Speak Out 5/24/07

A better deal

IT IS an exciting time to be a Southeast Missouri State University student. With the aquatic center and River Campus, we will get a Springfield or Columbia experience for a much better price.

Trying to keep up

RENT KEEPS going up along with gasoline, food, utilities and natural gas. Everything is going up except pay. Minimum wage went up, but that doesn't enable a family to live without having to choose what bills to let go so they can buy food or clothes or gas to get to work. Something needs to change. Kudos to U.S. Rep. Jo Ann Emerson for trying to see how the average people live when it comes to food.

Downtown safety

FOR EVERY person who vows not to come downtown because if security cameras are installed, 11 others will come.

Health-care costs

JOB-HOPPING isn't the answer to health-care coverage. Many smaller business's don't offer Insurance to their employees. Medical expenses keep getting higher and higher. Not having some kind of insurance sure does cut into your budget by the time you pay for a doctor's visit and the prescribed medication.

No scapegoating

ENOUGH WITH the scapegoating about Vietnam and trying to start it with the current war. The American people, the American soldiers, the American anti-war activists did not lose that war. The country's leaders lost it. They are the one's who treat our soldiers as fodder. They are the one's who embellish threats so we'll support them. They are responsible. And when we pull out of Iraq, it won't be because the soldiers failed and not because of antiwar protesters. It will be because our Leaders failed to plan and had little regard for the repercussions of their effort to secure oil while failing to finish the real threat that existed in Afghanistan.

Hold down the noise

I AGREE you should keep your dogs out of other people's yards. Unfortunately, I was unaware that my dog was doing this until an unpleasant neighbor informed me. My dog has since been put down. I have my neighbor's dogs barking at all hours. There is more to gripe about than dogs being in your yard. How about controlling the noise as well?

No way to win

COMMENTS SAY Iraq is not like Vietnam. Let me tell you one way they are alike. The only ground you hold is the ground you are standing on. I keep hearing "war on terror." How do you wage war on a tactic? This has gone on way too long. The generals say there is no military way to win.

Out of the loop

THAT DAVID Limbaugh didn't realize that Christopher Hitchens is an atheistic secular humanist who demonstrates beyond doubt that it is possible to be moral and do good things without the yoke of organized religion seems to show that Limbaugh is way out of the loop.

What Falwell said

DAVID LIMBAUGH described Jerry Falwell's remarks about 9-11 as "regrettable." Here's what Falwell had to say, in part: "I really believe that the pagans ... the feminists ... the gays and the lesbians ... the ACLU, People for the American Way -- all of them who have tried to secularize America. I point the finger at them and say, 'you helped this happen.'" If these blame-America-first words had been uttered by virtually any American other than Falwell, Limbaugh would have demanded their prosecution for treason and death by hanging.

Religious disagreement

OF COURSE Jerry Falwell didn't preach that people he didn't like were going to hell. He was smarter than that. But I have absolutely no doubt that he believed that people who disagreed with his characterization of Christianity were.

Economy not so good

SOME SAY this is a good economy. I can tell you this it is not a good economy for the middle-class working people. $3 a gallon for gas, higher electric rates, extremely high health-care costs and food costs all add up. The problem is wages have not kept up with the cost of living, causing a big deficit in our budget. If I had plenty of money I would say this is a good economy. But when you're in the working middle class it is not.

Veterans' benefits

TO ALL veterans and those who will be: The Bush administration has asked Congress not to proceed with the entire pay raise to our troops for fiscal year 2008. The administration says the plan is too costly. The plan would cost $7.5 billion over the next six years, less than what we spend in Iraq in a month. The administration also wants to increase the cost of Tricare for retirees of the military, even though this was a guaranteed free service for those who stayed. The administration also strongly opposes a plan to require drug manufacturers to give the same price to the Defense Department Tricare program as it does to the military bases. Call your federal legislators and ask them to vote with the Armed Services Committee and not degrade the benefits of those who serve and have served.

Wine at school

MY SON'S school told a student he could not wear a T-shirt that had a wine bottle on it, even if the wine bottle had no label. It was still obvious it had to do with alcohol. But they can give students wine glasses as prom favors. That makes no sense at all.