Speak Out 5/31/06

Taking sides

MANY LOYAL local Republicans have shown our support for U.S. Rep. Jo Ann Emerson by donating money to her campaigns and giving her our support. Now will she support us by voting for strong borders and against amnesty? Will she vote to support the working men and women of her district, or will she side with big farmers in her district who want the cheap labor of illegals? Mrs. Emerson, we are waiting.

Make repairs first

IF YOU have a leak in the roof, you repair it before the rainy season. Ditto for repairing border security and employer sanctions before giving a guest-to-citizenship party for between 11 and 20 million illegals.

Shocking stand

TO EDITORIALLY refer to recently enacted Missouri statutes allowing fat cats to contribute as much as they want to campaigns and requiring voters to produce a photo ID (designed, in my view, to suppress the vote) as "good sense" and "beneficial" for the Show Me State is so far beyond the pale it's shocking, even for the rabidly partisan Southeast Missourian editorial board.

Givers and takers

I DO not believe cutting Social Security and Medi-care will do much unless the unfunded liabilities of the retirement and medical benefits of all public employees are addressed as well. The number of income producers and taxpayers is being overtaken by those on the receiving end. Our elected officials are supposed to be servants of the public rather than the self-serving fraternity they have become. What economic results are we to expect when the takers, or beneficiaries, outnumber the givers, or earners?

Student speakers

I ATTENDED the graduation ceremony at Jackson High School. I was disappointed that none of the students gave speeches. At my alma mater the valedictorian and salutatorian as well as the class president all gave speeches. I would much rather hear a few students than administrators. I did enjoy the teacher who addressed the class. He was an excellent speaker as he shared his pearls of wisdom with his students.

Blood for research

CALIFORNIA, NEW York and New Jersey are states that have the highest abortion rates in the country. New Jersey is actively chasing the embryo stem-cell dream, but the Roman Catholic hospitals in that state are encouraging women to donate umbilical cord and placenta blood to be used in adult stem-cell research. Catholic groups made the announcement with a pair of Democratic assemblymen. Democrat Neil Cohen said the groups were putting aside differences to find common ground to aid research in cures for diseases. Wouldn't it be nice if Missouri followed suit? St. Louis already has the largest umbilical cord blood bank in America. Why not use it?

We've done enough

A RECENT editorial cartoon offended me. It showed a FEMA trailer about to get hit by a hurricane. I guess it was sending a message that we aren't doing enough. But I feel our government did enough. It has relocated people. If the people were smart, they'd stay where they were relocated. Many people who were relocated have found jobs. It would be good to start life over. Why risk getting blown away? What is our responsibility as taxpayers? There's something to be said for common sense. I don't think I'd relocate where the levees could break again.