To the Editor:

Since they took over control of the North Carolina Legislature, there has been a great cry among Republican ranks to get our fiscal house in order. They have cut spending on schools, they have cut spending on health care, and they have frozen government hiring for much of their term in office …. well, with a few exceptions of friends of the governor. In the process, these guys got into bed with energy companies and decided that fracking — the energy recovery process that has polluted much of the Southwest and Northeast — is a good idea for North Carolina. Our own state senator describes this as the new “… energy revolution.” He says that with a smile.     

Democrats, now a minority in the legislature, protested the blocking of the Affordable Healthcare Act. Democrats railed against the real cuts to education and voted against a sham raise for teachers. And Democrats came down against fracking in the state, along with a lot of Republican citizens who recognize this as a bomb under our bed.

Rarely have citizens of North Carolina had such a clear-cut choice in an election. We can choose to elect people who are driven by money, or we can choose to elect people who are concerned about the wellbeing of citizens and our environment.

What does your conscience tell you to choose?

Rick Bryson

Bryson City