Not so fast, says Fox News columnist Chris Stirewalt. An important difference between the 1995 shutdown that empowered President Bill Clinton was the lack of public anxiety over the $4.97 trillion debt. Now, it’s $14 trillion plus, “a sum equal to the size of our entire economy.”
If Democrats in Washington make the same miscalculation as Democrats in Wisconsin, they will suffer brutally at the next election. Shutting down the government in favor of public employee unions or unsustainable federal spending is a fool’s strategy. With President Barack Obama and party leaders like Senator Chuck Schumer (D-NY) daring House Republicans to stand firm on budget cuts, expect to see thousands of pro-shutdown protestors flood Washington if government buildings go dark.
If dormant long enough, perhaps some of those buildings – and the agencies that house them – will never be revived. The debt and spending issues are more important now than in 1995. If Democrats fail to realize that, they may help hasten a reduction in government overall.
CFIF on Twitter
CFIF on YouTube