Speak Out 1/19/08

Buy American

PEOPLE are complaining about losing jobs and no jobs to be found. How many of these people have checked to see where the things they buy are being made? They are partly to blame for their own plight. They need to be more concerned about where the products they are buying are being made. They have helped put themselves out of business or out of a job.

Funeral processions

SOME people may have a job to go to, and maybe that's why they don't pull off the road for funeral processions. If you have the time, pull over for a funeral procession. But don't condemn those who may have other reasons for not stopping.

Bring on the coyotes

AS I walked down my driveway this morning to pick up my newspaper, I almost slipped and fell because of dog dung on the heel of my shoe. I don't own a dog. County residents are complaining about coyotes. Where's a good coyote when you need one?

Neighborhood rentals

THE Planning and Zoning Commission needs to consider families' needs when they regulate multiple rental units in family neighborhoods. Two of our neighbors do car repairs. There's a guy who sells guns out of his basement. People in Cape Girardeau are tired of the nice neighborhoods being deteriorated because people are renting out units. The Planning and Zoning Commission needs to think about families, not just business owners.

Free enterprise

WHAT in the name of God is going on in this country? The free-enterprise system with competition is the way to go. That's all we've heard from neoconservatives ever since we've had a country. Now federal money is being given to big banks to buy out the competition. That's not free enterprise. That's not competition. That's controlling the economy.

Taxes for firing

MISSOURI is like most other states. Employers pay employment taxes when they hire people. If we want more people to be hired, we ought to tax businesses when they fire somebody instead of when they hire somebody. That's the way to get more employment in Missouri.

Future senator?

WHEN Gov. Matt Blunt announced he would not seek another term, I wondered what his plans were. When U.S. Sen. Kit Bond announced he would not seek re-election, my question was answered. And do I have a problem with that? Of course not. I think Blunt would be an excellent senator.

Nursing home rules

REGARDING Saturday's nursing home story: Too many loopholes exist in the nursing home laws. Some homes are excused from compliance. The licenses of some nursing homes have lapsed without the patients or families being informed. Anyone contemplating placement of a loved one in a nursing home needs to be certain to check out more than one home.

Direct input

I was reading a comment about mail service. I work for the U.S. Postal Service. There are a lot of things that need to be addressed. One of the best things to do would be to call the postmaster, Robert Fleming, or the plant manager, Mike Darling, at the Cape Girardeau processing center and address your concerns directly. You might get some things improved. The phone number is 331-0800. It would be nice if people would give direct input.

Picking up trash

WE try hard to keep Highway 177 North clean. We do a good job of it until the trash trucks start making their runs. Then all bets are off. The trucks strew trash from here into Jackson and Cape Girardeau. There's no sense to it. The county commissioners ought to look into it and make the trash haulers cover their trucks. It needs to stop. There's no sense volunteering to pick up trash when the haulers are getting paid to pick up trash. There's something wrong with this picture.

Highway information

THANK you, MoDOT, for having the public forum Jan. 8. I thought it was good. MoDOT officials got a lot of input from the public. I was amazed at all the elected officials who were there. That shows they are concerned about residents in their area and the area itself.

Embassy spending

I would like for someone to tell me how the U.S. government could justify spending millions of dollars on an embassy in Iraq with our economy here in the U.S. like it is. With the instability in Iraq, the embassy could be bombed any time. That doesn't make any sense to me.

Lax enforcement

REGARDING motorists running red lights and nothing being done about it: I would like for the Southeast Missourian to publish a statement from the police department as to why they allow this. That's what it is: being allowed. You don't see any police around red lights. If the police concentrated on red lights, they could stop this. Or we could get cameras. There are ways of stopping this: Enforce red lights and speed limits.

Loud commercials

HAS anyone else noticed how loud commercials are getting? I'm sure the advertisers want the stations to turn them up. They blast your out of your seat. It's counterproductive. I used to leave the commercials on, but now it's so miserable I either mute them or fast forward if it's recorded.

Media hype

YOU keep hearing how bad the economy is. Then you read headlines like "Bowl's attendance defies downturn." How ridiculous can we get? The media hypes the fact that we're in recession, but the way people spend on movies and what have you shows we're not hurting that much. It's more of a psych thing that the news media has put into people's heads. It makes people they think their actions don't bear that much of the responsibility.

Western music

THE article about the Cowboy Church said it had a western flair and used western instruments such as guitars. Washboards might be considered western, but guitars? Really.

Thanks for dog

THIS is to the nice people from Pocahontas who gave me my dog. I want to let them know that he's doing fine. He was the easiest in the world to train, and he's just beautiful. Everybody loves him. So thank you. You don't know what you did for me that day.

Nursing homes

THERE was a good article in Saturday's Missourian that has been due for a long time. Reform is urgently needed in many American nursing homes. Decent homes are packed to capacity and many more nursing homes need to be constructed. In far too many nursing homes, the patients are left to wither and die as their sense of emotional acceptance, significance and safety are slowly petrified.

Fiscal responsibility

WE have known for years and years that the United States should have a balanced budget. We've known years that the United States should have a balanced trade account. We need to try to get our fiscal house in order. And what are we about to do? We're making a huge mistake. The government should not go out of its way trying to spend more money. The government needs to spend less money and try to be fiscally responsible. This is stupid. We're making a mistake.