The shutdown's losers

It's easy for liberals to enthuse about "winning" the government shutdown. It's predictable for conservatives to act like the whole episode isn't a big deal. It's appropriate for all of us to celebrate the fact that furloughed federal workers will get back pay.

But don't forget all the other workers affected by the shutdown: those who don't work for the feds themselves but don't have anything to do unless the feds are working. There won't be any back pay for them, and the shutdown's political fallout might not be their most pressing concern. Here's Jim Tankersley:

John Anderson lost the government shutdown... "I was living week to week" before the shutdown, Anderson told me. "Now I'm living day to day."