee. They're mad because their kids are grown, but they have to have a policy that covers things they don't want like maternity care, pediatric care, prenatal care and so forth. Welcome to health insurance, Robbie and Tina. They're also mad because their insurance agent told them they would have to pay 50-75 percent more for a plan compliant with the law.

Had they shopped on the exchange yet, I asked? No, Tina said, nor would they. They oppose Obamacare and want nothing to do with it. Fair enough, but they should know that I found a plan for them for, at most, $3,700 a year, a 63 percent less than their current bill.

Robbie and Tina need a new insurance agent. The thing for these people who are so mad that their current insurance policies are being discontinued is that they're being replaced with insurance plans that actually cover stuff. That's going to mean bigger premiums for some people, but what Hannity and all right-wing pundits and politicians leave out is that the majority of these people won't have to pay the full bill for those premiums. What Hannity-types are also not admitting is that this is a pretty tiny group of Americans, those who buy their insurance in the individual market and who were already insured. So is Obamacare hurting all Americans? Of course not, just the teeny-tiny bunch of die-hard conservatives who will refuse to be helped.

ORIGINALLY POSTED TO JOAN MCCARTER ON FRI OCT 18, 2013 AT 12:04 PM PDT.

ALSO REPUBLISHED BY DAILY KOS.

House Stenographer:AKA Teaparty lunitic Goes Crazy During House Vote

Towards the tail end of the House vote on ending the government shutdown, a stenographer snapped and started ranting mindlessly on the House floor and had to be escorted out of the room. Very little is known about her thus far, but there is audio of her rant, and needless to say it is quite something.

She grabbed the House microphone and proceeded to shout, “He will not be mocked!” She repeated that a number of times and then said, “The greatest deception here is this is not one nation under God! It never was!”

She also, for some bizarre reason, went on about Freemasons writing the Constitution, and cried, “You cannot serve two masters!” as she was escorted away
The woman has been identified at Diane Reidy, and she was interviewed by Capitol Police before being sent to a hospital for a mental health evaluation

.Audio Below

update Teabagger nut job, runs to Fox News To Tell Her Story Dianne Reidy, the teabagger stenographer who went on a strange rant on the House floor Wednesday night, has now made a public comment, in an e-mail sent to Fox News producer Chad Pergram to explain why she was screaming about God while House members were on the floor

Ronan Farrow is joining MSNBC

Ronan Farrow is joining MSNBC where he will host a new Monday-Friday program for the network. Farrow is a writer and lawyer, and son of actress/humanitarian Mia Farrow and, most likely,film director/actor Woody Allen. , though Farrow admitted in a recent interview that he could "possibly" have been fathered by Frank Sinatra. 

“Ronan has established himself as a provocative, independent journalist capable of challenging people’s assumptions and empowering audiences,” said MSNBC president Phil Griffin in his announcement. “His show will be a game changer for MSNBC, representing a fresh approach to how we deliver news.”

“This is a new generation of news show for a new, more engaged generation of viewers,” says Farrow. “It’s a show about why the news matters to you – and what you can do to be a part of the story.”

He adds, “I’m excited to shake up people’s expectations for cable news. And to get a ton of Twitter followers.” He’s currently slacking with just 133,000 followers.

Farrow is a member of the New York bar, he has written about human rights and foreign policy for the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, and the Wall Street Journal, he was a foreign policy official in the first Obama administration, and has been a spokesperson for UNICEF.

“Ronan has packed more experience into his 25 years of life than most people have in a lifetime,” added Griffin.

Farrow’s one-hour show does not yet have a name, time period or launch date.

News of talks between Farrow and MSNBC was first reported by The Hollywood Reporter earlier this month.

Comedian Greg Proops lampooned Antonin Scalia

Comedian Greg Proops lampooned Antonin Scalia , making fun of the Supreme Court justice for completely refusing to read “liberal” newspapers and believing in the Devil. 

