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This is a GabFest Extra, day 15 of the 2013 government shutdown.

It's Tuesday, October 15th.

I'm Slate editor David Plotz in our DC studio.

Joining me in the studio today, first appearance on GabapFest Extra is Slate's moneybox blogger

Matt Iglesias.

Hello, Matt.

Hi.

And also by phone, it's a bounty of riches, a bounty of Slate riches, is Slate's

chief political correspondent John Dickerson.

Hello, John.

Hello, David.

So, first, shall we sing Amazing Grace?

No, but you can tell them why you're asking us. That's what House Republicans sang at their

come to Jesus meeting this morning when they were considering their latest strategy to pursue.

I wish I'd been there. It would have been great to hear it. So as we record

this on Tuesday afternoon, the situation in Washington is just veering around madly with less

than two days remaining before the country hits the statutory borrowing limit. The bipartisan

Senate negotiations appear to have been put on hold for the moment because the Republicans in the House appear to be coming up with a plan which they wish to vote on tonight that would again extend the debt ceiling and would lift the government shutdown, but with a series of conditions that are probably going to be undesirable, at least as far as Democrats in the Senate and the House are concerned. It would be poisonous, in fact, you might say. The current plan is that the House is going to vote on this, as we tape, the plan is that the House is going to vote on this, this plan they put together at around

eight o'clock tonight.

...