Speak Out 1/29/19

Ambulance rule

Is it a law or a courtesy to pull over and give the right of way to an ambulance? At Independence and Kingshighway today, I observed cars ignoring an on coming ambulance that had its lights flashing and was trying to move through traffic. Cars were not stopping but pulling out and crossing in front of it. Drivers! What if the person in that ambulance was you or a loved one and someone caused an accident that caused a delay getting you to the hospital that caused tragic results in your health.

Wall money?

In 2006, $50 billion was set aside for the Secure Fence Act. It was to be a double wall that covered 700 miles. President George Bush signed the bill and Obama was to oversee the project. On May 16, 2011 Obama announced the fence was virtually completed. But, he lied. In fact, there was only 36.3 miles of the 700 mile fence completed. It was only a barrier wall to keep vehicles driving through. Where is the remainder of the 50 billion dollars set aside for the wall?

MAGA wall?

If everyone that voted for President Trump were to send him $100 dollars, we the MAGA supporters could build the wall without the do-nothing democrats. As always, they want the benefits without the sacrifice.

Lobby Jackson

My question regarding the aquatic center is, how much time was spent getting the Jackson community on board with a shared aquatic center? I know that Cape professional organizations have been lobbied to get on board with the current aquatic center project. I fail to understand why the community of Jackson would not want to have a partnership considering they are also looking at ways to fund their own aquatic center. As a taxpayer and parent in Cape Girardeau I do not necessarily see the exclusive partnership of Cape Schools and Cape City for such an expensive project a win-win situation. We are still paying the taxes that support the school and the city. It would make much more sense to get a 50-50 partnership with the Jackson community/Jackson school board for this $15-20 million center. The SportsPlex area makes perfect sense for such a large project. There is an obvious need for a larger facility with a 50-meter pool for area wide tournaments. The combined effort of Cape and Jackson in such a neutral location could make this happen.

Shutdown showdown

On Friday, Jan. 25, President Trump signed a bill to end the Democratic partial government shutdown. The president made a deal with members of the Senate that included immediately paying beleaguered federal employees. The Democrats in the House of Representatives voted against paying government workers three times during the shutdown. The third time the Democratic representatives voted against paying federal employees, the Speaker of the House sent her caucus home to enjoy a three-day weekend on the backs of government workers. With the "no negotiation" stance of the Speaker, federal workers missing a second a paycheck, and airport closures looming, the president did the right thing. He saved 800,000 federal workers from having to face financial ruin perpetrated by the Democrats. The president did this without support from Democrats in the House of Representatives.