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" My senior senator sent me an e-mail the other day. She was not entirely interested in moving on just yet. But I want to be clear: I am NOT celebrating tonight. Yes, we prevented an economic catastrophe that would have put a huge hole in our fragile economic recovery. But the reason we were in this mess in the first place is that a reckless faction in Congress took the government and the economy hostage for no good purpose and to no productive end. According to the S&amp;amp;amp;P index, 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. $24 billion dollars. 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? The Republicans keep saying, &amp;quot;Leave the sequester in place and cut all those budgets.&amp;quot; They keep trying to cut funding for the things that would help us build a future. But they are ready to flush away $24 billion on a political stunt. So I&amp;#039;m relieved, but I&amp;#039;m also pretty angry. We have serious problems that need to be fixed, and we have hard choices to make about taxes and spending. I hope we never see our country flush money away like this again. Not ever. There is a way to put the boot on the throat without seeming to be putting your boot on the throat. This is one way. This is another. Reid also said that he would make sure to protect Social Security against attempts to trade cuts for sequestration relief, calling such a bargain &amp;quot;a stupid trade.&amp;quot; &amp;quot;That&amp;#039;s no trade. We are going to affect entitlements so we can increase defense spending? Don&amp;#039;t check me for a vote there. I&amp;#039;m not interested in that,&amp;quot; he said. &amp;quot;It is the most successful social program in the history of the world. The program is not about to go broke, so take it easy on Social Security,&amp;quot; Reid said. Some people in the White House are on notice, too. "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.esquire.com/news-politics/politics/a25258/toughening-up/>