Too much control

IN large part because of media scaremongering and horror stories about isolated events, we've become far too obsessed with trying to control virtually every move our kids make. Parents, leave those kids alone.

Tossed cigarette

I was driving through a retail store's parking lot when a woman walked in front of my truck and threw her lit cigarette onto my truck. I had to control myself to not get out of my truck. I worked for my truck and just got it paid off. Now you see why people want more smoking laws. That is also littering. The woman saw my truck before she flicked her cancer stick toward it.

Time for action

I hope the legislation to ban smoking in public places gets further this year than last. It should at least get a debate, and I would like to see how our legislators vote. I would encourage Cape Girardeau and Jackson city governments to take their own actions. Smoking is unhealthy. Secondhand smoke is unhealthy. Why do we allow smoking in public places? This issue is not like eating junk food, where people have a personal choice about what they put in their body. It's time for the leaders of our two cities to take a stand and advocate what's best.

Eating out

TO suggest that people not go out to eat if they can't afford to tip is silly. Diners keep restaurants open and many people working, which is what we need. Management needs to up the ante a little to keep their servers. It's hard to stay open if you have no servers.

Balance the budget

OUR federal government has been spending more than it takes in for the last 30 years. That includes spending by Republican and Democratic Congresses and presidents. Now that we are in an economic slowdown from spending too much money, the answer is not to spend twice as much. The answer is for the federal government to spend less and find ways to make more income. We need to not only balance the budget, but to also balance total spending with total income.

More partisanship

PRESIDENT Obama is making a serious effort to craft legislation to stimulate the economy that will have broad, bipartisan support. Unfortunately, it seems that increasing numbers of Republicans have decided to resist compromise, thus jeopardizing the effort to end a tortuously long partisan period of bitterness and divisiveness.

Prefer signals

PLEASE do not mess up Mount Auburn and Hopper roads with another roundabout. When roundabouts are small, they amount to a four-way yield that gets confusing when four cars approach at once. This intersection gets crowded during rush hours, and a signal would be far better than a roundabout.

Not a cult

DAVID Limbaugh recently deemed President Obama's supporters as members of a "leftist cult." By definition, a cult is a religion with a small following. Obama has a huge following which David Limbaugh will work overtime to try to diminish. He will fail. It will continue to grow.

Restoring the balance

FOR a long time we've had a mixed economy. It's not a completely free market. It has sensible elements of regulation and aspects of socialism. During the Bush administration, things tilted too far in the direction of laissez-faire. President Obama will restore the balance. Those who argue for completely free capitalism -- something even Adam Smith opposed -- or pure socialism are so out of the mainstream that all they will ever accomplish is getting an occasional Speak Out comment published.