Drama sells. The loud and dramatic voices on the radical right and left get all the media air time and create a “false” division. America is radically divided, that is what I hear and see in the media, though far less in my daily life.

A recent NYT article, based on a detailed poll, revealed that the loud voices and investments of just 8 percent of far-left liberals and 6 percent of far-right conservatives are dominating politics. The article indicated that 67 percent of us are actually centrist independents, Republicans or Democrats who lean left or right on specific issues. It is time for us in the center to step up and act to restore balance. We must act before the radical fringe groups on the far left and right unravel the beautiful tapestry of our democracy by pulling us apart from the fringe edges.

One of our greatest concerns should be the actual facts related to fiscal responsibility in our government. Republicans, during this administration, have run up our deficit by $665B in 2017, $804B in 2018, and will run up $981B in 2019; this all in a booming economy with record low unemployment.

Compare that with the last four years of the previous administration, in a recovering economy, adding $585B, $438B, $485B, and $679B to the debt. Borrow-and-spend Republican policy, doubling down on the voodoo economics experiment of the 1980s, has added nearly $20 trillion to the debt in the past four decades.

So what is a “radical” moderate to do? Republicans have complete control, so it is time to swing Congress to the left for balance. In particular, our representative in the 3rd District has proven to be a rubber-stamp Republican, voting with his party, not for his constituents. He voted for the tax cut and the spending bill, thus is not fiscally conservative. He has also voted against our health care, our environment, and the well-being of our public lands. We need a change.

Lacking a strong independent to vote for, I will be voting against Tipton by voting for Mitsch-Bush.

Ed Troyer

Glenwood Springs