Speak Out A 04/29/02

Garden gratitude

A SPECIAL thank you to all of the area gardeners who supported the Cape County Master Gardeners' annual plant sale on April 20. It was a pleasure to meet so many great gardeners and share with them our enthusiasm for gardening and the many benefits it affords personally as well as the resulting beauty to the entire community which is shared by all. Thanks again, and we look forward to seeing you next year at our bigger and better plant sale.

Low-paid workers

IN RESPONSE to the person who said he works hard for what he's got and the rich are getting richer and the poor getting poorer and want a handout: I think it's the other way around. I think it's the rich and the employer who want a handout. They want the working people to work for minimum wage.

Drawing the line

I'M CALLING in regard to the new Cape Girardeau mayor and his idea on the commuter tax. As I understand it, if you work in Cape Girardeau and live in another town, he wants to tax you. I think this is totally insane. I live in Scott City. I'm sure there are people who live in Cape Girardeau and work in Scott City. Does that mean they should be taxed because they work in my town? We have to draw a line somewhere.

Need better upkeep

I WOULD like to comment on the way the old Shivelbine mansion looks. This used to be a beautiful house back in its prime. But the university owns it now, and it houses a fraternity. There's trash all around. There are cabinets sitting outside. I think the university needs to take a little bit better care of these beautiful homes that are part of our town.

Surprise!

IF MAYOR Jay Knudtson would have even thought of mentioning a tax on outsiders during his campaign, he wouldn't be in the office he's in. I don't know why these politicians wait until they get in and then spring all of these things on the people.

Cats in the night

HOW CAN people get away with letting their cats out at night to roam, howl, fight, mate, kill small animals and birds and stink up flower beds, then let old Sweetie back in the house in the morning? I'm fond of animals. I have two. But you should be responsible for them and have respect for your friends and your neighbors.

Maybe a roundabout

I WAS wondering if MoDOT had considered a roundabout for Jackson's traffic problems.

Favoring Israel

IS THERE any doubt that when the chips are down in regard to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict that President Bush will have to do exactly what Israel wants him to do?

A beautiful thing

I JUST wanted to say that I saw a beautiful thing. About 15 or 20 young men gathered in the 900 block of South Ellis Street. And guess what? They were there to pray. Each one had a Bible. They met up with one of my neighbors. Each one shook hands with him and got acquainted. It did this old lady a lot of good to witness this. What a real blessing that there are so many young people in the world doing something nice. I just wanted to tell the people about this. God bless.

Live like a hermit

SOMEONE SAID people should save for their old age so they won't ever need medical insurance and so they'll be sitting on easy street when they retire. It's possible -- if you only have one car to a family, have no luxuries, eat strictly at home with no pizza deliveries, have no cable television and have one child at the most. You don't go on vacations. All you do is put the money away. In other words, a person becomes a prisoner of his home.

No thanks to tax

THIS IS addressing your new mayor. We use your streets and your facilities, but I spent the majority of my money in Cape when I worked there. If I worked there now, I would definitely come back to Jackson to spend my money. Sorry about that, Mr. Knudtson.

Spending the surplus

SENATE BUDGET chairman Kent Conrad, a Democrat from North Dakota, plans to move away from spending the entire Social Security surplus to increase domestic spending, but only starting next year. After criticizing President Bush for planning to spend the entire Social Security surplus in his budget, Conrad and fellow Senate Democrats are proposing exactly the same thing. The Senate Democrats' proposal leads to a $92 billion deficit. Despite the criticism those Senate leaders made against the president on the very same charge, they do it themselves.

More tax increases

THE MISSOURI budget is $220 million out of balance, yet millions are being proposed to build a sports stadium in St. Louis. Instead of economizing to balance the budget, they'll be coming after the workers and taxpayers for an increase on everything from gasoline to the sales tax to who knows what. Voters, let's get some responsible people who are educated about economics, not tax increases to balance budgets.

Come on in

GIVE CAPE'S collected tax revenue to Scott City, Oran or Chaffee? Right. We like you to spend money here, but it's not our fault you chose to live in the boondocks. If all the people who use Cape for its benefits but don't actually live here moved to Cape, it could push Cape to a population high enough to be a metro area, which means a ton of money for everyone. Why don't all you residents of these little towns just move here if you're going to work here, shop here and get medical care here?