Stan Collender looks ahead:
No matter what happens today with the government shutdown, the situation is going to be even more difficult this September when the House, Senate, and White House fight over the 2012 appropriations. The House GOP is likely to propose even larger appropriations reductions in next year's budget than it did for fiscal 2011 and the battle will be far more intense.
So how do you double-plus shut down the government? It seems to me that for the GOP to put all their eggs in this relatively trivial basket rather than saving their fire for the big one … is tactically loopy. To shut down the government to make a point about Planned Parenthood – which many women support – is near suicidal. But that's what happens when a political party becomes a religious one. How do you make a compromise with God's will?
The Dish 