Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin says he's willing to look at the medical device tax, a controversial element of Obamacare, just not in the context of the continuing spending resolution. 
 
 "I'm willing to look at that, but not with a gun to my head, not with the prospect of shutting down government," the Illinois Democrat said Sunday on "Face the Nation." 
 
 After watching the House vote early Sunday morning, Durbin said, he's certain that a shutdown will occur. 
 
 (Obamacare full coverage) 
 
 But he said, "Seventy-five percent of Republicans in America reject this tea party strategy of shutting down government." 
 
 Read more about: Dick Durbin, Government Shutdown, Obamacare, Continuing Resolutions 

 Sen. Tim Kaine says fellow Democrats are open to discussing changes to Obamacare – but not while “wrapping them up with the threat” of a potential shutdown of the federal government. 
 
 “I agree we should have this debate, but we shouldn’t connect it to a government shutdown,” the Virginia senator said on “Fox News Sunday.” “That’s the fundamental disagreement between the two sides here.” 
 
 The continuing spending resolution cleared by the Republican-led House early Sunday includes a repeal of a medical device tax and a one-year delay of most elements of President Barack Obama’s health care law. Both provisions in the past have earned notable levels of support from congressional Democrats – particularly on undoing the unpopular device tax, a point that Republicans raised on Saturday as the House prepared to vote on its repeal. 
 
 (Government shutdown full coverage) 
 
 But Democrats have made the point that while they are willing to negotiate changes to the health care law, they were unwilling to do so in the context of a must-pass bill such as the continuing resolution to fund the federal government. 
 
 A slightly exasperated-sounding Fox host Chris Wallace, noting “it’s like herding cats here today,” tried repeatedly to steer the focus of the debate between Kaine and Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) back to Obamacare. But Kaine refused. 
 
 “I’m going to keep bringing it back because there’s only one side that is linking Obamacare with a shutdown of government,” the first-term senator said. “On our side, we’re saying, ‘Let’s have the debate … but let’s not wrap it up with a government shutdown.’ ” 
 
 (Obamacare full coverage) 
 
 Reiterating a point made by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) on Saturday, Kaine said the Democratic-led Senate will not approve the altered funding measure just passed by the House. 
 
 “It’s wrong to do a shutdown of the government as a lever to make change,” Kaine said. 
 
 Read more about: Tim Kaine, Government Shutdown, Obamacare 

 Utah Sen. Mike Lee, one of the Senate’s most ardent conservative opponents of the health care law, says he backs changes made in the House early Sunday morning to chip away at Obamacare. 
 
 “I support what the House did last night based on what I’ve heard about it,” the Republican senator said on “Fox News Sunday.” 
 
 The Republican-led House cleared two separate measures early Sunday that made additional changes to the health care law – alterations that the Democratic-led Senate is all but certain to reject. One repealed the medical device tax, while another delayed elements of Obamacare for one year. 
 
 (Obamacare full coverage) 
 
 In a debate with Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) on the Sunday show, Lee criticized several components of Obamacare, arguing that the law was not ready to be fully implemented. He said: “If it’s not ready for some, it’s not ready for everyone” 
 
 “We want a delay for everyone,” Lee said. “And the best way to do that is by defunding it; the only way to do that is in connection with the continuing resolution.” 
 
 Read more about: Mike Lee, Government Shutdown, Obamacare 

 Sen. Ted Cruz on Sunday accused the Senate’s top Democrat of using “brute political force” to keep President Barack Obama’s signature health care law funded and intact. 
 
 Cruz, the Texas Republican whose 21-hour talk-a-thon last week drew wide attention to his crusade against the health care law, tried repeatedly to spin the blame for a looming government shutdown on Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and the Democrats. 
 
 “If we have a shutdown, it will be because Harry Reid holds that absolutist position and essentially holds the American people hostage,” Cruz said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” 
 
 (Government shutdown full coverage) 
 
 Though he has pushed for fully defunding the health care law in the government funding bill, Cruz praised the House’s moves early Sunday to repeal the medical device tax and to institute a one-year delay of Obamacare – both smaller-scale changes than what Cruz had initially demanded. 
 
 And he urged Reid to call the Senate back into session on Sunday to act on the House-passed measure. Right now, the Senate is scheduled to officially return at 2 p.m. Monday. 
 
 Cruz declined to comment on any procedural tactics he might employ – such as a filibuster – if the Senate takes up the latest House-passed funding bill. 
 
 “So far, Majority Leader Harry Reid has essentially told the House of Representatives and the American people, ‘go jump in a lake,’” Cruz said instead. “He says, ‘I’m not willing to compromise, I’m not willing to even talk. His position is, 100 percent of Obamacare must be funded in all instances. Other than that, he’s going to shut the government down. 
 
 (Also on POLITICO: GOP tries to counter shutdown narrative) 
 
 “I hope [Reid] backs away from that ledge that he’s pushing us toward,” Cruz added. 
 
 Cruz insisted that Republicans have compromised on their Obamacare stance, arguing that while the GOP would prefer full repeal of Obamacare, they have settled on defunding the law. And Cruz argued that House Republicans have bended even further – by passing measures to repeal a medical device tax and to delay most of the 3.5-year-old law for a year. 
 
 “On the other side, what have the Democrats compromised on? Nothing,” he added. 
 
 Read more about: GOP, Harry Reid, Ted Cruz, Government Shutdown, Obamacare, Continuing Resolutions
– With the federal government lurching toward a shutdown, Ted Cruz is pointing his finger squarely at Harry Reid, who "holds that absolutist position and essentially holds the American people hostage," he told Meet the Press today. The Senate majority leader "has essentially told the House of Representatives and the American people, ‘go jump in a lake.’ His position is 100% of ObamaCare must be funded in all instances. Other than that, he’s going to shut the government down." Politico notes that Cruz says the GOP has compromised, backing off of a full repeal of ObamaCare and settling for its defunding. Meanwhile, he complains, "what have the Democrats compromised on? Nothing." Elsewhere on your Sunday shutdown dial, as per Politico: House Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy: “We are not shutting the government down. ... We will pass a bill—if the Senate (rejects the current House bill)—that will keep the government open, that will reflect the House that I believe the Senate can accept." It "will have fundamental changes into ObamaCare that can protect the economy for America." Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin on the medical device tax: "I'm willing to look at that, but not with a gun to my head, not with the prospect of shutting down government." Tim Kaine: "I agree we should have this (ObamaCare) debate, but we shouldn’t connect it to a government shutdown. That’s the fundamental disagreement between the two sides here. It’s wrong to do a shutdown of the government as a lever to make change." Mike Lee: "I support what the House did last night," as far as ObamaCare. "If it’s not ready for some, it's not ready for everyone. We want a delay for everyone. And the best way to do that is by defunding it.” Click for Bill Clinton's take on the looming shutdown.