Last Shutdown a Lesson Lost on Capitol Hill
By JENNIFER STEINHAUER, NYT
WASHINGTON — The ghosts of shutdowns past are lurking in the halls of the Capitol, influencing Congressional leaders as they look for a way out of the latest budget standoff and wonder who will take the fall. But there is one little problem: even those who lived through those government shutdowns have varied recollections, or none at all, about how and why they happened.
“I’ll buy you a Coke Zero if you can tell me what the government shutdown was about in ’95,” said Senator Lindsey Graham, a South Carolina Republican who was among the raucous House freshmen then. “What was the issue? Nobody remembers!”
Previous Congresses and administrations managed to find a way out of their own conflagrations. In fact, the last major shutdowns, in late 1995 and early 1996, paved the way for sweeping bipartisan compromises, including tax and budget changes that both Congressional Republicans and President Bill Clinton were pleased to call their own.
The entire exercise solidified a pattern of high-pressure, low-skill budget showdowns for the next generation, but a sinewy economy made it all seem O.K.
(More here.)
WASHINGTON — The ghosts of shutdowns past are lurking in the halls of the Capitol, influencing Congressional leaders as they look for a way out of the latest budget standoff and wonder who will take the fall. But there is one little problem: even those who lived through those government shutdowns have varied recollections, or none at all, about how and why they happened.
“I’ll buy you a Coke Zero if you can tell me what the government shutdown was about in ’95,” said Senator Lindsey Graham, a South Carolina Republican who was among the raucous House freshmen then. “What was the issue? Nobody remembers!”
Previous Congresses and administrations managed to find a way out of their own conflagrations. In fact, the last major shutdowns, in late 1995 and early 1996, paved the way for sweeping bipartisan compromises, including tax and budget changes that both Congressional Republicans and President Bill Clinton were pleased to call their own.
The entire exercise solidified a pattern of high-pressure, low-skill budget showdowns for the next generation, but a sinewy economy made it all seem O.K.
(More here.)
Powered by Blogger
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home