Uploaded October 2013 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
With the Government open again, a look at who won and who lost in the standoff.
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From the End Screen
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Yes, the GOP caved. Or as the grey lady put it, "Republicans back down in fiscal standoff"
Let's review:
The GOP started with a demand to defund Obamacare or the Government gets it.
The president said no deal.
The Senate, where Democrats are in control said, no deal.
And the government got it.
Controlling only one House in Congress, there was no way for the Republicans to force a defunding of Obamacare. But that didn't stop them.They were hoping that President Obama and the Democrats would blink.
They didn't blink.
The GOP escalated:
Defund Obamacare or the global economy gets it
Still from the Democrats, No blink.
With the U.S. on the brink of defaulting, the grownups in the Republican Party prevailed
and said—at the last possible minute—let's not be completely crazy here.
It was the GOP the blinked.
Actually... not.
Not the whole GOP. Just a minority of them who they broke away from the hardliners to join with the Democrats and vote to raise the debt limit and open the government.
Remember that: a majority of the GOP voted to keep the government shut. And to default on U.S
obligations. What the GOP got, instead of defunding Obamacare, was the lowest favorability ratings
in the history of several polls. What they got was a self-inflicted black eye.
But black-eye or no, the underlying dynamics haven't changed. All that's happened so far is just to set the board back to where it was three weeks ago but now with new deadlines. Democrats and Republicans are still far apart on budget priorities. Still far apart on what to do about Social Security and Medicare. It's like a video game. The GOP dies. The game reboots. And they play with a new life.
In one important way, the GOP may already have won: Spending levels are much lower than Democrats want them to be. GOP doctrine says that our big problem as a country is the deficit.
Democrats (and, by the way, most economists) believe that, short term, the big problem is not the deficit, but the sluggish economy and high unemployment. In this kind of economy, Deficit spending isn't a bad thing at all. Interest rates are near historic lows. Which means, borrowing is cheap. More spending will provide jobs, fix our aging roads and bridges, Will boost the economy, and that will, in turn, give us a bigger tax base and boost future government revenues
If you really want to shrink the deficit—grow the economy.
Winners and losers?
Winners: members of the Democratic leadership. President Obama, Majority Leader in the Senate, Harry Reid. and House Minority Leader, Nancy Pelosi. Democrats now have a chance of taking back the House in 2014. And that means Nancy Pelosi has a chance of becoming Speaker. Again.
Also a winner, as I'll explain, Republican Senator Ted Cruz. But he was also a loser.
Losers: The United States:
lost 24 billion dollars in the shutdown, nearly lost the ability to govern ourselves according to majority rule, and we became a puzzling laughingstock internationally.
Big losers: The GOP, the Tea Party, and way too many Congressmen and Senators to mention.
All exposed as demagogs, and unprincipled, ignorant blunderers. Also a loser: Freshman Senator Ted Cruz, the firebrand demagogue from Texas who led the GOP on this charge of futility.
His favorability rates plunged from a net positive six points last June to a net negative of ten points.
He is not well liked. Yet, in the own narrow universe, Ted Cruz a huge winner. Inside the Tea Party, his favorables are up. up to 74%. Some polls show him as the leading candidate for the GOP presidential nomination in 2016. To his voters in Texas he's a hero.
The Tea Party may be a mountain of manure.
But Ted Cruz is King of the mountain.
Note: This is a sponsored video for the Callback network
For collaborations and business inquiries, please contact via Channel Pages: ChannelPages.com/mickeleh
With the Government open again, a look at who won and who lost in the standoff.
If you like, please click LIKE. Please subscribe: bit.ly/15UdZg
Note: This is a sponsored video for the Callback network
From the End Screen
Playlist on the Shutdown: bit.ly/17BNtnP
Youtube and the LongTail: bit.ly/1c3S2i0
Follow me on Twitter at
twitter.com/mickeleh
Find more Mickeleh videos here
youtube.com/mickeleh
Royalty-Free Music by audiomicro.com/royalty-free-music
Yes, the GOP caved. Or as the grey lady put it, "Republicans back down in fiscal standoff"
Let's review:
The GOP started with a demand to defund Obamacare or the Government gets it.
The president said no deal.
The Senate, where Democrats are in control said, no deal.
And the government got it.
Controlling only one House in Congress, there was no way for the Republicans to force a defunding of Obamacare. But that didn't stop them.They were hoping that President Obama and the Democrats would blink.
They didn't blink.
The GOP escalated:
Defund Obamacare or the global economy gets it
Still from the Democrats, No blink.
With the U.S. on the brink of defaulting, the grownups in the Republican Party prevailed
and said—at the last possible minute—let's not be completely crazy here.
It was the GOP the blinked.
Actually... not.
Not the whole GOP. Just a minority of them who they broke away from the hardliners to join with the Democrats and vote to raise the debt limit and open the government.
Remember that: a majority of the GOP voted to keep the government shut. And to default on U.S
obligations. What the GOP got, instead of defunding Obamacare, was the lowest favorability ratings
in the history of several polls. What they got was a self-inflicted black eye.
But black-eye or no, the underlying dynamics haven't changed. All that's happened so far is just to set the board back to where it was three weeks ago but now with new deadlines. Democrats and Republicans are still far apart on budget priorities. Still far apart on what to do about Social Security and Medicare. It's like a video game. The GOP dies. The game reboots. And they play with a new life.
In one important way, the GOP may already have won: Spending levels are much lower than Democrats want them to be. GOP doctrine says that our big problem as a country is the deficit.
Democrats (and, by the way, most economists) believe that, short term, the big problem is not the deficit, but the sluggish economy and high unemployment. In this kind of economy, Deficit spending isn't a bad thing at all. Interest rates are near historic lows. Which means, borrowing is cheap. More spending will provide jobs, fix our aging roads and bridges, Will boost the economy, and that will, in turn, give us a bigger tax base and boost future government revenues
If you really want to shrink the deficit—grow the economy.
Winners and losers?
Winners: members of the Democratic leadership. President Obama, Majority Leader in the Senate, Harry Reid. and House Minority Leader, Nancy Pelosi. Democrats now have a chance of taking back the House in 2014. And that means Nancy Pelosi has a chance of becoming Speaker. Again.
Also a winner, as I'll explain, Republican Senator Ted Cruz. But he was also a loser.
Losers: The United States:
lost 24 billion dollars in the shutdown, nearly lost the ability to govern ourselves according to majority rule, and we became a puzzling laughingstock internationally.
Big losers: The GOP, the Tea Party, and way too many Congressmen and Senators to mention.
All exposed as demagogs, and unprincipled, ignorant blunderers. Also a loser: Freshman Senator Ted Cruz, the firebrand demagogue from Texas who led the GOP on this charge of futility.
His favorability rates plunged from a net positive six points last June to a net negative of ten points.
He is not well liked. Yet, in the own narrow universe, Ted Cruz a huge winner. Inside the Tea Party, his favorables are up. up to 74%. Some polls show him as the leading candidate for the GOP presidential nomination in 2016. To his voters in Texas he's a hero.
The Tea Party may be a mountain of manure.
But Ted Cruz is King of the mountain.
Note: This is a sponsored video for the Callback network
For collaborations and business inquiries, please contact via Channel Pages: ChannelPages.com/mickeleh
