As presented on October 11, 2013:
Hedrick Speaks at Harvard
October 15th, 2013Why this shutdown isn’t like 1995
October 10th, 2013As first syndicated by Reuters on October 4, 2013
By Hedrick Smith
The political battlefield of the current government shutdown looks a lot like the last big shutdown of 1995. But major changes within the Republican Party in Congress — a weaker leadership, the demise of moderates and two decades of gerrymandering — could make this year’s endgame far harder.
Then as now, a rebellious Republican Congress used a budget bill to set up a deliberate confrontation with a Democratic president over spending priorities. GOP militants and radicals in the House – today’s wing nuts — bet that gridlock, disarray and the embarrassment of a shutdown would force the White House to give in.