Speak Out 4/26/09

Mass effort

NOW'S a good time for the tea party members to get a copy of the paper in regard to the census office. Send this to our federal legislators and President Obama. Maybe we can get something done. It's takes a mass effort to get their attention. I have mine ready to go.

Classroom idea

I read that a school board member said some of our elementary schools are overcrowded and some are undercrowded. My daughter is in one of the overcrowded schools. I am told that next year there will be another teacher for her grade, but there will be no supplies for a startup room. It concerns me that my daughter could be in a room with minimal supplies. Would it make sense to move materials, books, games and desks from one of the undercrowded rooms to start a new room at an overcrowded school? It would make it so much better for both the students and the new teacher, plus it would not cost taxpayer dollars.

Paving the way

THE right-wingers criticizing President Obama for shaking hands with a couple of democratically elected and heretofore anti-American leaders are the same gang that blasted President Reagan for beginning a relationship with then-Soviet communist dictator Mikhail Gorbachev, an event that helped pave the way for the ending of the Cold War.

Clean out ditches

THE city needs to clean out the ditches from the top of Timon Way to Dumais on to Country Club Drive. All the trash and tree limbs have formed a dam, blocking rainwater from running through the ditches like it should.

Democracy

CONTRARY to what a Speak Out comment claimed, taxpayers did indeed approve of government loans to this and that concern. They did so through their elected representatives. That is the nature of a representative democracy. To argue otherwise symbolizes the reason so many educated and rational American citizens are calling for, as a requirement for voting, the introduction of a constitutional amendment requiring the passage of a literacy test.

Brink of insolvency

I read with interest the advertisement the Communications Workers of America had in the April 19 edition. Didn't this union learn anything from the Big Three debacle? Union retiree-care legacy costs drove the Big Three to the brink of insolvency. Besides, the union's candidate won the presidential election, and he promised free health care for all. Doesn't this union believe the man they backed for this position?

Go after the GSA

INSTEAD of simply lamenting the high cost of offices for the census workers, why doesn't U.S. Rep. Jo Ann Emerson go after the GSA? It's time to call for a full investigation.

Downtown parking

TO the person who said owners and employees of downtown businesses park in the two-hour spaces "from morning until night": Please don't generalize. I'm a business owner with 30 employees, and they are not allowed to park on Main Street at all. If they are caught doing so, they are reprimanded. Some owners are guilty of this, but many of the cars down there are drunk college students who leave their cars downtown all night.

Having an impact

OBVIOUSLY the tea parties had an impact on President Obama. If you listened to his Saturday morning radio address April 18, you would be amazed how he discussed government overspending and fraud. He mentioned how he planned to cancel several unnecessary government programs to save money. It may be all talk, but it's first mention of the concept I've heard from a politician ever.