LETTERS; SEN. KINDER SAYS ONE THING, BUT HE DOES ANOTHER

To the editor:

I note in a column by Gary Rust that he mentions that state Sen. Peter Kinder is still harping about the lawyers hired in the tobacco case: They cost too much money, nobody was worth that much money and so forth.

What a hypocrite. At Kinder's instigation, the Missouri Senate has hired a lawyer to assist it with the redistricting maps at an outrageous fee per hour. His argument in the tobacco money case was that the state already employed competent lawyers. Well, so does the Senate. He should have used those already on the payroll.

Further, Kinder had the audacity to say that he was trying to reduce staff and save money when he tried to fire state Sen. Harold Caskey's aide. At the same time, Kinder increased the president pro tem's staff from the customary three to six. Doesn't this strike anyone else as tacky?

SHIRLA HOWARD

Dexter, Mo.