REPUBLICAN Speaker of the House John Boehner said October 16, "We fought the good fight, we just didn’t win," after two weeks of wrangling for concessions in exchange for the approval of a new government budget and an increase in the country’s debt limit. If his party lost, did the Democrats win? Can Barack Obama consider himself victorious?

With the agreement reached, the United Sates was able to avoid a disaster, not only domestic, but global as well, which would have meant defaulting on payments due. The solution is, however, only temporary, since the vote authorized the Treasury Department to issue more bonds only through February 7 and keep public entities functioning through January 16. Will we see a repeat of this soap opera?

Despite the battle put up by the Republicans, the party has a mere 28% approval rating, according to Gallup Polls. This is the lowest rate ever registered by a major party in the U.S. and is not only inconvenient for Republicans, but one more example indicating that the country’s political system is facing a period of crisis and readjustment.

Within the divided GOP, the Tea Party is not faring well. According to the Pew Research Center, a Washington think tank, 49% of citizens hold a negative view of the right-wing grouping, with 30% viewing it positively.

Although these numbers can and do change, image is important in politics, especially in the United States where every day appears to be a campaign day.

The outcome was not negative for everyone. One of the most intransigent members of the Tea Party got some attention: Ted Cruz, who minutes before the Senate vote remained defiant. Last month, the Senator from Texas, of Cuban origin, spoke for 21 straight hours on the Senate floor against Obama’s health care plan. He is one to be followed, considered a potential candidate for the 2016 Republican Presidential nomination.

Many analysts are giving Obama the victory in the public battle. It is true that the President fulfilled his commitment to resist extortion by those demanding cuts in social spending, especially in regards to his health care plan, in exchange for budget approval. But the agreement is not, as yet, definitive.

Obama is more firm when it comes to speeches, as opposed to action, and he again appeared faint-hearted when the time came to make a decision. He insisted on a bipartisan agreement, but has not been effective in creating consensus in an ever more polarized country.

The President said there are no winners or losers and that the default was avoided thanks to "responsible" Democrats and Republicans, saying it was

"not a surprise that the American people are completely fed up with Washington" In a brief speech October 17, from the White House, he indicated that the number one priority which Congress should address is long-term agreement on the debt ceiling, followed by immigration reform and a farm bill.

But if it was difficult to reach agreement on the budget, can progress be made on other thornier issues, such as immigration?

There are no winners in this war of attrition. The 16 days of partial shut-down cost the U.S. economy at least $24 million, according to Standard & Poor and worse yet, it is self-inflicted, unnecessary damage.

Democrats, Republicans and the President all lost; and above all the U.S. people lost, with no one in Congress to represent them and find a solution to the most pressing problems they face, such as unemployment, which has reached 7.3%.