And try to blame it on Republicans, of course. --- By Zachary A. Goldfarb and Paul Kane Senior White House officials are discussing a budget strategy that could lead to a government shutdown if Republicans continue to demand deeper spending cuts, lawmakers and Democrats familiar with the administrationâs thinking said Thursday. The posture represents a more confrontational approach than that of this spring, when President Obama decided not to escalate a fight over across-the-board reductions known as sequestration in an earlier budget battle with Republicans. The change in tone has been evident in repeated and little-noticed veto threats over the past few weeks by Obama, who has rarely issued the warnings with such frequency. He has made it clear that he will not sign into law Republican spending bills that slash domestic programs even more deeply than sequestration. If Republicans do not relent and the White House sticks to its position, a shutdown would be likely at the end of September, when Congress must authorize a new measure to fund the government. The discussions at the White House illustrate the extent to which the looming budget battle is worrying the administration, which is seeking to advance Obamaâs second-term agenda in the face of GOP opposition. White House officials also are discussing a potential strategy to try to stop the sequestration cuts from continuing, the lawmakers and Democrats said. Under this scenario, the president might refuse to sign a new funding measure that did not roll back the sequester. No decision has been made. But some of Obamaâs top economic advisers fear that they may not be able to stop what they consider damaging cuts without a sharper confrontation, the sources said. http://www.washingtonpost.com/polit...94c6f6-f53c-11e2-a2f1-a7acf9bd5d3a_story.html