re: #175 Gus 802

Here’s an interesting read.

Lessons from the great government shutdown of 1995-1996

The problem is that this isn’t a center-driven discussion. The middle is crying out for a deal, but it doesn’t matter because what legislators in both parties are afraid of is pissing off their base and facing a strong primary challenge. My best friend and I were talking about this earlier. Right now, the party bases are so far apart that no “grand bargain” can succeed. We both think the best thing now is a five-week extension of the debt ceiling, followed by a week where no talks take place, to allow the parties to take stock and the temperature to cool off. And sad to say, we reached this conclusion knowing that no grand bargain means a credit downgrade. But there’s nothing for it: the actions needed to avoid a downgrade are simply politically impossible.