Dear Editor:

When do we give ourselves bragging rights? Students have the right to brag when they do well on a test, but using the term hero is easy for us to give and difficult for soldiers or rescuers of a child to accept because they feel they did nothing different than anyone else would do in the same circumstance.

Recently we’ve seen TV ads bragging about a senator for ending the government shutdown in October 2013. The act of shutting down the government took many votes, as did the act of ending the shut down. The purported cause for the shutdown was to de-fund the healthcare act before it got off the ground. It lasted 16 days and cost taxpayers $24 billion. There was also a costly government shut down in 1995-96.

Shutdowns occur when Congress cannot agree to continue appropriations while resolving fiscal disputes on one or more budget items. Shutdowns are costly and those who vote in favor are still paid while taxpayers get the bill.

If you are someone who votes in favor of a shutdown, have no personal penalties for the vote that cost taxpayers $24 billion, and then, after working with Democratic colleagues, develop a proposal for ending the shutdown, do you have bragging rights?

While this proposal might have broken the ice, it was rejected because it focused only on lifting the debt ceiling for six short term months, and locked sequestration budget cuts of military wages, Medicare and Social Security payments, and unemployment into law for six months.

In spite of its rejection, the senator’s blueprint opened a hole where dialogue could begin. Ultimately, an agreement was struck between Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.) and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) ending the shutdown 16 days later without inclusion of the budget cuts.

When voting in favor of a shutdown, proposing a solution that did not pass, but seemingly led to the final agreement, can you brag about your role that cost taxpayers $24 billion? Are you a hero?

Jarryl Larson

Edgecomb