When U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson was elected to office his constituents had the right to expect him to work to achieve compromise and find solutions to the many issues facing our nation. We need a senator who has the judgement and ability to achieve results that will improve our lives and our national security.

It is our right as citizens to expect that those elected to manage our government will rise above the rhetoric and grandstanding and actually run our government in a manner that at the least does no harm to our citizens.

In recent weeks, Johnson and some of his colleagues not only failed to achieve any progress in deficit reduction or fixing the problems of the Affordable Care Act, they jeopardized our nation’s credit worthiness while depriving citizens of vital services, such as home loans, small business loans and life-saving medical treatments for children.

The Republican shutdown of government also delayed benefits for disabled veterans. Nice way to show gratitude to those many who have been placed in harms way to keep our country safe.

Many examples can be found of average Americans who were hurt in what amounted to nothing more than a political temper tantrum.

How many businesses would jeopardize their credit rating and waste money shutting down operations just to vent their dislike for a program that been passed as a law and found legal by the Supreme Court? After 40 failed attempts to repeal the Affordable Health Care Act in Congress, right-wing Republicans decided to hold our government and the nation’s economy hostage to their demands.

They accomplished nothing. Yet, Johnson and some of his colleagues are extolling this fiasco as a worthy endeavor. Perhaps, Johnson should listen to senior senators like John McCain, who declared that it is not the role of Congress to harm the people it serves, regardless how worthy you may think the cause.

George Lorenz

Waupaca