Wednesday, October 02, 2013   Published Weekday Mornings   To see the full version of today's cartoon, click on the preview graphic of the cartoon (below the Commentary) to be taken to the full version in your favorite web browser. The GOP Blows Its Head Off Conservative Washington Post Opinion: House Republicans are failing America Jonathan Bernstein: The 'Fraidy Cat Conference NYT: The 20 Republicans who drove the government to shut down Rep. Peter King: 30 to 40 GOP lawmakers refuse to admit legitimacy of Obama's presidency Ezra Klein & Robert Costa: Why Boehner doesn't just ditch the hard right James Downie: The party of spoiled brats Bill Scher: The Monster They've Created In The GOP House Republicans frustrated with own defunding fight Corporate America now sees little return from bet on GOP Jennifer Bendery: Here's A Tally Of Which House Republicans Are Ready To Fund The Government, No Strings Attached The Shutdown Continues Sorry, we're closed: Government shutdown ripples across the country Washington braces for prolonged government shutdown Poll Watchers Beware: Public Heavily Blames GOP For Shutdown House votes down GOP's piecemeal spending bills Kevin Drum: On The Budget, Democrats Have Already Caved In to Republicans Pres. Obama: Shutdown Forced By Republicans On 'Ideological Crusade' Against Obamacare Greg Sargent: Dems to GOP on stopping shutdown: No Obamacare extortion. Period, full stop. President Obama: This Perpetual Cycle Of Brinksmanship Has To End Bill Scher: 5 bogus arguments Republicans are using to justify a government shutdown Steve Benen: Why the GOP can't avoid responsibility for the shutdown Joan Walsh: The real story of the shutdown: 50 years of GOP race-baiting John Dickerson: Why the government shutdown is so bad for Republicans Charlie Pierce: Finally, The Democrats Are Bringing Guns To A Gunfight Shutdown Effects Forty-eight groups of people the shutdown is hurting The nine most painful impacts of a government shutdown The shutdown's effect on federal contractors is a huge source of uncertainty Shutdown may idle non-federal workers next week FDA Food Safety Inspections Suspended During Government Shutdown Spy agencies forced to furlough 70 percent of civilian employees Veterans break past closed World War II Memorial barricade Jordan Weissmann: The Government Shutdown Is Killing Kids With Cancer. Really. Government shutdown could nix Navy-Air Force game Energy, Climate & Environment What The Shutdown Means For Energy And Environmental Programs Exploding Fuel Tankers Driving U.S. Army to Solar Power Nations In Turmoil Clashes erupt as chemical weapons inspectors begin mission in Syria Turkish govt. seeks renewed mandate to send troops to Syria Iraq violence leaves almost 1,000 dead in September International News Italy's prime minister wins confidence vote Russia charges Greenpeace activists with piracy U.S. and South Korea sign nuclear deterrence pact U.S. to expel Venezuelan diplomats in retaliation National Politics John Nichols: America's Politicians Are All Afraid Of Getting Primaried Dana Milbank: In D.C., compromise is a dirty word (and it should be) New polls reveal Americans more disappointed with Congress than ever National Politics Jacksonville Airport reopens after bomb squad removes device California's Gov. Jerry Brown signs anti-revenge porn bill Midwest Roundup Offutt Air Force Base bustling, despite partial government shutdown Federal plan to buy land along Niobrara draws protests from two states Pulling The Trigger When discussing any conflict, it's always best to make sure everyone understands the facts. When it comes to the federal government shutdown, it was already obvious Tuesday morning that not everyone in the media either knew the facts, or was willing to acknowledge them. The facts are as clear this morning as they were yesterday, and as clear as they were Monday night at midnight when a small group of extremist, far-right House Republicans forced the government of the United States to shut down. As President Obama restated again yesterday afternoon, there will be no extortion of Democrats or the President to get House Republicans to do their jobs. In an interview with Greg Sargent on