Speak out 3/25/13

Nursing program

Kudos to Cape's Career and Technology Center and director Rich Payne for being the first school in Missouri to offer select high school seniors early access to its practical nursing program.

Blaming others

As we all know, everything that doesn't go right for Mr. Obama is usually former president George Bush's fault. Well, now Mr. Obama has a new scape goat. After all the uproar about closing the White House to tours due to the sequester, it seems he now is blaming the Secret Service. President Obama claimed Wednesday that the Secret Service "made the decision" which resulted in the suspension of White House tours. Can't he just one time say: I take responsibility and I will find a way to fix this. Second thought: Let him blame someone else, because we all know he has no ideas of his own.

Tax hikes

Even with the passage of tax credits for those most able to pay, estimates are that revenue coming in to the state of Missouri could actually increase as a result of sales tax hikes, much of the latter, as one might expect, coming from those least able to pay.

Allocating funds

With the revenue from the Isle Casino, I read where the city leaders are eagerly moving ahead with plans for several improvement projects. Those improvements, accordingly to the leaders, are for a parking lot overlay, a dog park, community garden and tree planting, improving city walking trails, purchasing fitness equipment, constructing downtown parking lots, replacing a roof at the Fort D site, improving lighting on Hopper Road, adding scoreboards and bleachers for teen football fields, etc. Now all of this may be well and good. However, our city leaders needs to set some priorities. They need to take a drive down some of these pothole, washboard alley streets and allot some of this money to improving our streets. Granted, Broadway is nice and smooth because it is on the way to the casino. However, Broadway is not the only traveled street to the casino.

Limbaugh column

The chasm is already wider than that existing in the Grand Canyon. Thus, I am stunned that even the likes of David Limbaugh would call for expanding the Ryan budget, therefore widening to infinity the gap between the rich and the rest.

Debt issue

We all know the Republicans really don't want to resolve the debt and deficit issue. Not really. It's the issue that's holding the party together. If it went away the party, already teetering on the brink, would most certainly collapse.

Deer hunting

According to the news article, I am to accept that there needs to be an extensive campaign to educate voters on the wording of the ballot concerning deer hunting within the city limits, because Cape Girardeau voters are not intelligent enough [too stupid] to understand the definition of the word repeal. Nanny state at its best.

Martin comments

As a progressive Democrat, I'm pleased as punch that Missouri Republican Party chairman Ed Martin has publicly promoted the ever-widening gap between what Martin thinks of as old guard, dated Republicans and the new children on the block. Keep up the good work, Ed!

Dog park

My wife and I spent last Friday in Capaha Park with our grandchildren and had to dodge dog and goose poo. Maybe the people who take their dogs to the park will use the dog park, but I doubt it. They will still use the other parks and not pick up after them. What a waste of money.

Minimum wage

If the minimum wage was raised along with the growth in worker productivity over the past half century, it would today be about $22 per hour.

Unneeded war

Thanks for publishing the piece blaming all of the American people for (in essence) being so gullible as to trust our leaders who led us into the needless war in Iraq. Though there were numerous individuals in and out of Congress who opposed the war from the beginning, most Americans supported an unnecessary, off budget, $2.2 trillion and growing, unneeded war.

Debt problem

Our country is $16.7 trillion in debt and it continues to increase, yet our president says that we don't have an immediate crisis in terms of debt. I can proudly say that I didn't vote for this amateur who is trying to govern our country.

Obama, GOP

These Obama supporters are so transparent, as the one who said he didn't vote for him but went on with the same stale whining how those mean old Republicans wouldn't let Obama pass anything. Thank God for the many "Republicans" who have enough common sense to continue to vote against Obama. How do you know when Obama wants to raise taxes? It's when he opens his mouth.