The U.S. government began a partial shutdown at midnight for the first time in 17 years, putting as many as 800,000 federal employees out of work today, closing national parks and halting some government services after Congress failed to break a partisan deadlock. No further negotiations were immediately planned, raising concerns among some lawmakers that the shutdown could bleed into a fight economists consider even more consequential: how to raise the nation’s debt limit to avoid a first-ever default after Oct. 17. Chances of a last-minute deal -- seen so often in past fiscal fights -- evaporated shortly before ... (full story)