Q: Is there any bigger political issue right now than the federal government shutdown?
A: Uh, no.
As a former political consultant and a current news observer, I feel qualified to answer that question. But, in order to get more in-depth answers to questions like, “How does the shutdown affect Arizona — and, more importantly, me?”, we need someone who possesses a bigger brain.
Good thing that I’m at least smart enough to know who to turn to: this week’s AZ Political Podcast guest, Arizona economist Jim Rounds.
Jim Rounds interview on federal government shutdown, who is to blame
Jim breaks down the difference between the money that’ll be lost to Arizona’s economy permanently — and the spending that will simply be postponed — compliments of the shutdown. And he lets us know what could get worse if the shutdown goes unabated.
After swimming in the economics of the shutdown, I even convinced Jim to wade into the politics of the shutdown by asking him which party he thinks is to blame. After all, it is the AZ Political Podcast.
You’ll have to watch in order to hear Jim’s answer, but I’ll reveal this much: One doesn’t have to do much R&D into “Rs” and “Ds” in order to see the truth there. They’ve shucked their most important fiscal duty to the American people for almost 30 years.
The AZ Political Podcast is available at KTAR.com, the KTAR News app and everywhere you get your podcasts.
The post AZ Political Podcast: Economist Jim Rounds discusses impact of government shutdown appeared first on KTAR.
