Speak Out 2/15/09

Lack of response

MY roommate and I both called the police with a noise complaint. The police did not check out the situation. There was underage drinking going on at the house next door, and the music was audible from a good 200 feet away. This is unacceptable. We have class or work early every morning, and this noise goes on until 5 a.m. Why doesn't our police force take concerns of the people seriously?

Prom dresses

I read with wonder the article about prom dresses and how stores keep a list of the dresses bought for each girl so they don't show up wearing identical dresses. Are teenage girls these days so insecure about wearing the same dress as another girl? How sad. At my prom, we laughed it off and congratulated each other on excellent taste. Prom is about laughing and having fun, not about girls showing off their dresses.

Currency future

WHAT will the U.S dollar in year or so have in common with the Austro-Hungarian krone and the German Papiermark? They will all be currencies that where killed by hyperinflation, thanks to President Obama's multibillion-dollar spending extravaganza.

Borrowing jobs

THERE seems to be an intellectual gap when talking about government, spending and job creation. The government by itself cannot create a job. The government can only transfer a job from one industry to another or from the future to today. Government can only employ someone by taking money from someone else or by borrowing money that is paid back by someone else. In Cape Girardeau, we can see workers at the new library or at the new water park. We cannot see the restaurants and shopping centers we do not have because of the sales tax increase. If our sales tax was 2 percentage points lower, we would have one more restaurant for every 50, one more new car sold for every 50, and 1 more retail store for every 50 without consumers spending another dime. Most of the job losses today are from jobs "created" on credit cards that are being removed as debts are paid off. Every time you read an article, replace the word "create" with "borrow from our children." This latest stimulus bill is borrowing 3 million jobs from our children with the hopes it will provide a return and add real jobs. Let's all hope that through dumb luck it works.

Double standard

LET me see if I understand the attacks on the Republicans who are not supporting this stimulus bill. When President Bush won re-election, the first thing Democrats did was to deny that he had a mandate from the voters and to insist on bipartisanship and Democratic input. Fair enough. Now that President Obama and the Democrats are on top, apparently it's OK for them to shut Republicans out of negotiations and ram through everything they want. And if Republicans oppose this, according to some Speak Out comments, they're on the wrong side of history and need to just "get over it." Can you say "double standard"?

Future president

I may be going out on a limb, but I have growing daily confidence that the first female president will be Missouri's own U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill. You go, girl.

Nothing there

"THE liberal mind is a wonder to behold," wrote David Limbaugh. It is. What are called functional MRIs have allowed neurologists, psychologists and others to view the liberal mind, and it is an amazing thing. Somewhat predictably, the same machines show the conservative mind to be such that one is reminded of the headline after St. Louis Cardinals baseball pitcher Dizzy Dean was hit in the head with a baseball: "X-Ray of Dean's head shows nothing."

Warning signs

KUDOS to Walgreens for flashing the winter storm warning two weeks ago. I had heard the warning on TV and the radio, but seeing it on the outside neon sign made me more aware to get things in order before the storm hit. Last night I was coming through Cape Girardeau and saw the wind warning alert on the Walgreens sign. I had not had a chance to hear the news about the warning, so I was glad I saw the warning. I am impressed that we have a sign warning the community not just about the weather events, but even Amber Alerts. Thanks, Walgreens, for adding something positive to help the people in our community.

High utility bill

I just read a caller's comment about the high electric bill in Jackson. Ours was also high, almost double from the month before. None of our habits have changed. We asked the city to check our meter. We were told it would cost us $50. We were told we should have our appliances checked, because that's probably what the problem was. We spent $80 having all of our appliances checked. They are all fine. Most of our appliances are gas. Are other people having the same problem in Jackson? I wonder what is going on.

Neighborhood blight

WHY, in some neighborhoods, do some property owners have so little regard for keeping up their houses and yards? It looks awful.