Shutdown aftermath, Politics, Economy, Corruption, Vote Machinations, Church and State, Racism; Obamacare; It's a Spy, Spy, Spy, Spy World, NSA Surveillance

Shutdown aftermath

• Obama: Shutdown Was About More Than Health Care
• In Iowa speech, Ted Cruz warns Democrats on shutdown—"Senator admits GOP failed to stop new health-care law, but will win in the long term." WaPo
• No retreat: Little reflection for House GOP after bruising shutdown
• 27 GOP Senators 'Disapprove' Of Their Own Vote To Raise Debt Ceiling
• Enough already, say respected conservatives—"Time to blow the whistle on the counter-productive right-wingers." WaPo

Politics

• Republican reform: Fringe and purge—"Ideological purity tests and apocalyptic pessimism have become entrenched features of Republican politics."
• Video: The great Tea Party purge begins
• House GOP gives up on working rest of year
• The New GOP Plan to Block Obama's Judicial Nominees
• Business, GOP Establishment: Tea Party Is Over
• California Republicans in trouble, former California Republican says
• The death of the political middle, in 1 PowerPoint slide—"In 1982, 80 percent of the House could be described as centrists. In 2012, that number was 2.5 percent." WaPo

Economy

• Warren, allies oppose Obama on budget compromise—"Party liberals oppose a deal on entitlements."
• Wisconsin Economic Development Corp cited in national report on how not to spend taxpayer dollars on economic development
• GOP Gov. Kasich Says There 'Seems To Be A War On The Poor'—Is he trying to "center" himself?

Corruption

• Ex-Okla. lawmaker guilty in bribery trial—"A former Oklahoma lawmaker accused of offering a state legislative colleague a job in exchange for her promise not to seek re-election was found guilty of felony bribery Tuesday."
• Ex-Arizona congressman faces up to 100 years at fraud sentencing
• Group Linked to Kochs Admits to Campaign Finance Violations—"The nonprofit, which has ties to the billionaire conservative businessmen Charles and David Koch, failed to disclose over $15 million in contributions it funneled into California referendum battles." NYT

Vote Machinations

• Voter Suppression is a Badder, Broader, More Bigoted Problem Than Just This Guy
• Virginia election officials purging almost 40,000 voters WaPo
• Wendy Davis Held Up While Voting Due To New Voter Suppression Law
• Jim Crow II—"A history of the fight for voting rights and the movement to restrict them once again."
• Video: 12-yr-old takes on NC Governor on voting rights

Church and State

• Virginia candidate E.W. Jackson: Yoga leads to Satan
• Bill to Put 'In God We Trust' Sign in Every Public School in Pennsylvania Gets Through Education Committee
• Oklahoma Judge Sentences Teen to Church for 10 Years—Might as well have sentenced him to hell.
• Tennessee judge cited for ordering baby's name changed from Messiah
• Christian, Not Conservative—"Why Marilynne Robinson's literary—and liberal—Calvinism appeals."

Racism

• It's (still) the racism, stupid!: political science weighs in on racial resentment and the government shutdown.
• White Alienation, Black Satisfaction and the Obama Era—"In sum, whites (especially conservative whites) are robustly overrepresented in Congress yet twice as likely as nonwhites to feel as if people like them are not well represented."
• Nevada lawmaker says he'd vote for slavery if his constituents wanted him to
• GOP Precinct Chair Delivers Most Baldly Racist Daily Show Interview of All Time
• 'Joe The Plumber' Says Democrats 'Have A History Of Lynching Black Americans'
• Grayson Ratchets Up Tea Party-KKK Flap Saying 'The Truth Hurts'
• Asian-Americans To Evangelicals: We're Not Your Punchline

Obamacare

• The seven deadly sins of HealthCare.gov—"A data center failure is the latest in Obamacare site's trail of tears."
• 7 Legitimate Questions For Kathleen Sebelius On HealthCare.gov
• "Rate shock": The GOP's shameful new Obamacare lie—"Conservatives -- with no concern for making healthcare better -- have made arguing about Obamacare a waste of time." Salon

It's a Spy, Spy, Spy, Spy World

• Obama May Ban Spying on Heads of Allied States—"President Obama was poised to order the ban in response to a deepening diplomatic crisis over reports that the National Security Agency had for years targeted the cellphone of Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany." NYT
• Obama orders curbs on NSA spying on U.N. headquarters
• NSA chief says NATO allies shared phone records with the U.S. spy agency—The claim is that they spied on the themselves. WaPo
• White House OKd spying on allies, U.S. intelligence officials say—"NSA and other U.S. intelligence agency staff members are said to be angry at President Obama for denying knowledge of the spying."
• As It Denounces U.S. Spying, Europe Delays Privacy Protection at Home—"Germany's acquiescence in a British-led effort to freeze the privacy measures highlighted what appear to be contradictions between the verbal support for privacy among European leaders and their policy decisions." NYT

NSA Surveillance

• NSA stores data to target any citizen at any time - Greenwald—Is President Obama on that list?
• Dozens in Congress now ready to end bulk data program—"Patriot Act author says gov't shouldn't have 'carte-blanche approach.'"
• Embattled NSA chief Keith Alexander rejects calls to limit agency's power—"Alexander goes before House committee and claims reports of NSA collecting millions of phone calls were 'absolutely false.'"
• Lavabit founder says he fought feds to protect the Constitution—"In a sit-down at CNET headquarters, Lavabit CEO Ladar Levison discusses the legal bureaucracy the US government employed to try to force him to become complicit with NSA surveillance."
• Dick Cheney Calls Snowden a 'Traitor,' Defends NSA—If anyone's a traitor, it's Darth Cheney.