Boehner Plan: Keep Party Unified A While Longer Before Its Position Collapses

     From the New York Times:

The overarching problem for the man at the center of the budget fight [Boehner], say allies and opponents, is that he and his leadership team have no real idea how to resolve the fiscal showdown.

They are only trying to survive another day, Republican strategists say, hoping to maintain unity as long as possible so that when the Republican position collapses, they can capitulate on two issues at once — financing the government and raising the debt ceiling — and head off any internal party backlash. Republican lawmakers say Mr. Boehner has assured them privately that he will not permit a default.

     Marc Thiessen at the Washington Post characterizes the current situation as a "shutdown about nothing." Paging Jerry Seinfeld.