Speak Out 2/4/09

Handling cards

IN regard to the Christmas cards being torn up in the mail: I work for the U.S. Postal Service. The biggest problems that I saw with Christmas cards are they were not sealed properly and came open during processing. Also, they are not flat. A lot of cards have bows or bells or something of that nature in them. When we process a million letters a night, we cannot possibly look at every letter to see if it can go through a machine. Mailers should inform the window clerks about these cards, and they will make sure they are handled manually.

Spending too much

WE got into this economic mess by too much spending and too much debt. The government and the people bought too many things we could not pay for with our income. Now the government wants to get us out of the mess by spending more money that we do not have. Deficit spending will only make our economy worse. We need to only spend what we can afford.

Thanks, road crews

I'D like to remind everyone that our road crews aren't just scraping snow. They're trying to get rid of several inches of ice, a job the snowplows aren't able to do. You're doing a great job, Cape Girardeau road crews. Please know that we appreciate all your hard work.

Old refrain

IS there anybody besides me who is tired of Cape Girardeau County Commissioner Jay Purcell's refrain of "good old boy network"? I've noticed that people he refers to as the good old boy network have actually accomplished things for the county. The commission has wasted hours dealing with the pettiest items to accommodate Purcell.

Return the favor

WHEN New Orleans was hit by Hurricane Katrina, numerous churches, groups and individuals went to New Orleans give help and support. Now we have a disaster here in the Heartland. Where are the people from New Orleans? I haven't heard a word about them coming up to help us.

Storm gouging

I was ashamed to hear that some businesses were jacking up prices on items at this time of need. I heard a man saying he bought a generator on Monday and went back to buy one for his elderly in-laws on Wednesday and the price had gone up $200. He drove almost all the way to St. Louis to buy a generator and saved $200.

Thanks for the help

I would like to thank the Chaffee Food Giant for supplying the warming center with food and to Wal-Mart for helping out.

Power back on

THANK you to SEMO Electric Cooperative for restoring the electricity in our northeast Scott County neighborhood. We had been without power for 116 hours.

Stop the stimulus

THE passage of President Obama's stimulus package is urgent only to those Democrats wanting to rush the bill through before it can be examined. This pork-filled mess needs to be stopped. I'm glad the Republicans in Congress and Rush Limbaugh are standing up to Democrats. If this is an emergency, then let's deal with it. But we shouldn't be borrowing billions to give to Democratic Party causes. They can debate those issues later.