SPEAKOUT

No subdivision sidewalks

ON THE sidewalk issue, deciding whether to make it compulsory in new subdivisions: I have built homes in developments with sidewalks and without sidewalks. If you've ever been faced with someone falling on the sidewalk and getting sued, you'll change your mind about getting sidewalks, because your insurance will go sky high, the lawsuits will be rampant and you'll have children running people down with tricycles, bicycles and roller blades. Keep it like it is. Let the city foot the bill if they get hurt. It'll be out in the street. Believe me, go the route without the sidewalks.

Businesses will leave state

WITH reference to this increased minimum wage that's going to be on the ballot in November, not only will it cause a loss of jobs, it'll cost a lot of other benefits as well. For instance, I spoke with a local business proprietor a few days ago who said if this passes, the next day he'll leave the state. That's roughly 12 jobs that will be lost. But it won't be just those 12 jobs lost. The suppliers that supply this business won't be able to sell their products to them. The city won't get the taxes. Then the interest and things paid to the banks will be missing. It's not just the employer who's going to be saddled with a minimum-wage per-hour increase, it's all the other things that are related to it that will be taken away when these people close up shop. They cannot afford it. The small businessman is strapped already by the regulations and increases and costs and fees by the city, county, state and the federal government -- primarily the federal government. All of them put a burden on the businessman so that he cannot survive. In this state, this minimum wage will be the clincher that'll send everybody else out of state or close up.

God continues to bless

GOD HAS blessed America since the passage of Roe vs. Wade. I think God will continue to bless America. Some people might point to gangs and say, "Oh, look at the gang problem. God doesn't bless America." Well, they were able to make "West Side Story" in the 1960s because there were gangs back then. People look at each generation and think that somehow theirs was better. God allows us new and more inventions than my parents ever had. There were no VCRs when I was growing up, no camcorders. I think the best we can do as far as God's blessing us is to keep our noses out of other people's lives and let people make choices for themselves, because that's what America is all about. And maybe in the end we can meet our maker. I myself don't want to be responsible for some young woman's suicide because she was carrying a baby she desperately didn't want. God blesses our nation despite abortion. There are many issues I think God would care more about, like helping out the poor, instead of standing on Sundays for the whole world to see in front of crosses, pretending like you so much care for people while people here on Earth are hardly cared for.

Social programs needed

VICE PRESIDENT Gore, in the vice presidential debate against Jack Kemp when asked about racial division in our country, replied about creating jobs. I don't think that's the problem with our country in the last four years. I think this is where the Democratic party has let us down because everyone has full knowledge that on high school and college campuses the black and white students were separating themselves. Blacks make a pretty good living. After living in a major city, I don't see economics as the problem facing our future. I see it as social issues, and maybe we need some sort of social programs in high school and college to bring the races together, not to separate us.

He's only the president

IT'S COME to my attention that so many articles criticizing President Clinton for his stand on abortion and many other similar controversies in the country, I think many of your readers think that he is the executive, the legislative and the judicial authority of the government all rolled into one. He is merely the president. He is there to carry out the law of the land, which he says again and again. He is not for abortion, but he is for the law of the land. The Republicans control both the House and the Senate in Washington. They can pass new legislation relating to abortion and many of the affairs of state that the president draws criticism for. I think people should be ashamed to level criticism at someone who's not responsible for the actions of the legislative branch of the government, or the ruling of the Supreme Court, which is the judiciary branch of the government.

Birds of a feather

THIS IS to the liberal, socialist thief or thieves who stole my gold yard sign. You are a common thief, whereas your president is an extraordinary thief. He steals my paycheck. As the old saying goes, birds of a feather flock together.

Wages boost for families

I HAD a dream that Proposition A would pass in the November election. The differences in the dream, however, were that the $6.25 minimum wage was to apply only to married couples with children, because aren't they truly the ones who need our help? I can't understand why all of our hard-working employers, who employ students part-time, should be expected to pay such exorbitant wages while they train our children to be responsible in the workplace. My dream is to encourage our young families to hang in there together. That's what I think Proposition A should be about.

