When it comes to the shutdown: You broke it, you fix it

Well they did it. They really did it. Like most people with at least most a grain of common sense, I’m mad as Hades. I place the blame fully on the Tea Party. In their extremist zeal to prevent President Barack Obama from destroying the country — that is their paranoid vision, by the way — they have shut down our federal government in an act of political extortion.

And guess what? It wasn’t Obama holding the sledgehammer. It was the Tea Party holding it, working very hard to bring down the very nation they claim to protect. Looks like they succeeded and we the everyday American citizen is paying the price for their — for lack of a clean term to use here — stupidity.

Whoa. Calm down man. Placing blame and ranting will get us nowhere (although it felt really good to vent). So now what happens? What can be done to fix this mess thrust upon us all? I have a few suggestions. Perhaps they could be passed on to those in the know and with the power to really do something with them.

First off, and this goes out to the members of the GOP specifically, get a divorce from the Tea Party. Ditch them now, toss them back down the hole. Slam the door shut, lock the door and throw away the key into the deepest ocean. You should have never let them gain any power nor let them cow you into submission. It was an unholy shotgun wedding with a small group of extremists that has now cost America a great deal. The shutdown is more than ample proof that their actions are not in the nation’s interests or security.

Second, his goes out to both parties in Congress and the current administration, sit down and hammer out your differences to get this government back to work. Serve the people of this nation and never let this kind of fiasco ever happen again.

Third, Congress and the administration are still getting paid while thousands of government workers go without during the crisis — people like federal office staff, Reservists, National Guard and their civilian technician support staff on bases across the country (the U.S. government is one of Alaska’s largest employers), park rangers and government scientists, just to name a few. Not to mention whole families that are still in need of medical programs, welfare and food stamps. A lot of that was cut off. There are stories about the plight of many of these people in every facet of the media. Those responsible for this stunt need to made aware of just how much damage was done to many lives in this country.

Fourth, here is what I suggest to all in Washington, D.C., from the halls of Congress to the White House. While this self-inflicted mess is going on, donate your pay to those in need. Each day it isn’t resolved, dock yourself more. Keep this up until either you go broke or get the government up and running again. It might go a long way to gaining what little trust there is left for you from us. Some of us don’t have any after this. I am one of them. But if you do what I have suggested, the anger felt as well may calm down to a simmering hate.

Fifth, I strongly suggest you go to work every day. No days off, no vacations, no travel, nothing until the crisis is adverted and our government is back in business. You broke it, you fix it. This last bit you might want take as an order from your real employer — we the people of the United States of America (remember us?) — we are not happy with this sad stunt you pulled on us. Not. One. Bit.

We will of course remember you — in the voting booth when your time for re-election comes up. Think on that, very hard. Because some didn’t like a certain law — the Affordable Care Act — they decided to hold an entire nation hostage. For this grand act of foolishness and stupidity of the highest order, there will be a very high price to be paid by them once this ever gets resolved. I hope you (the Tea Party and those who supported it) find unemployment a moving experience.

Wasilla resident Daniel D. Grota retired from the U.S. Army after more than 21 years of service.