Speakout 10/7

Friday, October 7, 2005

I figure you won't publish this in the paper, but I'm gonna say it anyway. I think I was done wrong yesterday on my newspaper. I buy a daily paper everyday. I buy it monthly. Every day I get a paper. Yesterday, the newspaper comes out on Wednesday. We live on the west side and we get our paper last. We get everything last on the west side of Sikeston. Yesterday I sent my homemaker up there to pick me up a newspaper, because we don't get ours over here until about 4 o'clock. She went to get me a paper and the lady said she had to pay a dollar for it. She told them that I took the paper every day and the reason she was there because I wanted to get it early because I don't get it till late in the afternoon. If you get a paper delivered daily, and you don't get it until 4 o'clock, I think you should be able to come up there and get one free, 'cause you are already paying for it. That's my opinion. I think we need another newspaper to come in and start writing another newspaper, 'cause the one we got ain't givin' the people their rights. It just kinda irritated me. I gave her a dollar and a quarter, and told her to just donate the quarter, 'cause they were in need to just keep the quarter.

I'd like to make a comment on Jesse Jackson or the Rev. Jesse Jackson. He is always wanting this, that and the other, speaking his voice about getting money for other people. What about him? Why don't he put up $5 million like the book publisher did or the guy that wrote the book? If it has anything to do with money, then he is going to be right there. I'm not racist, I don't see things black and white, I don't see anything that's going to downgrade another person, But personally, as far as the government, they didn't make those people live where it's under sea level. That's where they chose to live. I'm sorry, but I work hard for every penny I make. I don't have somebody coming behind me saying, "Here you don't have a place to live right now. Here's you $20 thousand." I don't have food stamps or Medicaid. I work my tail end off. There are jobs out there. I don't feel like I should pay for someone to go to school and get a better job when I could go to school myself but I can't because I have to work because I have to make a living. I'm not fortunate to be born into a rich family. I don't have a lot of skills. I'm just a hard worker. I'm a laborer. It irks me to every extent to hear all these politicians wanting to do this and that. How about they take pay cuts? Let Congress take pay cuts. Get rid of FEMA altogether and let the military take over. If they do that, that would create thousands of jobs, instead of closing military bases down. Let the military handle natural disasters. Maybe we need to go back to horse and carriages and shut the money-guzzling oil industries completely down. It's gone too far. We are killing ourselves over here. I would rather crawl in a hole then live in the United States. It doesn't matter poor, rich whatever. I don't feel my tax dollars should go to pay for these people's home. Insurance. Their governor should have been on the ball. They chose to build their homes there, deal with it. What is poverty level? Good Lord Almighty, how many people are below poverty level? It's ridiculous. The rich keep getting richer, the poor keep getting poorer. I don't think there is a middle class anymore. I would open up all the closed military bases. Use these bases and put the people there and let them live for three months, but they have to work everyday. How many of them down there were already on welfare? Our tax dollars have already been paying for them. They probably got more now with charities and donations than they had before the hurricane. One guy wanted $20, 000 for himself and he was wearing $300 glasses. What this world is coming to is ridiculous. We don't really have a government. We have a circus. I live on a fault line. When the earthquake hits, is FEMA gonna come pay us? I doubt it. What about in California, all the mud slide victims? Things happen everyday in this world. We can't dwell on it.

Believe you me, I'm not an advocate for welfare at all. I've always been taught that you work for a living. But, in this town, I'm sick and tired of hearing people put people down that are on welfare. Try to get a job in this town where you can afford to pay first and last month's rent and a security deposit. That's almost $1500. That's not counting what you have to pay to get your gas, your lights and your water turned on. If you people in this town do not want people on welfare, you need to build something in this town where you can get a decent wage for the days and hours that you work. Try raising children on minimum wage, paying your rent, paying your utilities and buying food. It can't be done. You can put your application in and tell your employer that you are willing to do anything. I will sweep, mop your floors, clean your bathroom. You can't do it in this town and raise children. Before you run your mouth, you better check around. You must be one of the privileged few that work at the Power Plant or work at Noranda or somewhere in Cape. You can't make it on pay from the hospital or nursing homes or restaraunts, banks or these little convenience stores. If you're gonna jack the utilities and jack the rent, you better jack the pay. And if you can't do that, then keep your big mouth shut and try living our life and raising our kids. It can't be done.