"The president not only has refused to negotiate on issues of debt and spending but also has mocked the very idea of engaging with Congress. President Obama has repeatedly made clear that he feels it is beneath the office of the presidency to work in a bipartisan way with the legislative branch," wrote House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R-Va., in a piece for the Washington post attacking Obama's unwillingness to meet Republican demands.

The conservative fear of Obama's Affordable Care Act is preventing the GOP from even considering any of the President's demands, and driving Republican legislators to extreme lengths to avoid the inclusion of Obamacare in the 2014 fiscal budget.

On the other end of the negotiation table, President Obama has repeatedly implicated that the House Republicans' tactics are akin to "demanding ransom," "extortion," and "hostage-taking."

"Stop the excuses - take the vote - end the shutdown today," said Obama.

On Tuesday, the two polarized sides of the government shutdown sat down in an effort to reach compromise.

Speaker of the House John Boehner and House Republicans offered the creation of a bipartisan "working group" to hold conferences on how to navigate the government shutdown.

Obama expressed his willingness to talk - as long as the Republicans allow temporarily re-opening the government and increasing the debt ceiling. 

Boehner refused Obama's peace offer because, according to him, agreeing to Obama's demands meant "unconditional surrender" for the Republican Party. 

Even as Boehner's unconditionally refuses to agree to any of Obama's demands, the GOP still denies any responsibility for the political standstill, once again placing the blame on the Democratic Party for being decidedly un-democratic.

"I didn't come here to shut down the government," Boehner told the House, defending himself after the president called the GOP "irresponsible". "I certainly didn't come here to default on our debt."

So, here America is, on the 9th day of the government shutdown, with mothers and children being denied welfare, benefits being withheld from soldiers killed in action, and national parks being shut down, and the only clear explanation of the GOP's actions we have is an illuminating quote from Tea Party conservative Marlin Stutzman (R-Ind.):

"We're not going to be disrespected," Stutzman told The Washington Examiner. "We have to get something out of this. And I don't know what that even is."

The people are growing restless - a Associated Press-GfK poll released Wednesday shows that 62% of participants blame Republicans for the current shutdown, and only 5% approve of Congress's actions.

At this point in the shutdown negotiations, only Jon Stewart's biting wit can encapsulate the palpable public frustration:

"Look, you think Obama care's a big enough threat to this country that you need to shut down the government over it, fine." said political comedian Jon Stewart on Boehner's refusal to accept Obama's compromises. "Own it. Don't fart and point at the dog."

Reach Executive Producer Benjamin Li here: