Are the Tea and Republican parties in the great State of Mississippi truly believers in smaller government and lower taxes, especially our governor, lieutenant governor, Legislators? Are they really as Christian as they profess they are?

If so, they should do as the Scriptures says, they should be doers of the Word and not hearers only. Our friends should insist that from this day forward, the State of Mississippi will not take one penny more from the federal government than the state sends to Washington per capita.

I would love to know just how these Christians can sit by and watch as the people they elect care more about their party and retaining their positions than they do by doing what is best for the entire state, in particular, and the nation, in general.

In 2010, they ran on the promise to enact laws that would create jobs. Instead, we saw laws passed to suppress voting rights, invade the bodies of women, try to prevent women from using contraceptives, if they and their religions don’t prevent the same, etc. Not one of these acts has created the first job or improved our state and nation’s economies.

I would just like to remind these good people of a few things:

First, Dave Gilson, in a recent article in the New York Times, said most red states take more money from Washington than they put in. Even as Republicans gripe about deficit spending, their states get 30 cents more federal spending per tax dollar than their Democratic neighbors.

It’s no secret: The federal budget is expanding faster than tax revenues, a trend that’s been fueled by the rapid growth of entitlement programs and exacerbated by the recession.

States receiving the most federal funding per tax dollar paid:

1. New Mexico: $2.63

2. West Virginia: $2.57

3. Mississippi: $2.47

Second, please read Matt. 23:27-31 and Mark 10:17-22. They thought they were doing the Lord’s work too.

Third, what are we teaching our children? Many in our nation wonder why we have bullies in school and on the playground. Just look at some of their parents who bully the poor to gain more financial and political power.

Actions speak louder than words.

Rudy Smith

Vicksburg