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One thing is certain: None of the key players in the federal spending impasse is very happy right now.

President Obama is expected to meet with House Democrats on Wednesday and other caucuses in the coming days, The Associated Press reports, amid hope that a deal can be made soon.

Here's a rundown of Wednesday's Morning Edition coverage on the partial government shutdown, which is bumping up against the debate over raising the debt ceiling.

— Correspondent Ari Shapiro logs Tuesday's tit-for-tat between the president and House Speaker John Boehner:

"The day began with a phone call between House Speaker John Boehner and President Obama," Shapiro says. "Each side put out a statement describing the conversation. And for once the parties agreed — the call changed no one's mind. A few hours later, Obama took to the White House briefing room and urged Republicans to end these crises."

— Correspondent Scott Horsley says that while Washington bickers over the shutdown and a possible default, the rest of the world is just as nervous as we are — maybe more so.

Economic historian and author Daniel Yergin tells Horsley: "The whole global economy, the whole system of payments and trade and investment — it all rests upon confidence. And at the center of that confidence is the United States. The very big rock of Gibraltar. And if it can't play that role, everybody's worse off, including the United States."

— Host Renee Montagne speaks with Idaho Rep. Raul Labrador, a member of the Tea Party caucus who outlines the conservative wing's thinking. Labrador says he personally "would be willing to give the president a one-year [continuing resolution] and a lot of conservatives are there with me — which would be good for the president — in exchange for a one-year delay in the implementation of Obamacare."

"We're not the ones who wanted to shut down the government; we need to remember that," he says. "When the shutdown occurred a week ago, it was the Democrats that said the Republicans wanted to shut down the government. There wasn't a single Republican in the House [who] wanted to shut down the government. We wanted to keep the government open."

— Finally, host David Green spoke with Phil Glover, a corrections officer at the Johnstown Federal Prison in southwestern Pennsylvania and regional vice president for the Council of Prison Locals union, who says he and his colleagues are considered essential, but that as of Oct. 1, they won't be getting a paycheck.

"The next paycheck they get will be next week, and they will get a six-day paycheck for working two full weeks," Glover says.

Update at 4:39 p.m. ET. Recalibrating Assistance:

The State Department says the U.S. is "recalibrating" the assistance it provides Egypt.

The decision follows a review sparked by a series of attacks by security forces on supporters of ousted President Mohamed Morsi that ended in hundreds dead. A shipment of F-16 fighter jets was quickly suspended as were joint exercises planned with the Egyptian army.

In a statement, State spokesperson Jen Psaki said the U.S. will continue to have a relationship with the Egyptian government, but will continue to delay delivery of some large-scale military systems, as well as suspend some "cash assistance to the government pending credible progress toward an inclusive, democratically elected civilian government through free and fair elections."

The U.S., however, will continue to provide support to help "secure Egypt's borders, counter terrorism and proliferation, and ensure security in the Sinai."

Reuters adds some detail:

"The United States will withhold deliveries of Abrams tanks, F-16 aircraft, Apache helicopters and Harpoon missiles from Egypt as it cuts back on aid, a congressional source said.

"Washington also plans to halt a $260 million cash transfer and a planned $300 million loan guarantee to the Cairo government, the source said, after members of Congress were briefed by officials from the U.S. State Department about the administration's plans."

Part of a series about small businesses in America.

When it comes to job creation, politicians talk about small businesses as the engines of the U.S. economy. It's been a familiar refrain among politicians from both major parties for years.

'Not Just A Restaurant'

Economists say such job growth is all about new firms — startups — but not all of them. Most startups will actually fail. The second most likely outcome is that they'll start small and stay small. Just a tiny fraction start small and then grow fast, creating an outsized share of new jobs. One such company is Sweetgreen, which dishes out fast, fresh organic salads in compostable bowls at 20 locations on the East Coast.

Pedro Ceron manages the restaurant near Capitol Hill. He's worked for the company for a little more than a year and is one of about 570 people now employed by Sweetgreen. Six years ago, it was just a little shack of a shop in D.C.'s Georgetown neighborhood, says co-founder Nicolas Jammet.

"It was 560 square feet and most people told us that you couldn't open a restaurant in that space or that size, but we were college seniors and we wanted to do it, so we did it," Jammet says.

“ [Government] loan programs, I would say, would be better targeted towards young businesses than small businesses per se.

Part of a series about small businesses in America.

When it comes to job creation, politicians talk about small businesses as the engines of the U.S. economy. It's been a familiar refrain among politicians from both major parties for years.

'Not Just A Restaurant'

Economists say such job growth is all about new firms — startups — but not all of them. Most startups will actually fail. The second most likely outcome is that they'll start small and stay small. Just a tiny fraction start small and then grow fast, creating an outsized share of new jobs. One such company is Sweetgreen, which dishes out fast, fresh organic salads in compostable bowls at 20 locations on the East Coast.

Pedro Ceron manages the restaurant near Capitol Hill. He's worked for the company for a little more than a year and is one of about 570 people now employed by Sweetgreen. Six years ago, it was just a little shack of a shop in D.C.'s Georgetown neighborhood, says co-founder Nicolas Jammet.

"It was 560 square feet and most people told us that you couldn't open a restaurant in that space or that size, but we were college seniors and we wanted to do it, so we did it," Jammet says.

“ [Government] loan programs, I would say, would be better targeted towards young businesses than small businesses per se.