Speak Out 1/4/06

Expression of thanks

AN INCREDIBLY nice thing happened. I gave a stranger named Wanda a ride to work when she had a flat tire a couple years ago. It was a little thing, but this nice woman tracked me down a couple weeks ago and gave me a bracelet as a thank you. I haven't taken it off, because it reminds me each day to be thankful to people who do the little things that make a big difference. Thanks, Wanda.

Thanks a million

I WANT to thank the person who helped push my car out of the middle of the road on Dec. 23. Thanks so much for taking me to the gas station and back to the car. What a wonderful Christmas spirit. Thanks a million.

Access to information

LET ME get this straight. Some folks complain because President Bush is spying on terrorists, but they don't have any hesitation about putting their credit-card numbers on computers where any terrorist or hacker can get information and steal their identity. They should make up their minds.

Better post office

POSTAL EMPLOYEES de-serve a decent, uncrowded place of employment. Cape Girardeau citizens pay taxes for and deserve a post office to be proud of. You can't please everyone. Just do it.

Keep them rolling

REMOVING THE cameras at intersections would be a huge mistake. I have noticed a decline in people shooting through yellow or red lights. At least they make people stop and think if it might cost them monetarily. Compared to extra collisions and possible loss of life, I say keep the cameras rolling. If you get caught, it's your own fault.

Trash in street

PART OF the reason there is trash in the street in my neighborhood is because the garbage collectors don't pick up what they drop.

No influence

A SURVEY found that 19 of 24 downtown merchants oppose the two-way traffic change proposed for Main Street. Only two favored it. I've got news for you. The city council does not care what the merchants want. It's going to do whatever it wants, just like Southeast Missouri State University always does.

Constructive vocabulary

IN RECENT columns, David Limbaugh has used the following terms, among many others, to describe liberal Americans and their comments on current events: hucksters, outrageously unfair, sanctimonious, self-righteous, scandalous, repulsive, hypocritical and elitist. I believe the term for this type of writing is ad hominem, meaning that the writer throws personal insults at individuals in order to avoid dealing with issues in a thoughtful manner. This sort of attack would earn a low grade in a high school political science class, and it deserves no place in a democracy. I would urge Mr. Limbaugh to grow up and learn to use his big vocabulary in a responsible, constructive manner.

Last story on Cairo

I AM tired of hearing more boring stories about long-dead Cairo, Ill. This city shot itself in the heart many years ago with its own troubles, and it is proof that a city cannot live with the majority of residents on welfare with no motivation and no work ethic. I wish I could see the very last story ever on this ghost town tomorrow with the headline "Would the last one out please turn off the lights?"

Comparing spending

TO THE person who said the Bush administration exceeded the Clinton administration in spending: Did you stop to think why? We have had catastrophic occurrences such as 9-11, Katrina, the war and helping foreign countries with their losses such as the tsunami. Taking all this into consideration, if Bush has exceeded spending by one-third, the Clinton administration must have wasted a lot of money on two uneventful terms.

Parental responsibility

IN RESPONSE to the parent complaining about one recess: You have a responsibility to make sure your child gets enough exercise. The sole responsibility of raising your child doesn't rest on the shoulders of the school. Step up and take responsibility.

Cheers for walkers

WHO WOULD have thought anyone would be discussing whether or not seniors are slow and in peoples' way versus seniors mall walking for exercise? You know what? That's just about the only exercise most Americans get any more. Three cheers for the seniors, whether they walk slowly or quickly. At least they are walking.

Money for government

ONCE AGAIN, it is being pointed out that Missouri has the second-lowest cigarette tax in the country. Once again, it is not being publicized that Missouri is one of a very few states that also adds state and local sales tax to the cost of cigarettes. Once again, just as during debates about approving the lottery and gambling casinos to fund education, we are being advised that revenue from raising these taxes will be targeted for certain things (stop-smoking programs and putting people back on Medicaid). What really happens with all the new taxes over the decades is that politicians line up with gleams in their eyes as they plan to spend our tax dollars on whatever suits them. We just cannot seem to give our governments enough money, can we?

Legal justification

THE QUESTION isn't why but how the Bush administration went outside the law. No citizen is above the law. If your an "ends-justify-the-means" person, your logic belongs more in China than it does in the U.S.

Preserving Medicaid

LT. GOV. Peter Kinder is correct about making it harder for families to transfer or hide funds so that their elderly qualify for Medicaid. The idea of securing an inheritance is not bad, but not when that means taxpayers will have to pay nursing-home costs through Medicaid. People who can should be saving not for their children or grandchildren, but for their own care. Medicaid should be preserved to help those who have little or no means with which to help themselves.