John Boehner has the most unenviable job in Washington right now. If he hopes to avert a government shutdown before Tuesday--and I believe he does--his only options are bad ones:
Bad: I have read that he plans to offer an olive branch to the Vandal wing of his own caucus in the form of repeal of the medical device tax. Good luck with this one, Mister Speaker. Nothing will appease this angry mob, short of defunding Obamacare (impossible, of course, but that's for another diary entry). You don't have the votes for a "fig leaf" measure. In this scenario, nothing leaves the House anytime soon, and the government shuts down.
Worse: Even more disastrous is to let the Tea Party folks include a full or partial wish list in the amended bill that Boehner sends back to the Senate. Harry Reid is in no mood to be messed about. This collision with the Senate brings government to a crashing halt with no progress in sight.
Worst: For John Boehner, the worst of all possible avenues to pursue is to peel off some Democratic votes to pass a "clean" continuing resolution, thus taking a mulligan from the Hastert rule. Cozying up to Nancy Pelosi in the interest of real governance would be the ultimate in unpardonable sins in the eyes of his caucus. This would be the end of his speakership. Cruz is already plotting with House conspirators about a possible coup.
And we haven't even gotten to the debt ceiling yet!