SPEAKOUT

Democrats were in control

IN RESPONSE to the person who said people forgot what the Republicans did: The Democrats have had control of Congress for the last 40 years. They were the ones who initially came up with the Social Security program, and they were the ones who originally raided it. Republicans have not had control of Congress for the last 40 years, the Democrats have. I think you should get your facts right before you start putting stuff in the paper that you don't understand.

People would have paid

THIS IS in regard to the person who couldn't understand the vote on the River Campus. They were going to get 60 percent of their money from the tax on the hotels. She said it was a free ride. That's coming out of people's pockets. I would think that if you want something you would have to pay for it. If you take 1 percent of the total operating budget of Southeast Missouri State University every year and save it for five years, you could buy the property outright. And I don't know about you, but when I go to the store and want to buy a pound of hamburger, no one buys that for me.

Schedule for Perryville Road

REGARDING THE road renovations on Perryville Road: I thought the project was supposed to be long since finished by now, and it's not. You very seldom see full crews out there working. They block the road when they're not working so that you can't use what is finished to get on through, you have to go all the way around. It's been a very long inconvenience for those of us who use Perryville Road on a daily basis. I'd just like to know what the hold-up is on getting it finished and if it is passed the completion time, I'd like to know if there are liquidated damages being charged to the contractor to encourage them to get it finished some time soon.

REPLY: When work began on the Perryville Road improvements last February, it was estimated it would take until the end of December to complete the project.

Refuse those government grants

ACCORDING TO an article in the Missourian, more than $4 million of federal money will be given to 14 Missouri communities to fight drug abuse. Charleston will receive $200,000 in a federal grant to reduce crime and to stabilize a troubled neighborhood. But if Missourians accept this money, won't it be contrary to what so many people feel? If we want the U.S. to reduce taxes and government spending, Missourians should refuse all federal grants. If we don't refuse them, we will be hypocrites. If we accept the federal grants, we should keep quiet about government spending.

Reasons for voting no

I WOULD like to explain why I voted against the proposed River Campus project. The university is a state institution. It gets money from the state. It gets money from the students. It gets money from donations. The seminary property was given to the university. Why did the university look to the city of Cape Girardeau for more funding? This so-called partnership between the university and the city would only benefit the university just like the Show Me Center. As a resident of Cape Girardeau, I don't feel I have ever gotten any particular personal benefit from the Show Me Center. I have had to pay full price to attend any function there. Why should the residents of Cape Girardeau fund yet another university project?

Irresponsible commentary

THAT SPEAK Out comment about Reagan giving the Social Security money to all the postal companies in the United States is so ridiculous it doesn't even deserve a reply. What is really ridiculous is the person at the Missourian who decides which comments to put in Speak Out. How can you be so irresponsible to print a comment like Reagan gives all the Social Security money to the postal companies in the United States? What are the postal companies in the United States? Any time you people get a chance to the bash the Postal Service, you print it no matter how irresponsible it is, without even being able to verify whether it's true or not.

Newspaper needs economics class

YOUR EDITORIAL in Tuesday's paper is ridiculous. Does anyone at that newspaper even have an economics class in their academic history? You're advocating the same sort of tax cut and spending measures that lead to the huge budget deficit of the 1980s. Didn't you learn anything during that time?

Thanks for the daily prayer

I JUST want to say thank you so much for the prayer that's in every day's paper. I really enjoy it, and I know a lot of people enjoy it also.

Put them on the show

MY DEMOCRATIC friends say they should take the Jerry Springer show off the air because it's too vulgar. Well the person he supports, Mr. Clinton, would fit in very well with the show's agenda. He, Monica and Hillary would be great guests.

No signs on poles

ON THIS issue of putting those tacky yard-sale signs on telephone poles, I am a lineman in Cape, and nothing disgusts me more than to see them on poles as it makes Cape look like a country hick village. Don't put yard signs on telephone poles. We don't like them there.

Another view on pumpkins

IN RESPONSE to the Scott City woman who believes pumpkins cause violence, I implore people to rise up against the preponderate persecution of pumpkins. Proudly put your pumpkins on display at Halloween and for weeks there after. One final point to ponder: Pumpkins don't kill people. People kill people. Plus people kill pumpkins.

Vote on giving away park land

I PERSONALLY feel we ought to impeach the dadgum county commissioners for getting rid of all of our park land that they were supposed to keep for the people of Cape County. And I also feel that before they gave all that land away or lease it, the issue should have been put to a vote of the people.

Compassionate help

I WISH to thank Dr. T. Wayne Lewis for his compassionate help in regard to Todd Sides. That is what life is all about, helping each other. God bless him and his always.

Advice for bridge work

AFTER READING the Southeast Missourian, I'm very doubtful we'll ever see the Bill Emerson Memorial Bridge to completion. I understand the contractor cannot work because of high water. I also understand Missouri lent Illinois the money to build its portion of the bridge. Why can't this contractor, when the river is up and flooding, work on the shore over here in Missouri and finish up the road and this one pier that was left standing half completed? This pier looks terrible. The rebar in this pier is rusting, and it's running all down on the new pier. This really looks nice. I cannot understand Missouri lending Illinois the money to do the work on that side and stop working on the Missouri side. Now if this contractor is not contracted to do the pier work on the Missouri side, then the state should get another contractor to bid on it and complete what needs to be completed in Missouri.

Impose the death penalty

I WOULD surely like to know what this old world is coming to. The man who killed the teacher over in Illinois got from 20 years to life. Well, she didn't get from 20 years to life. She was put to death. He should have been put to death too.

