Editor,

In his Jan. 24 letter, William Christian claims “the citizens are being held hostage by a Democratic party ….” His simplistic opinion ignores many facts.

Budget: The fiscal year starts Oct. 1. Federal Law 31 U.S.C. 1105 requires the president to submit a budget proposal not later than the first Monday in February. Trump did not submit a plan until May 23 — yes, he ignored a law again. The CBO finished scoring the 2018 Budget on July 13. Mitch McConnell and Paul Ryan control what bills come to the floor of Congress. They blocked any budget consideration until October. What was Congress working on during that period? First they tried and failed to kick 33 million people off health care by repealing the Affordable Care Act. Then they employed their lobbyists to focus on giving huge tax cuts to the rich, big donors and big business.

DACA: More than 80 percent of Americans favor protection for DACA participants. “Dotard Donnie” instructed “elf boy Sessions” to announce an end to the program in September. Trump also challenged Congress to address the status of over 800,000 individuals who have passed stringent qualifications and contribute to our country. Every bill introduced to consider DACA has been blocked by McConnell and Ryan. Attaching DACA to the budget is the only way to force the morally repugnant Republicans to act. IMO, if citizens are “being held hostage “ it is by a lying, despicable POTUS and corrupt GOP members of Congress who are demanding taxpayers fund a needless wall.

Many reliable media outlets have shown video of the Senate immediately after thegovernment shutdown. Sen. Claire McCaskill voiced a proposal to pay our military during the shutdown. “Turtle face” McConnell very quickly blocked the action. Certainly looks like he was using our brave armed forces not just as pawns but as scapegoats in his personal political agenda.

John Boling

Coupeville