It's time for a change

Bad news and good news from this unbelievable standoff.

The bad news is the fact that millions of people, such as you and me, have been taken hostage by the Tea Party as ransom for its ideals. Consequently, millions of people are suffering from lack of food and other necessities of life and health. Rather than taking any responsibility for these atrocities, the Tea Party's answer is to send a pathetic John Boehner out in front of microphones to whine “he won't negotiate with us.”

The good news is this action by the irresponsible, uncaring, selfish and mean-spirited Tea Party is showing the American people what they are made of and to what extremes they will go to get their way. The Tea Party's actions are unconscionable.

Simple common sense says there is no way the president can give in to hostage takers. If he did, no American anywhere in the world would be safe. Every terrorist in the world would start grabbing Americans and holding them for ransom. I hate to imagine what the ransom might be and who they might grab first. It would move this ridiculous Obamacare fiasco to the back page.

Rep. Steve King, Rep. Tom Latham and Sen. Chuck Grassley apparently agree with the Tea Party philosophy. It's time for a change. These guys are obviously more loyal to the Koch Brothers version of “the American people” than to “the real American people.”

Tom Martin

Iowa City