It is pretty funny to read the blogs from the left and the right about how well this whole government shutdown threat has worked out. Republican's got some concessions, the Democrat's look to keep funding for PP and NPR alive, and the President got to keep the Washington monument open for Denver school children. Everybody wins! Well, kind of. What you won't hear is how much federal funding we wasted preparing for the furloughs, and closing of select federal offices.
Just a couple of observations, if I might. In 1995, when the Republican's allowed the government to shut down the President was nearing reelection. He gained a tremendous boost in the polls, but he learned from the event and, at least with regard to the budget, cooperation between the legislature and the executive moved toward the center and by the end we had a balanced budget.
Does anyone really think this President and this Congress will learn that same lesson? When the Presidents speech to the nation about the resolution of the problem is more campaign speech than anything else I am thinking we won't.
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