Amid Public Vitriol, Boehner, Reid Negotiate Budget Deal To Avoid Shutdown

As insight into how there’s often a huge mismatch between public kabuki and behind-the-scenes legislative wrangling, a well-placed congressional source tells me that while House Republicans and Senate Democrats ratcheted up the government shutdown rhetoric on Tuesday, top aides to House Speaker John Boehner and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid sat down in Reid’s office and continued negotiating a solution — a meeting the source described as a key development and thaw in the negotiations.

It’s the first evidence we’ve seen all week that a shutdown isn’t a foregone conclusion, particularly in light of Paul Kane’s scoop that Boehner is reaching out to conservative Democrats to find a compromise.

Republicans downplayed the development, pointing out that discussions between the principals never stopped.

The Tea Partiers are going to be pissed.