◼ On Saturday morning, House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) told House Republicans in a closed meeting that there is no deal to reopen the government and hike the debt ceiling, and no negotiations going on with the White House, according to two sources present. - Politico
Majority leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) said: “Senate Republicans need to stand strong and fight,” according to a source in the room. Several Republicans in the room said the process to reopen the government and hike the debt is at a standstill.
◼ House GOP Talks With Obama Breakdown as Both Look to Senate - CQ Roll Call
Rep. Adam Kinzinger, R-Ill., said the sentiment from lawmakers at a morning GOP conference meeting was that the president is not serious about negotiating with House GOP. He said the White House seems more interested in talking with GOP senators....
Indeed, the consensus coming out of conference was that House Republicans would stand against anything they considered a bad deal coming out of the Senate. Many suggested that they were not inclined to simply roll over and take a deal that doesn’t meet the demands of the Republican conference.”We are resolved, let’s just leave it at that,” said Rep. Doc Hastings, R-Wash.
◼ Hold the optimism: Why a shutdown settlement might not be near - Byron York/Washington Examiner @ByronYork
Press reports are filled with expressions of optimism that the government shutdown and coming debt limit showdown will soon be resolved. Certainly many Republican senators, who hope to play a now-it's-time-for-the-adults-to-take-charge role in the crisis, are suggesting a deal is possible not only to end the shutdown but also to head off a possible default -- and it could all happen in the course of a few days.
The problem is, such a deal would be possible only if the conservative Republicans who have so far dictated the GOP's actions in the House are somehow taken out of the picture. Those Republicans have been unyielding in their demand that President Obama offer a concession imposing some significant new limits on Obamacare. And Obama has been equally unyielding in his refusal to offer any such concession.
That is an unresolvable conflict. And so far there is no sign it has changed.
...For there to be a deal, Boehner would have to say to the defunders: We tried it your way, it didn't work, and now we need to move on. There are plenty of Republicans in the House, not to mention Democrats, who would vote to go along with the Senate and pass a settlement of some sort. But for that to happen, Boehner would have to abandon the very people who have been most influenced his decision-making so far. So far, that hasn't happened.
◼ Obama Reverses, Opposes Short-Term Debt Ceiling Hike - Keith Koffler/White House Dossier
◼ Michael Needham: The Strategist Behind the Shutdown - Stephen MooreWall St. Journal
The 31-year-old Stanford business grad explains how he outmaneuvered GOP leaders and why he thinks House Republicans can defund ObamaCare.
'I really believe we are in a great position right now," says Michael Needham, the 31-year-old president of Heritage Action, the lobbying arm of the nation's largest conservative think tank. By "we" he means the Republican Party and the conservative movement; their "great position" refers to the potential to win the political battle over the government shutdown.
Though Texas Sen. Ted Cruz is the public face of the high-risk strategy to "defund" ObamaCare, the masterminds behind it are a new generation of young conservatives, chief among them Mr. Needham. From a tactical view, the strategy has been deployed with precision. In August, only Mr. Cruz and a band of renegade tea-party Republicans in the House favored this approach, and the media collectively scoffed. But by September, House Republicans couldn't pass a budget without attaching the defunding rider that has grounded much of government.
