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Paul Ryan gets all but 9 GOP votes to win House speakership

The 45-year-old lawmaker became the 54th speaker of the House on Thursday, charged with healing Republican divides and quieting the chaos of Capitol Hill.

“Let’s prove ourselves worthy," Ryan urged from the House dais where he was sworn in.

“The House is broken,” he said. "We are not solving problems. We are adding to them.”

With his wife and three children from Janesville, Wis., watching from the gallery, along with presidential running mate Mitt Romney and his wife, Ryan accepted the gavel and pledged a new day for the Congress.

And without directly mentioning them or the troubles they’ve caused, he promised to bring the GOP's hardline rebels back into the fold.

"We need to let every member contribute — not once they have earned their stripes but right now," Ryan said. "Open up the process. Let people participate. And they might change their tune. A neglected minority will gum up the works. A respected minority will work in good faith.”

Conservatives served notice that they’ll be watching to make sure he delivers on his commitments of a more open House.

Rep. Jody Hice of Georgia said, “I have invested a lot of faith in Speaker Ryan’s word, and I will expect nothing less than a full return on that investment."

China to replace its 1-child policy with a 2-child policy

The Communist Party on Thursday officially ended its policy that limited most families to a single child, an acknowledgment that the 37-year population-control effort was holding back economic growth and had distorted China’s demographics in ways that could harm the party’s long-term hold on power.

As a result of the policy, China’s labor force is shrinking, and working people without siblings are struggling to care for their aging parents.

In addition, the policy has contributed to a surplus of men, partly because of a patriarchal tradition of favoring male children. That means there's an excess of young males with no marriage prospects — a formula for potential unrest.

But it’s unclear if the policy will have its intended effect, reports McClatchy.

Experts say China’s increasingly affluent population is having fewer children for the same reasons as its counterparts worldwide: Urban housing costs are expensive, women want to launch their careers before having children and some don’t want to have children at all.

Study: Low-fat diets aren’t better than other diet plans

The key to success is perseverance, researchers report in The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology journal.

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House passes 2-year budget, debt limit deal

Lawmakers from both parties joined forces Wednesday to pass the deal marking both a parting victory for outgoing Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, and a valedictory gift for his likely replacement, Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis.

The final vote was 266 to 167, with 79 Republicans joining every Democrat in sealing passage. Ryan backed the bill.

The legislation, which raises federal spending levels and expands the government’s borrowing authority, would push two of Congress’ fiercest fiscal fights well beyond next year’s elections, avoiding potential standoffs with President Obama and easing Ryan's transition into the speakership.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., one of the bill’s chief architects, has vowed to take it up quickly.

Rubio wins, Bush loses GOP debate

So say The Washington Post, The Washington Times, CNN.

Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush sought on Wednesday to calm anxious donors with a comeback strategy focused on taking down rival Sen. Marco Rubio, Fla.

But Bush’s plan “backfired badly on national television” in the third GOP presidential debate, says an Associated Press analysis.

“Instead of generating much needed momentum, Bush’s attack on his onetime protege raised new questions about his underwhelming candidacy in the primary contest he was once expected to dominate,” AP says.

“Swing and a miss,” says Tim Alberta in the National Review. “It was the story of the night, the story of the debate, and it might soon be the story of Jeb Bush’s campaign.”

Bush’s lackluster showing is likely to spur even more questions about his viability as a top-tier candidate, with his campaign manager insisting immediately after the debate that Bush will stay in the race for the long haul, says Reuters.

Here is the AP’s fact check of the debate.

Paul Ryan faces a steep learning curve

House Republicans on Wednesday nominated the Wisconsin lawmaker as their next speaker, setting up his formal election in a full House vote Thursday morning.

In his reluctant promotion from chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee to what often is called the second most powerful job in Washington, Ryan has a nontraditional pedigree for his new responsibilities, says The New York Times.

The man who will be the youngest speaker in more than a century is a policy buff rather than the typical veteran lawmaker who has risen through party ranks.

Unlike virtually all of his predecessors, Ryan has no experience in senior House leadership.

For years, he's had his hands on the levers of power, but the Ways and Means and Budget committees are far different from the speakership, Politico notes.

Ryan’s leadership has been limited to corralling a few dozen members of his committee. “The unruly 247-member House Republican Conference is another beast altogether,” says Politico, in an understatement.

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The gift of the bipartisan budget deal: Stability

The bill’s passage is “seemingly assured,” says The New York Times. That’s significant after “five years of all-out brawling, legislative gridlock and general dysfunction,” the paper says.

“The budget battles of the last five years did a great deal of damage in terms of raising borrowing costs, constraining business investment and depressing consumer spending,” Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody’s Analytics, tells Politico. “Getting D.C. off the front pages is very, very good news.”

While the deal is “the policy equivalent of keeping the lights on,” says another Times article, the nation is spared fiscal dysfunction for the remainder of Barack Obama’s presidency.

What to expect at the 3rd GOP debate Wednesday night

The GOP debates are “the nation’s new favorite reality TV show,” and “an unexpectedly enormous television event,” says The New York Times.

The big questions for the prime-time debate Wednesday:

How will Donald Trump react to being passed by retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson in a new CBS/New York Times national poll released Tuesday?

Will Jeb Bush come alive? His decline in the polls has put him below Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, bumping Bush from his debate spot next to Trump.

Will Carly Fiorina put in another performance that’s “stylistically compelling but factually challenged,” as Vox puts it?

The debate is being hosted by CNBC, the financial cable news channel, and will focus on the economy and business.

But it's back to the bars and friends’ homes for cord cutters who want to watch.

Streaming only will be available to "CNBC digital customers who authenticate via TV Everywhere on CNBC.com, mobile apps, and Apple TV, as well as to CNBC PRO subscribers,” CNBC says.