I am glad to see that letter writer Gene Cheatham reads your paper. My history teacher did not teach us about American history. While I am not an expert on anything, I do know a thing or two about the USA.

I wonder whether Cheatham knows that the founders of our country were all business or plantation owners.

Tea Party member Cheatham wants to do away with the EPA. Why? Does he remember the days before, when dirty coal from Illinois was causing lung disease in St. Louis that killed thousands? Does he know that one-third of the children in school are exposed to mold and toxic waste because the schools were built on it and are sick and dying because of it? Does he remember when Richland Creek was black with slime and human waste, causing the fish and crayfish to die?

A smaller government would be good if he will guarantee that he will fight our wars, bury our dead from pollution, feed the poor, pay for medical care and increase my retirement.

If you didn't have the unions, either the government or big business would determine what your pay would be.

I lived through the Depression and will never forget the programs that Franklin D. Roosevelt got passed over the Republicans.

I am an independent. I vote my heart, not my wallet. If a Republican in Congress would consider the average American, I might give him or her my vote.

John Kronenberger

Belleville