Speak out 3/28/08

Will and courage

WILL AND moral courage are the best weapons there are, right? Tell that to the Tibetans.

High-fructose syrup

HIGH-FRUCTOSE corn syrup does not have the same amount of calories as sugar. It has substantially more. Also, because it is altered from its natural state, it is not processed by the body the same way sugar is processed. More of the calories are stored as fat.

Photo IDs

ALL PEOPLE who register to vote and who vote in elections should be required to have a state-issued ID card as proof of citizenship, period. This crap about disenfranchisement is just that. If you cannot be bothered to do something simple like acquire a photo ID to prove who you are when exercising the greatest privilege ever bestowed upon citizens of any nation, then do us all a favor and stay home.

Business basics

WHY ARE basic economic principles so hard for people to grasp? Raising prices on a product you sell because the replacement cost has increased is not gouging, whether it's widgets, gasoline or thumbtacks. There is a minimum markup on every product you buy that represents the amount over cost the retailer has to collect in order to meet his expenses and stay in business. This is for all products, including gasoline. If a station owner has 10,000 gallons of fuel in his tanks and his replacement cost increases, he must immediately increase his selling price in order to meet his minimum markup so he can replace what he is selling and stay in business and have the fuel for you to buy and the money to pay his employees' salaries, rent, utilities, insurance and taxes. Conversely, if his replacement cost on the 10,000 gallons falls, he still has to pay for what he has in his tanks. If he sells that at a loss, we're back to the "not able to stay in business" scenario again. I love it when people who have never run a business decide they know more about how things work than those who do own businesses.

Prayer and pledge

I SEE from Cape Girardeau City Council's agendas that the council has both prayer and the pledge of allegiance before meetings begin. Why can't the Chaffee City Council do the same?

Pinching everyone

A TRUCK driver said the rest of us may complain about the high gasoline prices, but the "real pinch" is on him. Really? Many of us are barely making ends meet, and with the rise in gas prices we are having to do without necessities. Believe me, the "real pinch" is on more people than truck drivers.

Serious about autism

ALL THIS feel-good state legislation about autism will go for naught unless the Missouri Legislature follows the lead of Arizona and mandates at least $50,000 per child coverage for intense applied behavioral analysis. Are our state legislators serious, or just interested in public relations and photo ops?

Freak event

YES, I had water in my basement after the torrential rain event. Do I expect the city to pay? No. That was a freak event that no one could plan for. We got almost double the amount of rainfall that was on record for a 24-hour period. I am thankful the Cape LaCroix flood project and the detention basin were built. If that hadn't been in place, things would have been a lot worse than in 1986.

Easy putts

ONLY THREE more sinkholes to go, and those who have trouble with their short game will have a great golf course.

No more taxes

CAPE GIRARDEAU, stop taxing us to death. No more new taxes. Make do with what you have. Make cuts where you have to, like we have to do every day to get by in this weak economy.

A big deal

JAY McMULLIN, I am so proud to work with you at Fed¿Ex. You told us helping the gentleman was "no big deal." Then I saw the picture. It was a "big deal," and I am sure Odell Bunch agrees. You're humble about all this, but you deserve all the praise you are getting. Thanks for stopping to help and for working the rest of the day in wet feet and for helping to cover a second route.

Eliminate tax cut

GARY RUST apparently doesn't like it, but I favor eliminating the Bush tax cut for the rich so that we can begin to move toward a more balanced budget, restore some sense of fiscal discipline and begin digging the rapidly sinking economy out of an ever deepening ditch.

Conservative shift

RUSH LIMBAUGH recently said in part, "I could cite several other things of conservative orthodoxy" taught to him by Bill Buckley. He could have, but he didn't. I would imagine the reason Limbaugh refrained is because he has virtually abandoned all of Buckley's conservative orthodoxy in favor of big-government Republican rule combined with an idealistic foreign policy advocating the spread of demo¿cracy that would make the likes of Woodrow Wilson and even Napoleon blush.

Stoic Red Star

THE GOOD, hard-working residents of the Red Star neighborhood have received the short end of the stick from the city council and other government entities since time immemorial. As a result, they have often paid a severe price and are doing so once again but, unlike others, get on with their lives and accept their fate in stoic silence.

Kind acts

MANY THANK-YOU comments have been posted regarding the ice storm cleanup for workers, companies and cities doing their job. Well done. I would also like to thank all those who perform acts of kindness by donating their time and services without being asked or paid to do so. Thank you to those who have assisted with the ice storm and flood. Thank you to those who offer kind acts year around when others are too busy to notice.