POLITICS - The U.S. Financial Hostage Crises Day 3

"'We have an obligation to govern':  Republican Rep. Dent on ending the showdown" PBS Newshour 10/3/2013

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SUMMARY:  On the third day of the government shutdown, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said his party would only be open to legislative negotiation once the House GOP passes a clean funding bill.  Congressional correspondent Kwame Holman reports.  Gwen Ifill talks to Rep. Charlie Dent, R-Pa., about his stance on ending the stalemate.

"Defaulting on U.S bond obligations could cause 'mother of all financial crises'" PBS Newshour 10/3/2013

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SUMMARY:  The Treasury Department warned in a report that if the government defaults on its obligations later in October, the economic impact could be widespread and even provoke another financial crisis.  Annie Lowrey of The New York Times joins Judy Woodruff to explain the debt ceiling and potential consequences.

And IF Boehner can bypass the Tea Party members.....

"Boehner Pledges to Avoid Default, Republicans Say" by ASHLEY PARKER and ANNIE LOWREY, New York Times 10/3/2013

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Speaker John A. Boehner has privately told Republican lawmakers anxious about fallout from the government shutdown that he would not allow a potentially more crippling federal default as the atmosphere on Capitol Hill turned increasingly tense on Thursday.

Mr. Boehner’s comments, recounted by multiple lawmakers, that he would use a combination of Republican and Democratic votes to increase the federal debt limit if necessary appeared aimed at reassuring his colleagues — and nervous financial markets — that he did not intend to let the economic crisis spiral further out of control.

They came even though he has so far refused to allow a vote on a Senate budget measure to end the shutdown that many believe could pass with bipartisan backing.  They also reflect Mr. Boehner’s view that a default would have widespread and long-term economic consequences while the shutdown, though disruptive, had more limited impact.

With the mood in Congress already unsettled by the bitter sparring over the fiscal standoff, the Capitol was shaken anew Thursday afternoon when a high-speed chase beginning near the White House ended near the Senate office complex with Capitol Police shooting the driver to death.

The sound of gunfire outside the Capitol forced at least five senators in the vicinity to take cover on their stomachs and led to a temporary lockdown of members of Congress and their staffs.  The House and Senate adjourned for the day shortly after the incident as the shutdown extended into a third day.

Along with Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the Senate Republican leader, Mr. Boehner has long dismissed the idea that Congress would not act to prevent a damaging default, and President Obama on Thursday called a default “the height of irresponsibility.”  But the failure of the House and Senate to reach a deal ahead of the shutdown has raised questions of whether Republicans could be persuaded to join in raising the debt limit before the Treasury Department runs out of money about the middle of October.