Speak Out 9/24/08

Working inmates

I WOULD like to praise the Scott City Police Department. I have never seen in other towns where the police departments have their jail inmates work throughout the town. Scott City does, and I think it is great. I would like to thank the police department.

Highway memorials

A RECENT comment asked who the people are who are proposing the dedication of highway interchanges to fallen soldiers. Answer: Fellow soldiers, family and friends. This country spends billions of dollars a year on the poor, not to mention how much is spent on the military abroad and at home. Less that 4,000 soldiers have been killed in combat in Afghanistan and Iraq. If a memorial sign costs $2,000, that's less than $8 million to remember every soldier killed in these conflicts across the whole country. These individuals would be honored by these efforts, not to mention what these memorials would mean to those who have lost a loved one or friend.

Meltdown politics

THE WALL Street meltdown is a direct result of the Reagan program of deregulation allowing investment companies to make loans to folks who cannot repay. And every Republican candidate has tried to claim the mantle of Ronald Reagan and champion further deregulation. Now the Reagan philosophy has been revealed for the total failure it always was, John McCain, the constant proponent of deregulation through his 26 years in Washington, is trying to blame the debacle on Barack Obama, who has been there just four years and has never been a proponent of deregulation. Is this a sign of desperation?

Friends in high places

TAXPAYERS WILL soon spend hundreds of billions of dollars to rescue struggling financial institutions on Wall Street. How many readers out there have earned six- and seven-figure incomes in the financial industry during the last few years? Probably not many. How many will be required to bail out those who have? Probably most, if not all. It must be nice to have friends in high places.

Piling up debt

AFTER NEARLY eight years of President Bush's tax cuts, the deficit and national debt have soared to record levels. When are we supposed to see those financial benefits? This isn't a partisan issue. I haven't met anyone who thinks trillions of dollars of more debt is good for future generations.

Religious qualification

DAVID LIMBAUGH regurgitated a lot of rhetoric trying to convince us that Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin is a religious woman. Ninety percent of Americans are religious. It doesn't mean they'd all make good vice presidents.