To the editor:

You’d be mistaken to believe the objectives of Republican anarchists/extortionists in the U. S. House of Representatives have been met. They’ve accomplished their initial goal of shutting down the federal government for a week. Their ultimate goal is to bring down the federal government by blocking an increase in the debt limit up for a vote around October 17, an action which will precipitate a federal default on government payments and plunge our nation back into recession.

The Republicans’ goal to bring down the federal government should surprise nobody since they are puppets of billionaires like the Koch brothers and Wall Street robber barons who consider the federal government a loathsome intrusive beast infringing on their god-given rights to rig the political, financial, labor, and environmental landscapes to satisfy their own greed.

To these Republicans, laissez-faire capitalism has become their religion and wealth their god.

Larry Knight

COLUMBIA, S.C.