“He takes those opinions very seriously and he voted against the bill in part because of the number of Louisianans who told him they opposed the public option and the high cost of the bill,” said a spokesman for U.S. Rep. Charlie Melancon, about his vote against the U.S. House’s recent proposal on health care.

That statement reminds us that calls or e-mails or otherwise hearing from constituents still does make a difference to most of our elected officials, and demonstrates the need for voters to let those elected reps know their positions on the various issues.

Some years ago a state representative told a local group how it helped him decide how to vote on many issues if he heard from voters within his district. He noted that often, calls from locals would make points about a proposal he’d not heard in the official discussion in Baton Rouge, and obviously knowing their support or opposition about various bills helped him decide how to vote.

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Those for or against various aspects of the health care proposals, or who have opinions on most any proposal to be considered by our federal, state or local governments, need to take the time and make the effort to let their elected representatives know how they feel.

It’s one thing to gripe about elected officials or acts of government when they do things we don’t like. But if we’ve not made the effort to get them to see our side, to at least tell them how we feel about something they’re considering, is it really their fault they didn’t represent our view?

We frequently publish contact information on this Opinion page to remind our readers how to contact elected officials, including the White House, members of our congressional delegation and state officials like the governor or area state representatives.

Our elected officials might not always vote the way we want, but knowing the views of their constituents does have an influence on their decisions.

Shame on us if we are griping about their decisions, especially on the bigger issues, but we’re not telling them what we think.

Will Chapman

Publisher