SpeakOut 7/24

Call 471-6636

I read on the July 16 front page where the war in Iraq has cost the Pentagon $48 billion. I think that should have said the Iraq has cost United States taxpayers $48 billion. I also think if George Bush had told the truth about the reasons for the war, citizens in the U.S. might have gone along with him. But since he lied about WMD, I think it's going to cost him the next election.

If you hear or see a train that is crossing without blowing its whistle, you need to contact the railroad immediately. Those trains have tapes and record everything that is going on. If it is found that the train is not blowing its whistle, then the engineer and conductor will have severe penalties. But unless you contact somebody, nothing will be done.

SpeakOut says you can call about anything and talk about anything you want and it will go in the newspaper. Well, I have one thing to say to this one old man. You must have more girlfriends than I know of because you can't seem to find your way home when you get off work when you're supposed to.

Three boys got arrested in East Prairie for swimming in the pond over here. It's a shame that the city administrators can't even get a pool here for the kids like they said they would two years ago. A lot of people don't have the money to drive to other towns to swim. What are the kids supposed to do?

Ever notice when a country gets down on a politician, they can't get on an airplane fast enough to get to another country with similar problems to calm each other's fears?

In response to the recent SpeakOut blaming unions for companies leaving this country for cheaper labor, first of all, I am led to believe the caller probably knows little about the purposes of a union and never had to rely on a decent wage to support a family. Also, a lot of companies leaving were never unionized anyway. Companies leaving this country have little to do with union wages but a lot to do with corporate greed. The passage of NAFTA was just what these greedy companies needed, to pack up and take their jobs to other countries so they could exploit workers and not have to comply with safety and environmental regulations. Making healthy profits are not enough for these companies, when they can freely take these jobs elsewhere and make even more. So before you blame unions for these job losses, maybe you need to take a look at these greedy companies who are never satisfied and always wanting more, with no regard of the impact it has on honest, hard working families and the economy.