I agree completely with Nicholas Burns (“Shutdown diminishes US as a global power,” Op-ed, Oct. 10) that our image in the world has been tarnished and that Americans are being hurt because of the inability of Congress to pass a budget and come to some kind of compromise. However, I take issue with the reference to the “recklessness of the Tea Party insurrectionists who have effectively hijacked the government.” In reality, the fault rests with the spinelessness of the Republican Party.