Speakout (12/7)

Sunday, December 7, 2003

I have an old piano that needs a little work done on a couple of the keys. I will give it to anybody who can come and take it away. It will take four or five men to move it. Call me at 667-9036.

I am calling about the courthouse in Charleston where they are putting a paved stone on the property. How stupid can our county commissioners and county clerk be? It cost $5,000 for a little strip of ground there. Why don't they bring some of that beautiful white stone in that they think is so gorgeous and pound it down and break it up and put it there? That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard of in my life, as poor as we are down here.

I want SpeakOut about the Medicare Bill. Who benefits from Medicare? The Medicare drug legislation and act of the Congress is, I am sad to say, a travesty. It is a cynical political effort to confuse the public and claim real reform. In a few years, the big contributions from the healthcare industry will have their way with us. They will again attempt to privatize the system and reap even greater profits than they already enjoy from the most profitable American industry. For many, this knowledge will come only after the President and his Republicans take credit for reforming Medicare. The Republicans who are taking credit for Medicare reform legislation grossly underestimate the IQ of American senior citizens. We are perhaps some of the smartest people in our society. When the backers of legislation called it a good first step, they left out the part about where this first step is headed and assume we won't even ask. Privatizing Medicare and Social Security is part of a Republican plan to dismantle the social safety net, the powers that control them.

I was in Jefferson City a couple of weeks ago and read that the Carnahan family had multiple lawsuits against manufacturers of the airplane that crashed and took the lives of the governor, his son and his aide. How many different companies or people are they suing? Sometimes accidents just happen, but that doesn't mean the family should hit the lottery. It doesn't have anything to do with the deceased because no matter how much money they get, the dead are still dead. Maybe I'm just behind the times or need to hire a lawyer to sue different people because my grandparents' parents and sister have passed away.