Speak Out 012802

A valuable goose

I SEE our good Cape Gir-ardeau Police Department playing hide-and-seek on Highway 74. They are hiding around the corner, hoping to catch a speeder. That's the goose that laid the golden egg for the city.

Signal to wackos

I REALIZE President Bush is under pressure at times, but his comment about "over his dead body" has to be the dumbest thing he could have ever said. There is probably some wacko out there who is thinking he can be the one who does it.

Fighting for us

MY HUSBAND and I would like to comment that it was very presumptuous of Mayor Spradling to say that Jim Drury was trying to thwart the will of the people. We are people of this community and feel that Drury is speaking for us. We still remember the election over the River Campus and how we were told that for this to proceed that both the issues on the ballot needed to pass. Both did not. So the people did speak, and Drury is just fighting for what is right of what the majority already voted. The sad thing is that the mayor is using taxpayer dollars to fight a battle for the city and the university that everyone isn't in favor of.

Need traffic expert

THE NEWSPAPER needs to interview an expert on traffic flow. I just don't understand what's going on at the construction site on I-55 at the Diversion Channel. Going northbound, the traffic has to merge down to one lane, do two crossovers and go to one lane on a bridge. For some reason, the northbound lanes are never backed up. They just flow pretty good at about 50 miles an hour, and everything works out. Southbound is a different story. Southbound has to merge to one lane and then it is a straight shot. No crossovers. No problems. You just drive straight on through and you're done. But it's jammed all the time. What's the problem with southbound? Why can't these guys keep moving at 50 miles an hour? We need an expert to explain this.

Paid to do God's work

LAST YEAR, my husband and I averaged just over a 3 percent raise in our income. We go to a church that completely remodeled because it wasn't fancy enough for what people wanted. Things weren't falling down. They just weren't fancy enough. So we remodeled at great expense. This year, we were short of money, so all the programs got cut. However, the pastors got 4 percent raises. Don't you people in the church realize that we're not there to give pastors a hefty salary? They're there to do God's work.

Inspection trip

YOUR ONLINE poll asked: "Do you think the Taliban and al-Qaida detainees held by the U.S. are receiving proper treatment?" How in the heck are we supposed to know that? Are you going to give us free air travel to go down to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to find out?

Help the employees

JEAN CARNAHAN said she gave the $1,000 Enron had given to her to charity. Why didn't she give it to the Enron employee fund as some other senators did?

Unions help workers

THIS IS in regard to the editorial, "Collective-bargaining bills can spur debate." I wonder why the Southeast Missourian is so opposed to collective bargaining. They should do away with the bar association and the medical association. That way anybody could hang a shingle up, charge whatever they want to charge for lawyer fees or for medical fees and wouldn't be governed by their associations like they are. They're the ones who decide who's going to be a lawyer and who's going to be a medical doctor. If it wasn't for organized labor, you wouldn't have unemployment security or workers' comp, because the Southeast Missourian and everybody like state Sen. Peter Kinder are opposed to it. A lot of people draw good wages because of being organized. All you hear out of the Southeast Missourian is a one-way story. If you're going to get the benefits, you need to pay dues.