Speak Out 5/28/10

Made my day

I appreciate Gary Rust's column about the lawyers. I'm going to give a copy of that to the lawyer in Cape Girardeau who handles my legal affairs, and he's also my friend and a good person. This made my day when I read about the lawyers. Keep it up. I wish Gary Rust would put in some more stuff about them.

Thanks for help

THANKS to the people who helped my husband when he fell at the Show Me Center. Thanks to the Show Me Center staff, the fire department rescue team and friends at Southeast Missouri Hospital and for all the prayers. All is well.

Good program

I think Cape Girardeau police are being petty in their effort to defeat the transportation tax. That tax has been the most successful thing I have seen. I think the city has done a good job with that particular program.

Caring for animals

I lost a friend today. Her name was Ally. She was a 3-year-old German shepherd at the animal shelter. They were really taking good care of her, but she had heartworms and had to be put down. Everybody should know that the animal shelter does an excellent job taking care of dogs and cats. It's clean and fine facility. The people that work there are fine. Anybody looking for animals should check it out. We're lucky to have people and a facility like that in Cape Girardeau to take care of the animals. We should appreciate the people for what they do at the animal shelter.

Everyone wins

WHY should everyone get rewarded for work that was only done by a few? Life under our new leadership and the bleeding-heart Democrats can be summed up as follows. Everyone plays. Everyone gets a trophy. But we don't know who won because we don't keep score. That doesn't make sense, does it?

Casino pluses

I'M not a big gambler. I might spend a hundred bucks a year in casinos or buying lottery tickets. But I believe we need to move the gambling money already being spent by folks from our area in St. Louis, Tunica and Metropolis or other places to Cape Girardeau. In this slow economy, we need the good-paying jobs here and the resulting upgrades to the downtown area. The old adages we have heard as reasons to turn down casinos, such as organized crime and prostitution, have been disproven over and over. I know a couple of truckers who pull into casino parking lots to sleep because there is security 24/7. For those of you who would sign a petition to a revote the issue, I have news for you: There is already gambling in Cape Girardeau. There's bingo every night, where thousands of pull tabs are sold. We have Keno in bars and restaurants. Half of the bars in Cape Girardeau have video slot machines. Scratch-off tickets are available at grocery stores and convenience stores. Lottery tickets, with outrageous odds, are sold like hotcakes. Let's move forward and skip a wasteful election. Let's support a casino in Cape Girardeau.

What I believe

I'M looking for elected officials who represent my interests. I am fiscally conservative and socially liberal. I believe in a hand up versus a handout. Sexual orientation issues do not belong in politics. A woman has a right to choose what goes in or out of her body. Crimes against children are capital offenses. Sex/violent crimes against anyone are capital crimes. All drugs should be decriminalized, with the exception of manufacturing meth. Anyone receiving welfare benefits should not smoke, drink or do drugs and should be tested accordingly. If you live here and pay taxes, you may stay here. Everyone has a right to bear arms. Everyone should be required to have training to own one. The president should have the line-item veto power. All politicians should have the same insurance and retirement benefits as any average citizen. Our country was founded on the belief in God and freedom of religion. Separation of church and state does not mean the absence of God.