To the editor:

Since 1938, the 4th Congressional District of Ohio has been represented by a Republican. The 4th District has been reconfigured (gerrymandered) several times to guarantee that a Republican would win. The 4th District now spans from Elyria to Sidney.

Our present representative is Jim Jordan. First elected in 2006, one of his best ideas was balancing the federal budget and reducing the deficit. In the past 12 years he has been unable to convince Congress, or to call for a constitutional Congress to propose a balanced budget amendment. He has been consistent in voting against budgets that increase the deficit, until he voted for the 2017 tax cut law, which has increased the deficit by $779 billion this year. To balance the budget and keep the deficit from increasing, most Republicans consider Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid to be expenses that can be cut. Are these reductions acceptable to the people of the 4th District?

The tax law passed by Republicans was a tax cut for corporations and the rich with a small tax cut for the middle class Americans. Middle class Americans are getting $20 to $40 more per week. We receive an extra $40 per week, but that benefit is consumed by increased healthcare and everyday expenses. There has been no real growth in middle class wages. We needed real tax reform to help reduce our debt. What the Republicans passed was a tax law designed to increase favorable votes from the middle class while increasing the income for the rich. Is Jordan more interested in getting elected than balancing the budget?

Jordan bragged that he voted over 50+ times to repeal the Affordable Care Act (ACA), but the Republicans who control both houses of Congress and the presidency could not agree on a reasonable replacement. Unable to pass a new health care law, the Republicans weakened ACA by using essential funding of the ACA to give the rich people a tax cut. Remember when Jordan claimed the ACA was a “job-killer,” he quit saying that when jobs kept increasing. Does he really want to repeal the ACA and financially hurt those with preexisting conditions?

The voters in the 4th Congressional District need to have a representative of all the people. Could Jordan be elected if our District was equally split between Democrats and Republicans?

Norman Smith

Sidney