Children need protection

I JUST now read Speak Out about children's rights. Thank you, whoever called that in. That is so true. I live close to a woman who is a mother (I'm sure fathers do the same thing), and she treats her child so badly, I don't know of anyone with a pet that wouldn't have a better life. This child has been removed out of the home twice, and he is so afraid of having to be returned. That's what the Division of Family Services and the judges are going to have to change. There is no way our children can be removed from their home and then given back, over and over, for the very same reason. Please, judges, step in and help these children. They are at your mercy.

Umpires too powerful

THEY ARE making a hero of the boy that caught the ball in Yankee stadium before the outfielder could get it. That is wrong. They should have escorted him from the stands for interfering with the player. And they should suspend the umpire for calling it a home run, as he later admitted he made a bad call. Umpires have too much authority, for they will not reverse a bad call even if they know they did wrong.

Drug accountability

THE RATE of drug use has gone up over the past four years. Despite the increased demand, the street price of drugs has come down. It is a fact that Bill Clinton cut interdiction efforts by 83 percent. This administration has to be held accountable for its actions. It's the democratic process.

Government hits business

I'D LIKE to say something about the plight of small businesspeople. It seems like the government's No. 1 goal is how it can put small business people out of business by taxing them to death and making ways where they cannot get any breaks. The government practically took away our choice to use subcontractors by making so many explicit rules on it that if you use one, they'll audit you. You'll lose every bit of money you ever made from when you started your business. We're a company that wanted to hire employees, and with this comes along payroll taxes and unemployment tax. With unemployment tax, even if your employees never use it, you have to pay it into a pool anyway, just in case your employees apply for unemployment benefits. There are so many things the government hits you up with to pay for it. Not only do you have to have insurance to cover your company against any liabilities. Then you have to get workers' comp for your employees, which means you can't use subcontractors. Small companies cannot afford workers' comp.

Take the tax cut

THE PRESIDENT keeps telling us how good the economy is. The Southeast Missourian headline is, "Local sales tax revenue drops." If you have to pay it in taxes, you sure can't spend it locally. I'll take that 15 percent tax cut, Mr. Dole. You have my vote.

Still need health plan

PRESIDENTIAL contender Dole tries to blame bankruptcies on the administration. I would like to respond to Mr. Dole. How many of the bankruptcies are medical debts of people who were on Medicare only? How many people have large balances after Medicare pays off, almost impossible to pay? How many of the working poor, making minimum wage, were forced into bankruptcy due to medical bills? How many who lost their jobs and could not find new jobs, due to race, gender or age discrimination, went into bankruptcy because they could not meet their payments? I think the biggest thing is, if the president's health care plan would have gone through, which everyone calls socialized medicine, everybody would be insured. No one would need medical insurance. They listened to Harry and Louise, and the insurance companies' TV ads, and all that hogwash. The president's plan was a good, needed plan. I'm sorry it didn't pass, but in the future I hope President Clinton will push it through when he gets re-elected.

Nixon and abortion

JUST A comment. We seem to have forgotten one important thing. The partial-birth fiasco became legal when abortion was legalized in 1972 with the signature of President Nixon.

Character matters

I WANT to compliment Bob Dole and Jack Kemp for taking the high road in not having negative ads against Clinton and Gore. They certainly have plenty they could bring out. I think it's disgraceful the negative ads they have against Dole. They don't even mention or show Jack Kemp. They always show Clinton in a good, colorful setting, and show Bob Dole in black and white, like some evil figure lurking in the background. In the debates, they referred to Dole's tax plan as a "scheme." If I were Bill Clinton, I would be careful using the word scheme. I will not vote for Clinton because of this. I am of the opinion that if character doesn't matter, then what in Heaven's name does?

Ashamed of negative ads

I AM so ashamed of the United States with all those negative ads they're putting out. Why do they do things like that when they know our children are listening to it, and they know they're wrong? Can't people see what's going wrong with our country? Such hatred and spite. If God doesn't punish our country, I'll be surprised.

Wasted votes

WHAT'S the difference between voting for Ross Perot or Bob Dole? There is no difference, they're both a wasted vote.

It shows real life

THIS IS to the lady who thought the editorial cartoon was offensive. My question is, why is it so offensive when it's there in the paper in front of your face, but when it's actually happening in real life, it's called a choice, not a child?

