Can Obama prevent a government shutdown?

The president demands that lawmakers "act like grownups," and says he'll call meetings every day until a deal is reached. Can he really convince Republicans to budge?

Obama chided Republicans Tuesday for not compromising with Democrats on the 2011 budget, saying that "nobody gets 100 percent of what they want."
(Image credit: Getty)

After weeks of trying to stay above the fray, President Obama publicly stepped into the standoff over the 2011 federal budget on Tuesday, chiding Congress over its inability to "take care of last year's business... simply because of politics," and offering to broker daily talks until an agreement is reached. If Congress doesn't act by Friday, the government will shut down. At issue are how many billions to cut, and controversial GOP attempts fo defund groups like Planned Parenthood. Obama's used such "'Daddy's home!' moments" to get "bickering" lawmakers to cut deals before, says John Dickerson at Slate. Will it work this time?

Obama can't overcome a Tea Party "veto": The president is doing his best to broker a deal that can pass both the House and the Senate, says Jed Lewison in Daily Kos. But because House Speaker John Boehner is insisting that any budget win the support of 218 House Republicans (the number needed to pass a deal without the support of any House Democrats), he's basically given "Tea Party Republicans veto power." He needs their votes to reach his magic number. And "Tea Party Republicans want a government shutdown." If they didn't, we'd already have a budget deal.

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