Published: June 12, 2009 12:25 am      

SOUND OFF: Published June 12

There have been recent comments decrying the low voter turnout in our recent school budget and school board elections. I fear the problem is far more serious than low turnout. The day of the vote, I ran into seven or eight of my neighbors and asked them if they were on their way to vote. Only one replied yes. The others asked “There’s a vote today? Who should I vote for?” After the vote, I asked several of my friends around town if they voted and none of them knew anything about a vote or what the issues were. It used to be you could watch paperboys deliver to every house on the block. Now it’s every six to eight homes. People say they read their paper on the Web. In my view, Web reports are not as complete and not the same. Is it any wonder why special interests and unions are running things? What’s the solution to this problem? If we are to survive, there needs to be a two-pronged attack: We have to show responsibility by knowing the issues and voting, but the media has to change somehow to better reach people, better inform us, better catch our attention.

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OK, let’s talk about reality. The current building inspector is asking for another assistant because he doesn’t have the knowledge, skill or ability to do the job that has been done by one inspector for years. He also has decided that the city will make money by doing the electrical inspections with another part-time inspector. All of the figures he uses have no documentation to back them up. We don’t need more city employees, we need ones who do their job.

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Where do the loyalties of the Republicans lie? I am guessing they lie with the huge insurance companies. There has to be something in it for them, otherwise why would they be against a health care plan that would help Americans get the health care they need and deserve for their families? They accuse the president of wanting to control all aspects of the people. I see a man who thinks it is high time for the American people to have the most basic right, access to affordable health care. He doesn’t want to make people sign up for a government-run plan, he wants to offer the people a choice. The plan he offers is this: If you are happy with your insurance, you can keep it. The fact that the government would offer insurance that will be cheaper than private insurance opens up competition. The private companies will have to lower their premiums to compete. People who don’t have insurance will now have an opportunity to get the care they need without declaring bankruptcy and losing their homes. How is that bad? Why would Republicans be against it? Could there be a selfish reason like not getting all the kickbacks and gifts from lobbyists? Makes you wonder who they work for! It is criminal for these people to fight against this when they have the best health care that our money can buy! Again, who do they work for?

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Please contact your senators, governors, congressmen about a very important issue. We have men and women being kicked out of the U.S. military after serving honorably for years. Most re-enlist time after time to fight for our country and they are being kicked out! Why, you may ask? They are being kicked out for being gay. Because of what goes on in their personal life, they are kicked out because of the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy. Why are they good enough to die for their country, but because they say who they are, they are out? This is insane! The fact that the military does not take into account their record of service, their skills as interpreters, the fact that there was never an incident where their sexual orientation compromised anything, is appalling. I find it ironic that they are fighting for democracy in Iraq, but in their own country they are not equal. In a democracy, we fight for equal rights. Please tell the president to repeal the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy. Our country is better than this.