An editorial found in The New York Times, “The Cost of the Shutdown,” argues that many Republicans are claiming the government shutdown as “an opportunity to show that less spending isn’t really so bad.” However, that claim is false and the shutdown will actually cause more spending and damage the economy.

            The editorial’s targeted audience is not to just those who oppose the government shutdown, but a vast majority of every American. The argument is being made to explain how the government shutdown will not only harm us, but our economy as well. And if we are being informed that we are in harms way, it keeps the audience engaged with the editorial.

            Many Republican officials are claiming that the government shutdown is doing no harm, and that during the shutdown there will be “less spending.” The author, however, is arguing that the shutdown is indeed causing harm and hurting our economy. The statement is backed up by facts about the past government shutdown between 1995 and 1996, and also with facts about the current situation. In the past government shutdown between 1995 and 1996, it “cost the Treasury $1.4 billion over 26 days…equivalent of $2.1 billion in today’s dollars.” These are head turning numbers to have just occurred within a 26-day span. According to “the research firm IHS Inc. [ it ] estimates that the shutdown will cost the country $300 million a day in lost economic output.” Not only will we have to spend billions of dollars because of the shutdown, millions of workers are not getting paid.  We also have “ the cost to the economy from the lost productivity of the 800,000 furloughed workers and the delayed paychecks to the more than one million “essential” employees who are still on the job.” The author could have cemented his argument by stating military veterans might not receive their benefits as well. I believe that military families are more politically up-to-date and are more inclined to read this article, which would bring more support to his argument.

            The argument is successful because it makes people realize what the government shutdown is actually doing to our economy. If our economy is in a downward spiral, potentially our nation is in a downward spiral. We are already in a major economic deficit, so we should not be adding to this deficit due to the “single-minded crusade” of some Republicans. Many people are blind to what the government shutdown affects are, however, by reading this editorial many eyes will be open to the negative affects of this dire situation.