Speak Out A 08/28/02

Plenty of reasons

HAVE THOSE who say wait until Saddam Hussein does something before getting rid of him have any memories? He's vowed to destroy us. He's trying to get nuclear weapons and may have them. He has gassed his own people, set oil wells on fire, killed thousands of his own people, financed terror, tried to kill our president in a failed assassination and threw out the U.N. weapons inspectors. Maybe he should drop a bomb on this nation. Would that be enough? We're going to have to get rid of this menace sooner or later. And later is going to cost us dearly.

Visas and TIFs

I HAVE two different comments to make. The first one's about the article on the visas for immigrants. This is absolutely ludicrous. If nobody has realized yet just how irresponsible and careless the government has been, read this article. The second comment I have is about this tax increment funding for the Prestwick Plantation development. They expect us to buy bonds for it. We're not going to do that. The general public doesn't want to be involved in it and waste money.

Money was wasted

I URGE every taxpayer in the Cape Girardeau School District to go out to the school and tour that school. You have every right to do that as a taxpayer. See where your money was wasted. Go into the library and look at the 20-to-25-foot ceilings. That's wasted space that we'll have to heat and air condition. Those bills are going to be huge. There's a cappuccino machine. A sign on the door says "No food and drink in the library except what's bought in here." Kids aren't going to the library to buy cappuccino and snacks. They should be going to the library to do research and to do things for classes. Look at what they did with those dollars you gave them out of your hard-earned taxes, and then look at how they've been begging us for money all summer long to supply more of their wants. This has got to stop.

A ray of hope

I WAS just watching our president on CNN saying that we are having trouble with the Russians. I thought he was referring to their assisting Iran in building a nuclear power plant or about the multimillion-dollar economic trade deal that they just made with Iraq. Instead, he said that they had reneged on a chicken-buying deal with us, but he got this straightened out. Even though we are being blindsided by the Russian president, it's good that our president can at least see a ray of hope.

Thanks for the help

MANY THANKS to everyone in Jackson who helped at my car accident: the lifeguard who stopped, the lady who supplied a wet cloth, the police, paramedics and the Jackson Fire Department. Thanks again.

Enough taxes

I'M IN support of Jim Drury on the River Campus. I think the taxpayers of Cape have taxes up to their necks between the school system and the city. Taxpayers are behind him 100 percent.

Child abuse

OVER THE last several months it seems that the media would have us believe that the sexual abuse of children is a problem that exists only within the Catholic priesthood. A few days ago I heard on the news that several parents were arrested for sexually abusing their own children and exploiting them through child pornography on the Internet. This news item was announced only once. If a Catholic priest were arrested for this, we would still be hearing about it. We would know his name, where he is from and would even see his picture. It is an evil act for a priest to abuse a child, but I think it is more evil when parents abuse and exploit their own children. I think this proves two points. First, priestly celibacy is not the cause and source of child sexual abuse some would have us believe. Second, it would prove that there is definitely a bias among the media in the United States.

Veterans only

FROM THIS point forward, all pro-war-with-Iraq pols and pundits should shut up unless they've participated in military combat.

Act of terrorism

IF TERRORISTS want to destroy innocent American lives, they should move to the United States and become abortion doctors rather than getting a pilot's license. As abortion doctors, they could take thousands of innocent lives each day and get paid for doing it. They would even be protected by our laws and our government and could live happily ever after. If the destruction of innocent American lives is an act of terrorism, then it would seem that our nation is filled with terrorists. Maybe we should fight the war against terrorism right here at home.

Sage words

WHEN I was a child, my dad was very proud of the fact that our family had come through North Carolina but had never owned slaves. One of the things my dad told me was you don't punish a whole group of people for what a few have done. You don't take the tax dollars that others have worked so hard for and give them to a group of people. The civil rights issue of the 1960s came with a price. Americans learned to allow blacks rights.

Losing votes

COUNCILMAN Matt Hopkins pushed tax increment financing for the wealthy. The city budget is forecast to be in the red by $250,000. In Sunday's paper the policemen's union thanks Hopkins for the raise the city cannot afford. Maybe those 63 policemen's votes may help Hopkins in his next election, but I doubt if it will override the thousands of Cape Girardeau residents' votes that will be cast against him in your next election.

Belt-tightening time

THE ADVERTISEMENT in Sunday's paper put in by the Cape Girardeau Police Officers' Association is a perfect example of why collective bargaining for municipal workers is wrong. All city employees were scheduled to get raises this year. Now on top of those raises the city gives another 1 percent to all employees. The city's own financial people predicted the city would have to dip into emergency reserve funds to give this additional 1 percent raise. One has to wonder how far the workers are willing to go to line their own pockets and sacrifice the financial well-being of the city in the process. Since the policemen's association saw fit to thank the elected officials who helped them, I want to thank the elected officials who did not approve this raise. All segments of this country have had to tighten their belts. The city of Cape Girardeau should be no different.