Speak Out 8/1/08

Need housecleaning

CAPE GIRARDEAU County Auditor David Ludwig should be forced to resign immediately and not collect his big salary. Why should the county pay him to waste time and taxpayer money and insult the women he works with? County government needs a good housecleaning.

Bailout math

I'VE BEEN doing my math, and I do not get this. Big Corporation A is falling apart because of bad management. So Government B taxes Small Business C, which is just trying to get off the ground, to pay to bailout Big Corporation A. Wouldn't the capitalistic thing to do is let Big Corporation A go out of business and let Small Business C have a chance to replace it?

School reserves

THE CAPE Girardeau School District had a reserve balance of 22 percent, now reduced to 15 percent. That's outrageous. Even the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education states that a 3 percent balance is sufficient. Teachers, you are getting ripped off to a degree unprecedented in the annals of public education, but because you are apparently compliant in your own comeuppance I cannot summon up much sympathy.

Police on interstate

DRIVING INTO Cape Girardeau today from the new exit 102, I noticed a Cape Girardeau police car running radar checks on the northbound lanes. I realize that Cape Girardeau annexed and has the right to be out on the interstate. But why? With all the traffic in town, school starting soon and the need to patrol our streets, why in blue blazes are we paying for city police to pretend to be the Missouri State Highway Patrol? Isn't there enough to take care of in town without wasting man hours, gasoline and resources patrolling something already being taken care of by the highway patrol?

Savage heave-ho

THERE'S GOOD news on the "dump Michael Savage" front. Several sponsors and radio stations have given him a well-deserved heave-ho.

Sending sympathy

I'D LIKE to send sympathy and admiration from Southeast Missouri to the members of the Unitarian Universalist Church in Knoxville. The men who stopped the gunman are true heroes. May God be with you as you mourn the friends you lost.

Original thought

TO ALL you partisans who argue against the majority and accuse the U.S. Supreme Court of activism regarding guns, read this and tell me who the partisan activists. Here's the original thought behind the Second Amendment: "The supposed quietude of a good man allures the ruffian; while on the other hand, arms like laws, discourage and keep the invader and the plunderer in awe, and preserve order in the world as well as property. The same balance would be preserved were all the world destitute of arms, for all would be alike; but since some will not, others dare not lay them aside. ... Horrid mischief would ensue should good men be deprived of the use of them."

Save the tracks

THE CORPORATION that owns the railroad tracks from Jackson to Delta wants to sell the track from Gordonville to Delta. I think that's bad idea. Keep the track and fix it up so the train can run on it again. Sell the track in the train yard in Jackson and use the money to fix the train and the tracks. I used to be a volunteer at the train and worked hard to keep the tracks up. If you take the tracks up between Gordonville and Delta, the history will be gone.

For a new school

I WILL gladly pay the extra taxes for the new Delta school for the safety of my grandchildren. We do not know the long-term health issues that could arise from the asbestos is in the ceiling. It will also be safer for our children to not be so isolated. I vote for the safety and health of my grandchildren.

Illinois sideshow

THE ENTIRE state of Illinois has been hijacked by the Big Three: Madigan, Jones and Blagojevich. How did this happen? The citizens have been asleep and too tolerant of corrupt politics for several years. George Ryan went to prison for his misdeeds. Illinois is about to go bankrupt, and the Big Three keep on wheeling, whining and spending taxpayers' money as if it was their own. On second thought, we citizens must like this kind of government circus, as no one appears ready to call a halt to the corruption that is rampant in Springfield and Chicago. How long will this sideshow be allowed to continue?

Signs for cyclists

NEW "SHARE the Road" signs should also say, "Bikers: ride single file, make a full stop at all stop signs and red lights." Most important for safety of all: "Stay off narrow roads."

The Bible cure

FOR THOSE who are trying to quit smoking: Along with your cigarettes, place a Bible in your purse. When you reach for a cigarette, take out your Bible and read a verse. Soon you'll be singing and praying every day and praising God that you threw that cigarette away.