Speak Out

Taxpayers should vote

I DON'T think it should be right for the school district to raise personal property tax 6 cents without a vote.

Repaying welfare

SO THE blacks think they should be paid for their ancestors' slavery. I think they should repay the government for drawing welfare when they could have worked.

Deep-seated mistrust

NOW THAT some of the smoke has cleared relative to the failure of Proposition B, the proposed transportation tax, I would like to offer my two cents' worth. My primary reason for voting against this tax was because we distrust state government. Not just MoDOT, but also the legislature and the administration and all the bureaucrats. Why? After the last tax increase, instead of using the funds for highway construction, much of it was diverted to other departments. We have no quarrel with the state highway patrol receiving some of these funds, but we do resent other departments dipping into these funds. What is most egregious is the fact that the legislature has consistently failed to stop this diversion. The recent column by state Rep. Rod Jetton was timely and informative. I am sure his heart is in the right place. However, how much political capital has he and the other legislators really spent on stopping this diversion of funds? Until this is stopped don't expect the taxpayers to support new tax increases.

Looking for leaders

STATE SEN. Peter Kinder's column -- "Given the current situation, who's going to lead Missouri?" -- has to be the most disingenuous column he has ever written. I do not state this lightly, because I am a Republican and voted for Kinder. However, his column is an attempt to smear the current governor and blame him for the job losses in Missouri. I certainly have no love for Holden and his Democratic predecessors, but not for the reasons given by Kinder. He doesn't blame Holden outright for the loss of the Ford plant, just guilt by association. And how can Holden be held responsible for a failed tax referendum to which he was not a party? Finally, Kinder implies that Holden is to be held responsible for the Cardinals' move to Illinois, should it occur. This is ludicrous. The second-biggest cheerleader for state support of the new Cardinals stadium was Holden. The biggest cheerleader was, of course, Kinder. As for leaders, I am afraid we will have to look further than the Missouri Senate.