Republicans Struggle To Shift Blame...
Republicans try to deflect blame by proposing to fund bits of government. CNN: "The Republican-led House offered its latest gambit on Tuesday night but failed in separate votes to approve piecemeal funding for three specific programs -- the District of Columbia, veterans affairs and national parks ... House leadership aides say the plan is to bring up the same measures again Wednesday in a way that would require only a simple majority to pass ... the Democratic-led Senate wasn't about to acquiesce and the White House promised a veto."
Obama to keep up the pressure. The Hill: "On Thursday, the president will appear at a local construction company that has benefited from federal loans. While there, he will highlight the real-world consequences of a shutdown, while casting blame for the crisis at the feet of House leadership. The speech will follow a meeting Wednesday between Obama and top corporate executives, intended to force the hand of Republicans and pressure them to come to the table with a deal."
Businesses lacking ability to pressure Republicans. W. Post: "The conservative activists, led by groups such as Heritage Action and the Club for Growth and elected officials such as Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), are advocating legislative strategies that are doomed to failure in the Democratic Senate but hugely popular with their followers. Business interests are advocating passing the continuing resolution and raising the debt ceiling to avoid economic catastrophe. It’s clear who’s winning."
...As Debt Limit Looms
Shutdown in "collision course" with debt limit. Politico: "...if the standoff continues to creep toward the Oct. 17 deadline to raise the $16.7 trillion national debt ceiling, the two issues will become intertwined — and potentially intractable. House Republican leaders and top Senate Democrats privately began discussing this increasingly likely possibility Tuesday, but the two sides have yet to engage in any direct negotiations in the acrimonious budget dispute."
Shutdown won't push back debt limit deadline, says Treasury Sec Lew. Bloomberg: "The U.S. has started using final extraordinary measures to avoid a breach of the nation’s debt limit, Treasury Secretary Jacob J. Lew said as he pressed Congress to increase borrowing authority 'immediately.' Lew, in a letter addressed to House Speaker John Boehner dated yesterday, repeated that the measures will be exhausted no later than Oct. 17."
Dems believe debt limit deadline gives them added leverage. The Hill: "Democrats are eager to deal with the debt limit now, when polls show most of the public blames Republicans for the shutdown. They contend it would be difficult for the GOP to make additional demands linked to the debt limit while they’re embroiled in a crisis over a six-weekend spending stopgap ... Conversely, Democratic strategists worry that granting any concession to pass the stopgap will weaken their position ahead of the debt-limit showdown."
Shutdown Pain Quickly Felt
"9 Million Moms And Babies At Risk As WIC Program Halts" reports Forbes: "Over 8.9 million moms and kids under five living near or below the poverty line rely on the program’s supplemental vouchers for healthy food, breastfeeding support, infant formula and other necessities dispensed at clinics nationwide. The USDA estimates that most states will be able to continue WIC operations as usual for 'a week or so' before running out of money. The department’s Food and Nutrition Service has a contingency fund of only $125 million available for this $7 billion annual appropriation."
Kids with cancer denied clinical trials. CNN: "About 200 people register for NIH clinical trials every week. But those patients are being told they will have to wait until the government starts up again to begin their trials, according to NIH spokesman John Burklow. 'In fact, six new studies would have started this week that we are deferring,' Burklow said. Of that 200, approximately 30 are children, he said, and about 10 of those children are cancer patients."
Shutdown killing federal worker morale. W. Post: "The loss of pay is serious. For some households, a federal job is the single source of income. Some families with two federal workers will now have none. But more than the money, broken spirits appear to be emerging among some federal employees ... But this shutdown, along with three years of a freeze on their basic pay rates and a recent string of unpaid days because of budget cuts, leaves many feeling unappreciated and disrespected."
ObamaCare Enrollment Opens To Huge Demand
Huge ObamaCare demand on Day 1. Bloomberg: "Obamacare’s opening day drew millions of consumers to the law’s core insurance exchanges, offering supporters and investors confidence that if the websites can stay up and running, customers will follow. In New York, officials said their exchange had 2.5 million visitors in its first half hour. California reported as many as 16,000 hits a second. And U.S. officials recorded 2.8 million visitors to the federal website, healthcare.gov, even as it fought technical problems much of the day."
Wide variety of plans available. NYT: "...about 100 insurers were participating in the federally run marketplaces, offering more than 1,700 varieties of health insurance plans ... the premiums vary widely from state to state and region to region, the data shows, from $100 a month for a 27-year-old in one Oklahoma county who chooses the lowest-level bronze plan to more than $1,900 for someone of the same age choosing the highest-level gold plan in a Virginia suburb of Washington ..."
Breakfast Sides
House Dems to introduce immigration bill today. Politico: "...House Democrats are taking the Senate Gang of Eight bill, but erasing controversial border-security provisions known as the Corker-Hoeven amendment. In its place, Democrats are inserting a bipartisan border-security bill that passed the House Homeland Security Committee in May."
Energy regulator nominee withdraws. AP: "President Obama’s nominee to be the nation’s top energy regulator withdrew on Tuesday, conceding he did not have enough support for confirmation. The nominee, Ron Binz, a former Colorado energy regulator who strongly backs renewable energy, was opposed by at least half of the 22-member Senate Energy Committee, including all 10 Republicans and at least one Democrat."
Supreme Court to hear major campaign finance case next week. NYT: "...a federal law limits the overall amount [donors] can contribute to all candidates in an election cycle ... The Supreme Court will hear his challenge to the overall limits next Tuesday. Some critics of Citizens United say the new case, McCutcheon v. Federal Election Commission, No. 12-536, has the potential to destroy what is left of federal campaign finance regulation ... 'Without aggregate contribution limits, the amount of money that a contributor can hope to direct to a chosen candidate is virtually limitless,' wrote Charles Fried, a Harvard law professor who was solicitor general in the second Reagan administration..."