During an appearance on The Joe Rogan Experience, Proops noted that Scalia had told New York magazine that he “couldn’t handle” reading The Washington Post and the New York Times because of their alleged liberal bias. 

“Ok, look, I’m a comedian,” Proops said. “I have no responsibility to the public. I’m not holding a sinecured [sic] position where I am adjudicating of f*cking matters of grave national importance every day of my life and writing opinions and being a deciding vote on a f*cking panel of nine people who were hand chosen by psychopaths — and yet I have the catholicity of taste to f*cking watch Fox News every once and awhile, and I don’t go, ‘Oh my god!’" 




Much more here: 

http://www.rawstory.co...

What Are The Extortionist GOP Asking For

For shutting down the government and threatening to default on our full faith and credit and thereby violate the Constitution, Republicans in the House are offering to:

1) Take more power away from the President by removing executive agencies ability to allocate funds during sequestration (which should be a big clue that they have no plan to end their sequestration and also gives them incentive not to—neither of which is a good plan for the country), which they can do in the Senate bill.

2) Remove the Treasury’s ability to take extraordinary measures to delay hitting the debt limit in the future. Are you kidding me? With this group of radical nihilists that are currently holding the country hostage? That’s like saying “Hey, this is a stick up. Give me everything in your wallet, including all of your weapons and keep your doors open in the future so when I need some money I can roll on in and terrify you at will.” Thanks but no thanks.

3) Drop the delay in the reinsurance tax which was the Democratic GET in the Senate bill. In other words, there’s no enticement here, nothing from the Democratic agenda except the should be shared goal of not destroying the country.

4) The medical device tax would be suspended for two years. (Thus, a change to ObamaCare so Republicans can save face.)

5) The Vitter amendment would apply to Congress, President, VP, and Cabinet but not Congressional staff. (Another ObamaCare change to appeal to the base.)

Why Is The Media Selling America Down The River

News coverage of the government shutdown and the looming debt ceiling crisis has prompted widespread criticism about how Beltway journalists unnecessarily include Democrats when assigning blame for a shutdown strategy that has been methodically plotted by extremist Republicans for months; a strategy built around making unprecedented demands on the president in exchange for Republican votes for a policy they say they already support.

Eager to maintain a political symmetry in which both sides are responsible for sparking conflict, the press effectively gives Republicans a pass for adopting truly outside-the-norm behavior, such as when senators suggest the United States defaulting on its debt is not cause for concern.

But both-sides-to-blame reporting is really just the public symptom of a larger media malady; the refusal to acknowledge the proud extremism of today's Republican Party. Both-sides-to-blame analysis is a fallback position. It's a soft landing spot for journalists who aren't confident enough to accurately report what's unfolding politically.  

The signs of radical change are everywhere inside the Republican Party. The change is being driven by a group of hardcore members and their attempt to grind Obama's presidency, and the federal government, to a halt by refusing to not only compromise with Democrats, but refusing to even speak to them about the federal budget. They include members with an almost evangelical fervor for defaulting on the debt ceiling and whodescribe it as their defining "Braveheart" moment; their chance to do something "big."  They're extremists trying to make governing impossible via procedural sabotage.

Yet many reporters and pundits remain blind to the obvious GOP transformation, or are too timid to spell out the details for news consumers.

As irresponsible Republicans in the House detonate one blockbuster crisis after another, it's becoming clear that the press doesn't know how to deal with this; that it doesn't have the right tools for the job. Most journalists have never seen anything quite like the purposeful dysfunction and chaos that Republicans have plotted, and therefore remain timid and unsure about acknowledging what's really happening.  

So instead of clarity, we get the endless regurgitation about how the nation's capital has been paralyzed by a "partisan logjam" (Wall Street Journal), and suffering from "an inability to come together" (NPR contributor Cokie Roberts). See? Both sides are to blame.

