Oct 19, 2013 4 min read

The partial federal shutdown is over, and furloughed government workers have begun returning to their jobs. Here’s the final tally from this exercise in partisan politics and miscalculation:

Cost to the American people: $24 billion (as estimated by Standard & Poor’s)

Accomplishments by House Republicans and Sen. Ted Cruz, et al: Close to zero

So, there you have it. The tea party tail of the U.S. House of Representatives wagged the dog for 16 days, with help from the grandstanding Cruz, and all we, the American people, got out of it was a pledge that a group of lawmakers will sit down over the next eight weeks and attempt to craft a broad deal to reduce the federal deficit. Who out there thinks that will go well?

After a House vote Wednesday night to continue funding the government and end the shutdown, House Speaker John Boehner, who had bowed to tea party elements in his caucus until the brink of default, had this to say: “We fought the good fight. We just didn’t win.”

Hardly.

When all was said and done, the Republicans got next to nothing from the demands they had made during the course of the shutdown, most notably that the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare, be defunded or otherwise hobbled.

The president and congressional Democrats made it crystal clear from the get-go that there would be no rollback of the ACA. The Republicans’ belief that President Obama would run up a white flag and agree to even a partial dismantling of his signature legislative achievement is a clear indicator that they badly misjudged how this showdown would end. Little by little, the GOP whittled back its demands, until the point at which it capitulated almost totally.

Even in defeat, some who were behind the shutdown just didn’t get it.

Cruz spoke of lawmakers ignoring the will of the American people by caving, despite polls showing that the citizenry overwhelmingly wanted the shutdown to end, and blamed Republicans the most for causing it.

Big business, typically viewed as an ally of Republicans, appeared none too pleased by the Republican-led run toward the precipice. In fact, according to a Wall Street Journal piece Thursday based on interviews with a wide range of business leaders, tea party lawmakers might find themselves being taken to the woodshed. Those interviewed by the Journal said while they might not cozy up to Democratic candidates in the next congressional elections, they may well look to throw their support behind primary challengers to incumbent lawmakers aligned with the tea party, with an eye toward less extremism in the national legislature.

One who plans to make campaign contributions to centrists is Mark Thierer, CEO of pharmacy-benefit manager Catamaran Corp. Said Thierer, “I am not going to give up on the Republican Party. I am going to encourage moderation.”

Unfortunately, in the shorter term, what we most likely can look forward to is another round of purely partisan brinkmanship early next year, when Congress will once again need to approve money to keep the government operating and once again raise the debt ceiling.

Operating in near-constant crisis mode is no way to run a government. In fact, it’s an embarrassment, even though the members of Congress who habitually engineer it seem to have no shame.

It’s hard not to share the disgust of Kevin Hartford, president and co-owner of Alle-Kiski Industries Inc. of Leechburg, who told the Journal, “Right now, I’d have a hard time voting for any incumbent.”

Yes, right now people are angry. We hope there’s still at least an ember of that anger burning the next time they go to the polls.