GOP Preps Emergency Bill With Deep Cuts If Shutdown Becomes Inevitable:

While the GOP preps House members with guidance in the event of a government shutdown, they're also readying a one-week stop-gap funding bill, including $12 billion in domestic discretionary cuts, and six month's worth of Pentagon funding.

The purpose is simple. If negotiations over a six-month spending package don't yield an agreement in the next day or two, the Congress will be armed with the proper protocols for operating during shutdown. But the House of Representatives will also pass a politically tough temporary funding package -- with cuts too deep for many Democrats to accept -- and leave the question of a shutdown in their hand. If the Senate can pass it, and the President signs it, it buys congressional leaders and the White House another week to hash out a longer plan -- but at the cost of steep, steep cuts. On an annualized basis, it would amount to well over half a trillion dollars.

Ed Schultz talked to Rep. Karen Bass about the Republicans preparing for a government shutdown and she had a bit of additional news not already reported to MSNBC. Apparently the stopgap spending measure only funds the government for a week, but it funds the Pentagon for the rest of the year.

And so much for Eric Cantor saying this would be the last of these CR's to keep the government funded. The Republicans look like they're playing an extremely dangerous game here. Let the hostage taking begin. Here's more from Josh-- Hostage Drama:

With negotiations still at a standoff, House Republicans are preparing a one-week stop gapping spending measure to keep the government open for a single week. But the price is roughly half a trillion dollars of program cuts on an annualized basis. So the aim is present Democrats and the White House with cuts they can't accept and force them to be the ones who 'shut down the government.'

This is being presented as a clever ploy. And perhaps it is. But if my memory serves me right this is actually pretty similar to the ploy they used in 1995 and which worked so well for them.

And as Think Progress reminded us this week, it's the Republicans who have been clamoring for shutting down the government -- Caught On Tape: Republicans Touting Support For Government Shutdown.