Looking back on the government shutdown forced by right-wing Republican conservatives in the House last month, the questions should be asked by all Americans, what did it accomplish and what were its costs? The shutdown lasted sixteen days closing non-essential government agencies and furloughing non-essential employees.
Tabulating what the shutdown achieved is easier than determining its costs, as the latter are continuing and will go on long after the government resumed “normal” functioning. Its
achievements can be summarized in one word- nothing. Initially, the Republican insurgents aimed to defund the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) by closing the government, but it soon became obvious that wasn’t going to happen. The Tea Party activists then lowered their sights, trying to get something in return for allowing the government to re-open. But with President Obama and the
Democrats standing united, eventually the government was permitted to operate again without any significant concessions made to the opposition.
The conservatives who forced the shutdown claim that their actions alerted the public to the problems that Obamacare would cause for the economy, but this is just whistling in the dark. They accomplished nothing and actually damaged the Republican brand with their maneuvers, threatening government default as well as shutting the government down. Polls have shown that considerably more Americans blame the Republicans than Obama and the Democrats for the dysfunction in Washington.
In terms of costs, the Tea Party insurgents have widened a fissure in the Republican Party between “establishment Republicans” and their business allies, versus the populist conservatives who refuse to act in a pragmatic and responsible manner. Polls have also revealed that some supposedly safe Republican Congressional seats may now be at risk in the 2014 election because of the Tea Party’s actions. Swing Senate seats may be leaning more Democratic as well. In a way, the government shutdown by the Tea Party also helped the Democrats by diverting the public’s focus away from the technological glitches that have made the rollout of Obamacare disastrous.
Other costs that must be considered are those to the reputation of America around the world, where people were laughing at us because of the shutdown. How can we pressure foreign governments to act in a responsible manner when we can’t even keep our own government running because of a small, but vocal minority of lawmakers. The threat of default was even more serious, as the possibility of a shock to the world’s financial system kept the markets and foreign governments on edge until the threat ended. And it gives second thoughts to other governments who use the dollar as the basis of their financial transactions and buy our debt as a “safe” haven for their surpluses. It is a tremendous advantage for the U.S. economy that the dollar is considered the global currency and would damage our economy if other governments were worried enough to switch to a different currency or basket of currencies. The Tea Partiers did not recognize how their threats of default could injury our economy, or simply did not care because of their ideological blinders.
There are also the direct costs to the government, our economy, and to American citizens that occurred because of the shutdown. 800,000 workers who were furloughed wound up getting paid for not working. Fees and taxes were delayed in being collected. Those who were not being paid did not spend money to purchase goods. Tourists who would have come to the national parks did not pay fees, or spend at the concessions or nearby stores because the parks were closed. Many small businesses were hurt because of this. Government contractors also weren’t getting paid. Corporations who were worried about possible default and the shutdown did not hire or spend because of the economy’s uncertainty.
A recent survey of top economists by USA Today revealed that 56% are less optimistic about growth prospects for the economy due to the shutdown, cutting about 0.5% off of GDP for the next two quarters as well as hurting job growth. The exact costs to the GDP and the billions of dollars lost to our economy because of the shutdown and threat of default will not be known for months, until the data is tabulated by government offices. But it won’t be pretty.
Tea Party Republicans who demand fiscal responsibility from the government have shown that they themselves are fiscally irresponsible. The shutdown and threat of default damaged our democracy in a number of ways and accomplished nothing. It was an exercise in futility and stupidity.
Resurrecting Democracy
www.robertlevinebooks.com
Political junkie, Vietnam vet, neurologist- three books on aging and dementia. Book on health care reform in 2009- Shock Therapy for the American Health Care System. Book on the need for a centrist third party- Resurrecting Democracy- A Citizen’s Call for a Centrist Third Party published in 2011. Aging Wisely, published in August 2014 by Rowman and Littlefield. Latest book- The Uninformed Voter published May 2020