From PRI, Public Radio International and KCRW Santa Monica, this is To the Point.

Public spending and political brinksmanship.

Hello again, I'm Wormon-Aulney, and this is To the Point from Public Radio International.

A daily look at the issues Americans care about most.

When Democrats dominated Capitol Hill, they failed to pass a budget for this year, providing an opportunity

for Republicans after they took the House. But the GOP is divided on whether to shut down the

government if Democrats don't agree to more spending cuts than they already have. What would that

mean for the millions who depend on federal programs,

which party would gain the most political points by refusing to compromise?

With the deadline approaching for Friday of next week,

we'll get a report on progress, or the lack of it, on Capitol Hill.

On reporters' notebook later on, Japan gives up on four troubled nuclear reactors.

First, here's the news.

Support for To the Point comes from subscribers of KCRW Santa Monica and from the Public Radio International Program Fund,

whose contributors include the Ford Foundation, the John D. and Catherine T. McArthur Foundation,

and the Rockefeller Foundation,

and its campaign for American workers. More at rockfound.org. Hello again. Warren Alney, back with

To the Point. Republican leaders on Capitol Hill are divided over whether to push the Democrats

so hard for budget cuts that the government shuts down next Friday. What do Planned Parenthood,

health care reform, and NPR have to do with it?

On reporter's notebook, Japan has failed to control four nuclear power reactors.

Now they may have to be buried in concrete.

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