It is extremely disturbing to watch the debacle taking place in Washington, D.C. How could anyone who actually knows what is going on, expect the leaders of the Republican Party to go along with everything that the president, Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi demand?

The past five years have been a disaster. The Affordable Care Act was passed behind closed doors without much input from the Republicans when the Democrats held all three branches of government. The bill is critically flawed and more and more people will realize that as time goes on.

The Republicans, if they cannot repeal the law, just want to sit down and negotiate. Obama flatly refuses, as does Reid and Pelosi.

The U.S. system of government was set up so that in the event the Senate and House of Representatives were hopelessly deadlocked (as is the case now), the president is required to step in, negotiate with both sides and, between the three, come up with a solution. Obama has flatly refused to do that.

Instead, he leaves, when he should have been helping solve the problem, and ridicules the Republicans at another of his thousands of speeches. Instead of helping, he throws more gasoline on the fire.

The guy is an incompetent amateur.

He has given special interest groups, including members of Congress and unions, special exemptions from the law.

Is that fair to the vast majority of Americans?

Put the blame for the fiasco where it belongs — right in Obama’s lap.

Cornelius Swanton, Rangeley