Speakout 2/9

Mr. Bush, in his big speech to the nation the other night, talked about giving the seniors some type of help with his senior prescription drug plan. To do this, he might have to transfer some seniors to a Health Maintenance Organization (HMO). Guess what? A HMO is a for-profit company and part of your Social Security money would go to it and then they would charge you various amounts of copay for services rendered. My mother is in a HMO in the St. Louis area and was taken to the hospital for pneumonia. They kept her there for five days and her copay was over $1,500. There was no surgery, just oxygen and antibiotics. Also, with a HMO, they tell you what doctor you see and what hospital you can go to. I am in the process of getting her out of the HMO and back into Medicare. AARP sent me a letter which says that more than 14,922 people in Missouri and more than 200,000 people nationwide have canceled their HMO coverage. And now Bush wants to stick seniors back into HMOs whether they like it or not. Here again is the good old Republican Party starting a system so private companies can make money from your Social Security and your copay. Constituents should contact Rep. JoAnn Emerson, 339 Broadway, Cape Girardeau, Mo. 63701 or call (573) 335-0101.

Does anyone in Sikeston know how to contact the nearest Overeaters Anonymous group?

Now Governor Holden wants to take the voters' rights away. You voted down the cigarette tax and now he wants to put it in place by blackmailing school teachers and everybody else by taking their jobs. When you think about it, he could take back all the slipped-through politicians' pay raises, when everybody else has to suffer so they can live it up, when the economy is so bad they got pay raises. I'll vote Republican for governor next time. Everybody needs to get smart and get on your politicians' (expletive).

Just to be fair, the Missouri Legislature this week voted unanimously against a pay raise recommended by The Salary Commission.

There is a horse that I feel is being neglected. If you go down AA Highway by Ables Road, there's a horse on the right side of the road. It doesn't have a shelter or hay or anything. It drinks water from a lunch box. I have called the humane society and left a message but nobody has contacted me. I hope that by contacting the paper, somebody will check this out. People shouldn't have a horse if they don't have the money to take care of it.

If it's in the city limits of Sikeston, contact animal control at 471-2186. If it's out of the city limits, call the Humane Society of Missouri at (800) 383-9835. It may take a day or two for them to get back to you, but they will return your call (be sure to leave your daytime telephone number). The state has one investigator who takes care of 17 counties. The Sikeston Bootheel Humane Society has received numerous calls about horses lately and is trying to address each call in the severity of the claim. "We appreciate people who care enough to call," said Gabby Evans, executive director of the Sikeston Bootheel Humane Society.

Attention Morehouse senior citizens: To those of you who recently signed and birth-dated the trash pickup discount that was circulated in the city of Morehouse, I must admit I was personally shocked to discover that there were so many who did not know a discount existed for senior citizens. I am happy to inform you that you will now be receiving the discount. To the elderly I may have missed while gathering signatures and birth dates, I apologize. My time was very limited. When you go in to pay your water bill, just let them know you are a senior citizen and request a discount against your monthly bill. I also apologize on behalf of the city employees as well as the elected city officials of Morehouse who neglected to communicate the senior citizen discount option for all of these past years.