Speak Out 4/14/06

Plenty of room

I SEE no problem with the roundabout here in Cape Girardeau. I have a Lincoln Town Car and a Ford F-150 truck. I have never had any problems getting around it. If someone driving a Mazda can't make it around, he probably shouldn't have a license.

It's the economy

THIS IS a congressional election year. When George W. Bush was first elected president, GOP loyalists worked hard to convince us that, in the now-famous phrase, "It's not the economy, stupid" but old-fashioned American values that were at stake. Now that the Bush administration is mired in Iraq and ethical and legal questions are hanging over the administration, the administration is probably going to have to switch tactics. Since the economy is in good shape for most, Republicans are likely to come up with some variation of "Hey, you know what? It is the economy after all."

Just go slower

TO THOSE complaining about the roundabout: Perhaps the city's money would be better spent giving driving lessons to those who are unable to maneuver a curve in the street, although a simpler solution might be to just to ease up on the gas pedal a little. I've been through the roundabout dozens of times and have never had a problem. Adding stop signs would add to the congestion.

Let them run things

HARD-WORKING immigrants being put in charge of the three branches of our federal government may not be such a bad idea. Given the public's low opinion of our current Congress and its inability to act on immigration reform, we couldn't do much worse. I know an illegal immigrant who works hard on a farm in the Bootheel. The man is intelligent, humble and has outstanding leadership skills. Like Cicero, the humble and wise farmer who was asked to take control of the government during a time of troubles and then went home after he did the job, this illegal immigrant would, in my view, do a wonderful job as temporary chief executive.

It's obvious

REGARDING NO data proving a correlation between student achievement and class size: Does there need to be data? Smaller class size equals more time with the student and the teacher. There is a correlation.

Helping storm victims

I WAS proud to see where our city street department is going to help the people in Caruthersville, Mo. I hope they do the same thing for the people in Braggadocio, Mo. I think it is really a nice gesture and neighborly thing to do.

Rocket science?

NOW THAT the public works department has to redo the roundabout for the third time, it would have been better if engineers had said they goofed the first time and fixed it. I guess this is proof the engineers didn't do it right.