LETTERS: LETTER IDENTIFIED WRONG SISTER

To the editor:

In response to Ervin Arnzen Jr.'s cruel letter to the editor Sept. 2, he seems to be picking on Tony Heckemeyer's sister, Penny, indicating she "works on his campaign." As Penny's friends, church family and acquaintances in this community already realize, Penny has not been well for some time and is presently in Barnes Hospital. Mr. Arnzen's "investigating," as he smugly indicated he did, led him to the wrong sister. I'm the sister who proudly works on Tony's campaign, and I assure you is Penny were physically able, she would be working as well.

If Mr. Arnzen has bothered to do any real investigating, he might have called Judge Heckemeyer to ask his opinion of the Oxley Bill. He would have found out that, along with the bad features that have this bill stalled right now, there are many good features that Mr. Heckemeyer agrees with. But that wouldn't play into the smoke screen he wants to hid behind with regard to the blatant conflict of interest associated with this legislation.

What the Oxley Bill says or does is not the point. Jo Ann Emerson was hired as a lobbyist to concentrate on getting the Oxley Bill passed. Later, as a congressperson, Ms. Emerson co-sponsored that same legislation, and then Ms. Emerson accepted over $50,000 in campaign contributions from the very people she lobbied for. These are all proven facts that Ms. Emerson has yet to deny. As a matter of fact, Ms. Emerson has yet to personally make any statement with regard to these allegations. But this seems to be the way Washington bureaucrats respond to allegations these days: avoid answering voters' questions as long as politically possible.

Apparently, Mr. Arnzen is getting his information from the Emerson office when he refers to contributions from the legal profession, because that's the spin figure the Emerson office uses: 80 percent. If Mr. Arnzen would do his own investigating, he should try contacting the Center for Responsive Politics, and he will find that Ms. Emerson has actually received more money from the legal profession than Judge Heckemeyer, that over 50 percent of Ms. Emerson's contributions are from Washington, D.C., PACs, and that 88 percent of Judge Heckemeyer's contributions are from individuals.

The Emerson camp has sunk to an unprecedented low by picking on a defenseless woman, my best friend, my sister. I have an awful feeling that we may yet see the Emerson campaign sink to new depths.

ANNE MARSHALL

Sikeston