Speak Out 1/20/14

Roundabout

I don't use the roundabout, and it's harder to get to my church and my work. The way I take is easier for someone my age, except now they're working on Perryville Road. Also, many misuse the roundabout, which is really unneeded. And I'm not the only one who feels this way. Couldn't our tax money have been used for something else? If you want to do something that's needed, please work on the traffic problem at Clippard School and open up Lexington again.

PlayStations, insurance

I would like to make a $100 bet there are more PlayStations sold than these young people signing up for the health care. Remember, there was only 40 million, but yet they got only 1 1/2 million signed up? If it's so great, how come people aren't signing up?

Living wage

I don't know why people keep saying that we need to raise the minimum wage to a living wage. It's already there. If you're single and you make Missouri minimum wage at $7.50 an hour and you have a full-time job working 40 hours a week, you'll end up earning $15,600, which is about $4,000 above what the poverty line is for a single person. If you're married and you and your wife both work at a minimum wage job, you'd earn $31,200, which is about $12,000 above the poverty line for a couple. With that money, you can buy a $75,000 house at 4.50 percent interest for 30 years. Your principle on interest would be $380 and your escrow would be approximately $120. So you would be paying $500 a month, or $6,000, which would be 20 percent of your income.

Bad change

I saw a bumper sticker today which said, "Want change? Vote Democratic." Well, we did and we certainly got change, but it was all for the worse. Our country has gone downhill since we got this change. And if I had that on my car, I would have taken it off a long time ago.

Student computers

I'm excited for Cape's school students who received computer devices recently, although I must say I hadn't thought that (until I read the excellent Southeast Missourian story) one of the perhaps invaluable learning benefits of having these devices would be to allow students to take photos of their food.