Speak Out 7/27/09

They're criminals

A recent comment suggested that illegal aliens should be left alone if they've done nothing wrong. They did something wrong when they entered the country illegally. They did something wrong when they provided forged documents so they could work in the U.S. They could potentially be receiving health care at U.S. taxpayer expense, which is also wrong. They're here illegally. They're criminals. How much more wrong do they need to do?

Government control

WHAT happened to our rights? I am tired of government trying to control everything. Have your opinion, but stop trying to make those opinions into laws. I don't like having to stop in the middle of the road so a biker going 5 mph can ride in what I thought was a street for cars. Let's stop the complaining about everything.

Saving a life

I don't agree with state Sen. Jason Crowell's view that Missouri would be wasting tax money if Southeast Missouri State University spent it to train a nurse who ends up practicing in another state. One example will refute Senator Crowell's point. Let's say that I took a shuttle to The Pony in East Cape Girardeau, Ill. And let's surmise that, while there, I had a heart attack. Finally, let's say that a nurse trained at Southeast Missouri State University but practicing in a Southern Illinois hospital was there, took quick action, administered CPR and saved my life. I anticipate that this example will be enough to get Senator Crowell not only rethink this issue but change his mind.

Smoking and health

A few days ago, a former Cape Girardeau resident commented about a smoking issue in our town. Not only are our surrounding states implementing laws, but also our neighboring cities. Clayton, Mo., has implemented a smoking ordinance. This action isn't being forced on individuals because the government is trying to interfere with peoples' lives. It's being done because we're trying to preserve the health of our children, the sick, the elderly and those who have been affected by secondhand smoke. Cape Girardeau is losing people on a daily basis because we don't support a healthy initiative. Don't you think it's time to stand up and save our town and the people who live in it?

Health care waste

I have no problem with reforming health care. I have a problem with the Democrats' big government tax-the-rich approach. We need health- care reform that gets the government out of health care. We need to get rid of Medicare and Medicaid and have compulsory private health care for seniors. If they have to pay for it they won't abuse the system. I am horrified by the waste reported to me by my family members who are in the medical field. Can you believe that there are some seniors who go to the doctor just because they think it is a good time to socialize with the people in the doctor's office and believe it is their Medicare/Medicaid-given right to do so? Pitiful.

It's all about money

FREE money. Sue, sue, sue. Today's society and the judicial system allow anyone and everyone who feels like they have been mistreated to sue. There are times it is appropriate, such as injuries that one must deal with due to the negligence of another. But whatever happened to lessons learned? I am tired of hearing "It's not the money I'm after, it's the point." No, the reality is the money is the point.

Slow process

I love those health care reform opponents who try to have it both ways by saying they're all for health-care reform but that we need to slow down the process of achieving it. Right. We've been at it since the Truman administration.

Time for change

HERE we go again. The major TV networks are turning over their airwaves to the president so he can push something down our throats that can't wait. We have to act on it now, not take time to clearly understand the consequences. When will Americans put a stop to this administration and its outlandish spending and power grabbing? It's time we put our country into the hands of people who care for the well-being of the country and the people in it. When you go to the polls, ask yourself if the country is better off than it was a few years ago when we had prayer in schools, the Ten Commandments on public walls and the backbone to stand up for our Christian values and what is right. Then vote your conscience.

Good deal

IN regard to the proposed health-care bill: Most people pay around $200 a month for their insurance. Let's say the president raises taxes $25 a month to cover this new program where people only pay $100 a month for health care insurance. That's a savings of $75 a month. It sounds good to me.

Parking manners

I have seen a lot of things, but today takes the cake. I was just released from the hospital. I had to fill my prescription. I parked between two pickups seven parking spots from the door. When I came out, I sat in my car to rest and take the medicine. A woman in a white car pulled behind me slowly and flipped me off. I didn't know she was waiting on my spot. I didn't know the parking spots had a time limit. This galls me. I didn't do anything to her, and she had to act like that. I thought Cape Girardeau people were better than that.

