Republicans are raising the stakes in the Congressional fight by tying the debt limit to budget talks, which will be hit in about 10 days. At the same time, a large portion of the furloughed workers have been recalled or will be payed so the urgency to end the shutdown is much less. What now?
At the outset of the US political fight, Republicans probably expected to see cracks in the Democratic caucus by now but Reid and Obama have stayed on message. They’re asking the House to hold a simple vote on funding the budget but Boehner won’t hold it.
The ‘let them vote’ line has some power but it’s a low probability chance of success. Unless some big cracks appear in either side, the game of brinksmanship will last until Friday, at least.
