Republicans are weathering this shutdown better than they did the last one:
At left, the proportion of people who blame Democrats for the shutdown: It’s bigger now than it was then. At right, the number who blame Republicans: It’s smaller! With all the talk about how John Boehner’s blunderous perpetuation of the crisis might jeopardize the GOP’s congressional majority, these numbers add a few additional grains to the mound of salt Nate has already thrown on the idea of a congressional upheaval.
Nevertheless, Gross expects the current shutdown to do more damage than the one in 1996:
When you look back over the past 18 years, one of the unavoidable conclusions is that, for a variety of reasons, the federal government is much more involved in the economy than it was. What’s more, the economy is now more dependent on certain sectors that can’t operate at their fullest capacity without the government being entirely open.
As this chart shows, the federal government has become a larger part of the economy over time. In 1995, federal spending accounted for about 19 percent of GDP. Now, it accounts for about 22 percent of GDP. Entitlements like Medicare and Social Security, which have yet to be affected, account for a big chunk of this rise. But the fact remains that federal government spending accounts for a significantly larger chunk of GDP than it did 18 years ago. So if you slam the brakes on that spending, it will have a bigger direct impact than it did 18 years ago, for example in the effect the furloughs of defense contractors is having on the private sector.
The Dish 