As Washington lurched toward a government shutdown by the end of this week, the White House and congressional Republicans failed on Tuesday to agree on how many billions of dollars to cut from spending for the rest  this fiscal year. In the Senate, there was a serious sentiment developing that any deal to lower deficits should include additional revenue from the wealthiest Americans.  Sen. Bernie Sanders has proposed a 5.4 percent surtax on millionaires to raise up to $50 billion a year. “We’ve got to stand up and speak sense to the American people,” Sanders told radio host Ed Schultz in an interview after a “very hot” and “very interesting” closed-door meeting of Senate Democrats.  To listen to the interview, click here.