To the editor:

I voted my values and my pocket book. Folks talk about the 100,000 civilians dead in Iraq who’ve innocently gotten stuck in the middle of fighting, a heavy burden to pay in every war we’ve been in. I voted because 45 million deaths of unborn children is not good social policy. Less than 4 percent of abortions happen because of medical need, rape or incest. Abortion on demand is not a good thing. I voted to keep marriage what it’s been for 6,000 years, between a man and a woman! Gays and lesbians do not need to destroy the meaning of marriage to complete their agenda for benefits.

I think the president’s policies in Medicare and education are helping the poor very much as well. The tax cuts went to families and not just the rich: the increase in the child tax credit, the 10 percent expansion and the marriage penalty reduction. The economy is improving as a result of the tax cuts, and my taxes are lower than they were four years ago and jobs have been brought back. So stop putting “values voters” in a box. Open your mind for discussion rather than blanket statements of the other party. God bless.

Justin Smitley,

Lawrence