Speak Out 7/13/06

County taxing

WHY AM I, as a citizen of Scott City, being penalized for shopping in the nearest populated city, Cape Girardeau? Why do I have to pay for Cape Girardeau County's sheriff's deputies? Cape Girardeau County's Proposition 1, for a sales-tax increase, is not about county residents paying for their services. It's about people from Chaffee, Advance and Perryville paying for the county's needs. Tax the people of your county, not the surrounding counties.

Borrowing for a book

IT LOOKS like conservative Ann Coulter really doesn't have any original thoughts. She is in trouble for stealing other people's material and putting it in her new hate-filled book.

Dying constitution

IF DAVID Limbaugh opposes a living constitution, then one can only conclude he prefers a dead one. That's exactly what is happening. Our cherished U.S. Constitution is dying. Please don't allow Mr. Limbaugh and his fellow radical ideologues have their way and entirely emasculate a document that has served us so well for so long.

Jabbing non-voters

THOSE WHO put up yard sale signs were targeted by the city council because the members figured they are generally folks who don't vote. The council thought these folks might complain a lot. But in the end they would become docile, resign themselves to their fate and obey the ordinance, ultimately not threatening this radical power grab by a city council gone wild. Based on Speak Out and other commentary, the council may have inadvertently awakened a group of heretofore sleeping giant non-voters.

Crop subsidies

ISN'T IT sad when a self-described conservative Republican, state Rep. Peter Myers of Sikeston, attempts to defend tax subsidies for producers of corn and soybeans on the grounds that the subsidies are less than taxes we pay to shore up those of other energy related products? Whatever happened to unfettered, free-market capitalism?

Rushed to tax

YOUR STORY "Cape already acted on many of consultant's transit ideas" failed to underline an important point. The study recommended a quarter-cent county sales-tax increase to help finance the bus system. If the commissioners, the United Way and so many leaders are in favor of the new transit system, why didn't the county commissioners include the transit service in the upcoming tax plan? A county roads and bridge plan should also include public transportation. More and more it looks like this county tax plan was rushed together without much thought. Or maybe the commissioners wanted to try to get their tax raise in before the transit authority did. Unbelievable.

Why the amendment?

ABORTION IS protected by federal law. The harvesting and selling of aborted baby parts to labs and universities is protected by federal law. Embryonic stem-cell research is federally protected by law. The seizing of private property by local governments to be given to contractors is protected by federal law. The killing of human vegetables is federally protected by law. The burning of the American flag is protected by federal law. Missouri hasn't amended its constitution for any of these federally protected laws, so tell me again why Missouri must amend its constitution to protect federally protected embryonic stem-cell research.

Doing a job

I WENT to the license bureau in Chaffee. There were about 20 people in there, and a woman treated the girl who works there so bad that I wanted to step in. I wasn't the only one. She was so rude. The girl tried in vain to make the woman understand that there were rules she has to follow. It makes me sad to see people treat others this way when they are just trying to do their jobs.

Real problems

MUCH LIKE our beloved federal government, the city has elected officials representing the various wards. This shouldn't be replaced by mob rule. We vote them in or out, and they do the city's business. It's called representative democracy. If you are upset about signs with all of the federal corruption and idiotic legislation passing through those chambers, you shouldn't be voting anyway.

Stem-cell victories

I HATE to burst the rat scientists' balloon, but I guess I have to do it. While embryonic stem-cell scientists crow about one rat victory, scientists using cord blood and adult stem cells claim 65 human victories over diseases and injuries. One rat victory, 65 human victories. I rest my case.

The other tavern

CONCERNING articles about the closing of the bar in Oran: Owners of this tavern say they had to close because of a mayor and police chief who enforced the law. Why is the other tavern in town still operating without any complaints?

Synchronize the lights

THE STOPLIGHTS at the Interstate 55 on- and off-ramps on William Street need to be synchronized so that traffic going eastbound in the left lane is not held up by the cars waiting at the stoplight to get onto the northbound on-ramp of the interstate.

Air-show shuttle

I LOVE going to the air show in Cape Girardeau. This year I couldn't go due to car trouble. Why not have a shuttle service to and from the show? This way, people like me could still enjoy an afternoon of air-show fun.

Keep the free market

GARAGE SIGNERS, unite. You are the last vestige of individualist, entrepreneurial capitalism. Do not let local mercantilist monopolies and oligopolies undermine your pure free-market pursuits.

Reasonable tax

ONLY 50 cents extra for every $100 I spend in Cape Girardeau County. That's well worth it for the extra deputies in my neighborhood keeping my family safe. I was shocked when I learned that sometimes there is only one deputy working for the entire county.

Wasteful spending

NOT ONLY are we spending our tax dollars to have the police take down yard-sale signs, but we are using taxpayer dollars to print a pamphlet telling us about the new sign ordinance. Unbelievable.

Consumers pay

AMERNUE IS a public-service company that had a terrible accident at Taum Sauk Reservoir. The company is allowed to make a profit by the state's public service commission. Now that Ameren is being threatened with lawsuits and pressured to make generous campaign donations to politicians, it will have to raise rates to stay profitable. It is a strange situation that when a public utility is fined, the consumers pay the bill.