McConnell: There Won’t Be Another Shutdown

One of my favorite old Kentucky sayings is there’s no education in the second kick of a mule. The first kick of a mule was when we shut the government down in the mid 1990s and the second kick was over the last 16 days. There is no education in the second kick of a mule. There will not be a government shutdown. … I think we have fully now acquainted our new members with what a losing strategy that is.

— Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), telling The Hill that he will not allow another government shutdown as part of a strategy to repeal Obamacare.

GOP-Controlled North Carolina Becomes First State to Suspend Welfare Payments Because of Republican Shutdown

The North Carolina Republican Party’s war on the state’s poor people got a boost from the congressional GOP’s shutdown of the federal government on Monday. The shutdown gave the tea partyists who run North Carolina an excuse for suspending welfare payments in November:

North Carolina on Monday suspended its Work First program, formerly known as welfare, because of the federal shutdown in Washington.

County social service agencies stopped processing new applications for Temporary Assistance for Needy Families because federal monies are expected to dry up by November unless Congress can reach a deal for funding the federal government.

The Department of Health and Human Services sent out a letter Thursday to county social service directors telling them to stop processing new applications as well as re-certifications for November.

[…]

Lindsey Graham Pleads with Dems to Show Mercy on Republicans

We won’t be the last political party to overplay our hand. It might happen one day on the Democratic side. And if it did, would Republicans, for the good of the country, kinda give a little? We really did go too far. We screwed up. But their response is making things worse, not better.

– Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., begging Democrats to go easy on Republicans, who are in trouble with voters because they shut down the government and are threatening to default on the national debt.

News Anchor Asks Tea Party Rep: ‘Do You Hate Obamacare More Than You Love Your Country?’

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

A member of the Fourth Estate finally asked a tea party Republican a question that cuts to the heart of their latest manufactured crisis. The exchange occurred today when MSBNC’s Thomas Roberts interviewed the eternally unctuous Tennessee Rep. Marsha Blackburn:

[…]

Poll Finds Approval of GOP House Reps in 23 of 24 Swing Districts Dropping Below 50% – Opposition to Shutdown above 55% in 22 of the 24 Districts

New polling by PPP in districts held by 24 Republican House members who are considered potentially vulnerable in midterm elections next year found that approval of the incumbents was below 50 percent in 23 of the districts — in the other, California’s 21st District, incumbent David Valadao had a 50 percent approval.

In 17 of the districts, approval of the Republican incumbents was 40 percent or lower. Democrats need a net win of 17 seats to take control of the House in the the midterm elections next November.

The polling also found that opposition to the Republican shutdown of the federal government in order to prevent implementation of the Affordable Care Act was above 55 percent in 22 of the 24 districts held by these vulnerable Republicans. In 18 of the districts, opposition was at 59 percent or higher.

Read more about the poll from the National Journal.

Here are links to results from the polling in each of the 24 districts:

[…]