The media's laser-like focus on the process of the shutdown drama (who's up and who's down) creates "the distinct possibility that readers aren't grasping just how extreme a position the House Republicans are taking here in the first place," noted Dan Froomkin at the Huffington Post. He's right, because the press isn't explaining how truly extreme House Republicans have become.

Describing truthfully and accurately what's happening while covering the news is perhaps the most important role journalists play in a democracy. New York Times public editor Margaret Sullivan stressed that point last year. "Particularly in this intensely political season, readers and media critics are calling for journalists to take more responsibility for what is true and what is not," she wrote.

Sullivan added, "Journalists need to make every effort to get beyond the spin and help readers know what to believe, to help them make their way through complicated and contentious subjects."

But as reckless Republicans engineer one possible calamity after another in an effort to short circuit Obama's second term while the press labors to blame both sides, it's clear that journalists aren't following that advice. They're not spelling out what's true and not true. Specifically, they're not telling the truth about the GOP.

And if they're not being honest about Republicans, the press is no longer in a position to referee the shutdown fight.

Why don't journalists tell the truth about Republicans? One reason is there's a professional price to pay. Just ask Thomas Mann and Norm Ornstein. Described by the Washington Post as two of the "most respected, committed scholars -- and defenders -- of the U.S. Congress," last year the two wrote a book about he radical streak that ran through the new, Tea Party-influenced Republican Party. With nearly half-a-century of scholarship between them, this was their conclusion one year before Republicans moved to shut down the government and threatened to default on the nation's debt [emphasis added]:

The GOP has become an insurgent outlier in American politics. It is ideologically extreme; scornful of compromise; unmoved by conventional understanding of facts, evidence and science; and dismissive of the legitimacy of its political opposition. When one party moves this far from the mainstream, it makes it nearly impossible for the political system to deal constructively with the country's challenges.

But what happened when the two presented their prescient, unobstructed view of the GOP and its purposeful intransigence? The duo was suddenly shunned by Beltway media outlets that had welcomed them in the past.

Mann and Ornstein stepped forward to accurately describe what was happening to the Republican Party and detailed the calamitous effect it had on governance and democracy, and the mainstream media turned away. The duo seemed to have crossed a Beltway line when they called out Republicans as radicals.

But that's just truth telling. And that's good journalism.

Source: MediaMatters.org

Republicans Paying the Price

The latest national survey by Democracy Corps and Women's Voices Women Vote Action Fund shows that Republicans are paying a big price with the public and are now bleeding seriously in their congressional vote.  Up until now, they have had peaks of voter disapproval, but this spike is the highest.  This is the first time we have seen voters' disapproval really translate into the vote -- a named ballot where we identify incumbents by name, not a generic vote.   Americans are not buying Republicans’ shutdown politics, and Republicans are likely to pay the price. For the first time we asked voters who they prefer to control Congress after the 2014 elections, and by 4 points likely voters say Democrats. And when asked if shutting down the government over defunding Obamacare will make them more or less likely to vote for their named Republican incumbents, nearly half (47 percent) of 2014 likely voters say less likely, with over one-third (35 percent) saying much less likely. The Republican Party brand has continued to fall since July, with fully half of voters now viewing the party negatively. Importantly, the party's strong negatives have grown 8 points since July, and now more than a third (36 percent) say they are strongly unfavorable to the Republican Party. The Democratic Party, meanwhile, has maintained their standing from July, even showing an increase in those who are strongly favorable to the party (21 percent strongly favorable, compared to 18 percent in July).  Republicans in Congress are now at one of the lowest points we have ever recorded, with 51 percent viewing them negatively -- a 5-point increase since March. Voters remain disdainful of how they are handling their job in charge of Congress, with over two-thirds (69 percent) saying they disapprove; furthermore almost half (48 percent) now strongly disapprove, an increase of 6 points since July. Democrats in Congress now have an 8-point lead in favorability over their Republican colleagues, with 37 percent of voters viewing Democrats in Congress positively, compared to 29 percent viewing Republicans in Congress favorably.         John Boehner has also suffered from the shutdown. Half of voters are giving him negative ratings, making him the most negatively viewed politician in the country. See the topline questionnaire.

