The welfare of our country and its citizens should be the top priority of our elected officials. It is ridiculous that elected officials can make such rash decisions that have an enormous impact on the income/economy of the America people, while avoiding any effects themselves.

Thousands of people are out of work because of this shutdown. People are going hungry. Our economic recovery is threatened. Government officials are not elected to shut down government but to work for the greater good of the people who elected them.

A close friend and his wife drove to Colorado and were going to stay in a national park, which is now closed. They ended up staying in a hotel one night before driving back home. I am sure he and his wife, and me and my wife, will vote you out of office next time for being stupid.

My daughter Jessica works for Homeland Security and she has to work, but she will not get paid. Yes, Homeland Security is important and must be done, but her salary is also important to support her family and meet her mortgage payments in a timely manner. How would you and your family survive if your salary was also stopped?

I am a federal worker overseas and Republican extremism is severely impacting me. They have stopped my pay and I am overseas where I cannot get unemployment benefits.

Republican extremism has impacted me in this way: My dad spent most of WWII in a German POW camp. As a result, I can't let people go hungry. As a result I make fairly large donations to my church's food pantry, food drives, and buy groceries for my friends, despite my rather limited means. If this business keeps up, it's going to cost me a damn mint! Besides, it's just plain stupid, and making our country look bad abroad.

We elected them and are paying the Congress to work for us. They have chosen not to do so. A vacation long-scheduled in a national park, clinical trials which may be needed for my cancer-stricken husband, research for better treatment for cancer-stricken patients, our children's education, and a myriad of social safety nets are in peril. No one in any elected office should be able to harm the people in this fashion. Stop the cuts, pass the budget, raise the debt limit. Now.

As a former federal employee from Washington, D.C., I appreciate how hard federal employees work and how they and their families rely on a regular paycheck. Congresswoman Michele Bachman recently argued that members of Congress are "federal employees" (for purposes of the Affordable Care Act). If that is the case, they should feel the pain of a furlough like other federal workers.

Republican extremism has impacted me in this way: They have taken away the ability for the people to make a living , and support my family. these are damn fool.

In the event of a government shutdown, hundreds of thousands of federal workers are furloughed, not knowing if or when they might get paid. They are powerless to change their fates. Members of Congress get paid in the event of a government shutdown — no matter what. Perhaps it's this lack of having skin in the game that encourages some members of Congress to be reckless and cavalier about their childish threats and ultimate misguided decisions to shutdown the government when they can't get their way. Simply put -- if Congressmen and women vote to close down the government, they shouldn't be paid while the government is closed. Members of Congress should have to bear the same responsibility for their decisions as those who are most affected by them.

Republican extremism has impacted me in this way: Research funding for the basic sciences has been cut by the Republican budgets, including the sequester, leading to unemployment for me and for many other scientists nationwide. As we are forced to abandon the pursuit of basic research that has led to huge economic advances for our nation and the world, we see that these budget cuts are discouraging young people from pursuing science and we are telling our students to go into other fields or move overseas. We are ceding our national advantage in innovation and development to countries like China and Korea who are raising their investments, which will ultimately aid them in surpassing our economy and relegate the U.S. to following, rather than leading, in our global, technological economy.

Tea party Republicans have held our government hostage for too long! During that time, more than 800,000 government employees have been unable to work, 3,200 children have been locked out of Head Start, and 401 national parks have been closed to the public. We've had enough -- it's time to end the shutdown, raise the debt ceiling and help America move forward.