Shutdown [Capital (Annapolis, MD)]

It is possible to imagine that Bob McWilliams got talking points from Ted Cruz and Sarah Palin for his rush into error about the government shutdown (The Capital, Oct. 11).

By blaming the Obama administration for "petty and punitive" acts in closing down popular federal sites, McWilliams displays astonishing ignorance of the fact that federal agencies need money in their accounts if they are to operate fully or even partially.

The new fiscal year started Oct. 1, without appropriations for most of the federal government. The Republican majority in the House of Representatives demanded a defunding of the Affordable Care Act as their price for funding the government and allowing federal agencies to operate.

There was no chance the new health insurance law would be stopped, so that demand was not emphasized after a few days of the shutdown. While the government was still stalled, they started scratching around for other things to demand.

In the Food and Drug Administration, many safety inspectors for meats were laid off. At the National Institutes of Health, critical trials of experimental drugs were curtailed, endangering some desperately ill patients. The processing of claims for veterans benefits was slowed. Every federal department was impacted in some way, but McWilliams wonders why attractions in parks were closed.

There was public outrage when death benefits were not being paid to families of American troops killed in action in Afghanistan. McWilliams blames the Obama administration for that cruel situation, but House Republicans knew the problem was theirs. They quickly voted to appropriate funds for the death benefits, but a private charity had already started to pick up the tab. How embarrassing is that?

RAYMOND S. GILL

Crownsville