Craig Smith, CEO of Swiss America, one of those companies that sells gold to morons on conservative media outlets assures Fox News' Neil Cavuto viewers that debt default should turn out just fine

Craig Smith, CEO of Swiss America, one of those companies that sells gold to morons on conservative media outlets assures Fox News' Neil Cavuto viewers that debt default should turn out just fine. Watch.

President Obama: "Call A Vote Right Now"

On Monday, President Obama met with FEMA officials at the National Response Coordinating Center, where he thanked them for their dedicated service during the shutdown in light of the arrival of Tropical Storm Karen and other potential natural disasters. The President repeated his call for Congress to pass a continuing resolution to reopen the government and to raise the debt limit. The President noted that about 86% of FEMA employees are currently furloughed.

He concluded:

I think the American people simply want government to work. And there’s no reason that there has to be a shutdown in order for the kinds of negotiations Speaker Boehner says he wants to proceed. Hold a vote. Call a vote right now.

Watch the full remarks here or you can read them here:
 

Disapproval Of GOP jumps to 70 Percent Over Shutdown

Republicans and conservatives insist that they'll emerge victorious from the current budget impasse, but polls have consistently told a different story.
Monday saw a slew of new polling, including findings from outlets that previously conducted surveys on the government shutdown. The latest polls found some movement in public opinion, but that doesn't mean that the circumstances have changed for the GOP.

An ABC News/Washington Post poll on Monday showed 51 percent of the public disapproving of Obama's handling of the budget talks and 61 percent disapproving of congressional Democrats -- amounting to upticks of one and five points respectively since last week. But approval of Obama's handling actually rose four points to 45 percent, while approval of congressional Democrats remained virtually unchanged at 35 percent.
Disapproval of congressional Republicans, meanwhile, jumped from 63 percent in ABC/WaPo's poll last week to 70 percent on Monday. There was little change in the GOP's approval numbers, dipping only two points in ABC/WaPo's polling to 24 percent in the last week.
According to Monday's CNN/ORC International poll, 63 percent said they are angry with the way Republicans have handled the shutdown, slightly more than the 57 percent who expressed anger at Democrats. Fifty-three percent said they are angry with the way Obama has handled the situation.
Those numbers could be seen as an extension of CNN/ORC's pre-shutdown polling, which found 46 percent of Americans saying they would blame Republicans on Capitol Hill for a shutdown compared with 36 percent who said they would fault Obama.
Pew Research Center also conducted polling ahead of the shutdown, finding two weeks ago that about as many Americans said they would blame Republicans as Obama. At that time, 36 percent said they would blame the Obama administration for such an outcome while 39 percent said they would blame the GOP.
Pew's release on Monday suggested that the public is now giving Obama a break: 30 percent said the administration is more to blame for the shutdown, while 38 percent said they blame Republicans.
Both sides have acknowledged the political implications of the shutdown. An unnamed White House official was quoted last week as saying that Obama's team is "winning," while Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) was recorded expressing similar confidence during a conversation with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY).
Conservatives in both Congress and the media have also argued that they are on the right side of the issue. RedState.com editor Erick Erickson wrote Tuesday that polls showing "more Americans blame the GOP than Barack Obama" actually prove "the GOP is winning." Lawmakers like Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) have argued that the crusade to defund or delay the Affordable Care Act is an adherence to public will. It has become a sticking point for the most conservative wing of the GOP and it was the impetus for the shutdown.
But polls have contradicted that. Surveys last week from Quinnipiac University and CBS Newsboth showed more than 70 percent of Americans opposed to shutting down the government over differences related to the health care law.

