In response to Grand Beaver’s letter printed on Oct. 18, I would like to say that the term “shutdown” is entirely accurate to describe the government’s situation.

All non-essential services had no funding approved, and were shut down. Essential services kept going, despite lack of approval for funding, which does not make the non-essential services any less shut down.

Workers were furloughed, in the public and private sector as well, just as Boeing Co. stated they might have had to start giving some of their employees notice. The Department of the Interior did have to shut down the parks and memorials they maintain, while keeping some staff on duty. They had no funds.

Republicans submitted multiple proposals to reopen the government, all with some grand Republican demand, and wouldn’t simply pass a clean funding bill.

They’d only fund the government if they could defund Obamacare, or delay the individual mandate, or deny Congress insurance plan subsidies, or block net neutrality, or change the rules on the debt ceiling so the next time it would be worse. As Rep. Marlin Stutzman said, “We have to get something out of this. And I don’t know what that even is.”

Democrats passed a clean resolution with no Democratic demands. They didn’t want the government shutdown at all and wanted to fund everything as it was – definitely not to extend hardship or finger point.

And that’s why the Tea Party and Republicans are rightfully seen as responsible for the shutdown, with approval ratings lower than ever.

Congress is elected to work for the people, not to shut down the government. The Tea Party is not doing what they are elected to do, and that fight is not the right thing. The Tea Party is not elected to create a shutdown that costs us an estimated $24 billion.

You’re free to oppose the Affordable Care Act, or any other act passed into law. That isn’t an allowance to shut down all of government over your demands, to threaten going over the debt ceiling, because of one law that Congress doesn’t even need to pass a budget for.

Alex Guenser, Kirkland