“I’m a progressive activist fiscal conservative, but I’m still a fiscal conservative. And so we can’t talk about tax cuts in any sector until we sort out our financial situation.”

— New York City mayoral candidate Bill de Blasio (D), quoted by CBS New York.

House Speaker John Boehner “flatly refused to schedule votes for full government funding or to raise the debt ceiling without concessions from Democrats, asserting that the House couldn’t and shouldn’t take either step without addressing problems with the new health care law and the nation’s debt crisis,” ABC News reports.

“Some 21 House Republicans have said publicly that they’re willing to support a ‘clean’ measure to extend all government funding without other conditions attached… That’s apparently enough, when added to Democratic votes, to pass a bill out of the House.”

But Boehner disputed that notion: “There are not the votes in the house to pass a clean CR.”

John Avlon talks with former FBI hostage negotiator Christopher Voss about how to end the fiscal crisis in Washington, D.C.

Said Voss: “It actually reminds me of a prison siege. The opposition isn’t particularly organized. The smart move is to pick among the leadership on the other side who is the most reasonable. Then you empower them by talking with them and granting some sort of small concession. And they suddenly gain a lot of influence on their side.”

“If the United States government, for the first time in its history, chooses not to pay its bills on time, we will be in default. There is no option that prevents us from being in default if we don’t have enough cash to pay our bills.”

— Treasury Secretary Jack Lew, quoted by the Washington Post, adding that, “Congress is playing with fire.”

A senior House Republican tells CNN that “one idea being considered to end the immediate fiscal impasse is a bill to fund the government and extend the nation’s borrowing authority for six weeks.”

“The GOP lawmaker said a committee could then be set up to negotiate the fiscal issues dividing the two parties and negotiate a plan to keep the government funded for the rest of the year without the proverbial gun to their heads.”

New York Times: “The twin shutdowns of 1995 and 1996 had a theme: Cut federal spending, especially on Medicare, to eliminate the budget deficit in a prescribed length of time. This time around, even many Republicans no longer know what they want to achieve.”

Said Rep. Dennis Ross (R-FL): “I think now it’s a lot about pride.”

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) “may be catching grief from some fellow Republicans in Congress for his role as a leader of the group in Congress in favor of shutting down the government rather than funding the Affordable Care Act, but he’s getting support from the Florida Republican Party,” the Tampa Tribune reports.

“The state party’s caucus of state committeemen and committeewomen, who make up the governing executive committee of the party, just voted by acclamation during a meeting in Orlando to express their support for Cruz.”

“This mess was created by the Republicans for one purpose, and they lost. People in my district are calling in for Obamacare — affordable health care — in large numbers. These guys have lost, and they can’t figure out how to admit it… So we sit here until they figure out they fuckin’ lost.”

— Rep. Jim McDermott (D-WA), quoted by Slate, on when the government shutdown will end.