Wednesday, October 16, 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 Resume Fiscal Talks as House Scraps Vote Senate leaders race to draft debt-limit bill after House effort collapses Debt Default Deadline Clear, but Implications Are Not Treasury: Credit warning a sign of urgency in debt debate Josh Barro: House Republicans Show Themselves To Be Dangerously Incompetent, Again Boehner sees his control of House Republicans slip away Ryan Cooper: As GOP insanity continues, damage to the economy deepens David Cay Johnston: Tea party Republicans put dollar's reputation at risk Party's Over-Blame The Morons Wall Street Journal Review & Outlook: The Debt Denouement Bruce Bartlett: For Many Hard-Liners, Debt Default Was Always The Goal Poll: Americans Mad At Everyone Over Federal Govt Shutdown, But Most Blame Republicans Dana Milbank: Republicans are now at a dead end Charlie Pierce: Today In The Reign Of Morons - Apotheosis Mark Buchannan: The chilling biology and stupidity of the debt-ceiling standoff Brian Beutler: GOP's absurd final whimper - It's all over but the crying Ta-Nehisi Coates: What This Cruel War Was Really Over Greg Sargent: The core argument that drove this whole crisis Jonathan Bernstein: It's still extortion for the sake of extortion John Avlon: Congress Likely Hasn't Learned A Thing From Debt Ceiling Crisis Johnathan Cohn: The Republicans May Lose, But So Will You Shutdown Effects Alaska's King-Crab Fleet Is Left in Port by Shutdown 2 Automakers Fear Effects of Shutdown on Sales Senate staffers won't be paid this Friday Brian Resnick: Seriously, Reopen the Government - and The CDC - or a Pandemic Could Kill Us All Health Care Checkup Sarah Kliff: Delaying Obamacare's reinsurance fee would be a win for insurers Edward Kleinbard: The huge health-care subsidy everyone is ignoring Guns & America Arizona Man Kills Girlfriend In Attempt To Scare Her With A Gun White supremacists arrested: Massive weapons stash leads to firearms charges Nations In Turmoil Warplanes bomb Damascus suburbs on Eid al-Adha holiday, as explosion in mosque is reported Minibus blast kills 21 in southern Syria Red Cross staff freed after Syrian abduction Pakistani minister hurt in suicide bombing The War Over There Afghans Fend Off Taliban Threat in Pivotal Year International News Iran offers concessions in nuclear talks, no deal yet Iran nuclear talks enter second day; Western officials call Tehran's proposal 'very useful' Typhoon sideswipes Tokyo, at least 17 dead UK jobless total falls by 18,000 to 2.49m States Of Confusion 'Personhood' Measure Defining Fertilized Eggs As People Will Be On Colorado's Next Ballot Longshoremen strike, shut down port operations in Baltimore Midwest Roundup Nebraska federal judge urges other federal judges to declare all their employees "essential" Brownville, Neb. nuclear power plant at top of federal safety violations list Report: Iowa's state debt ranks 2nd-best nationally; Nebraska is No. 1  Iowa Board of Regents to take vote on another tuition freeze for state schools Why? Stupidity. If you're like most well-informed Americans right now, including our staff, you're likely still concerned about the very real chance that Congress - led by the extremist right-wing Republicans - will push our nation into financial default in less than 48 hours. At the time our staff is gathering content for Wednesday morning's edition, Senators Reid and McConnell have resumed their talks for a Senate deal, which could potentially get a vote at some point on Wednesday. The embarrassingly disastrous House Republican plan already went up in flames late Tuesday afternoon. The House plan was so bad, not only had all House Democrats agreed to vote against it, but even the right-wing Heritage Foundation was warning Republicans to vote against it - which is why Speaker Boehner had the bill pulled. President Obama, in an interview Tuesday afternoon, still said he believes Congress will send him a bill that solves this problem before much more damage is done to our economy. That assurance didn't calm Wall Street credit ratings agency Fitch, who began warning late on Tuesday afternoon they may downgrade the nation's credit rating again if Congress doesn't pass a plan to fix both the debt ceiling and government shutdown, right away. Obama's assurance also didn't calm the nerves of millions of Americans, who overwhelmingly - and correctly - blame Republicans for creating this horrible situation. For all the anger and blame being thrown around, and debate about what the core reason is for America being in this jam there are a few key groups that seem to be escaping accountability right now: uninformed voters, moderate Republicans, and the Supreme Court. Yes - stupid people are to blame for this mess. Some of them may even be reading these words right now... To continue reading... click here. And now, for your Daily Felltoon preview for October 16, 2013 (Click the preview cartoon above to see the full version of the cartoon) Jobs & The Economy GOP Govt. Shutdown Has Killed Nearly 1 Million Jobs Since It Began Some Furloughed Workers Return To Their Jobs Amid Government Shutdown | Low Wages Cost Taxpayers A Quarter-Trillion Dollars Every Year Fed study: U.S. jobs market poised for improvement, as long as positive economic conditions continue Wall Street Watch Fitch warns it may cut U.S. credit rating from AAA Yields on Shortest-Term U.S. Treasury Bonds Jump Deeper Fitch: The U.S. government's debt financial fundamentals are fine. Our politics are a mess. | Felix Salmon: The default has already begun JPMorgan Expected to Admit Fault in 'London Whale' Trading Loss Bank of America posts profit as fewer loans go bad Ethics & The Media Jack Shafer: More media won't solve American political ignorance Media Matters Greenwald exits Guardian for new media venture Energy, Climate & Environment Former Halliburton Manager Pleads Guilty To Destroying Evidence In Deepwater Horizon Disaster | Another Unusually Dry Winter Could Mean More Water Cutbacks For Californians Did You Miss It On Monday? Here It Is Again! Your HuskerNutz Preview for October 16, 2013 (Click the preview cartoon above to see the full version of the cartoon) White House Update President Obama says he believes fiscal impasse will be resolved | Obama plans immigration push after fiscal crisis ends SCOTUS Brief Federal Appeals Court Rejects Appeal Bid by Writer in Leak Case Expected To Go To Supreme Court Supreme Court justices skeptical of affirmative-action arguments | Supreme Court: The EPA can tackle global warming, but we'll review a few details Robin Lakoff: At the Supreme Court, money talks and reason walks On The Left Pelosi Has Been Trying To Help Boehner, But He's Refused Help Ex-Mayor San Diego Bob Filner pleads guilty to false imprisonment, battery On The Right Harold Meyerson: The modern GOP - A confederacy of zealots Jennifer Rubin: The Shutdown's Silver Lining Mr. October Red Sox Edge Tigers, Take Series Lead | Matt Holliday, Cardinals bring Dodgers to brink 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.