Speak Out 7/8/02

Put it all in stocks

I THINK we'll all agree now after much thought and patience. Rather than just put a portion of Social Security into the stock market, let's just put it all in. Concentrate on Xerox, Enron and WorldCom. It's a wise thing to do. That would really take care of Social Security.

Road improvement

CAPE SPECIAL Road District: County Road 620 is fantastic. You did a real good job. Over the 39 years we've lived out here, it has never been this good. Can we keep the big trucks off of it now?

Taking God away

WHAT IS this country coming to when children can't say the Pledge of Allegiance because the word "God" is in it? Something is wrong. This country was founded so everyone could worship God in his own way. We have freedom of religion, not freedom from religion. In the Capitol in Washington, D.C., "In God We Trust" is engraved in marble. On the metal cap of the Washington monument is engraved "Praise be to God." On the Supreme Court building is Moses holding the Ten Commandments, and each court session ends with "God save the United States." In the Capitol is a small room for congressmen to pray. It has a stained glass window of our first president, George Washington, kneeling in prayer with the words "Preserve me O God, for in you I put my trust." Our country was founded with belief in God. Why are they trying to take God away from us?

Doing their business

THE PRIMARY reason people take their dogs for a walk is not for the exercise for the pet. It's so they can let them do their business on someone else's property and they don't have to worry about it.

Patriotic program

THE PATRIOTIC program put on the Lynwood Baptist Church was outstanding. The choir, the director and the soloists were all unbelievably good. I appreciate it and was very inspired by it.

Party line

PRAISING U.S. Sen. Jean Carnahan and making excuses saying about what she really means on her stand on issues is a habit with the Democratic Speak Out callers. She's wrong on her stand on the inheritance tax, on abortion and most every other issue as she votes the straight party line.

No God, no perjury

I WOULD like to make a comment on the court decision to take the word "God" out of the Pledge of Allegiance. Does this mean that if I have to go to court and they tell me to swear on the Bible, I can look at the judge and say I'm an atheist, so they can't hold me for perjury, because since there is no God there is no truth or lies?

Paying for medicine

I WISH the people who keep hollering about the government paying for their medicine would stop and consider what they're really asking. They're asking their kids and their grandkids to not only help pay for their medicine, but to help pay for people all over the United States because the federal government is the people of the United States, not of some foreign power.

Tax is immoral

IN RESPONSE to the person who didn't feel "immoral" was a good word for the estate tax: Consider the family who has a large family farm. They've run it all their lives. They're not by anyone's estimation rich people. When the mother and father of that family pass away, the government comes to them and tells them the farm is worth X amount of money, and the survivors have to pay 55 percent or more of that in estate taxes. They have no cash flow. They're going to have to sell the farm. It's the same thing for a small business. The problem with the estate tax is that people sometimes seem to think that only the ultra-rich are going to be affected. That's just not the case at all. It affects people that you and I interact with every day. It is immoral when you take people's belongings.

OUR FOUNDING Fathers who rebelled against a country with a state-sponsored religion realized the importance of strict separation of church and state. George Washington is on record as saying the United States is not a Christian country in any sense of the word. Thomas Jefferson said, "It does me no harm for my neighbor to say there is no God or there are 20 gods. It neither breaks my bones nor picks my pocket." It's not hard to find these facts in the writings of our Founders. You just have to pay attention to them.

AT THE rate this country and this community are going, maybe we should replace "under God" with "under Satan."

No connection

THE LETTER regarding the recent court decision to make the words "under God" unconstitutional picks up on President Bush's dishonest attempt to link this controversy to the slow-moving process of confirming his judges. There's just one problem. The judge who made this decision was appointed by a Republican president. How does the fact that a Republican judge made this controversial decision have anything to do with the slow judicial approval?

We got used to it

CAPE GIRARDEAU drivers do drive poorly, as a Speak Out caller said. In our defense, the reason we bob and weave, sometimes stop for no apparent reason and occasionally drive around in circles is because street construction lasted for so long we became conditioned to drive as though there were detour signs, impossible-to-drive-through roundabouts, intimidating barricades and workers standing in the way.

PLEASE, CAPE Girardeau council, review the ordinances regarding fireworks. The noise, the smoke, the risk of injury, the risk of damage to property just aren't worth it. Our yard was a mess the morning after Fourth of July. We were up until after midnight because of the noise. We have to go to work early. It's just so frustrating. So many dollars are wasted on these things, and the money literally goes up in smoke. Other states do not allow fireworks for good reasons. Please discuss this again.

FIREWORKS HAVE been around for ages. It is our way of celebrating freedom. I am sure that it can get out of hand. But putting a ban on shooting them is just another way of limiting your freedom of speech. If you do not want people to shoot fireworks in the city, where should they go to shoot them? Would you rather they go out to the County Park and have hundreds of families out there trying to shoot fireworks at the same time? God knows we need to celebrate something, because lately life has been kicking the country's butt.