Dear editor:

Are you one of the thousands of middle class taxpayers in this area who have lost their jobs, their pensions, their savings, their health insurance and/or their homes to foreclosure while seeing their federal and state taxes continue to rise? Are you tired of the same failed federal and state policies that caused the financial ruin of so many while banks and corporations got bailed out and received numerous tax breaks as they sent jobs and investments out of our country and the wealthy continued to get wealthier?

If you are fed up, then you need to make sure that you vote for a change in representation at both the federal and state levels on Tuesday, Nov. 2. The people that you have been sending to both Washington and Lansing for too many years are the very same representatives responsible for the failed policies that got our nation and state into the horrible situation that it has seen.

Take a look at the voting records of both Upton and Proos. Have they been voting to represent you and your best interests? If your only benefit has been the pain of financial loss due to the many circumstances listed above, then it is time for a change. It is time to get rid of the obstructionist voting that is keeping meaningful legislative change from occurring both in Washington and in Lansing that would benefit the majority and the middle class in this region.  It is time to say “No more” to the “Party of No!”

If you are tired of it all, please join me in changing the representation in Berrien County and the 6th District.  You can choose to be apathetic and part of the problem, or you can choose to vote for a change in representation that promises to work for the middle class majority. The time is now.

Elect Don Cooney, U.S. representative; Virg Bernero, governor; Brenda Lawrence, Lt. governor; Scott Elliott, state senator; Cindy Ellis, state representative; and Jocelyn Benson, secretary of state.

Bette Pierman

Benton Harbor