OpinionJuly 27, 2001
SPEAK OUT
IN RESPONSE to the "Second-class citizens" comment, I have two simple questions: Where do you get the audacity to ask for more of a percentage refund than you paid in? "Rich folks" paid a lot more in, and are still limited to only $600 a couple. That is not fair. I'm sorry this person only gets $11.75 back, but exactly who owes anyone anything for a bottle of medicine? This is one more example of gimme, gimme, gimme...
Gimme, gimme, gimme
IN RESPONSE to the "Second-class citizens" comment, I have two simple questions: Where do you get the audacity to ask for more of a percentage refund than you paid in? "Rich folks" paid a lot more in, and are still limited to only $600 a couple. That is not fair. I'm sorry this person only gets $11.75 back, but exactly who owes anyone anything for a bottle of medicine? This is one more example of gimme, gimme, gimme.
A religious nation
I AM deeply troubled by the columns in the Southeast Missourian written by doctors and professors of biology which give the impression that an educated person must support embryonic stem-cell research. This is absolutely not true. There is a great debate about whether or not an embryo or a fetus is a person. This is not something science can solve. It's a religious matter. My father and his father died of Alzheimer's. I have every belief it will probably happen to me. I have diabetes. My daughter has diabetes. I would not support federal-government research on an innocent human being, no matter how big or small, to help me in my situation or my family. It's absolutely wrong. As for what the Founding Fathers believed, I suggest that those of you who are puzzled go back to the original writings of such men as Franklin, who was not terrifically religious, who said the U.S. government was purposely founded on the principles in the Bible. He said the government of the United States can only work for a religious and a moral people. It absolutely cannot work for any other people. The separation of church and state never meant the separation of the state and God.
Where's the curfew?
NOW THAT the Taste Lounge is closed, what are the police going to do about people hanging out on Middle Street? Do they not have a curfew for underage kids? This is a residential area. Those people deserve better. On the white side of town, you don't have people hanging out in the late hours of the night on the street disturbing people trying to rest. I'd like an answer from the police department.
Union was big help
IN RESPONSE to the person who said he was forced to be union and he'd be better off without it: He ought to quit the union and get a different job. I worked non-union in my trade for over 12 years, and I feel like it was 12 years of my life that was wasted. Once I got in the union, I found what a decent wage was and what a decent retirement is going to be. And I have health insurance for my family provided for me that I never had before. The union has been nothing but a good thing for me, and it provided an improvement in my family's lifestyle.
Union benefits
TO THE gentleman who has a problem with paying his union dues: He seems to believe that the unions are holding him back. I don't see how a union can hold you back. Maybe the reason he doesn't want to quit his job is he's making a good wage and getting a pension and insurance. Maybe he can't afford to quit a good-paying job. I belong to a union. I love my union. I make good money and have a good pension and good insurance. I have an annuity. I have good representation. I just don't see how a person can not want to be represented by a collective-bargaining agent.
Broadway still floods
A QUESTION for the city administration: Why didn't the $1 million-plus the city spent on the recently completed Broadway improvements correct the flooding problem? Looks like another roundabout, only this time it's storm-sewer waste.
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Send it to charity
I HEARD the Democrats have 500 people up there in Washington who have signed a petition saying they don't want this $300 tax-refund check. If they do, then they should publish the names. That way, for those people, their money could go to local organizations to help out poor people.
Subjective grading
IN RESPONSE to the caller who criticized the Southeast Missourian for picking certain criteria on which to judge Bob Holden: This caller evidently is a SEMO student, which explains a lot of his confusion and lack of knowledge. The caller said, "Fortunately for me, I'm graded on everything I do," implying that college professors grade students on everything they do. Caller, I've taught at SEMO University. You're wrong. You're not graded on everything you do. Your instructor decides before the semester ever begins which items and what criteria he's going to grade you on. Then he sets up a grading scale and some requirements such as a paper or a project. He sets them up, and then he grades you. That does not mean you're graded on everything you do. The Southeast Missourian did the same thing. It set up certain criteria on which it judged Holden, then it figured the grades. Grades are very subjective, whether you believe it or not. Maybe when the student gets a little more maturity and knowledge, he'll see that.
Utopian taxation
I'M TIRED of the major media praising the efficient European lifestyle. Prices are so high in Europe that the average European has no choice but to be efficient. These are socialist countries that tax everything. The average European doesn't own a home. Most don't own automobiles. If they do, it's a little larger than a roller skate. A gallon of gas costs over $4 despite the fact European nations pay the same price for a barrel of oil that the United States pays. Sure, Europeans have free health care. Their tiny apartments are subsidized by the government. They have cheap public transportation. But all of these entitlements come with a price tag. Every product, every service, every paycheck is taxed to the hilt. This might be Dick Gephardt's and Tom Daschle's and the rest of the Democrats' idea of Utopia.
No refunds for some
THE CHECK is in the mail. No. I don't think so, Mr. President. We got the notice from the IRS about the tax relief, but there is no tax relief at our house. Only the rich who paid taxes last year get a tax refund. I wish the news media would quit saying the check will be in the mail in August or September. Do you realize that about a fourth of the population won't get a tax relief? Not the senior citizens. The people on Social Security won't, nor will some of the other poor working people. So the rich get richer, and the poor get poorer. I know a single mother who already borrowed money on her tax refund. She heard on TV she's going to get about $600, so she borrowed on it. The TV should say only some people will get checks.
Bible is pipeline
IN REPLY to the Speak Out caller who said it's a shame so many Southeast Missourian readers would not accept Dr. Felker's opinion on the necessity of stem-cell research on the basis that we have a direct pipeline to God: Yes, I'm one of those. I admit it. My pipeline is called the Bible.
Unsung heroes
WE WOULD like to say thank you to the people who rescued my husband when a wall of water pushed him into the drainage ditch at Bloomfield Road and Kingshighway. It is a special person who will react in time of emergency. We are very grateful. May God bless.
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