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And, of course, the Republicans and their need to fight President Obama at every turn are behind it.

Barry-O met last night with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and House Speaker John Boenher. But it did no good.

Obama ratcheted up the pressure afterward, sounding exasperated with Republicans for not warming to a White House proposal that matched, more or less, an earlier GOP framework proposed in February. In it, Democrats propose cuts netting $73 billion in savings below Obama’s original requests – or $33 billion below current spending levels.

Boehner said yet again that there is no agreement on a level of spending cuts. And there’s been little progress on the 50-plus GOP policy “riders” dotting the House version of the measure.

“There’s no reason why we should not get an agreement,” Obama said. “We have now matched the number that the speaker originally sought. The only question is whether politics or ideology are going to get in the way of preventing a government shutdown.”

According to Democratic and Republican officials, Boehner suggested at the White House meeting that fellow Republicans might be able to accept a deal with $40 billion in cuts. That’s more than negotiators had been eyeing but less than the House seeks.

The speaker’s office declined to comment, and Boehner issued a statement saying, “We can still avoid a shutdown, but Democrats are going to need to get serious about cutting spending – and soon.”

Obama took his most forceful steps yet in trying to prod the stalled talks. He called the White House meeting, rejected a Republican proposal for an interim bill pairing additional spending cuts with a one-week plan to keep the government open, and then announced that Boehner and Reid would meet later in the day.

If they can’t sort out their differences, Obama said, “I want them back here tomorrow.”

If the shut down does happen, the military, the FBI and the Coast Guard would still be working. The US Postal service would also continue to get it poppin’.

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