"Shutdown" Blame Game Update: Advantage GOP

The Republican-controlled US House of Representatives has passed a one-week "stopgap" government funding bill.

If the US Senate passes it and the President signs it, a "government shutdown" will be averted.

If the US Senate doesn't pass it and/or the President of the United States refuses to sign it, a "government shutdown" is on deck for tonight.

The Democrat-controlled US Senate doesn't seem inclined to pass it.

The Democrat President of the United States doesn't seem inclined to sign it.

That's the math in the simplest possible terms, folks -- the Republican Party has said it wants to keep the government ticking along, the Democratic Party has said it wants to "shut the government down."

I still think the GOP would be better off owning the "shutdown" thing, but they seem to want to hand it off and the Democrats seem to want to take it. For the moment, anyway.