Monday, October 14, 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. Debt Ceiling Deadline Senate leaders' talks on shutdown, debt limit stall as sides await market's reaction Senate Leaders Talk but Fail to Reach Deal on Shutdown Obama and Democrats, united by shutdown, looking for gains Jackie Calmes: The underlying issue? What it's always been: Revenue. Robert Costa: Republicans In Congress, Divided and Uneasy The GOP's latest poison pill idea? The Lankford bill Warning of Global Risk, Leaders Urge U.S. to Solve Its Debt Limit Crisis U.S. shutdown: IMF's Christine Lagarde tells America's lawmakers they risk tipping world into recession Debt-ceiling breach would push economy into freefall, without a government safety net IMF chief Christine Lagarde also warns against drastic U.S. spending cuts Brad Plumer: Three options for ending the debt-ceiling crisis... forever! Greg Sargent: A way out of the crisis Shutdown Showdown On Eve Of Shutdown, House Republicans Changed The Rules So A Majority Vote Couldn't Stop The Government Shutdown Senate Democrats Press New Front in Shutdown Budget Battle National Parks losing massive amounts of revenue under shutdown Ryan Cooper: Govt shutdown is already doing severe damage Veterans also continue to feel shutdown's sting Five More Awful Effects Of The Government Shutdown 6 Ways the World Is Reacting to the U.S. Shutdown and Debt Ceiling Rick Ungar: Boomerang! Poll Reveals GOP's Government Shutdown Bolstered Obamacare's Popularity By 20% Ezra Klein: The shutdown may not hurt Republicans in 2014. Their structural problems will. Cohn: Republicans Are Still Hoping Democrats Will Give In Due to the Default Threat. They Won't. Seditious Activities Extremist right-wing protesters "reopen" WWII Memorial that's closed for gov't shutdown GOP Senators Ted Cruz, Mike Lee at WWII memorial tea party protest D.C. protestors - including GOP Senators - wave Confederate flag, tell Obama to "put the Quran down" Josh Marshall: Rage & Performance Art Million Vet March Organizers Condemn Sarah Palin, Ted Cruz, and the Tea Party Josh Eidelson: Notorious sociologist says terrified Tea Party reviving slaveholder ideology Immigration: Reform Coming? Immigration Activists Shift Focus to Obama States back off from enacting immigration laws Energy, Climate & Environment Study links warmer water temperatures to greater levels of mercury in fish Nations In Turmoil Rival al-Qaeda-linked groups fortifying in Syria with mix of pragmatism and militancy Red Cross members kidnapped by gunmen in Syria Deadly car bomb explodes in town on Syria-Turkey border Bombs blasts across Iraq kill 25 people International News 3 American Professors Awarded Nobel in Economic Science Death toll from India temple stampede up to 115, search called off Iran rejects West's demand to ship out uranium stockpiles States Of Confusion Washington Post Endorsement: Terry McAuliffe for Virginia governor Fearing a lost governor's race, Virginia Republicans confront a deep party divide Midwest Roundup Democrat Pete Festersen changes mind; decides to vie for Lee Terry's congressional seat in 2014 NPPD board votes against boosting wind power - for now Iowa Transportation Commission approves rail and trail projects Iowa Veterans won't let government shutdown stop their Honor Flight Terminal Decision Weekends are usually supposed to be restful. However, the last few days have been anything but. The latest we've heard about the impending debt ceiling is that Republicans in Congress still can't seem to comprehend the meaning of the word "clean." The plan that was floated last Friday by House Republicans and Speaker Boehner had all kinds of right wing goodies attached. Naturally, the mucked up bill was rejected by President Obama, as all other similarly non-clean bills have been. Meanwhile, Senate Republicans embraced a different plan floated by GOP Senators Susan Collins and Mitch McConnell over the weekend. That plan would increase the debt limit until January and fund the government for six months. However, Senate Republicans also hung so many of their ideological tea bags from the bill that Sen. Democratic Majority Leader Harry Reid insisted - fairly -  that he be allowed to hang some Democratic priorities on it too. As the Washington Post confirmed, items like higher revenues to pay our government's bills and a higher overall debt ceiling are things Sen Reid and the Democrats wanted. Tea Party Republicans, of course, insisted that offer be rejected, since they're only going to be happy if Democrats get nothing in any negotiations. So with four days left until the world's markets implode, the 'World's Greatest Deliberative Body' is without a single legislative solution. As Greg Sargent so aptly pointed out on Sunday, and as we've said multiple times over the past few years, Speaker Boehner has only one real choice this week: Allow the Tea Party to go flying over the edge of the political cliff, and save his political party, the nation, and quite possibly the world. Or, he can let the Tea Party drag the entire world into a massive economic depression the likes of which few alive have ever seen... To continue reading... click here. And now, for your Daily Felltoon preview for October 14, 2013 (Click the preview cartoon above to see the full version of the cartoon) The Party's Over Greg Sargent: Boehner's only choice? Throw the Tea Party overboard. Brian Beutler: Debt limit defeat turns conservatives into neo-Confederate fantasists Paul Krugman: The Dixiecrat Solution | The Tea Party secedes: The GOP civil war is over, and so is the GOP Cynthia Tucker: Tea Partiers React With Fury To World They Can't Control E.J. Dionne: Obama can't waste this moment Jobs & The Economy Gallup: Americans Say Creating Jobs Is Key to Improving Economy Economic Slowdown: U.S. Corporate Profit Growth Slows as Shutdown Risks Rise Wall Street Watch With Standoff Unresolved, Banks Shed Short-Term Treasury Bills JPMorgan's Dimon Joins Other Major Wall Street Bankers Warning U.S. Against Default Economic Inequality James Surowiecki: Why C.E.O. Pay Keeps Going Up, While Worker Pay Doesn't | Nobel Prize-Winning Economist Joseph Stiglitz: Inequality Is a Choice Health Care Checkup Glitches on health-care sites prompt greater interest in paper applications Albert Hunt: Glitchy Rollout Doesn't Spell Doom for Obamacare | Sarah Kliff: The cost of Obamacare varies wildly by state Obamacare is working: The Rest of the Story Guns & America Gun Groups Declare Newtown Massacre Anniversary "Guns Save Lives Day" | Former Rep. Gabby Giffords attends N.Y. gun show, urges fights vs. violence Ethics & The Media NY Times says UK govt. tried to get it to hand over Snowden documents Communications Breakdown Romanesko: Even y̶o̶u̶'̶r̶e̶ your cartoons need editing Media Matters A Leaner NY Times Aims for Global Growth, With Another Big Change | Philadelphia Newspaper's Owners at War Here It Is! Your HuskerNutz Preview for October 14, 2013 (Click the preview cartoon above to see the full version of the cartoon) National Politics Ezra Klein: Is America a political bubble, doomed to pop? Greg Mankiw: From Summer Camp, a Parable for Washington SCOTUS Brief U.S. SCOTUS justices to hear race case; one side has two voices Trevor Potter: The Supreme Court needs to get smarter about politics On The Left Jonathan Chait: Are Democrats Demanding Their Own Ransom Now? Nancy Pelosi: "We can't be enablers [of the crazy GOP] anymore" Jonathan Bernstein: Why Madisonian Democracy Still Can't Have It All On The Right Extremist Sen. Ted Cruz massive favorite in Value Voters straw poll Peter Beinert: Why the Shutdown is a Republican Victory Jennifer Rubin: 20 signs you've drunk the right-wing Kool-Aid Other Notable News Bob Costas: Redskins' name 'an insult' | America's Newest Culture War: Football 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.