Despite what is correctly seen as a defeat for the Tea Party, both Democrats and Republicans are planning massive attacks on popular social programs like Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security as bipartisan discussions begin in December on a new federal budget.
The partial government shutdown that began October 1st is about to enter its second week and shows no sign of coming to an end. 800,000 federal workers have been furloughed and Head Start programs that provide services to poor children are threatened while, incredibly and predictably, members of Congress, most of them millionaires, keep getting paid! As time goes on the effects of the shutdown are widening. One estimate is that a three week shutdown would lead to a 0.9% loss in GDP this year.
