Earlier today, Speaker John Boehner told ABC News he’d like to solve the fiscal impasse by negotiating with Democrats, and he mentioned a budget conference between House Republicans and Senate Democrats as a possible solution.
STEPHANOPOULOS: You see, I’m not hearing much new here this morning. I don’t think the country is hearing much new here this morning from either the president or from you and House Republicans. How is this going to end?
BOEHNER: George, it’s going to end when the president decides they’ll allow Harry Reid to talk to me, or allow Patty Murray to talk to Paul Ryan. The president just can’t sit there and say, I’m not going to negotiate.
Senate Budget Committee chairman Patty Murray, however, dismisses such talk as unserious. “For six months I’ve tried to enter into formal budget negotiations with Paul Ryan, only to be repeatedly denied permission to negotiate by Ted Cruz and the Tea Party,” she tells National Review Online. “Now, a week into a government shutdown that he could end at a moment’s notice, Speaker Boehner is simply trying to distract from his constantly changing list of demands. As soon as Speaker Boehner ends this shutdown and stops threatening the economy with a potentially catastrophic default, I am certainly ready to get to work in a budget conference he has spent the past six months avoiding.”