Year: 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.
Good News, Bad News for Cruz
15 points
The rise in UNfavorability experienced by Sen. Ted Cruz (Tx-Tea) among Republicans who do not align themselves with the tea party, in a new Pew poll. In June, 16% were unfavorable to Cruz, while today, 31% are. The tea party itself also fell among Republicans, with only 27% of those who think of themselves as liberal or moderate Republicans approving of the movement, compared to 46% in June. The good news for Texanadian Cruz is that among the shrinking league of tea party members, his popularity rose from 47% to 74%.
Standard & Poor’s: Republicans’ Government Shutdown Has Cost U.S. Economy $24 Billion, So Far
$24 Billion
Cost of the Republican Party’s shutdown of the federal government as of Oct. 16, 2013, according to Standard & Poor’s.
Ted Cruz: Democratic Sleeper Agent?
Ezra Klein has a wonderful piece on Washington Post’s Wonkblog that lays the blame for the shutdown and subsequent Republican loss of favorability, credibility and viability at the feet of “Tailgunner” Ted Cruz. Here are some of Klein’s points, but read the full article for the full affect:
It is tough to appreciate just how much good Ted Cruz has done the Democrats over these last few weeks.
- He convinced Republicans to shut down the government rather than wait and fight over the debt ceiling, where they would have had more — and more dangerous — leverage.
- He splintered the Republican Party such that, from day one, it was clear that the GOP leadership opposed the strategy they were executing, and GOP senators were publicly blasting House Republicans. That also cut the GOP’s leverage.
- He made this a fight over defunding Obamacare, which polls showed was a wildly unpopular reason to shut down the government, and which united Democrats against him.
- He shut the government down on Oct. 1, the same day Obamacare began, thus distracting the American people from the law’s catastrophic rollout.
