There is no way that this winter is *ever* going to end as long as this
groundhog keeps seeing his shadow. I don't see any other way out. He's
got to be stopped. And I have to stop him. Phil Conners, Groundhog Day, 1993
If you haven't seen the movie, then this is your spoiler. As the plot line develops, we get to the same start of every day (read: debt cycle), and every day it turns out to be the same things, the same people, and the same events. This is why there are 116,000 hits so far on the search string "Groundhog Day in Washington". Might as well add one more.
Did you know that the debt ceiling has been raised 100 times since 1941? The Republicans and Democrats like these little gatherings. It allows them the illusion that they are working (but not in cooperation, mind you) to resolve the financial difficulties of our government.
This time there was a twist. Some Republicans wanted to be on record, once again, in opposing Obamacare; like this needed to be restated somehow. Look, people already know whose program Obamacare is (hint: starts with an "O"). So why did they feel they needed to add this to their little wish list? I can think of two reasons:
One is that they really do fear on behalf of their constituents for the consequences of Obamacare, and this was the last opportunity to save us. I really would like to think this is the case, a possibility that proves that someone is still there in DC who sees what the rest of us do...the looming creation of a bureaucratic and stagnating health care system patterned after the post office and dozens of other bureacracy.
The other is they are afraid that it might work, and they had to try to kill it. Of course, the "might work" theory was proved wrong on the same day as the shutdown happened, due to the failure of the exchange.
At the end of the day (or is it the start?) the Republicans tagged Obamacare once again to the Democrats, and then caved. Did they really use this news cycle only to score some cheap political points? It would appear so.
They both wanted exactly the same thing in the end. They wanted to position themselves for re-election. And I say that without even a trace of cynicism. Neither side cares what effect of their latest can kick has on the economy. People are watching closely, because, and this is exasperatingly so: everything the government does now affects us financially. Think about that for a moment. Why does what happens in Washington affect us at all? How is it that billions, now trillions of dollars flow one way or another as a result of what our elected representatives do? Is that natural? Is that right? Most importantly, is it slavery?
That is the problem. In my opinion, The government should have little, perhaps no impact on an economy. John Tamny writes today, summing up why I will never watch another debt ceiling Groundhog Day cycle, at least while either Republicans or Democrats are in charge.
Considering the possibility of ‘default' whereby the feds would cease
paying bills, it's already been well covered by the commentariat that
this wasn't going to happen. Indeed, it's shooting fish in the barrel
to point out that a self-interested political class would never
knowingly do that which would be inimical to its own interests.
Political types in D.C. love to borrow cheaply, this is true no matter
party affiliation, so there was no way a default was ever going to
happen. They'd sooner cut programs altogether, and as they should, than
potentially imperil their ability to borrow.
