Know how representatives voted before you take your vote into consideration

It is important to know the bills and votes of senators and representatives in Congress. This information is valuable to understand, as much of it is not reported in the regular articles of most papers or over TV or radio.

What surprised me recently was our representative for the 5th District, Cathy McMorris Rodgers, voted to oppose a bill for a floor debate that would protect Social Security and Medicare from cuts to balance the budget in a constitutional amendment. In other words, her vote was to allow Social Security Medicare and Medicaid to be “unprotected.”

McMorris Rodgers also argued in a town hall meeting in the Spokane Valley a few years ago that “entitlements,” which she considers to be Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, are the parts of the federal budget that would probably be cut to balance the budget if need be.

Often our politicians do not always vote the way they present themselves, so an informed voter, rather than sitting on his/her hands and complaining, needs to understand the current political issues in the country today. Presently, information can be found by searching http://www.congress.org.

Really, a vote for McMorris Rodgers is a vote against the popular programs Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security; programs that support our elderly and disabled.

Nancy Street

Cheney