Shutdown pain spikes this weekend, upping pressure on Congress to strike deal

The shutdown pain is set to spiral.

After four weeks when the real-world impacts of the budget impasse have been relatively limited, a series of deadlines governing a range of programs will converge at the turn of the month to send the effects of the shutdown well beyond the Beltway.

The D-Day moment, which hits this weekend, is poised to wallop groups as varied as military troops, patients on ObamaCare, kids in Head Start, and low-income families on food stamps.<...