So after sixteen days with nothing accomplished, the government shutdown and debt ceiling crisis are over...for another three months.

The Daily Beast stole my line:  Is Ted Cruz the Miley Cyrus of the Republican party?

Tea Party representative Jack Kingston of George was on "All In" last night.  After Chris Hayes had said that the shutdown had cost the economy $24B, Kingston said that it had been a "minor inconvenience" that allowed Republicans to express their dislike of Obamacare.  Hayes interrupted: "Do you think there is a single American who didn't already know what Republicans think?"  Kingston was so flustered that he couldn't say 'shutdown': "The government shirtdone...shortdorn...sh...sh...closing..." 

The pundits don't seem to agree about much, except that this was a disaster for the GOP.  What about Speaker Boehner's future?  One said, "the jig is up," and he's done as speaker.  Another said he would be finished, but there is no one else who wants the job.  (I thought Eric Cantor, always walking one step behind, had his knife unsheathed.)  Still others said Boehner came out of this stronger because, despite the fact that he got no concessions, he stood up with the Tea Party and gained a bit more of their confidence. 

Other than the obvious economic damage--both to the overall economy and in personal lives--sixteen days passed when nothing was accomplished.  Major issues and problems were ignored: jobs creation, stimulus programs, the disappearing middle class, the increasing number of poor (and, according to a Pew survey, for the first time ever an increasing number of people label themselves as poor rather than as middle class; no matter how inaccurate the latter description might have been, there was still a sense of hope and belonging), climate change, immigration reform, and the list could go on. 

For the last three days, President Obama and other Democrats have been talking again about comprehensive immigration reform.  It's probably the next issue that the Congress will address, and the thought seems to be that there is some hope, as the President now has more evident strength and the Republicans are in disarray.  Will the Tea Partiers dare confront the President and such Senate leaders of their own party as John McCain?  Their comments over the last 24 hours certainly don't indicate that they are chastened by the humiliation they're trying to spin as victory. 

Meanwhile, the "supercommittee," led by Sen. Patti Murray and Rep. Paul Ryan, has two months to create an overarching budget compromise so that the governance by brinksmanship doesn't happen again in three months.   Already the Republicans have won some preliminary battles: the sequestration cuts are still in effect; the budget number in the CR is at the level the Republicans wanted.  Dealing with the fiscally ultra-conservative Ryan is already not going to be easy.  Even if the committee can accomplish something, it's an uphill battle to end the sequestration and to get the numbers back where the economy will actually be stimulated and jobs will be created.