The Price Of A Shutdown
CNN reports: “So if the federal government shuts down, taxpayers would save a lot of money, right? Not quite. It would actually cost taxpayers money. And for every day the shutdown continues, the bill would go up.”
Obama’s Day Ahead
President Obama will attend meetings at the White House today. There are not currently any scheduled events.
Biden’s Day Ahead
At 9:30 a.m. ET, Vice President Biden will address the Hearst Magazines Management Conference at the Newseum in Washington, D.C. His remarks will focus on ending sexual assault and dating violence among young people. Afterwards, he will attend meetings at the White House
As Shutdown Looms, Boehner And Reid Rely On Their Right Hands In Negotiations
The Washington Post reports: “The real negotiations to reach a budget deal occur in unscheduled visits and late-night phone calls between two men you’ve probably never heard of. At one end of the Capitol is Barry Jackson: quiet and unflappable, a plump, shaggy and rumpled Midwesterner who loves auto racing (he’s a regular at the Indy 500) and settled in Washington 20 years ago as John Boehner’s right-hand man. At the other end is David Krone: hard-nosed and crafty, a multi millionaire former cable lobbyist who travels around playing the best golf courses, prefers fine shirts and custom-tailored suits, usually pinstriped (“Definitely not Jos. A. Bank,” says an associate), and looks up to his boss, Harry Reid, the way a son idolizes his father.”
Government Shutdown Would Have Wide Ripples
The New York Times reports: “It’s not just an estimated 800,000 federal employees who would feel the financial pinch of a government shutdown. Among the people anxiously waiting to hear if Congress can reach a budget deal are front desk clerks at the Ahwahnee Hotel in Yosemite National Park, manufacturing executives whose companies supply goods to federal agencies, bank loan officers who make mortgages guaranteed by the Federal Housing Administration and Wall Street analysts who depend on a steady flow of government data. The federal government is, after all, a very big business, and temporarily pulling the plug would disrupt many other businesses.”
White House Hopes Last-Minute Heroics Keep Government Running
Politico reports: “Republicans have hit President Barack Obama for being out of touch, disengaged and unwilling to lead on the budget negotiations — and Democrats aren’t wild about his taste for last-minute heroics either. Administration officials say that’s flat wrong and that Obama’s team has been quietly working with lawmakers for weeks. The president’s late entry into direct talks was a calculated strategy, they say, to avoid overexposing Democrats’ sole marquee star and to gain maximum leverage after House Republicans and Senate Democrats fell short of an agreement.”
