The Note's Must-Reads are a round-up of today's political headlines and stories from ABC News and the top U.S. newspapers. Posted Monday through Friday right here at www.abcnews.com

Compiled by ABC News' Jayce Henderson, Amanda VanAllen, Will Cantine and Jordan Mazza

SHUTDOWN: ABC News' Devin Dwyer: " Obama Resists Talks With Boehner 'Under the Threat' of Default" With the federal government shutdown dragging into a seventh day, President Obama and House Speaker John Boehner are no closer to breaking the impasse, much less taking seats across from each other at a negotiating table. During a midday visit to the Federal Emergency Management Agency headquarters in southwest D.C., Obama today challenged Boehner's recent criticism that the president is obstructing a path to a resolution. LINK

USA Today's Gregory Korte and Susan Davis: " Debt limit breach no big deal, some GOP lawmakers say" Republican lawmakers are voicing increasing skepticism about dire warnings that failing to raise the debt ceiling would result in catastrophic default. "I would dispel the rumor that is going around that you hear on every newscast, that if we don't raise the debt ceiling, we will default on our debt," said Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., Monday on CBS This Morning. "We won't. We'll continue to pay our interest." LINK

The Boston Globe's Noah Bierman: " Furlough pay would negate shutdown savings" The conservatives who have helped propel the first federal shutdown in 17 years have argued that they are fighting for smaller and less bloated government. But a vote over the weekend to grant back-pay to furloughed federal workers will likely raise the cost of shutting down the government. The move highlights another peculiarity of the shutdown: sending all those workers home does not save money. LINK

The Washington Times' Ralph Z. Hallow: " Cruz control: Inside GOP's great divide on Obamacare" When Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell bumped into Republican Party Chairman Reince Priebus near Capitol Hill recently, the discussion turned to the man who has become the undisputed public face of the government hutdown: Republican Ted Cruz. The Republican National Committee staff was about to send an email blast urging the party faithful, and their wallets, to stand behind Mr. Cruz in his battle against Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, Nevada Democrat. LINK

Bloomberg's Margaret Talev: " Obama Says No Negotiations Until Debt Ceiling, Funding Settled" President Barack Obama challenged congressional Republicans to raise the U.S. debt limit by next week and said he's willing to negotiate on fiscal terms once that is done and government funding is restored. The president repeated that he won't bargain while federal operations are partially shut down because of the budget standoff and won't agree to any conditions placed on increasing the debt ceiling. He said Democrats already have compromised on spending levels. LINK

GOP: The Hill's Pete Kasperowicz: " House GOP plows ahead" The House on Monday approved its latest mini-spending bill, this time to fund the Food and Drug Administration. It's the eighth targeted spending bill approved by the House, which seems no closer to reaching a deal to end the government shutdown with the Senate and President Obama. Members passed the Food and Drug Safety Act, H.J.Res. 77, in a 235-162 vote, as Democrats fumed that the GOP was leaving the government to wither on the vine. The vote came on the seventh day of the partial government shutdown, and after a Sunday vacation from work that did little to cool other either side. LINK

DEBT CEILING: The New York Times' Jonathan Weisman and Jackie Calmes: " Senate Leaders Mull Raising Debt Ceiling In Challenge To House" Senate Democratic leaders will move forward this week on a measure to raise the government's legal borrowing limit without any policy strings attached, answering House Republicans' taunts that Democrats would not force their politically vulnerable senators to cast that difficult vote. The first vote on raising the debt ceiling, by an amount large enough to get the government through the 2014 elections, could come as early as Friday; the deadline is Oct. 17. At the same time, the partial shutdown of the federal government ended its first week on Monday without any bipartisan meetings held or planned. LINK

The Washington Post's Zachery A. Goldfarb and Ed O'Keefe: " Obama, Senate Dems Hope To Break Logjam Soon With Debt Ceiling" President Obama and Senate Democrats tried Monday to break a political logjam that could threaten the U.S. economy, advancing legislation that would raise the federal debt ceiling as soon as possible. Democrats said they will attempt to force Republicans to agree to a long-term $1 trillion debt-limit increase to ensure that the government does not reach a point this month where it may be unable to pay its bills, risking its first default. They said they also may accept a short-term bill, perhaps lasting only weeks, if necessary to avoid going over the brink. LINK

Politico's Manu Raju and John Bresnahan: " Democratic Cracks Open In Debt Limit Debate" For the past several weeks, Senate Democrats and the White House have shown a remarkable amount of unity in the controversial fight surrounding the debt ceiling. Then came shutdown Day Seven. Just as top Senate Democrats began to lay the groundwork to raise the U.S. government's borrowing limit through 2014, senior White House officials refused to rule out a short-term increase. The divergent messages caused major heartburn for top Senate Democrats and gave Republicans fresh hope that they could defeat a yearlong debt ceiling hike and win concessions from President Barack Obama in this fall's fiscal battles. LINK

SUPREME COURT: The Los Angeles Times' Cathleen Decker: " Justices come clean: Scalia on Satan, Ginsburg on her future" It's the first week of October, which puts the U.S. Supreme Court in focus in a way it almost never is unless chads are hanging - as in the 2000 post-election mess - or the justices are rendering decisions on fraught subjects like gay marriage or Obamacare. This term, which opened Monday, may extend last year's run of cases with high political content. The court is expected to reach judgments on campaign finance, abortion, religion and the healthcare plan's contraception rules, among other issues. LINK

ABC NEWS VIDEO: " John Boehner Remixed and 'Ready for a Conversation'" LINK

BOOKMARKS: The Note: LINK The Must-Reads Online: LINK Top Line Webcast (12noon EST M-F): LINK ABC News Politics: LINK George's Bottom Line (George Stephanopoulos): LINK Follow ABC News on Twitter: LINK ABC News Mobile: LINK ABC News app on your iPhone/iPod Touch/iPad: LINK