Speak Out 12/16/08

Need transparency

BARACK OBAMA has said this will be the most transparent and ethical administration ever. This would be a good time for him to release any telephone calls and everything else pertaining to the alleged attempt by Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich to sell a U.S. Senate seat. Let's have the transparency we were promised.

Mortgage fairness

REGARDING THE housing crisis and mortgage rates: There are some plans in place. I'm struggling to make my mortgage payments. There are a lot of people falling behind. They're getting assistance. It's like you're getting punished because you put your mortgage first and were always on time with your payments. We're not eligible for any help. Everybody could do much better with a lower fixed rate. That's a big problem that needs to be addressed.

Noisy at night

GARBAGE TRUCKS make a lot of noise at night, banging the trash containers. They come at 1 and 2 a.m., and you can hear them for half a block. I thought there was a noise ordinance. Surely I'm not the only one who can verify that the garbage trucks wake you up. I hope something can be done.

Smoking advice

WHEN RESTAURANT employees are on break, they should take their smoking to their cars. They shouldn't stand in the door puffing or find a hidden spot in the supply room. Don't put cigarette smoke in the air vents and stink up the whole place.

Robber barons

BERNARD MADOFF'S $50 billion Ponzi scheme will forever stand as a metaphor for the madness that has created and perpetuated a culture of greed unseen in this nation since the wretched Robber Baron Era of the late 19th century.

Street repairs

IT IS great that Jackson is repairing sections of Greensferry Road. For safety reasons, would it have not made sense to open Deerwood Drive? This would have made it safer for the workers and the commuters.

Focus on academics

I LIKE that the Cape Girardeau School District publishes meeting agendas and video of the meetings on Capetigers.com. I like watching the board meetings. The report card sounds like the district is not doing so well. Watching the last board meeting I was impressed that the members agreed that giving students a good education was important. The agenda for Dec. 15 says that the district is going to have a seventh- and eighth-grade sports program. I do not understand how sports programs can be brought up when we have students not doing well and not graduating. Our graduation rate is shameful. Actions by the board to even consider anything but remedies for the district's education problems are shameful.

Undermining capitalism

OUR ELECTED senators chose not to bail out the auto industry, and now the unelected Treasury Department asserts that it will bail them out anyway. This is outrageous. Bankruptcy and failure are hard, but they are essential to capitalism. If we nationalize industry, we abandon core capitalistic principles and ensure our demise. The only question left is the time frame.

Coming collapse

TRILLIONS FOR high finance. Not one penny for the auto industry. America deserves its coming collapse.

Good education

MY DAUGHTER graduated from Central High School. She studied night and day to keep up. The teachers were well-educated in their areas of expertise. They were concerned and dedicated. She entered a highly selective college prepared for the coursework. My daughter scored above 30 on the ACT because of the preparation given at CHS.

Cell phone dangers

WHEN IS Missouri going to outlaw the use of cell phones while driving? I had three people almost hit me yesterday while driving one trip down Kingshighway. Two weaved across into my lane while going the same direction, and one crossed the center line and just missed hitting me head on. Another driver stopped in the middle of a block on Mount Auburn Road where there was no stop sign. It's getting more dangerous every day.