Day: October 17, 2013
The Long, Slow Story Is Far More Damaging Than the Short, Hot One
Damaging as the shutdown is for governance, it is minor compared with the long-term damage of the sequester. The FBI has had to reduce its focus on white-collar and organized crime to deal with the higher, immediate priority of cybersecurity. The food-inspection infrastructure has been hit, reducing the number of inspectors in the U.S. and in foreign plants that ship food to the United States. This will undoubtedly lead to more outbreaks of salmonella and E. coli, with a weakened Centers for Disease Control less able to cope with the epidemics. Basic research, as I have written before, is taking devastating hits–starting with NIH but including DARPA and every other area done primarily by the federal government. Some of the damage will never be repaired. And the nation’s economy will grow more slowly, adding to our deficits and debt.
— Norm Ornstein, in National Journal.
McConnell: There Won’t Be Another Shutdown
One of my favorite old Kentucky sayings is there’s no education in the second kick of a mule. The first kick of a mule was when we shut the government down in the mid 1990s and the second kick was over the last 16 days. There is no education in the second kick of a mule. There will not be a government shutdown. … I think we have fully now acquainted our new members with what a losing strategy that is.
— Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), telling The Hill that he will not allow another government shutdown as part of a strategy to repeal Obamacare.
The Biggest Loser
In the shutdown, bright spots were far-between and few.
Republicans miscalculated how much they stood to lose.
But in this reality show,
Most agree, you know,
The biggest loser of all was “Tailgunner” Ted Cruz.
