Speak Out 10/31/08

Time to go to work

IT WOULD be quite foolish for anyone to think their candidate won't raise taxes. It would be foolish for whoever gets elected to not raise taxes. Our economy and the war have depleted our coffers. Food costs are skyrocketing. Considerable damage has been done to our relationships with many other nations we trade with. No one person can solve all of the problems we face. For any plan to work, Americans need to learn responsibility. We need to stop waiting for someone to rescue us and get to work. That's the only real way through this. We always have a choice, but choices always carry consequences. We also need to demand responsibility and hard work from our elected officials.

Dumping animals

HERE WE go again. There have been four animals -- two cats and two dogs -- dropped off in the county in the 3400 block of County Road 621. Come on, people. This stuff has got to stop. There's got to be a law passed or something to get people to quit dropping off their animals in the county. Why don't you have the decency to euthanize your own pet instead of dumping it? We're going to end up having to shoot them. You have got to start spaying and neutering your animals and quit dropping them off.

National health

I TOO lived in England and was enrolled in the National Health Service. I had to use this service one time for a physical. My wait time was three months, and my office visit was like stepping back 30 years in medicine. It was basically a visual exam that would not live up to American health standards. In England it is not uncommon for a patient who is needing a surgery to be placed on a waiting list for 20-plus years. I'm not exaggerating. Every day the NHS fails the people it serves, and it makes headlines. What makes us think that we could do it better?

Failure to learn

WHAT SHOCKED me about former Fed chairman Alan Greenspan's confession was his admission that he thought an unregulated economy would always self-correct. Greenspan and many others apparently learned no lessons about the Great Depression.

Sinful ways

WE GAVE only ourselves to blame for the mess our country is in. Greed, immorality and murder are grievous sins. I believe God has had enough of our worshipping ourselves and our material idols. Murder is murder, no matter how old or how young a person is. When you have a heartbeat, you are a person. Beware of what we teach our children. Jesus said, "Let the little ones come unto me." He didn't say, "Take me out of your schools." Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed because of their sinful ways. I'm afraid the United States is going down the same path. We need to turn back to our God and ask him for forgiveness. I hope it's not too late.