Speak Out A 06/11/03

Retrieving the dog

I WOULD like to thank a very sweet young woman who picked up my dog on Main Street in Scott City after the dog got away from me. Thank you very much.

School scare tactics

REGARDING THE funding the schools will get: I think the paper will expose these scare tactics that are being used. We know the schools are not being cut back. They're not getting as much of an increase as they want. They've used for years.

Like a puppet

THIS BUDGET battle called into special session by Gov. Bob Holden has nothing to do with the budget. It's all politics. Holden is following the Democratic Party's strategy like a puppet: stall, block and obstruct all Republican progress. The Democrats are trying to counteract their losses at the polls in 2000 and 2002. Voters see through their fiasco and will reject them again in 2004.

Deciphering speeches

I READ your coverage of the speeches at the state capitol. Is there anything state Sen. Peter Kinder does that isn't a political calculation? He talked more about the governor's motives than the good of the state. I will admit the governor's message was worse. It didn't make sense. Maybe Kinder is right. Overall, I thought Catherine Hanaway did the best job. Her comments made sense. I just wish they would all work together.

Deserving recipient

TO THE person who says a tax refund is welfare is either too rich to care or just doesn't like tax cuts. I work hard for my money. I think I deserve the check. I pay taxes on every paycheck I get. I make less than $26,000 a year and have a kid. I don't think it is welfare.

They caved in

DON'T WORRY about low-income people who don't pay income taxes and won't be getting a tax refund. The Republican Party realized the error of their ways, went into full retreat mode and caved in. Everything is OK.

Machine labor

HAVING A human doing a machine's task is not progress. It's digression.

Home-schooling issue

GOV. BOB Holden vetoed the budget bill for elementary and secondary education citing his concerns about children not getting a good education due to lower funding. If he is that concerned, how can he allow home schooling to continue?

Personality cult

THE SOUTHEAST Missourian editorial to the effect that whether or not there are weapons of mass destruction in Iraq is irrelevant is absolute proof of an embarrassing but absolute commitment of the editorial staff to a Bush cult of personality.

Competing with truckers

I'M NOT sure what world the person who thinks trucks in the left lane are safer is living in. It's not the cars that block trucks. It's the trucks that block cars. If I see a truck on the interstate wanting to get in front of me, I close the gap. This is because the truck will stay in the left lane far longer than it will take for me to pass him and vehicle in front of him. Truckers used to be courteous. Now they are mostly rude and force themselves into traffic where they don't belong.

Relying on hearsay?

TO THE person who says he doesn't watch ridiculous commercials, I have one question. If you don't watch them, then how do you know they are ridiculous?

Glad to have company

I WAS reading the comments from all the people complaining about the babies at public ceremonies and other events. Kids cry and fuss. They always have and always will. You were once a child. Didn't you cry and fuss? Some graduates getting their diplomas think it's a great honor to have their little sister, brother, niece, nephew or cousin there to see them graduate. I was very happy that all of mine were there.

Government example

IF ONE tax cut is good, the next cut is better. And deficits don't matter. It seems like we should just abolish all taxes and run the government completely from loans that we would never pay back. Next time I get into debt, I will follow the government's example: Go spend a lot of money, take out huge loans and then quit my job.

Messy geese in park

I WOULD really like to see something done about the geese in the Jackson City Park. It makes it hard for a walker like myself to enjoy it when the geese are everywhere. It makes walking unbearable.

Seems to be working

SOMETHING NEEDS to be done about the speed trap at Mount Auburn and Hopper roads. The city is exploiting the hill. I never speed through this area, because I know it's a speed trap. And I tell all my friends and family to avoid it like the plague.

No one understands

WHILE OUR state government spends $100,000 a week on a special legislative session, education, the elderly and the mentally handicapped continue to be shortchanged by both sides of the political spectrum. No one in Jefferson City really cares or understands the real impact of this waste. It's time for a change in Missouri's leadership positions.

Not a pretty tune

BOB HOLDEN is turning into a one-note governor. And that note is tax, tax, tax, tax, tax. His shallowness is unbelievable.

It's murder, not war

YOUR EDITORIAL "Weapons of mass destruction -- hollow issue" breaks my heart. You are so concerned about politics. When is the last time one any one of your editorial staff bothered to look at the growing Iraqi civilian death count? You even continue to discredit the United Nations. If there was no immediate danger from weapons of mass destruction, we had no human right under God to attack the Iraqi people. We lacked conditions required for a just war. And the fact is furthermore proven that Iraq did not have the capabilities to deploy such weapons. You can call it politics if you want. I call it bloody murder.