Shutdown increasingly seen as tone sharpens

Analysts were ratcheting up their expectations of a government shutdown on Oct. 1 on Wednesday as House Republicans and the White House geared for a clash.
Stan Collender, the Washington budget analyst, says that a shutdown may be Speaker John Boehner‘s “only way out,” who notes that the only discussions that seem to be taking place are between the two main factions in the House GOP.
Chris Krueger of Guggenheim Securities is putting shutdown odds at 40% — up from 1 in 3 previously — and admits the 60% probability that there won’t be is based on “blind faith.” Krueger notes that stocks in the healthcare, tourism and defense sectors have the most negative risk from a shutdown, while Social Security and other entitlement programs would continue.
On Wednesday, Boehner said the House would pass a continuing resolution that would include a defunding of the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare. Read more on Boehner’s comments.
Obama pinned the blame on Republicans at a speech in front of business executives. A faction of House Republicans is simply saying that they “will blow the whole thing up unless you do what I want,” he said.
In a memo to federal departments and agencies, White House Office of Management and Budget Director Sylvia Burwell notified agencies that funding for many programs and departments would expire at 11:59 p.m. on Sept. 30 and that “prudent management requires that agencies be prepared for the possibility of a lapse.” See the full memo.
– Steve Goldstein
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