Speakout 7/18

Wednesday, July 18, 2007

In a local newspaper, a taxpayer said she wrote Governor Blunt concerning Medicaid cuts he made. And in response Blunt told her the cuts would increase cuts for Missouri schools. He also implied that Medicaid was a social welfare. I agree with her, he is very greedy and not very Christian-like. These elderly people have every right to receive Medicare and Medicaid. Mr. Blunt needs to walk a mile in the shoes of the less fortunate, the unemployed and the elderly and I think he would change his ways. A lot of people are suffering because of his ignorance. He needs to go to church. The Bible states that there will be sick and poor in the world and we should take care of them. He deceived these old people and led them to believe he was going to do good for them. What a lie!

The State Highway Department is responsible for Main and Malone, not the city of Sikeston. How many times must you be told?

I wish that this town could go back in time when they were young and parents cared what their children were doing. Drugs were big in this town when I was young, just kept behind closed doors. For our law to enforce the laws that we have it has to start with the people. Really look and see if it is breaking the law or is it just that you don't like the people next door. Used to we could walk the streets at night until 10 p.m. We could have fun parties in our back yard and everyone was invited. We the people changed, that now we want to be left alone and everything quiet. Well guess what? The time has changed. And granted there is a time for everything, and yes, the music is out of control. But come on, the fireworks were a done day thing, and the hammer that you swing is just as loud early in the morning. So just take a look at what you don't want going on. If we had block parties or street dances like we used to, you would complain about all that. That is why we don't have the Cotton Carnival in downtown Sikeston anymore, because of people griping like you. That is the one thing that the young people had, and now it is so small that it isn't worth taking the kids anymore. And people not liking other people. So what is there in this town for kids to do? As a child walks down the street, what do the people sitting out on their porch say about that kid? Just remember one thing, that used to be you doing the same thing being a kid. Get over yourself! And for our town not having something for our kids to do, we have to go to Charleston or Dexter for a skate rink. We used to have a swimming pool for everyone, and now it is the YMCA that costs more than a house payment for the summer. Most people in this town can't afford it. And the jobs, we don't have them anymore either. So what is out there for these kids - trouble, unless someone steps up and changes it.

Charleston is not the only place that pays a tax for Johnson grass, so does Bertrand. In fact, we pay lots of different taxes for which we get no services. If you look at the state auditor's audit report for March 2005, you will see that our county clerk is the man who gets paid to oversee the Johnson grass problem. In fact, he wears several hats in addition to county clerk. Could this be a conflict of interest? I think the auditor asked about that also. It also seems that our county commissioners voted themselves a raise back some years ago at an inappropriate time and the auditor recommended that they pay it back. I cannot find documentation where they did. We need a better accounting of what are taxes are being spent for.