The booby prize.
I guess it’s official that the Democrats “won” the government shutdown, because the media and the Beltway crowd keep telling us that. I’m not sure what their prize is, and I don’t really care, because I’m not interested in the usual thinking that views everything that ever happens in terms of political winners and losers.
When something happens in Washington, the only thing that really matters is the impact on the American people. So what, exactly, do the American people win as a result of the Democrats’ “victory” in the shutdown showdown?
They win:
- More abysmally slow economic growth. Because the Democrats “succeeded” at resisting changes to the tax code, changes to spending, changes to ObamaCare, approval of the Keystone XL pipeline . . . the same GDP that’s been limping along at around 2 percent annualized growth will continue to stagger, leaving unemployment well above 7 percent and real unemployment (which includes those who are underemployed and those who have given up looking) above 14 percent.
- More ObamaCare, with no changes to correct the soaring premiums, the dysfunctional web site, the out-of-control implementation costs, the unsustainable structure or the decimation of worker hours as employers struggle to deal with the law’s requirements. The only good news is that hardly anyone has signed up. What a mess.
- More can-kicking and no solution to the entitlement spending explosion that everyone knows is coming. I’ve seen estimates that peg the cost of our unfunded entitlement spending obligations at more than $100 trillion. Yeah, that’s trillion with a T. There is not that much money in the entire world, and unless we restructure our entitlement programs, that is what we are on the hook for.
- More debt! This weekend, the national debt topped $17 trillion. Of that, $5.9 trillion has been added since Obama took office. But don’t worry, because President Obama explains that raising the debt ceiling does not mean adding to the debt. Perhaps you’re the kind of person who takes comfort in delusional nonsense like that.
So this is what you “won” because the Democrats “won.” They resisted Republican attempts to embrace pro-growth and pro-job policies, to fix ObamaCare, to solve long-term fiscal problems and to stop the explosion of debt. And because of this, the media are congratulating them and piling on Ted Cruz because he was not able to force them to do any of this.
So let’s understand the way things work in our nation’s capital these days. The party whose policies are causing economic disaster is the “winner” because they successfully resist attempts to make them change these disastrous policies. The senator who fought hardest to make them change these policies is a jerk and nobody likes him according to the Democrats, the media and some Republicans who are not willing to fight for the people.
And you? You win more debt, more job loss, horrible health care and a future of monstrous taxes.
Congratulations! I hope you enjoy the spoils of your big prize. If you feel like you won, then don't celebrate too long because they will be at it again in three months. That's how long they put the problems on pause.
