SpeakOut 12/29

Monday, December 29, 2003

Call 471-6636

I was on my way back from a business trip St. Louis about 2 a.m. Saturday. I got off the highway and crossed over the new Bill Emerson Memorial Bridge in Cape Girardeau just to see what it is all about. How nice. They have it right there by the Purple Crackle! All the drunks have a big wide highway to drive on.

Before the bridge was opened, they had a two-lane highway to drive on.

I'd like to know what the catch is for all these people who can walk around in the yard, smoking a cigarette and on the phone, but you never see them go to work. I worked hard all my life, my husband and I, both. I guess we've lost out on something somewhere. Now that we're retired, I still can't understand it. Don't the young people work? Or some of them, anyway.

I don't know how much longer this area can take all these factories shutting down. When you ask officials in these cities and towns what happened, they just say, "I don't know. We're doing our best to keep the factories." They just moan and carry on. That's exactly what Sikeston, Morehouse and other towns in the four-state area are doing. Beginning in January 2004, I'd like to see all these towns who are getting new industry, tell the mayor or whoever runs your city that you want to have a town hall meeting with your city's taxpayers first and let them eyeball the factory people and question them. If they start humm-hawing around and say, "If another country gives us a better deal, we might move out," when they start that kind of crap just tell them you don't want them. The taxpayers are footing the bill and I'm tired and fed up with this mess. It's got to stop.

I would like to start by saying Sikeston's finest have been hard at work lately, trying to illegally accuse innocent people of doing wrong. They should never assume the look into a person's past is also their future. Once they have been punished for their mistakes, I don't believe it's necessary to continue. People deserve second chances. Without that opportunity, where are they?

I want to thank SpeakOut. I am a resident in Mississippi County and it seems like you are the only paper in the tri-county area that is not afraid to print what the people have on their minds. It's sad that we have three papers in Mississippi County and not one of them has the backbone, as you do, to let the people voice their opinion. I guess that goes back to the old saying that "You know which side your bread is buttered on." I would rather step on some people's toes than to live like a puppet all my life. Keep doing what you're doing, SpeakOut, because nobody in Mississippi County has the backbone to do what you're doing. I appreciate it and I'm sure I speak for a lot of citizens in Mississippi County.

To all you pathetic losers calling in about the people who feed them. Yes, people, that's right. The farmers feed you. I'm going to say it one more time: The farmers feed you. History has shown that when people do not eat, they die, so let it be known that farmers are the reason why people continue to live. So show some respect. I know every single person on this planet would accept a government payment, whether they needed it or not. The farmers need them to make ends meet but this does not mean they are proud of it. They are not welfare farmers. Welfare is for people who take and take and do not give back in return. Farmers keep us alive. Costs of farming have gone up while the price for crops has remained the same. It's simple economics. The government sends payments to many, many sectors of the economy to keep them afloat, not just farmers. So, to reiterate, most of us (including all of the farmers) pay taxes. These programs help support farmers so that - you guessed it - we may all live to see another day. Show some respect, you pathetic, ignorant complainers!