Effects of the Self-Imposed Government Shutdown

It's over!! At least for the time being. Did it have to happen? Of course not.   The government shutdown was self-imposed, lead and run by a select minority of Republicans whose main goal was to shut down ObamaCare. Did the Republicans succeed in any of their goals? Again, the answer is no. The conservative party had no chance to succeed, they knew it, but elected to instead lead the country down the road to a possible default, a time when the U.S. Government could no longer pay its bills. How could that have affected the people, since the government shutdown didn't happen?
First, not all the details are in regarding what was effected because of the shutdown, but it is noteabally the first one in almost 20 years. What is known is that the overall impact of the shutdown did impact the economy, with a cost of at least $24 billion.
Did the government shutdown help the cause of the Republican party? If it did help, I would like someone to tell me how it did help? The Republican party continues not to pass bills because of two reasons. One is political, as they will not willfully pass ANY bills that are supported by the current Democratic President Barack Obama. Their lack of leadership by the House Speaker Boehner is proof of that. The speaker flaunts the worst record in Congressional history when it comes to getting things done in Washington. Even his own party doesn't support him on legislation that he wants to get passed. Second, if it raises taxes or costs the people any money, so they say, they will not support any bill that raises taxes or costs the people any money. But instead, just a few lawmakers, led by Republican Senator Ted Cruz of Texas, elected to put the economy in a talespin in just a few short weeks with a cost of at least $24 billion. Mr. Cruz openly states that he is not the reason, even though many in his own caucus disagree on how he handled himself to contribute to the shutdown. Is this responsible legislative leadership? Of course not. The Republican party continues to be the do-nothing party of the U.S. Congress, led by a select poised few and run by a party that mainsteam Republicans want to run away from called the 'Tea Party'.
What are the known effects of the shutdown as we know it now? I will list just a few, as I'm sure that there is such a large fallout because of a shutdown that didn't need to happen and I personally don't have that much time to write the detailed article, although I will pass along what I become educated on regarding the effects of the shutdown over time.
Here's what is known now..
1) Spending at chain retail stores fell 0.7 percent last week.
2) Mortgage applications dropped 5%.
3) $152 million per day in travel spending - LOST.
4) $76 million in daily visitor spending at national parks in 12 states -LOST.
5) Furlowed government workers LOST pay, but will now get their pay back.
6) Large purchases not made by government and others during this shutdown for the     last few weeks could increase spending in the next couple of months. Maybe!!
7) An S&P (Standard and Poors) rating of the U.S. may now drop from AA+ to AA The effects to the economy if this were to happen will be catastrophic.

The politial leaders now say that they do not want to repeat this process in the future, nevertheless, they opened themselves up for another round of a possible government shutdown in less than 60 days if they do not pass another spending bill by January 15, 2014.
As President Barack Obama stated right after the shutdown was ended, he was very happy to see government workers go back to work after the 16-day shutdown. The President wants an end to the continued partisan rift that "inflicted unnecessary damage" on the economy.
Will the Republican party wake up and not be lead by guys like Senator Ted Cruz, a freshman Senator that has future polical ideas in mind, like a possible run for the White House. Personally if he were to run and become the Republican candidate for 2016, he would fall just as a predicessor Mitt Romney did in the 2008 elections.
Because of him and select others in his party, the Republican party is now in so much disarray that it is highly unlikely that they can recover from this to put together a credible campaign for any likely candidate for 2016 elections.
What does this all mean? It means that if Hilary Clinton decides that she wants to run for the next election, most likely she will be nominated by her party and have an extremely good chance to become the next president of the United States. Who is now qualified to run by the Republican party that hasn't already caused serious damage to the country? What can they posibilly run on?