Speak Out 7/20/06

Bumpy roundabout

WE LOVE the new bump at the roundabout. Such a delightful addition.

More eyesores

I'D LIKE to commend the city council for passing the sign ordinance. It's long overdue. What we need to focus on now are cars parked in the front yards and furniture sitting on front porches.

No F students

I THINK any teacher who gives a kid an F hasn't done enough as a teacher. If I were a principal, I would carefully look at a teacher who gives out F's and see why he or she can't produce young adults who are at least C quality. I'm not saying teachers should hand out the grades, but they should be doing more to help any students who need that extra push, not to have a F on their grade cards.

Stem-cell data

A NUMBER of comments have made extravagant claims regarding adult stem cells. Numbers like 65 cures achieved have been tossed around. Hogwash. Adult stem-cell technology is decades old. It has never shown any potential for curing such conditions as Parkinson's or juvenile diabetes, and it never will. That is where the new science of embryonic stem-cell research comes in. If you must oppose this issue, at least play fair and use correct data.

Purchasing power

CONGRESS HAS refused to raise the minimum wage but has increased its own members' pay every year for the past eight years to a total of $168,500. Luckily, we have Tom Delay to explain this. It's not a pay raise, he said, it's an adjustment. He said pay increases are needed to keep members from losing their purchasing power. Well, what do you know.

Uncluttered city

A COMMENT implied that removing garage-sale signs will hurt the chances of attracting new businesses to Cape Girardeau. If anything, it will increase business. Most companies want a clean, uncluttered area to invest in, not a dump.

Traffic flow

IF THE person who thinks the stop sign at Rampart and Melrose is such a wonderful idea because it stops speeding, perhaps he could sell the city engineer on the idea of putting a stop sign on every intersection in Cape Girardeau. The intent of stop signs is to control traffic flow.

Maintain roads

ROADS IN Cape Girardeau County are not in great shape and require repairs from time to time. I want to see the county roads maintained, not just the highways.

No more favoritism

REGARDING THE Jackson School District hiring retirees: When are the people in this town going to tell the school board that we're not going to take this kind of stuff? Favoritism is running rampant around here.

Cartoon message

THANK YOU, Don Greenwood. What great cartoon. I hope it gets a message to city hall. Let's not get the Gestapo out.

Weedy streets

INSTEAD OF our mayor worrying about beautifying the exits on Interstate 55, he needs to ride down Kingshighway, William and Bloomfield and see all the weeds and grass growing at the intersections. Buy a few gallons of Roundup and kill the weeds. It would make the town look decent. Spend a little bit of our tax money on the streets in Cape Girardeau.

Fix city streets

IT'S TOO bad that Proposition 1 will provide money for county roads. From the people I've spoken to and from what I've read here, county residents are fine with their current road situation -- paved, gravel or otherwise. I would not hesitate to vote in favor of Proposition 1 if the provided funds would go to improve Cape Girardeau's streets. City roads receive way more traffic, and they are deteriorating fast. As the proposal stands now, I will be voting no on Proposition 1.

Get involved

WHOEVER THINKS the Marble Hill, Mo., chief of police is not doing his job must be someone who has had a run-in with the law. Chief Wills is working hard in our community with what few officers and resources are available to him. Marble Hill officials are busy tracking down and making owners of properties clean them up. Yard-sale signs are just a small portion of what is being done. Instead of griping, start getting involved. Attend the monthly board meetings and ask what you can do to help. Actions always speak louder than words.

Lack of modesty

STATE SEN. Jason Crowell's self-congratulatory pat on the back for seemingly almost single-handedly turning Missouri's economy around is in large part accurate. However, if I had achieved such a feat, modesty would forbid me from Crowell-like crowing about it on the Opinion page of the Southeast Missourian.

GOP strategy

COLUMNIST PAUL Greenberg is a commonsense conservative who realizes the immorality of deporting all illegal immigrants, even if it means breaking up families. He also knows Republicans who wrongly boast that they are conservatives are willing to accept short-term political gain at the expense of long-term extinction.

Booster-seat control

ALL OF you sheep who are buying this stuff about booster seats should look around. Go to the mall. None of the people you see sat in a booster seat. The government is out of control, and you are too if you give in to everything the government wants. Eventually, government will want everything.

Not just conservatives

THE MAJORITY of Americans aren't partisan conservatives. A majority of Americans oppose illegal immigration, yet the media keep saying that only conservatives oppose the comprehensive shell game they call immigration reform.

Everyone do a little

FOR THOSE of you who leave outside lights on day and night and don't bother to recycle, you surely don't care about the environment. If a lot of people do a little, it could make a difference, possibly helping the oil shortage.

Spreading terrorism

I SAT here to write about the bloodthirsty terrorists who continue to kill anyone they can, and words fail me. How can you truly say that this enemy is limited to one spot or place? Or how can you say they are not in this country or that? The Middle East is truly a hotbed of violent and hateful individuals whose only desire is to steal, kill and destroy. Any support of them makes one as guilty of their crimes just as if they did it themselves. If they do this to those in their own country, they have no fear of doing it all over the world, as has been shown recently. God have mercy on us all.

Walking signs

I WAS in Cape Girardeau and saw the funniest thing. I saw two young boys walking down Broadway wearing yard-sale signs. I thought that was creative. You may not be able to put signs in yards anymore, but no one said you couldn't put signs on yourself to advertise. Good job, boys. I liked it.

Paying and dancing

I LOOKED at my 2005 road tax bill. I paid $73.95 last year in these taxes. By my calculation, if I spend $14,790 in taxable purchases in 2007, I will have paid more than $73.95 in sales tax based on the rate proposed by the county. The people promoting this tax increase have not mentioned that when you buy a car, boat or trailer or major-ticket item you will be paying more tax. The only people benefiting from this tax relief are the high-dollar property owners with apartment buildings and such. Do the promoters fall in this category? You bet they do. Once again the poor man pays the band while the rich man does the dancing.

Tax revenue

I KNEW the tax-cutting supply siders would claim the increase in federal tax income is due to the Bush tax cuts for the rich. Hold the phone. An objective look at the data indicates that the reason the recent increase in the amount of tax money collected looks so good is that the last five years were unbelievably horrible. And, even with a robust economy, evidence indicates federal tax revenue is still short of that reached in the year 2000. By the way, in 2000 the federal government had a $236 billion surplus, so perhaps we shouldn't go so wild over the fact the recent spike in federal tax income will lower the still staggering deficit to $300 billion.