OpinionSeptember 3, 2009
Speak Out 9/3/09
Great job; Higher taxes; Cleaning up limbs; Disturbed sleep; Help with math; Bigger classes; Limbs are waiting; Drop sports; Obama's deficits; Seeking care
Great job
I would like to comment on the Missouri Department of Transportation working on the roads at night. I thought that was a great idea. It didn't hold up the traffic. You went through one day, and the next day it was all finished. I think they did a great job. Thanks, MoDOT.
Higher taxes
YOU won't have to ask your president and your Congress to raise your taxes, because the health care bill and cap-and-trade will be doing it for you. Then you'll be asking your president, "Hey, buddy, can you spare a dime?"
Cleaning up limbs
I appreciate the county crew that cleaned up the broken cedar trees and other broken limbs on County Road 346. Good job, guys. Thank you.
Disturbed sleep
CONCERNING your Aug. 30 poll question of the week in the Southeast Missourian: "What do you think about construction during the nighttime hours?" I say if it's a residential area, no way. Crews worked on U.S. 61 in Jackson last week through the night, and I lost a tremendous amount of sleep. I do not appreciate it.
Help with math
I'M already tired of the middle school bashers in Cape Girardeau. Your children have other opportunities to find math enrichment like the Math Olympiad program, the Explorer program and peer tutoring. All you have to do is allow them to take advantage of it. They will be tracked soon enough when they get to the junior high school. You can't blame administrators and teachers whose jobs are on the line. They're doing the best they can under the demands of No Child Left Behind. If you want to complain, go to the people who are in charge of education in our state. Things will not change until NCLB is left behind.
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Bigger classes
CENTRAL Middle School isn't passing the MAP test, yet the district has decided to cut the middle school by two classroom sizes, which increases the class size to 26. The school district should explain how it expects the middle school to pass the MAP tests by increasing the class size.
Limbs are waiting
THERE are three houses in the 1300 block of Margaret Street waiting for limbs to be picked up from the city. When is the city going to get around to picking up these limbs that have been down since the last storm?
Drop sports
I think we have glorified sports enough in this country. It's high time schools drop some of these sports programs and use the millions that it takes to keep them going to teach our children something they can use to make a living with. But if some parents are dead set on having John and Jack glorified in the sports arena, then you pay for it. Don't ask taxpayers to keep funding sports.
Obama's deficits
MAKE no mistake about it. When it comes to the economy, President Obama is a throwback to big-government liberals like FDR, LBJ and Jimmy Carter. Already, thanks to his bailouts and stimulus spending, Obama has quadrupled the federal deficit in fiscal 2009, which, at more than 13 percent of GDP, is proportionately the largest deficit the U.S. has run since the end of World War II. That's not even counting the $1 trillion-plus plan for health care reform over the next decade, plus the estimated $3 trillion of cap and trade energy bill.
Seeking care
MY husband worked on aircraft engines in close spaces on an aircraft carrier during his time in the Navy in the mid-1970s. His discharge physical showed a noticeable hearing loss, and the doctor wrote that down. Thirty years later, after he finished college and worked and paid taxes all this years, he filed a claim five years ago next month to get help with hearing aids. He's been stalled and passed around ever since. They said his discharge physical was lost, but all the rest of his medical records were found. He's tried working through elected officials and agency advocates. We can't afford to buy hearing aids for the rest of our lives, but he'll end up losing his job and we'll lose everything we've worked for over the years. My sister chain smoked for 40 years, got put on disability for breathing problems and got hearing aids in three months. Something is wrong with this system. If this is how the government treats those who served their country, lived right and worked hard all their lives, I want no part of government health care.
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