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Bergman a disappointment

EDITOR:

The recent passage of the “Tax Cuts and Jobs Act” caps a disappointing year for Northern Michigan citizens who pay attention to federal governance and its effects on our community, our nation, and the world. We are being led by a president who is reckless, has no moral compass, and campaigned like a populist, yet governs for the rich and powerful. He is likely to be with us until 2020.

But he can be reined in. The Constitution makes that the job of the co-equal branch of government — Congress. Our two senators are both in the minority and find their responsible actions overpowered by the by Senate majority. Our freshman House representative, on the other hand, is a member of the majority party, and is in a position to have impact on legislative action that Trump is pushing, as well hold the president accountable for his actions.

I attended one of Jack Bergman’s town halls. It was a frustrating two hours of trite platitudes and non-answers making it impossible to tell where he stands on issues. Instead, we must look to his voting record.

What has Mr. Bergman been doing since he entered Congress nearly a year ago? He has voted in line with Trump’s position on bills before the House more than 96 percent of the time, including those that adversely affect the environment and safety (H.R.26, H.J.Res.38, H.J.Res.36, H.J.Res.44, H.R.806,), that undermine public education (H.J.Res.57), that attempt to gut the Affordable Care Act and other health care legislation benefitting middle-and low-income persons (S.Con.Res.3, H.R.7, H.J.Res.43, H.R.1101, H.R.1628), and bills that reward banks, large organizations, and the wealthy, at the expense of the middle and lower classes and our children and grandchildren (H.R. 10, H.J.Res.111, H.R.1). To my knowledge, he has never voiced disagreement with Trump over any of his outrageous actions or words.

We have a Congressional representative who keeps his head down and votes with the Republican herd for the benefit of the wealthy and corporations rather than his constituents. It’s bad enough that we have a president that may go down in history as the worst ever. In 10 months, it would be a shame to re-elect a Congressional representative who serves as his enabler.

Tom Bronken

Marquette

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