According to Standard & Poor's, the Teabagger shutdown has so far cost us $24 billion:
1:55 PM – Today
Government Shutdown Cost $24 Billion: S&P
Standard and Poors estimated that the government shutdown has taken $24 billion out of the United States economy and shaved at least 0.6 percent off fourth-quarter growth, the ratings agency said in a news release Wednesday.
The agency said that the short-term nature of the emerging Senate agreement would likely hurt the economy:
"The short turnaround for politicians to negotiate some sort of lasting deal will likely weigh on consumer confidence, especially among government workers that were furloughed. If people are afraid that the government policy brinkmanship will resurface again, and with it the risk of another shutdown or worse, they'll remain afraid to open up their checkbooks."
To put that in perspective, the total amount we spend on the entire WIC program every year comes to about $6.8 billion. (http://www.fns.usda.gov/....) Federal funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting is less than half a billion. (http://www-tc.pbs.org/....) The cuts in the SNAP (food stamp) program proposed by Eric Cantor last month amounted to $40 billion over ten years, or four billion per year. (http://www.nytimes.com/....)
So next time some knuckle-dragging, mouth-breathing bagger comes along and starts whining about Sesame Street or the devastating costs to the public fisc of infant formula, remind them what their little temper tantrum just cost us.