South Dakota Representatives: Voting Against American Interests

Good letter in the Rapid City Weekly News yesterday:

Study public record before casting votes

Since all bills for raising federal revenue (our taxes) must originate in the House of Representatives (See Article I, Section 7, U.S. Constitution), doesn’t this power make the office of congressman more important than the presidency?

With this in mind, what code of conduct would you use to rate the performance of a congressman or senator? How about examining their actual voting record using these standards:

- Their adherence to the constitutional principals of limited government.

- Fiscal responsibility

- National sovereignty

- A traditional foreign policy of avoiding foreign entanglements.

The Freedom Index (www.capwiz.com/jbs/home) uses this system to rate all 535 members of Congress on identical issues.

Would it surprise you to learn that in the most recent index, Rep. Herseth Sandlin and Sen. Johnson (both up for reelection) voted against America’s best interests most of the time? Out of a possible 10 votes tallied, Rep. Herseth Sandlin voted zero out of 10 times for the above principles and Sen. Johnson voted one out of 10 times for the same.

Do you really want to reward this kind of irresponsible behavior by reelecting these people? Forget their rhetoric and politics. Study the public record, then cast an informed vote!

Gary C. Velder
Newell