CNN/ORC poll: “Just more than half the public says that it's bad for the country that the GOP controls the House of Representatives, according to a new national poll conducted after the end of the partial government shutdown. And the CNN/ORC International survey also indicates that more than six in 10 Americans say that Speaker of the House John Boehner should be replaced.”
Politico: “It’s not the GOP that President Barack Obama has to worry about in defending his botched health care rollout, it’s fellow Democrats. They voted for the law, sang its praises for three-plus years and still believe in the promise of health care reform. But now they face a conundrum: stay in lock step with Obama and risk their credibility as advocates for the law’s benefits or publicly criticize the administration for its recent problems — especially a failure to more quickly acknowledge, and rectify, the major malfunction of its Internet marketplace.”
Mitch McConnell’s line: "Unfortunately, every discussion we've had about this in the past has had what I would call a ransom attached to it: $1 trillion in new tax revenues. We don't have this problem because we don't tax enough in this country, we have this problem because we spend too much."
National Journal: “The Senate is out on recess, but the House returns to session Tuesday for the start of what could be a bellwether week to gauge the political tone in Washington for the rest of the year. Much of the attention is already shifting to focus on the formal start of negotiations in the joint House-Senate budget conference. And the action will pick up in committees and on the floor as well. A vote could come as early as Thursday on the first Water Resources Development Act since 2007, a sweeping bill to authorize funding for improvements to ports, waterways, and projects tied to flood protection, drinking water, dams, and environmental restoration.”
