SPEAKOUT

Back to reality

I'M CALLING to inform everyone that our country is doomed unless something changes soon. Apparently, the career politicians in Washington are so involved in getting re-elected that they have lost sight of reality. They bad-mouth and vote against one another simply because one side is Democrat and the other side is Republican. They are so involved in infighting that they can't even agree on a budget, so they shut down the entire country and put thousands upon thousands out of work. Medicare, Social Security and welfare have been so badly managed that they'll probably be non-existent in 10 years. Big business is being allowed to rape our country by buying off career politicians and destroying our ecosystem. Did you know that the rate of animal extinction is now rivaling that of the age of dinosaurs? Approximately two species a day are being wiped off the fact of the planet. There are solutions. Nonpolluting power sources are part of the answer. The large companies would lose billions and billions of dollars if they became popular. The politicians nowadays can't possibly allow this to happen because they would lose a large source of their own income from big business contributions. Remember that Russia used to be a superpower that rivaled ours not so long ago. What happened to them can certainly happen to us. It's time for normal people and reality to return to Washington. Vote all the incumbents out this November and think of our children's future. What will they be facing in 50 years if we continue as we have been doing? Please, please vote wisely.

Promises, promises

I HOPE the Russian people will take a lesson from the United States. The Communists have said that if the people would go ahead and vote for them, there would be a new and different time of Communists. Remember before the election, Clinton and Gore promised there would be a new kind of Democrat. Yeah, right. Look what we got.

Still a bad idea

IN A recent comment someone said the county was trying to give away Klaus Park, and the reply was that the county hasn't offered to give the land away. It has offered a 99-year lease and the county retains ownership. Well, what do you call it? Leasing it is taking the park away from the people. I think it's a lousy idea to give up the park to a juvenile detention center when there's all these people and these kids living around here. It's crazy. If you want to do something out there, put the regional library there. That's totally fair. It's right on the border, four miles from Cape and four miles from Jackson. A beautiful place to have a library. That beautiful land should be preserved unless something like a library or something like that should go up there. I mean, 50 whole jobs. It isn't worth it.

Use other land

THE COUNTY has purchased 48 acres of land adjacent to North County Park. Part of that would be an ideal place for a juvenile center. There are no residences out there, and the people who live along the road to Klaus Park would be much happier. I also notice that Mark Stewart, director of the Division of Youth Services in Cape, says that several teens have escaped from the center at Poplar Bluff. Ask him to be a little bit more definite. I think there have been a number of escapes there. Let's get this thing settled once and for all. Our park land isn't for this.

How about a vote?

ON THE juvenile delinquency home they're talking about putting up in Klaus Park, I agree they don't need that. If they had more parks, maybe they'd have less juvenile delinquency. I don't see how the county can get away with giving away land every time they turn around. Seems like they would have more concern about the residents. I think the residents should have a vote whether the county gives away the land or not.

Bad humor

THE WALK-through detector at the federal building in Cape Girardeau errantly picked up something on my person when I went through. A female employee then gave me the personal once over. Nothing was found. However, before proceeding to the IRS office, I overheard a male employee say jokingly to another male employee, "Strip search." This is out of place. This kind of humor is intolerable. Is it any wonder when people have no respect for the law when the law has no respect for the people?

Jackson police news

I WISH the Southeast Missourian would do the Jackson residents a favor and print the Jackson police report. The Jackson paper never puts it in. They don't want anyone to think that anything criminal goes on in Jackson, but we know better.

REPLY: For several weeks the Southeast Missourian has included the Jackson police report on the Jackson page in the Wednesday edition.

Departments needed

TO THE caller who emphasized that we should elect those freshmen members of Congress, particularly the Republicans. I think that person made a good showing why they shouldn't be re-elected. We need the Department of Education and the Environmental Protection Agency. What would we do without them? Also, about the soldier who refused to wear the U.N. emblem. Whether he agreed with it or not, he was a soldier, and his first duty was to take orders. And about sending our troops into Bosnia. Innocent people were dying, getting slaughtered. For humanitarian reasons, they should have been sent there. Also, the person goes on to say about the Mexican Trade Agreement. I wasn't for it 100 percent, but certainly we should bail somebody out.

Immigration impact

I WANT to comment about the issue of immigration. I know President Clinton and the Democrats basically have ignored it. They don't want to do anything about because a lot of these people from Latin America tend to be Democrats when they get legally registered and vote. But here's the truth of the matter. One woman has had 19 children, and all she does is come to the United States and have the babies. The babies then are American citizens, and she goes back and has never paid a hospital bill. This person hasn't stayed up here and got on welfare, but we paid for her hospital bills. These Mexicans coming across the border bring their parents with them, and after they're here a year they put them on Social Security. They haven't paid anything. Latin America's population is going to triple. Mexico City is the biggest city in the world, and it's going to triple. These people are pouring across our borders at about 50,000 a week, and there's nothing we can do about it. Especially one political party doesn't want to do anything about it. If we don't do something about it, there's going to come a time when we're going to have to do things, if we can, that we don't want to do. It's just terrible the way it's being ignored, and it's breaking the Social Security program.