Mitch McConnell took to the Senate floor a few minutes ago to reemphasize what his office said late yesterday: He’s not going along with Ted Cruz’s convoluted defund Obamacare filibuster.

Lynne Cheney, mother of Liz, got in the face of former U.S. Sen. Alan Simpson over the weekend for his support for Liz’s opponent in the Wyoming Senate race, incumbent Sen. Mike Enzi. That’s according to Simpson’s daughter-in-law, on her Facebook page. The post has since been deleted.

‘Senate Conservatives Fund: McConnell, Cornyn move on defunding Obamacare proposal is “ultimate betrayal.”

Apparently we’re now talking Judas, Benedict Arnold type stuff.

The CEO of AIG (one of the prime beneficiaries of massive government largesse at the height of the 2008 economic crisis) compares the outrage over excessive bonuses to AIG employees to the lynchings of African-Americans in the South in the first half of the 20th century.

Alan Simpson’s daughter-in-law says she stands by her account of Lynne Cheney confronting Simpson at a fundraiser Saturday over his support for Sen. Mike Enzi (R-WY) and telling him “shut your mouth.”

We are now witnessing what is presumably one of final, antic, dying twilight struggle efforts to kill Obamacare before its full roll out next month. We also continue to see an unprecedented effort to sabotage implementation of the plan at the state level. Not just most Republican governors refusing to participate in the law’s various components – that’s their legal right in most cases. But actually getting down to the grassroots level and organizing efforts to prevent people from learning how the program works. But it’s worth stepping back for a moment and refocusing on why the stakes seem so high to many Republicans. Read More

It’s such a critical document that I wanted to republish in full the 1993 Kristol memo on defeating health care reform. (Here’s how it looked at the time on letterhead.) Both for now and for future reference. It’s the primary document I referenced in the post below on why Republicans are fighting so hard on Obamacare.

Full text after the jump. Read More

Ted Cruz is reportedly about to take to the Senate floor for what can most charitably be called a mock filibuster. We’re still sorting out the particulars, but it appears that under the rules governing the Senate’s current debate, on the continuing resolution that would either defund Obamacare or shutdown the government, a true talking filibuster is not permitted.

Cruz may be able to talk for quite a while, but it’s not a filibuster. The technical term for it is … grandstanding. You can watch here.

Late Update: Cruz began speaking at approximately 2:41 p.m. ET., announcing that he would continue “until I am no longer able to stand.” Read More

Cruz likens Obamacare defunding skeptics to Nazi appeasers. Watch.

A TPM reader with a Wyoming background offers this analysis of Lynne Cheney’s reported confrontation with former Sen. Alan Simpson (R) for not backing Liz Cheney’s Senate candidacy: Read More