US Shutdown Day 4 Poliical Theater

Lawmakers spent the day pointing fingers, Boehner was reported to say he would not risk a government default, and at the same time the Republicans (at least a few of them) turned on a dime and abandoned the assualt on Obamacare, leaving that task to the tea party to carry on.

“This needs to be a big bipartisan deal,” Rep. Tom Cole (R-Okla.), a close Boehner ally, said as he emerged from a luncheon meeting in the speaker’s office Thursday. “This is much more about the debt ceiling and a larger budget agreement than it is about Obamacare.”

 “We do need to sit down. I’m happy to talk to them,” said Senate Budget Committee Chairman Patty Murray (D-Wash.). “But the government has to open up first.”

With one side proposing a deal and the other insisting on funding with no negotiation, it is still going to be tough to get things running again.  Meanwhile a deranged woman tried to bust into the White House and was killed by police, providing a grim metaphor for the other goings on.

At a noon leadership event, staff had blown up a poster featuring a quote from Rep. Marlin Stutzman (R-Ind.) in which he said the House GOP won’t be “disrespected” by the Senate. Reid and his leadership team took turns mock apologizing to Stutzman for hurting his feelings.

Meanwhile James Clapper tried to do his part in stopping the bickering.

Director of National Intelligence James Clapper told a Senate panel on Wednesday that the government shutdown — which forced the furlough of 70 percent of the CIA and NSA workforce — amounted to a "dreamland" of opportunity for foreign spy agencies.
Clapper, who appeared side by side with National Security Agency chief Gen. Keith Alexander, told a hearing of the Senate Judiciary Committee that failure to fund the government "is not just a Beltway issue. It affects our capability to support the military, diplomacy and our policymakers."
Alexander and Clapper said a core of counterterrorism staff was still working but a prolonged shutdown could damage intelligence efforts.

 Well maybe the upside is that everyone will realize how miniscule the actual danger of a terrorist attack really is, and NSA will be the last one funded, or deemed irrelevant.  Stay tuned.