To the Editor:

I am a member of the Tea Party-The 9-12 group. 

I am an American mom and grandparent. Prayer is an important part of my life. I pray before meetings. There are clergymen in our organization who lead in prayer. I never ask you for your party-affiliation or religion. I am simply an American who loves this country and wants to give my children and grandchildren freedom, not massive debt that can never be repaid.

I fight to get the government out of every aspect of my life. I fight for seniors as Obamacare will cut Medicare by $500 billion while doctors are already turning Medicare patients away. Doctors can’t make it on what Medicare reimburses them. 

I want to continue to live in a free country, to keep my healthcare needs between me and my doctor, not to be determined by a bureaucrat in Washington. Your doctor has to obey that bureaucrat or he will face a fine of $100,000. If he disobeys a second time, he goes to jail.

I do not want the government telling me and my family what we can and cannot eat. I see my fellow Americans facing massive unemployment. I blame this on an oversized, intrusive government, over-regulation and taxation, the redistribution of the wealth and punishment of success. 

If you share these same sentiments and value the American way of life, don’t disparage the Tea Party movement, join it. Help ensure your children will have a better future. There is no greater legacy we can offer them. These are my values: honesty, reverence, hope, thrift, humility, charity, sincerity, moderation, hard work, courage, personal responsibility, and gratitude. If you don’t share these values, then there is nothing more I can say. 

Finally, my guiding values are all contained in these three words — faith, hope and charity.

Arlene Hemm

Canton