Students from Prescott College pose for a self-timed photograph at the Grand Canyon National Park entrance, Tuesday, in Tusayan, Ariz. The Grand Canyon remains closed to visitors because of the partial government shutdown. (AP Photo/Matt York)

House Speaker John A. Boehner (R-Ohio) flatly ruled out a potential short-term deal to reopen the government Tuesday, saying it would amount to "unconditional surrender." Boehner, responding to President Obama’s hourlong news conference, said he remained "disappointed" that Obama refused to consider talks centered on House-passed spending measures that included provisions tied to the healthcare law and that would "provide fairness" to Americans. He also insisted that any action to raise the nation’s debt limit should be in concert with steps to limit future borrowing. "There is going to be a negotiation here," Boehner told reporters. "It's time to have that conversation, not next week, not next month; the conversation ought to start today"/Michael A. Memoli, Los Angeles Times. More here.

Question: How much longer before our pampered congressmen quit fiddling while the country burns?