The shutdown was the Democrats’ fault. They own it | Opinion

Blame Dems for shutdown

The “Schumer” shutdown lasted 43 days, and what did it accomplish? Nothing.

Instead, it inflicted pain and suffering on mostly middle and lower income Americans, and the Democrats went right along with it. Where were Sens. Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell? They were paid.

The Democrats sold themselves as the “protectors” of healthcare and healthcare subsidies. Really? President Barack Obama lied to pass the Affordable Care Act. Did anybody get to keep their doctor or healthcare plan? Politifact named it the “Lie of the Year” in 2013. Additionally, Obama falsely stated the penalty for not having healthcare insurance was not a tax. In fact, it had to be a tax to be constitutional. Obama deceived us to avoid the political implications of raising taxes on the middle class.

Democrats were even going to let the military go without pay. As a military retiree, I was appalled. On Veteran’s Day, the Democrats gave up and the government opened on Wednesday. Sens. Jack Reed, D-Rhode Island, and John Hickenlooper, D-Colorado, were asked by a reporter while leaving the Senate if the shutdown was worth it.

They both said it was. Can you imagine? They disrupted millions of lives. Next time, try cooperation, not chaos.

Craig A. Chilton, Bonney Lake

Combat voter apathy

Our 2025 elections highlight a true threat to democracy in spite of recent political rhetoric. Voter apathy is a very real threat to our representative republic. Election after election produces voter turnouts that barely or don’t exceed 50% of registered voters. Often, candidates/initiatives struggle to capture 50% of votes cast. Rough math says a half of a half is a quarter, which means a majority of voters are not participating and letting a minority drive the bus.

This is not what the founders envisioned when they penned the words “We the people...”. If we don’t use the system they gave us we will lose it!

Mike Ogden, Puyallup

Health care cuts devastating

Five days before my sixty-fifth birthday, bed bound in a hospital bed in my living room after an accident that left me a paraplegic, I called to make an in-home visit from a mobile physician. My electric wheelchair was too wide to fit through the doctor’s office’s doors.

The woman’s voice explained a medical team, the lifeline I’ve depended on, would no longer come because of budget cuts. How could this happen? My fragile health was tethered to their visits.

From battling COVID twice to kidney stones, these visits have kept me alive and safe. My health now at the mercy of a system that has forgotten me.

I'm fearful of what comes next. Will I be sent to a nursing home, cut off from everything that still gives my life meaning? Movie nights with my adult daughter? Playtime with my four-year-old niece?

I am not alone. There are thousands like me, desperate for help. Please amplify our voices. Share our story. Advocate for those who rely on these home visits; for us, they are not a luxury, but the difference between dignity and despair, between living and merely surviving.

Susan Berry, Spanaway

This story was originally published November 23, 2025 at 5:00 AM with the headline "The shutdown was the Democrats’ fault. They own it | Opinion."