It is about time to throw the bums out.

Our congressman, Tom McClintock, needs to be replaced. He came in as a carpetbagger from Thousand Oaks after being termed out in the California Senate. Since then he has shown little interest in learning about and solving local problems in Lake Tahoe. What we need in this district is a problem solver not a right wing ideologue.

In recent polls it is clear that the majority of us in this great country fall in the middle politically, some 51 percent whereas 28 percent are on the right and 21 percent are on the left. People in the middle want our government to work and our politicians to find common ground and compromise. Mr. McClintock has shown no inclination to compromise and no evidence of being pragmatic.

Voting to replace the Affordable Care Act 43 times is totally unproductive, regardless of your view on the law. And I will point out that the ACA idea came out of the conservative Heritage Foundation and was implemented by Mitt Romney in Massachusetts. It is not a government program but an expansion of a private health insurance system with regulations that prevents discrimination against people with preexisting conditions and eliminates annual and lifetime caps. One can pragmatically argue that a well-designed and well-run government-based system without the requisite need for profit and single-payer bargaining power to purchase pharmaceuticals in bulk at lower costs could provide the same level of healthcare at a lower cost, but that is another topic for another day. There is an opportunity cost of doing the same thing over and over without any chance of success. He should have spent his time working on legislation that could actually pass and provide some benefit to our district.

I have grown tired of his diatribes that government is the major problem. Now that he has been completely unproductive as a congressman for the last two terms, he being part of the current government is truly a quandary for our district. His most egregious act is his recent vote not to open our government nor raise the debt limit. The shutdown has cost some $24 billion in the short term and could possibly cost hundreds of billions of dollars if we get another downgrade. So much for being fiscally conservative. This is not to mention the impact of the shutdown had on many of our neighbors who work for the U.S. Forest Service and other federal agencies, and the small businesses that depend on our government remaining open. It is truly galling that he voted against raising the debt limit and potentially causing catastrophic harm to our economy and reputation. After all, this is money already spent, and he and his colleagues authorized this spending.

America is not a deadbeat nation. We pay our bills. This is irresponsible and unpatriotic. We require a new direction and a responsive representative for our district. We need someone to represent the middle 51 percent. Anyone interested? Please!

— Dr. Ralph M. Sinibaldi is a resident of South Lake Tahoe.