Stifle those opinions

I AM calling in reference to the sports section on a story by Jamie Hall. Everybody loves Roberto Alomar. Love everything he does, his stats, no problem. But he does one little thing wrong, and he's a nincompoop and a screwup? I'm sure you weren't saying that about him when he was doing good. I think people should keep their opinions to themselves if they're writing for a newspaper. If you don't want to go that far, at least don't call him a screwup or a nincompoop. I mean, who are you guys?

Thinking of the big guys

YOU WORKING people who have to work hard every day to make ends meet, and you minimum-wage people who cannot afford health insurance, and also you people who vote non-union and will go out and vote GOP: I agree you're very unselfish people. You're not thinking of yourselves and your own family. You're thinking of the big boss man, the big businessman and the big industrialists who give you work. You're thinking about them, and them only, and making a profit, and asking very little in return. I have to hand it to you, you're certainly not thinking of your own good, and by not voting for a union, you hope that he'll appreciate it so much and have mercy on you and never let you go, promising you a job for life. You're a courageous people, I have to admit it.

Conservative history

HOW MANY conservative Republicans who lived through the Great Depression were for Social Security, the New Deal that Franklin Roosevelt wanted to bring about? Most of the conservative Republicans were against it. How many were for the Wagner Act that gave unions the right to strike? Read history. Most conservative Republicans were opposed to it, and the WPA that gave people work that built many of our facilities today. Most of the conservative Republicans were against it. They called us New Dealers. Now they call us liberals. Conservatives have done very little for the poor. Very little. Just ready history.

Music in the park

I THINK the Cape Girardeau Police Department was sorely mistaken when it ticketed those kids for playing music in Capaha Park, especially since those kids were competing with the stereo from the baseball field for the whole day.

Get rid of riffraff

JUST A comment on Clinton wanting to increase spending for Medicare. As a taxpayer paying a substantial amount of taxes, I'd rather see all the riffraff removed from the Medicare rolls -- those people out there collectively ripping off the majority of the U.S. citizens of billions of dollars -- than increase spending for Medicare.

Don't judge too quickly

TO THE person concerned about the children's rights. I too was concerned about that, but don't be too quick to judge. I've seen firsthand how a mother turned her child against her ex-husband. Sometimes there are months, even years, of resentment and pain by a mother that she passes on to her children. The father may have done nothing to that child, but children pick up on the mother's suffering and pain. Many times children feel very loyal to one parent or another.

Drug story was improper

I DON'T think showing people how to inject drugs is a good idea, especially to put it on the front page. If a person doesn't know how, the story pretty much tells them how to. For those who have quit or tried to quit, seeing that hurts their chances of staying clean. The other story was pretty good, about drugs being made and arrests and all that, but the story about an addict was no story to put on the front page.

Long university hours

AS ONE of the university faculty who earns over $50,000 a year, I'd like to respond to a Speak Out caller. If I could get my workweek down to 40-50 hours a week, I'd be thrilled. If I could leave my work at the office when I go home in the evenings and weekends, I'd be thrilled. University faculty on the whole work far longer than folks who have a 40- or 50-hour week.

Debate snobbishness

I ATTENDED the 8th District congressional debate at the University Center, and I wish to commend the two gentlemen congressional candidates on their behavior toward each other and the other two candidates. However, I was very disappointed with Jo Ann Emerson. Having always highly respected Bill Emerson and voted for him since his first campaign, I couldn't keep from thinking, "What would he have thought of the snobbishness she was showing?" Bill was always so personable. But all I can say is, Jo Ann, you are no Bill Emerson. Since I do think a two-party system is best, I guess I'll vote for Emily Firebaugh, since she did come across as being much more informed and without having a prompter in the crowd.

Olympic signs still up

I HEARD the next Olympics will be held in the year 2000 in Australia. Will the Olympic torch be coming through Cape again? I see they still have their signs up on Kingshighway.

A liberal in this race

I'M KIND of upset lately. I'm a socially liberal fiscal conservative, and I think that this dirty way that the Republican Party is saying the word liberal is very scary. Don't they understand that I would rather be a liberal in the form of Franklin Roosevelt and others than be conservative like Ronald Reagan, who doubled the national debt in one term? I think in the Emerson-Firebaugh race, I'd rather be a liberal than, as Mrs. Emerson is, a lobbyist.