SPEAKOUT

Voting doesn't matter

THIS IS an answer to the question about why more people don't get out to vote. It's real simple. We don't get out and vote because we know the city leaders are going to do what they want, one way or another. It doesn't matter how we vote.

Keyes tells you straight

THE REPUBLICAN presidential candidates are dwindling down. We're down to only three now. Alan Keyes is my man. He'll tell you what he thinks, and he'll tell it to you straight.

Not doing their jobs

THE CALLER talking about Bush and Gore resigning their offices is right on the button. Neither one is doing the job he was elected to do. Plus they are being paid for a job not well-done.

Look at our role models

READING THE Missourian told me something I was shocked to hear. Our Legislature is drinking on the job. I am not one who wants my representative or senator to make laws under the influence of alcohol. It should be illegal to drink on their work time. Next it will be OK for teachers and hospital workers to drink on their work time. No wonder kids pull the stuff they do. Their role models are alcohol imbibers.

Tax would only be extended

APPARENTLY THE person who wrote in about the tax increase did not read the article or didn't understand it. The Board of Education is committed to no tax levy increase, as promised three years ago in phase one of the district master plan. The total tax levy would remain the same. The levy would simply be extended for an additional three years, 17 years from now, not seven years from now.

Nixon is legal vulture

I'VE ABSOLUTELY had it with Jay Nixon. In my view, Jay Nixon is a legal vulture. He's an opportunist. He goes for the easiest target for headlines and always has, ever since he became attorney general. I see in the paper where he's suing Benetton for deceit in its attempts to get interviews and photographs for advertising from Missouri's death-row inmates. To be frank, don't you think an attorney general has more to do than hassle a clothing company over some photos in their ads? I certainly hope so. I recently read where Nixon is suing a former prison inmate because he won a lottery. Jay wants him to repay the state for the cost of his incarceration. I'm all for stiff penalties, although I'm no advocate of prisoner's rights, but this man did serve his time and completed his sentence. The basic tenet of incarceration in the criminal justice system is that you pay your dues to society and then you're rehabilitated. I wasn't aware that we had reinterpreted that tenet so that Nixon could constantly pick people clean after they've paid their obligations to society through prison time. Apparently I was wrong.

Legislators entitled to drink

BILL FOSTER'S efforts to ban alcohol from the state Capitol are an absolute joke. And the slap in the face from Mr. Foster becomes even more bitter when you consider that he's a Republican, a party which prides itself on personal responsibility. Mr. Foster's bill to ban alcoholic beverages from the Capitol implies that legislators can't handle themselves or make choices for themselves. The crux of his plan is that most American workers would be fired from their jobs if they were drinking. Who says the legislators are drinking alcohol while they're on the job? I know from personal experience that many legislators have to essentially live in their offices during the time they are in Jefferson City representing their constituents. If they have to spend that much time, I think the concession to let them have a drink or a couple of beers in their office is not too much to ask. Mr. Foster's idea apparently is that legislators get sloppy drunk just by virtue of the fact that they have liquor in their offices. His efforts would further demonize alcohol. Alcohol is not inherently bad. I hope Mr. Foster will cross the aisle and become a Democrat, because his thought process seems to be similar to the Democrats, where no one but the government could possibly be responsible for anything.

Thanks for cutting weeds

THANK YOU very much for cutting the weeds at Trail of Tears Park so we can enjoy the barges on the river and the beautiful view of the river from the park area. We had an enjoyable day visiting the entire park which was very beautiful.

Let's live in harmony

I'D LIKE To voice my opinion on a Speak Out item "Waiting for the Democrats." It's just too bad that we can't be here on this earth like we will be when we get to heaven. There will be no Democrats or Republicans. There won't be any poor or rich. It's so sad that we can't live in harmony on this earth. Then the poor wouldn't get poorer and the middle class wouldn't have to pay all the taxes and the rich wouldn't get richer. It's been that way ever since I can remember. But when we all get to Glory, none of these differences will exist. Stop and ask yourself: Will I get to Glory from my deeds or from my wealth?

Wish Clinton could run again

TO THE caller who said Clinton shouldn't get credit for the good economy. Here's the way it works. When the economy is good, the president usually gets the credit. When the economy is bad, he's the first to get the blame. In all fairness, what do you want? You'd scorn him if the economy was bad and praise your Republican Congress. If Reagan's economy was good, you'd probably blame the Democratic Congress. The man who gets the blame if things go wrong should be the first to get the credit when things go right. Clinton has done a remarkable job. Family leave, raising the minimum wage, child-care, Medicare was raised, and he made great efforts to get a national health-care plan. He's been a great president. I only wish the Constitution said he could run another term like Franklin Delano Roosevelt did.

What good does it do?

THIS IS a reply to Melvin Gateley. Why should a person vote when it doesn't count? The voters turned down the Osage Building, and two to three months the City Council approved it and built it. The voters turned down the River Campus, and if it wasn't for a lawsuit that Mr. Drury's got going, we'd be in the middle of it right now, too. So what good does it really do to vote?

Pray what's in your heart

SOMEONE HAD an opinion on the prayer on the Opinion page. The caller didn't like it because none of the words or verses from the Bible were used. You don't need to do that. God doesn't need to hear the words in the Bible. You pray what's in your heart, not with certain words in the Bible. God knows what's in your heart.

Let's get it straight

DAVID LIMBAUGH said Ronald Reagan cut taxes. I wish the Republicans would stop lying about Reagan. He did not cut taxes. He raised taxes. He made old people have to pay taxes on half of their Social Security. Then he taxed union pensions. He only cut the taxes for the rich. He cut Social Security benefits and only gave a 2 percent raise when inflation was 7 percent. I wish people would stop saying Clinton did not raise the taxes. He raised the taxes on the rich. He did not raise taxes on the middle class and the poor. Reagan cut the taxes on the rich. Clinton cut the taxes on the poor and raised it on the rich. I wish people in this area would get their facts straight. I know, because I've got the proof.

Put cameras near alarms

I HAVE the solution to the problem of all the fire alarms being pulled as pranks. With video cameras being so small, why don't you put a video camera on or near the fire alarm? Then, if anyone pulls it as a prank, they would have to pay the cost of the fire call. I guarantee you the police department and the fire department would then be saying, "Go ahead, pull that alarm. We welcome the money without the danger." That would put an end to those kinds of pranks. Thank you for letting me speak out.

Make voting more accessible

MR. GATELEY, you're retired, so it's easy for you to get out and vote. You made the comment "There's a failure to see the value of being a good citizen." Well, you know, I had to leave my house at 6:15 the morning of the election to get to work on time. I get off at 7:30. By the time I got home, the polls were closed. If you guys want us to vote, you're going to have to make the voting more accessible. Some of us work 12-hour shifts. Some of us commute and work out of town. Believe it or not, we don't all work 8 to 5 within the city limits. I do the best I can.