A Government Shutdown?

As you are likely aware, we currently have a divided government (the presidency and Senate are held by Democrats and the House is controlled by Republicans).  Divided government inevitably results in showdowns like the one currently going on in Washington.  By October 1 -- the beginning of the fiscal year for the national government -- the Congress (both houses) have to pass a spending bill to keep the government operational.  While there are many areas of agreement, there is one fight that persists in the current showdown:

The House of Representatives passed a bill that funds the government, but removes all funding for Obamacare.  Essentially, they hope to repeal Obamacare without literally repealing Obamacare.

In the Senate, passed a "clean" funding bill, which does not defund Obamacare.  This was an expected outcome because the Democrats clearly had the votes and clearly would not defund Obamacare, but that didn't stop Republican Senator Ted Cruz from dominating headlines over a "faux" filibuster protest against the passage.

This is a classic showdown in which both sides are hoping to win the political battle, but -- presumably -- neither side really wants the battle to end in a government shutdown.  Its basically a game of political chicken.

Consider the potential result if a government shutdown really does occur.  The Washington Post has an overview of previous shutdowns that actually happened.  AP speculates what it might look like this time around:

Read up about the battle online (if this is news to you, I recommend starting here) and decide for yourself:

• Are the Republicans out of line to attach a defunding Obamacare demand to a crucial spending bill, or should the Democrats take up the bill as the House passed it?  
• What other motives do you see in this political fight?
• What should current Congressmen have learned for past government shutdown battles?
• Do you think the shutdown will actually occur?  Why or why not?

Sorry I forgot to clarify how to actually do this assignment in class: Respond to some or all of the above discussion questions (or record other thoughts) in a "comment" to this post.  (I think you should be able to use your school google account.)