Dear Editor,

I would like to respond to an article that appeared in the Gallipolis Daily Tribune on July 24, 2012. The article was written by Rep. Bill Johnson called, “Empower, Don’t Punish, Job Creators.”

Mr. Johnson, you are very naive or else too dumb to see the truth when it is laying in front of you. You took President Obama’s message about job creation completely out of context. Listen to the whole message. You might fool some of your constituents, but not all of us. Some of us know differently. Everyone of us need some help sometimes, but maybe you refuse to help. That could be your problem.

The only person that you listen to seems to be Grover Norquist. Tell us about your commitment to him. Did you sign the pledge with him? Who do you represent? I think we need to remind you that you are there to represent the people in your district for whom you were elected, not Grover Norquist.

All we ever hear from you and the Republican Party is cut taxes and social programs. Because of the Bush Tax Cuts, the jobs have disappeared, there should be jobs everywhere, where are they, Mr. Johnson?

You look those poor, hungry children in the eye and tell them we cannot give them anymore food stamps because we have to give the top 2 percent a tax break. Shame on all of you. I think if you would go back and look at previous years, we had a much better economy when ‘everybody’ pad their fair share of taxes. This is where Grover Norquist comes in — are you scared of him?

You worry about defense spending. How many times do we have to kill the world just to prove we can do it? I think all you need is one time. No one ever got killed negotiating a peace treaty.

You complain about regulations on businesses. Have you already forgotten about the collapse of Wall Street and the taxpayers bail out of Wall Street? You talk about the EPA. Thank goodness someone is trying to clean up the water and our air. Remember, we live in the Ohio Valley, better known as “cancer valley”. We need to have someone to at least keep our environment clean. These businesses that do not want to be regulated, let them build them in Mr. Norquist’s and your back yard. I think with some negotiation, we can come to a workable solution with all concerned.

C ongress only has around a 10 percent approval rating at the present time. That is not good enough to maintain a job in Washington. We couldn’t pay you minimum wage because you are all not worth it. Mr. Johnson, you are the “red tape” in Washington.

The Gallipolis Daily Tribune gave you a very sizeable space. I just hope they will allow me the same courtesy.

Sincerely,

Bud Crothers,

A registered voter