No End In Sight for Reopening The Goverment

Why You Shouldn’t Expect a Compromise On the Government Shutdown Anytime Soon
 

Don’t get your hopes up about a compromise on the government shutdown anytime soon. The Pentagon has decided to bring 350,000 employees back to work and the House has votedunanimously (no, I’m not kidding) to pay furloughed workers when they return. This is great news for government employees and the economy, but it also means Congress won’t feel much pressure to strike a deal on the budget. And to make matters worse, the leaders in Congress are sticking to their guns: House Speaker John Boehner says he won’t approve a budget or raise the debt ceiling unless Obama puts off his health care law.
 
• The dirty secret of the government shutdown – it was in the works for months (NY Times).
 
• Everything you need to know to get caught up on the government shutdown (WaPo).

U.S. Hold Qaeda Suspect on Navy Ship

Of course, the right wing media will spin this, as, Obama trying to distract us, from the fact he will not negotiate with American terrorist the GOP House The accused operative for Al Qaeda seized by United States commandos in Libya over the weekend is being interrogated while in military custody on a Navy ship in the Mediterranean Sea, officials said. He is expected eventually to be sent to New York for criminal prosecution. The fugitive, known as Abu Anas al-Libi, is seen as a potential intelligence gold mine, possessing perhaps two decades of information about Al Qaeda, from its early days under Osama bin Laden in Sudan to its more scattered elements today. Abu Anas is being held aboard the U.S.S. San Antonio, a vessel brought in specifically for this mission, officials said. READ MORE » http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/07/world/africa/a-terrorism-suspect-long-known-to-prosecutors.html?emc=edit_na_20131006

PPP Poll: GOP will lose 17 Seats

Another PPP survey took a gander at 24 House regions held by Republicans, and since the legislature shutdown 21 of them now have bland Democratic hopefuls heading. PPP discovered that, "The studies, authorized and paid for by Moveon.org Political Action, indicate Republican officeholders behind around enlisted voters in straight on challenges with non specific Democratic challengers in 17 areas. In four different locale, the occupant Republican falls behind a bland Democratic applicant after respondents are let that know the Republican officeholder underpinned the administration shutdown. In just three locale do Republican officeholders best nonexclusive Democratic challengers after voters are told the occupant underpinned the administration shutdown." The locale, with the special case of one, all had something in like manner. They were seats held by Republicans in states that were won by President Obama in 2012. This survey strikes right at the heart of the customary way of thinking that gerrymandering will keep House Republicans safe regardless of what they do.

As Robert Costa called attention to in The Washington Post, there are more antiextremist Republicans in the House than you may consider. Costa kept in touch with, "They might frequently be quiet and dreadful of mixing preservationist fury, yet more than 100 parts of the House GOP are considerably more antiextremist than you'd envision. These are the parts from purple and light-red regions, who seldom proceed with TV and, unlike their all the more boisterous partners, remain faithful to the initiative. They are basic to standing by Boehner's energy, and, may as well the GOP uncover an approach to grow as far as possible and at the end of the day reserve the administration, they'll merit credit"

Those 100 House Republicans in blue or purple states all are their seats put in danger by the conduct of their Republican associates who live in safe red areas. House Republicans are constantly broadly reprimanded for the shutdown. John Boehner presses on to decline to open the administration, and raise as far as possible. Boehner and the radicals that he is listening to are as of now making requests as though they are responsible for the setup.

What they don't comprehend is that the nation has been viewing House Republicans debilitate and impede for quite some time. They as of recently know who is at fault. The direct House Republicans are attempting to safeguard their own stows away by coasting nameless suggestions in the media for a fleeting subsidizing and raising of the obligation roof.

John Boehner's refusal to hold a clean vote on a CR and as far as possible could hand Democrats back control of the House of Representatives. Obamacare isn't going anyplace, however scores of House Republicans could end up out of a vocation after November 2014.

The House Republicans who are accompanying Ted Cruz have placed themselves in a position for thrashing by not confronting actuality. They imagine that they will "win" by getting the president and Senate Democrats to buckle to their dangers. Cruz and his House Republicans truly accept that they can get the nation to be faulted President Obama for the shutdown and any