Shutdown Showdown: Day 8 

As the government shutdown enters its second week, both sides are maneuvering for advantage. The polling suggests Obama/Reid/Pelosi have the advantage, but not by much. 

For example, a Quinnipiac poll asked voters which side should give ground in the debate over the government shutdown. Forty-four percent of Americans said that Republicans should accept a budget deal that does not include changes to Obamacare. But 42% said Obama should accept changes to Obamacare. Once again, the nation is narrowly divided.

House and Senate Democrats, unable to get any traction on the government shutdown, are trying to change the topic to the looming October 17th debt ceiling deadline. Just as they are doing on the government shutdown, Barack Obama and his Democratic allies in Congress are refusing to accept any conditions for raising the debt ceiling. 

They are warning of "catastrophic economic" consequences if Republicans force a default. During a press conference this afternoon, Obama was in his best demagogic form, doing his best to scare the markets, seniors and virtually everyone else. 

But Speaker Boehner during his Sunday ABC News interview said, "We're not going to pass a clean debt-limit increase. I told the president there's no way we're going to pass one." During a press conference today, Boehner said that by refusing to negotiate, Obama and Harry Reid "are putting our country on a pretty dangerous path." 

According to the latest Fox News poll, the public strongly supports the Republican position. If voters could decide whether or not to raise the debt limit, only 37% would do so while 58% would not. 

Voters seemingly understand that spending is the problem: 62% would raise the debt limit only after agreeing to major spending cuts. 

Unfortunately, the gridlock in Washington is likely to continue. The Hill reports that President Obama called Speaker Boehner this morning to tell him . . . that he was still refusing to negotiate. 

Stewart Slams Sebelius 

Last night comedian Jon Stewart, host of Comedy Central's "The Daily Show," slammed Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius for Obamacare's poor rollout, lack of transparency and favoritism toward Big Business. 

Stewart's criticism is significant because he has been one of Obama's biggest cheerleaders, and his show is very popular with young adults -- whose participation in Obamacare is critical to the program's success. 

Regarding Obamacare's "glitches," Stewart pulled out a laptop and said, "I'm going to try and download every movie ever made and you are going to try to sign up for Obamacare -- and we'll see which happens first." 

When asked how many people had actually signed up for Obamacare, Sebelius said, "I can't tell you, because I don't know." 

Call me skeptical, but if the number of people signing up had exceeded their expectations -- or had even come close -- I suspect we'd know exactly how many had signed up for Obamacare. 

Stewart also accused the Obama Administration of caving in to Big Business, saying: 
 

• "If I'm an individual that doesn't want [Obamacare], it would be hard for me to look at a big business getting a waiver and not having to do it and me having to. I would feel like ... like you are favoring big business because they lobbied you this year, but you're not allowing individuals that same courtesy."

Sebelius stuck to her talking points, defending all the technical glitches and the individual mandate. Frustrated, Stewart shot back, saying, "Let me ask you this: Am I a stupid man?" 

America vs. OPEC 

Across the Middle East, churches are burned to the ground, priests are murdered and Christians are forced to flee their ancient communities. At the same time, the Iranian regime is working to achieve a nuclear weapons capability and committed to exporting murderous anti-American terrorism. 

And most recently, the use of chemical weapons by Bashar al-Assad's regime in Syria has the region on the cusp of coming unglued. Yet dependence on the global oil market distorted by a cartel of producers in the Middle East limits our nation's ability to respond to these grave security challenges. 

The solution lies in harnessing America's vast natural resources and our technological prowess. Read more in my latest opinion piece at FoxNews.com.