Freedomworks CEO calls government shutdown, debt ceiling crisis 'brilliant Republican strategy'

Matt Kibbe, CEO of conservative activist organization Freedomworks, tweeted a link to a defense of the recent Republican endeavor to defund the Affordable Care Act and threaten the solvency of the government by blocking a raise of the debt ceiling.

why the government shutdown and the debt ceiling crisis were brilliant Republican strategy https://t.co/AZI7zDylz5 via @sharethis

— Matt Kibbe (@mkibbe) October 19, 2013

The piece on the site Marginal Revolution by Tyler Cowan argues that the posturing by Republicans shifted the terms of debate, preventing policy makers from reversing some conservative gains made over the last few years. "In real terms government spending has been falling," Cowan writes. "Sequestration appears to be permanent, or it will be negotiated away by Republicans in return for preferred changes in tax and spending policy. Leading Democratic intellectuals are talking about future fiscal bargains with no new taxes."

Freedomworks' Kibbe has been making news lately for discussing a potential split of the Republican Party in two as hard-line conservatives "repopulate" the Republican Party, leaving moderates to form a third group.