Shutdown is over, but the problems remain

So the partial government shutdown has ended, but the world did not, and the country’s biggest problems remain untouched.

By begrudgingly passing a continuing resolution with no conditions attached, the Republican-controlled House has essentially approved government spending and debt as usual. President Barack Obama declared that there “were no winners” in the standoff that shut down the government for 16 days, but then he proceeded to blame Republicans for the shutdown, thereby anointing himself the winner. A good share of the media went along with that narrative, regardless of the fact that the president refused to negotiate or offer any concessions to House Republicans, who control the purse strings.

Well, when the president is done with his “victory” lap, we are left with the status quo in Washington, D.C., and we don’t think that most Americans really care about who wins political battles inside the Beltway. There is no serious spending control in sight and the national debt has climbed from $9 trillion to $17 trillion under Obama’s watch.

But there’s more, and it takes us to a new status quo! Obamacare is now being implemented, and the economic damage it causes will continue to unfold? in the months to come.

We think it’s highly arguable that the president missed a big opportunity by not conceding to Republicans’ efforts to delay implementation of Obamacare’s individual mandate for a year, given the wretched, problem-plagued rollout of the website the public must use to sign up for the program. It might have given the administration some breathing room to get things running somewhat better.

And back to this supposed presidential victory. Yes, the standoff exposed a significant rift between old-guard establishment Republican lawmakers and conservative newcomers.

It was amusing that Arizona Sen. John McCain, regarded as the ringleader of the old guard, lamented how the GOP’s standing in a recent public opinion poll had hit a new low. He seemed to be implying that it was all the fault of fiery conservatives like Texas Sen. Ted Cruz. It never seemed to dawn on McCain that the new low in public opinion probably isn’t the result of there being more Democrats who don’t like the GOP, but the fact that the GOP’s conservative base is furious with McCain and his allies for their tendency to capitulate to Democrats.

Finally, President Obama did not escape this standoff unscathed. Many Americans will hold him accountable for the way the administration chose to implement the shutdown. Most significantly, the punitive manner in which the National Park Service chose to close open-air war memorials using more resources than are ever required to manage them when they are open.

The American people may also get another dose of all this in the near future. Government funding has been approved only through Jan. 15, and there is borrowing authority only through Feb. 7. That sets the stage for another debt ceiling battle, and by now most people should be expecting that it will end, once again, with no solutions to the country’s biggest problems.

Montana’s Republican congressman, Steve Daines, aptly described last week’s so-called solution as a really bad punt in a football game. And it’s a game that never seems to end. The only question now is how long the patience of the American public will last while this charade plays out.

Editorials represent the majority opinion of the Daily Inter Lake’s editorial board.