Tuesday, Rep. Chris Van Hollen confirmed that position: No Obamacare extortion. Period, full stop. Multiple polls have already shown, Americans should ignore the daily spin wars, as they overwhelmingly agree with Democrats, and heavily blame Republicans for the shutdown. The hostage strategy being used by the extremist tea party wing of the GOP should be rejected strongly. In short, by letting the teabaggers direct the GOP, Republicans have effectively put a gun to their own party's head and pulled the trigger - and the effects are already as brutal as we'd expected they would be... To continue reading... click here. And now, for your Daily Felltoon preview for October 02, 2013 (Click the preview cartoon above to see the full version of the cartoon) Obamacare Is Here Obamacare site goes live, with some glitches Obamacare Health Exchange Websites Had More Than 10 Million Unique Visitors On Day One Super high web traffic leads to slowdowns, snags on day 1 Sec. Sebelius on software glitches: "Give Us the Same Slack You Give Apple" Demand is strong as Obamacare enrollment starts in California | New York Looking Into 'Abnormally High Traffic'To Obamacare Website, Potential Anti-Obamacare Attacks Federal Data Reveals Larger Variety of Health Care Plans Than Thought Closer Look at Polls Finds Fewer Opposed to Obamacare Than Thought Signing up for Obamacare: 'It will save me over $6,000. For that, I would have waited all day.' Jonathan Bernstein: Ignore the daily spin wars over Obamacare Jobs & The Economy Shutdown will delay official September jobs report, due to lack of staffers ADP Jobs Report: Private sector adds 166,000 jobs in September U.S. Government Shutdown Beginning To Threaten Housing Recovery Wall Street Watch Freddie Mac says three banks to pay a total of $1.3 billion to settle mortgage claims Wells Fargo to face enforcement action over failure to uphold terms of $25 billion mortgage settlement Microsoft investors push for chairman Bill Gates to step down Debt Ceiling: The Next Battle Treasury begins using 'extraordinary measures' to avoid breaching the nation's debt limit CNN Poll: Majority Of Americans say raise debt ceiling | Greg Sargent: Governing crisis set to escalate dramatically Wall Street Agrees: The Biggest Economic Threat Is The Debt Ceiling, Not The Shutdown Health Care Checkup Elizabeth Rigby: Red States are creating more red tape for Medicaid Dave Gilson: How Republicans Blocked a Key Obamacare Benefit - Without the Shutdown Immigration: Reform Coming? House Democrats to release immigration bill House Republicans Continue To Work With Democrats On Immigration Reform, Behind The Scenes Guns & America Poll: Americans Overwhelmingly Back Starbucks On Anti-Gun Policy | Woman Dies After Being Accidentally Shot While Hugging Boyfriend Ethics & The Media Ed Kilgore: False Equivalence & The Journalistic Weapons Dealers Six Headlines About The Government Shutdown That Embarrass Journalism Media Matters Washington Post closes sale to Amazon founder Jeff Bezos George Will to Leave ABC News for Fox News Here It Is! Your HuskerNutz Preview for October 02, 2013 (Click the preview cartoon above to see the full version of the cartoon) White House Update Obama's Asia trip plans cut short as shutdown continues | President Obama schedules events to hammer Boehner on shutdown SCOTUS Brief SCOTUSblog: The Supreme Court unofficially opens its fall term; Grants review of eight new cases News From Capitol Hill Josh Eidelson: The other midnight default Monday was the Postal Service's - and it's also the fault of Republicans in Congress On The Left Quinnipiac Poll: Hillary Clinton Would Sweep Dems, Destroy Republicans In 2016 Race With tea partiers unwilling to take cues from Big Business, CEOs now reluctantly siding with Obama Jonathan Chait: What Happens When You Take Hostages Without a Plan On The Right GOPers Still Delusional; Insist Americans Will Eventually Back Them On Shutdown Jason Sattler: Republicans can't tell when they're losing Poll: Tea Party Sen. Ted Cruz Still Widely Unknown Among Republican Voters We hope you enjoy "The Daily Felltoon" every business day. Thanks for continuing to be a member! Paul Fell Shawn "Smith" Peirce Paul Fell Cartoons, Inc.