Speak Out 7/5/12

Gene Lyons

The caller who suggested no liberals write for the paper obviously has never heard of Gene Lyons, which is no surprise. Not many people do read that man's column.

Obama, amnesty

I see that our dictator in chief, President Obama, is going to bypass Congress and initiate amnesty for the children of illegal immigrants. What else is he going to do without Congress' consent? Maybe someone ought to get him in front of the Supreme Court for all the illegal stuff he does.

Beetle bags

Japanese beetle traps really work, but there are not enough bags in the package. You can buy more bags or before you use the last one, mark a pattern off it onto a bread wrapper. Bunny whole wheat white bread bags are just the right size. We get a bag full of beetles every day.

Student computers

What a dumb idea that the taxpayer should have to buy a computer for every student at Cape Girardeau Central High School. Do you know that 30 percent of the students at the high school don't graduate? They can't remember to bring a pencil to class, let alone a computer. If you give all these students computers, they are going to drop them on the ground and break them. They are going to forget them and leave them at home. They are not going to have them. So then we would have to buy a second or third computer for the students who don't care. Where is it going to stop? What we need are students who want to learn and want to get jobs after they are through with high school. We need a little work ethic. We don't need to give away computers.

Rental inspections

I'd just like to comment about an article I saw in the paper today about the rental inspections. I think it is a great idea. I rented a home from a landlord. The house was infected with mold, and I could not get the landlord to clean it up. So, yes, I am very much in favor of the rental inspections. At least, if it doesn't do anything else, it will get the landlords to clean up the houses to where they are livable.

Good landlord

I'd just like to make a comment on the rental inspection reviews that I read in the paper today. I would like to comment on Mr. Uzoaru's comment. I wish we had more landlords like Mr. Uzoaru who took care of their property and made it a fit place for renters to live. Good work, Mr. Uzoaru. Keep it up.

McCain's idea

Cap-and-trade was originally the brainchild of Republican Sen. John McCain. When Obama became president and started pushing the idea, McCain reverted to intransigent partisanship, blasted the idea of cap-and-trade and started calling it cap-and-tax.

GOP idea

For the umpteenth time, the individual mandate for health care was a Republican idea, later rejected by Republicans when President Obama became president and said he would go along with the idea.

Checking facts

Factchecking organizations like politifact.com ought to be abolished. It takes the fun out of political campaigns. For example, Mitt Romney said President Obama didn't even mention the federal deficit or debt during his State of the Union address when, in fact, he mentioned his plan to reduce the debt at least six times. How in the world are we going to have an anything-goes, slam-bam election if the lies being told are always being exposed?

Unaffordable rent

I'm wanting to comment on the idea of changing the rentals here in Cape Girardeau to where you have to have them inspected and you have to have a license and all this sort of thing. There are already laws on the books that they can enforce to make them keep them sanitary and kill the roaches and stuff. But some of these poor people, they are not going to be able to afford the price of the rent when this rent goes up and they have to start paying $700 or $800 a month. You are not going to be able to follow all these rules without spending money. And there has to be a profit made.

Charter schools

With Missouri closing at least half a dozen charter schools as a result of their ineffectiveness, the Southeast Missourian retaliates by running a kind of in-your-face piece touting the supposed superiority of these taxpayer-subsidized institutions.

Contempt for Congress

The contempt of Congress for Attorney General Eric Holder is exceeded only by the contempt of the American people for Congress.

Health plan question

For those against the Obama health care plan, I am curious how you will feel when your insurance gets canceled when you get sick and your 25-year-old has to buy his own insurance?

John Roberts

He has grown so much. For voting to uphold the Affordable Care Act, Chief Justice John Roberts now has a chance to join the pantheon of other great Supreme Court justices, like John Marshall, William O. Douglas, Earl Warren and Thurgood Marshall.

Court ruling

The rantings and ravings of Rush and others on the radical right aside, the U.S. Supreme Court did the correct thing in upholding the Affordable Care Act. It is not the job of the court to decide whether a law is good policy. It is the court's role to determine whether a law breaks the rules of the Constitution. A majority of the justices correctly determined that it did not.

Romneycare

Kudos to the Supreme Court for upholding a national version of Romneycare.

Conservative victory

That the Supreme Court should generally defer to the wishes of the legislative branch has long been a hallmark of conservatism. Therefore, I consider the court's upholding of Obamacare a victory for conservative political philosophy, properly understood.

Socialism alive

Socialism is alive and well in the U.S. Those of you who voted Obama in should be ashamed of yourselves for allowing this travesty to take place. May all the ills that will come fall squarely on your heads,

Thanks to firefighters

Bravo, Cape Girardeau firefighters, regarding the auto and house fire June 29. Amazing how quickly the department controlled the fire. Thank you for keeping our neighborhood safe.