Vote out incumbents

Dear editor:

Last week’s $1.3 trillion spending bill, which funds federal government for only six months, is the final straw for me. Let me repeat: $1.3 trillion, six months. The bill itself was presented midday on a Wednesday, was

2,332 pages, and passed and signed by Friday evening. Which means it is physically impossible for anyone to have read it.

Still, some lowlights that were included: $641 million for a total of 33 miles of border wall. Now I’m for the border wall, which our president promised “Mexico will pay for.” Now, instead, taxpayers are being gigged for

33 miles of it, at $3.9 million per mile. Yes, do the math.

Also included was $700 billion, over a six-month period, for military spending. Military spending that won’t increase the pay of a single enlisted or commissioned soldier, Marine, sailor or pilot. That money is earmarked for huge Pentagon military contracts to firms such as Lockheed Martin and other defense contractors. I fully support our military, but we already spend more combined than the next seven countries in the world on the military.

This spending bill was reckless, irresponsible and completely ludicrous for a country that is already over $17 trillion in debt, with another $3 trillion projected to be added by the previously passed tax cuts.

Whether they voted for or against it, I am voting against any Washington, D.C., incumbent I have the opportunity to. They have simply lost touch with reality and it’s time for them to be replaced.

On that note, I have been disappointed locally with Hayden Shamel, who is running against Bruce Westerman in the midterms. I understand she doesn’t have the big money backing of the NRA or other organizations that Westerman does. I also understand she has a full-time teaching job. But it is time for her to get out and connect with voters and let them know where she stands on issues. Otherwise, this is a token run, and if so, she should move aside and allow someone else to get involved. Anthony Lloyd Hot Springs