Morning Must Reads: October 16

In the News: Lawmakers scrambling toward a deal as U.S. faces potential credit rating downgrade

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Nicholas Kamm / AFP /Getty Images

The US Capitol in Washington is seen on September 30, 2013 , a day before the government shutdown began.

  • John Boehner’s Bad Night: “In another era, for a different leader, it would have been a stunning rebuke. For John Boehner, it was just another embarrassing stumble in a speakership studded with them.” [TIME]
  • As U.S. Faces a Potential Downgrade, Markets Flash Alarm Over Debt-Ceiling Impasse: “Political brinkmanship and reduced financing flexibility could increase the risk of a U.S. default,” analysts at Fitch wrote Tuesday. “The U.S. risks being forced to incur widespread delays of payments to suppliers and employees, as well as Social Security payments to citizens — all of which would damage the per­ception of U.S. sovereign creditworthiness and the economy.” [Washington Post]
  • Backup plan? What backup plan?: “Whatever deal Senate leaders come up with to solve the fiscal crisis had better work, because President Barack Obama has no Plan B if it doesn’t. The Treasury is set to hit its credit limit Thursday.” [Politico]
  • U.S. Stock Futures Advance as Lawmakers Seek Debt Deal [Bloomberg]
  • The Tea Party and the GOP Crackup: The tea party is Jacksonian America, aroused, angry and above all fearful, in full revolt against a new elite—backed by the new American demography—that threatens its interests and scorns its values. [WSJ]
  • Lessons from the last shutdown don’t apply [Politico]
  • Booker’s Burden: High Expectations: New Jersey gets out to vote today, and citizens already have high hopes for the former mayor of Newark. [The Hill]
  • Viewing the U.S. in Fear and Dismay [NYT]
  • Obama in Background as Congress Negotiates Fiscal Deal: “The president’s only public event so far this week was mingling with furloughed federal workers who volunteer at a local Washington charity rather than huddling with lawmakers. Yesterday, amid a rush of Capitol Hill negotiations in the House and Senate, media access to a White House session between Obama and House Democratic leaders was limited to a few moments for photographs and video — no statements.” [Bloomberg]