Read the Bible first

THIS IS for the caller who says God is going to get you if you vote the wrong way on homosexuality and other issues. If you were really Christian, then you should pay attention to what Christ said about homosexuality. In his entire public life, he never even mentioned it. So why do you think it's necessary for your salvation and that of others to judge people for their sexual orientation? I suggest you dust off that Bible that you claim to know so well. Read the words of Jesus himself. If you prefer the more hostile passages of the Old Testament, then maybe you should call yourself a Levitican instead of a Christian. I am glad we have separation of church and state. It seems to me that many of the same people who want the government off our backs are the same folks who want to legislate morality and stick their noses into everybody's business.

Celebrate pumpkin pies

I CERTAINLY agree with this Christian lady caller from Scott City regarding the fact that children should be raised in the church and they should be taken to church. But my goodness, pumpkins have nothing to do with it, jack-o'-lanterns or otherwise. Our pilgrim fathers had pumpkin pie for their first thanksgiving meal, and that's the main thing: pumpkin and pumpkin pies.

Tax cuts mean no surplus

I AGREE with the Southeast Missourian that tax cuts are the key to future of the federal surplus. If we cut taxes, there will be none.

Editorial writers a bunch of phonies

THE EDITORIAL staff of the Southeast Missourian has a bunch of people that either are the most dishonest people walking the face of the earth, or the biggest phonies, or stupid. To anybody who writes editorials time after time saying we ought to have a big tax cut in federal government at a time when we are $5 trillion in debt and makes believe that somebody else caused it other than President Reagan and President Bush: You're a bunch of phonies, and you haven't got enough guts to stand up to the world and be something other than what you are. You're sick, boys. You're trying to cover up something that's really, really bad.

Are checkpoints worth it?

LET US do the math another way. Over 500 stops were made by the police searching for drunk drivers. I wonder how many people were involved in those 500 stops: 1,000, 1,500, 2,000, 2,500 or 4,000? Twenty-three people were arrested. I believe that is less than 5 percent of those stopped resulting in arrests. Without going into a long list of what more productive things those policemen could have been doing, it is simply the fact they had better things to do. We do know that there were at least three armed robberies the same night among other crimes. Without being the devil's advocate, let me ask this question: How many arrests have been made or tickets written in the last three months for extremely loud music from those four-wheel boom boxes? I personally made a number of intolerable noise complaints, which have not resulted in tickets or arrests. What good is the ordinance? I personally feel more threatened by four-wheel boom boxes that rattle my windows than I am by drivers who can't pass a test whose limits get lowered and lowered.

Loan for bridge construction

A QUESTION from a concerned citizen from Missouri: Did Missouri lend money to Illinois for its portion of the new Bill Emerson Memorial Bridge? If so, maybe we could ask for it back since we suddenly don't have enough money for Missouri road construction. Or is this simply a ploy to get more tax money from Missouri citizens for roads?

REPLY: The Missouri Department of Transportation is paying for the Illinois portion of the bridge construction. These funds are to be repaid from future federal highway funding to Illinois. As for MoDOT's scrapping of the 15-year highway plan due to a lack of adequate funding, readers will have to draw their own conclusions.

Era of anything goes

YOU NEVER hear one political party speaking of honor, decency or Christian values. No, it's anything goes. If it feels good, do it. It's what in it for me, how much can I get, I'm owed something. Guess which one?

Paving with good intentions

I AM beside myself about the scrapping of the road plan. Frankly, I think it succumbed to political infighting. We need a Jesse Ventura in Missouri to get things moving. I'm beginning to wonder if this road plan was ever paved with good intentions.

Roads first, then nature centers

LET ME say that we do not need a nature walk, $4 million or whatever, as bad as we need the highways completed and to save lives. Nature walks will not save the lives that are happening out on our roads. We need to get the work done on the roads first, then the play time.

Show respect for veterans

ON Veteran's Day, I think that it should be mandatory that every business be closed except for the businesses that have to give services to the sick and so on. The veterans deserve so much more than what they're getting, especially those who didn't come back. So let's really celebrate Veteran's Day from now on.

Watch what Democrats do

DURING THE last election, one of the Democrats' main themes was that they were fighting to save Social Security and the Republicans wanted to cut benefits to our retirees. All of you gullible people who actually believed this will soon see how serious the Democrats really are about saving Social Security. The new speaker of the House has stated one of his first official acts will to be introduce legislation that takes Social Security funds off budget. This legislation will guarantee that Social Security revenue cannot be used for anything else. It has been estimated that had this been done initially, the Social Security Trust Fund would have surpluses in the trillions of dollars, and present-day retirees would be receiving much larger monthly payments than they are receiving. When Speaker Livingston introduces this bill that protects Social Security assets, who do you think will oppose him? I'll tell you who. The same Democrats who promised to save Social Security. You can be sure they'll dream up another one of their excuses for opposing this bill and this phony excuse will undoubtedly something to do with children but the real reason for their opposition is because they need this money for their giveaway programs. Remember the Democratic formula for success: More of our money equals more social programs which equals more people depending on government which equals more Democratic votes.

In favor of school uniforms

I WOULD like to comment on the Lutheran school. They're sending out votes for school uniforms, and I'm praying that everyone will vote yes on this because I think school uniforms will cut down on expenses for the parents and cut down on the peer pressure from kids at school. I hope everyone will think about this and pray about it.

On the verge of socialism

FREEDOM CAN'T be taken for granted. We are losing our individual freedom to government control of almost everything. With bigger government comes smaller people with no pride, honor or values. Our country is on the verge of socialism with government control and regulations. America, we should wake up.