Party of slow

U.S. Rep Jo Ann Emerson's statements on health-care reform are disappointing and unbecoming of a lawmaker who in the past has deservedly received the acclaim of both Republicans and Democrats in her district for her compassion. It is a shame that she has identified herself with the party of "slow," which in the case of health care is identical to the party of "no." Slowing health-care reform is a gimmick employed by the health-care monopolies to kill all hope of fixing the existing mess, and the Republican Party obviously is a willing accomplice.

No GOP plan

REPUBLICANS are quick to remind us that they favor responsible health-care reform. We must take them at their word, even if they have no comprehensive health care plan and have suggested no way to pay for it. The party surely has not sunk to the abysmal level of "Just say no" as some critics claim.

Impact on doctors

THE HEALTH-CARE reform bill will be the most disastrous piece of legislation of the last 100 years. Letting the government have control of your family's health care is insanity. When the government takes over health care, doctors become, in effect, government workers subject to salary caps. If a doctor's income is limited, he will get out of the business and future doctor candidates will not go to medical school. The quality of candidates for medical school will plummet. Who would you want operating on you: a doctor who made a 34 on his ACT, or a guy who made 25? Let's get the government out of our lives.

Visiting Iraq

CAN someone tell me why the governor of our state needs to visit Iraq? Aren't there other ways he can express our appreciation to the troops? I am sure our military does not enjoy having to worry about protecting dignitaries.

MOSERS bonuses

STATE Sen. Jason Crowell may need to be reminded that people living in glass houses shouldn't throw stones. It's no surprise he's going after Southeast Missouri State University again. This spring, lest we forget, while serving on the governing board for the Missouri State Employees Retirement System, Crowell was the only one disagreeing with political leaders calling for reform of the MOSERS system when $300,000 was paid to 14 employees of MOSERS. From the Daily American Republic: "Board member Jason Crowell, a Republican state senator from Cape Girardeau, disagreed that the bonus policy needed to be changed. 'The overall fundamental understanding of why we made the decision hasn't changed in a down market or an up market,' Crowell said. 'We judge them by the job they do.'" Rest assured university employees will also continue to demand accountability for our MOSERS system to ensure that we, as employees and taxpayers, will be the beneficiaries of our retirement funds, not the MOSERS staff receiving bonuses.

Cycling laws

REGARDING bicycle laws in Missouri: Here are some sections of the Missouri Revised Statutes: 307.188. Rights and duties of bicycle and motorized bicycle riders. Every person riding a bicycle or motorized bicycle upon a street or highway shall be granted all of the rights and shall be subject to all of the duties applicable to the driver of a vehicle as provided by chapter 304, RSMo, except as to special regulations in sections 307.180 to 307.193 and except as to those provisions of chapter 304, RSMo, which by their nature can have no application. 304.012. Highest Degree of Care. Every person operating a motor vehicle on the roads and highways of this state shall drive the vehicle in a careful and prudent manner and at a rate of speed so as not to endanger the property of another or the life or limb of any person and shall exercise the highest degree of care. 304.016.4. When passing is allowed. No vehicle shall at any time be driven to the left side of the roadway under the following conditions: (1) When approaching the crest of a grade or upon a curve of the highway where the driver's view is obstructed within such distance as to create a hazard in the event another vehicle might approach from the opposite direction.

Medical care

IN the past few weeks several local physicians have written opinion pieces touting the current health-care system and, in particular, the health care in Cape Girardeau. Most recently, a local urologist cited benefit after benefit. Is it any wonder that local physicians and hospitals are in favor of the current system? The fact is that in the Cape Girardeau area medical costs are about three times more than those of other areas. Does this have any effect upon employers? Procter & Gamble and Noranda have both decided to use St. Louis and Memphis providers rather that being held hostage to hospitals and physicians here. The university is considering a similar shift because employee salaries have literally gone down because the portion of employee health-care costs have steadily increased as much as 18 percent with a 2 percent salary increase or no increase at all. The fear of shifting to urban care centers expressed by the urologist is already here, thanks to the local medical community.