Even With the Government Funded, Elizabeth Warren Will NOT be Celebrating

      As the world breathed a collective sigh of relief late Wednesday night with the passage of a late minute bill to reopen the government and prevent a default which likely would have thrown the global economy into a tailspin, Senator Elizabeth Warren told her supporters that she will NOT be celebrating.  In an email to her followers on Wednesday night, less than an hour after the passage of the bill which allowed the treasury to continue borrowing money and sent hundreds of thousands of furloughed government employees back to work, Warren lambasted the reckless waste of money that was the government shutdown of the past few weeks.  "According to the S&P index," said Warren "the government shutdown had delivered a powerful blow to the U.S. economy. By their estimates, $24 billion has been flushed down the drain for a completely unnecessary political stunt (Huffington Post)."  An unnecessary political stunt pulled off by what she called "reckless faction in Congress [who] took the government and the economy hostage for no good purpose and to no productive end."  While she voted for the bill which will temporarily reopen the government, she seems to be one of the only members of Congress not celebrating due to the return to normalcy (Biden even brought muffins!) Warren lamented the inexcusable waste of precious government funds, asking the nation:

"How many children could have been back in Head Start classes? How many seniors could have had a hot lunch through Meals on Wheels? How many scientists could have gotten their research funded? How many bridges could have been repaired and trains upgraded?"

      Always the realist and professional, Elizabeth Warren needed to remind people of the dangers of these practices and called on her readers to stand up to the "hostage taking" and to say "no more!"  While I think that it is important to note the gargantuan bullet that was dodged this week, one which would have brought both America's, and the world's, fragile economic recovery crashing down, Warren's warning is true.  The losses were great.  Not simply monetarily, but the loss of credibility as well.  Other nation's watched in horror as American politicians squabbled and bickered and played with fire. Even our closest allies compared these dangerous actions to playground arguments (The Guardian), and we are certainly not out of the woods yet. On Tuesday, the Fitch credit rating agency will  be considering a possible downgrade of their American AAA rating. If this downgrade goes through, it would become the second in just over two years (after the S&P dropped America's rating from a AAA to a AA+ in August of 2011), and the second in US history.  This downgrade would cause interest rates on foreign debt to rise, and would continue to cost the US more money in the long term.  Warren's poignant warning should resonate with Americans moving forward.  We have temporarily solved the problem, but at a great personal cost, and the road ahead is uncertain and fraught with obstacles.