Photo by Tony DeFilippo.

Good morning, Washington. It’s a big day for Mayor Vince Gray, as he’ll spend a large chunk of it trying to sell his recently released 2012 budget to the Council. Gray will return to his old stomping grounds inside the Wilson Building to testify on all things FY2012 at 10 a.m. If you haven’t gotten the chance to comb through Gray’s 2012 budget yet, there are some very interesting proposals, beyond the headline-grabbing income tax increase on the wealthy — for example, the formation of a new super agency and a proposed tax on theater, music and art shows. It’ll be interesting to see in what detail the Mayor talks about these proposals today. Anything Gray doesn’t get to at city hall might just be covered during a press conference this afternoon, in which the Mayor will cover a number of topics, including the city’s contingency plan for a potential government shutdown.

Kwame Brown’s Campaign Finance Transgressions: While D.C. Council Chair Kwame Brown will be spending the morning asking questions of his predecessor, the rest of the city will be asking how much a damning inquiry into his 2008 campaign finances will hurt him. While the Office of Campaign Finance was rather clear about their conclusions — stating that Brown’s 2008 campaign filings were “not in substantial compliance with the District of Columbia Campaign Finance Reform and Conflict of Interest Act” — it’s unclear if the OCF can actually do anything about it other than give Brown a slap on the wrist. For his part, Brown has admitted that “administrative errors were made, and I take full responsibility” — and whatever punishment OCF doesn’t dole out could well be handled in the court the public opinion.

Shutdownmania: Everyone’s bracing themselves for a government shutdown with the usual calm, cool demeanor…ah, who am I kidding? Both the Washington and Huffington Posts go with a “here’s what you won’t be able to do during a shutdown” slideshow, featuring photos of people crying and police menacingly refusing entry to a Smithsonian museum. (WaPo is really giving the shutdown the full court press this morning.) For a less alarmist take on the potential shutdown, we recommend The Awl’s cheeky primer.

Briefly Noted: Georgetown doctoral student dies in campus gym…Maryland legislators having to cut back on budget pork…Metro wants to know how much it’s worth…20 to 30 dead cats found inside Herndon home…29-year-old goes on bizarre crime spree in Fairfax…Now that’s just cruel.

This Day in DCist: Last year, the city was preparing for the Nuclear Security Summit to shut down the area around the Convention Center, while D.C. rents were on the rise; in 2006, we took a day trip to Virginia wine country.