The House passes a spending bill that defunds Obamacare. Will Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and the rest of the chamber turn that around so the country can see whether the Affordable Care Act is indeed the great equalizer? Without a stop-gap spending bill, the federal government is headed toward a shutdown when the fiscal year ends Sept. 30.

The president of Iran, Hasan Rowhani, extends an olive branch in an op-ed in The Washington Post, just before his speech to the United Nations on Tuesday.

A big news week for the Federal Reserve — Larry Summers withdraws as a candidate for Fed chairman and the Fed announces it will maintain its monetary stimulus. The Securities and Exchange Commission unveils a plan that would require companies to disclose how much their chief executives are paid compared with their other employees.

And in an unusual interview, Pope Francis says that the Catholic Church has become too focused on abortion and homosexuality.

Byron York of The Washington Examiner joins Truthdig Editor-in-Chief Robert Scheer and host Matt Miller.

— Adapted from KCRW by Alexander Reed Kelly.

KCRW:

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