Speak Out 10/24/07

Less incentive

GARY RUST'S column citing facts about people defined as "poor" by the Census Bureau reminded me what poor meant in the days when my family was poor. Poor was perhaps having a radio, an old car and telephone if one was lucky, and all the children sleeping in one bedroom. Poor was trying to pay rent and utilities while accepting commodity food from the government. Poor was picking up pop bottles for refunds to buy milk and bread for the children. Poor was living with only the essentials of life. The bright spot about being poor back then, though, was that people struggled, worked and fought to do better and to get out of poverty. Now there is less psychological incentive to do that.

Troubled church

NEIGHBORS ARE being wrongfully blamed for the woes of Christ Church of the Heartland's putting the cart before the horse (by applying for a special-use permit after the fact) in starting a retail food distribution business. The church's troubles with the city and others started long before this current controversy. If deer could speak, they would tell you about the terrible destruction of the surrounding wooded environment by the church in order to build an asphalt parking lot whose purpose is not yet apparent. Members of the congregation have said that they disagreed with many of the questionable decisions made by the church but were given no opportunity for input.

Alienating Turkey

HAS THE current administration and Congress lost their minds? They are alienating China by honoring the Dalai Lama, and our ally, Turkey, when we need it the most. Turkey has been fighting the Kurds 90 years or more. When I was stationed there in the mid-1970s, Turkey was into it with the Kurds. Let Turkey handle its own internal problems. Wake up, Congress.

Ethanol con job

IS IT too late to stop the ethanol con job? If ethanol were good for consumers and good for the planet, consumers wouldn't be forced to pay for it through their taxes and forced to buy it through legislation. If you want to impress your neighbors with your green credentials, vote for politicians -- if you can find one -- who vow to kill the ethanol industry.

No discrimination

MY IDEA of a scam is when one seeks to make profit and uses deceit to defraud another of what rightful belongs to them. To say the Angel Food Ministry is a scam because someone knows about it, purchases it and says he has a good income doesn't make sense. After all, it is available to anyone. There is no discrimination in purchasing it. Those who are wise would use their resources wisely.

Tempered words

DAVID LIMBAUGH let President Bush off the hook by writing that the president's observation that we all pray to the same God was "regrettable." If Limbaugh followed his own often expressed religious philosophy, he should have blasted the president for blasphemy. The fact that President Bush is a Republican should not have led Limbaugh to temper his choice of words.

Back the board

I SEE Chaffee's city council is at its best again with another closed meeting, this time to alienate the police board by bowing down to a new, inexperienced chief of police who asked the people of Chaffee to work with him. Then in the city council meeting he says how hard he's going to be. The police board has a purpose. The city has a responsibility to back the police board. I am sure the police board collectively can't all be wrong.

Traffic comes first

SO WHAT is the big hurry to develop the area around the new interstate interchange between Jackson and Cape Girardeau? Let us revel in having a new way to get to the interstate and let the greedy merchants and developers have theirs five or 10 years down the road. The interchange was meant to be a relief on traffic congestion first and foremost.

Jetton's veneer

APPARENTLY, MISSOURI House Speaker Rod Jetton was responsible for slipping an amendment into a bill in the final hours of the legislative session in May, unbeknownst to other lawmakers, without discussion or debate. Didn't he get indignant about someone else he claimed had done something similar earlier this year -- to the point that he was smearing that lawmaker's reputation? There are some of us in Marble Hill who see beyond Jetton's veneer and will be glad to see the end of his term in office.

Student socialization

TEACHERS WHO express Speak Out frustration concerning the lack of time during which they can focus on academics simply don't understand the function of schools. The manifest purpose of schools may be to impart knowledge, but the latent function (socialization of students) is considered so much more important by both school and community. Once a teacher accepts this truism, he or she will be able to get with the program and be at peace.

Paying for coverage

AS I understand it, the SCHIPS program provides health coverage for children who would otherwise not be eligible for coverage elsewhere. Allow me to share a personal story. I have a child with a developmental disability as well as a history of serious medical problems. I have worked since I was 16 years old and obtained a graduate degree in hopes of ensuring I would be financially self-sufficient. I pay more than $400 a month for my child's health insurance through my employer, which offers shockingly bad coverage with an exorbitant deductible and coinsurance. Now our company is threatening to drop deductible coverage, making it unavailable at any cost. My child has been denied private coverage elsewhere due to her past health problems and surgery. If my company goes through with its plan to drop dependent coverage, my only option for insurance for my child is the SCHIPS program. It is bare-bones coverage, but at least would save us from financial ruin. I have one other option: dropping out of the workforce and letting Medicaid cover our medical expenses. I am trying to be a responsible, productive, tax-paying citizen, but this is getting harder to do.

Useful instruction

I THINK ghost hunting is a relevant class for Southeast Missouri State University. "Ghostbusters" was a great movie, but it didn't teach you all of the technical stuff you need to know in order to use those ghostbusting gizmos. It's probably a sophisticated process, and Southeast is likely one of the few universities in the country with the capability of teaching it. In addition, local Republicans are surely being haunted and chastised by the ghosts of Barry Goldwater and Ronald Reagan and could benefit from learning how to get rid of them as a result of what they are learning in this class.

Turning the tables

WHEN HARRY Reid sent a letter signed by himself and 40 other Democratic senators to Rush Limbaugh's corporate partner, Clear Channel, he was trying to use the power of the Senate to perpetuate a lie and silence Rush. Rush turned the tables on Reid, put his letter on eBay and raised $2,100,100 for the Marine Corps Law Enforcement Foundation. Rush has also pledged a matching donation. Reid should be ashamed he used the power of the Senate to attack a private citizen with opposing political view, and we should be proud to live in or near Rush's hometown. Way to go, Rush.