WITH HOURS to go before a possible government shutdown, Democrats and Republicans are right back where they started: blaming the other side for their intransigence. A White House meeting between the president and Chuck Schumer and Hakeem Jeffries, the top Democrats in Congress, failed to yield any compromise. “We’re headed to a shutdown because the Democrats won’t do the right thing,” lamented J.D. Vance, the vice-president. “There are still large differences between us,” retorted Mr Schumer.