Editor’s note: Speak Out is a reader-generated column of opinions. If you see something you disagree with or think is incorrect, please tell us. Call us at 312-222-2460.
Rich man, poor man: I would like to say that we have two problems in this country. Number one is we have a race problem, and the GOP doesn’t want to address it. This is our biggest problem. The number two problem is we have a rich/poor problem. The rich want to hoard their money. The poor are spending their money, and the rich are pocketing it. They send out their lobbyists to lobby for this and lobby for that. To the good, white, poor people out there, you are being brainwashed. The rich want you to keep the slave mentality. If you’re poor and white, you might as well be black and poor. You’re no different. They just want your vote so they can screw you over some more.
Rural Street rubbish: This is Nancy and Jerry’s Disposal calling about a Speak Out regarding the 900 block of Rural Street’s garbage not being picked up. I had two stops on the 900 block of Rural Street that were picked up devotedly and on schedule. Now the City of Aurora is not doing their job. They are trying to run me out. Thank you to all of my customers who are trying to stay with me. Road torn up or not, I have been taking care of my customers for years. I am the owner of Nancy and Jerry’s Disposal, and I never miss my stops.
Call for gun laws: Again you hear people saying there should be more gun laws. How about some of these people come up with a bill that would make all the hundreds of gun laws already on the books enforced today?
Stand up for United States: This is for the caller about flying flags. This is the United States of America. This is not the United States of foreign countries. If people want to fly their flags, that’s fine but have everything in moderation. I was born of European immigrants who followed the rules. They didn’t get free food stamps. They didn’t get free health care. They worked hard for their money. So what’s going on, Aurora? When are we going to stop all this catering? The city of Elgin was sued by an unmentionable chamber of commerce that won. Is that why Aurora runs with its tail between its legs? Anyway, this is Aurora, Illinois, in the United States of America.
Full house: This is about the Speak Out on promoting property standards in Aurora. I don’t know what is going on in Moecherville, but you see 30 cars parked outside of a small home. All of the drivers must be living in that home. Whatever happened to checking out the amount of people living in one space? I thought there were standards for this, but apparently they are keeping a closed eye on Moecherville. It looks so junky with 30 cars parked outside of a two-bedroom home. Where are those people patrolling property standards? Are they just driving around the neighborhood and doing nothing?
Questions about Hastert: This is about Dennis Hastert. They are working on a plea bargain for him. Is he going to get away without telling us what he did wrong? What about the people where he lives? Will they have to put up with a sexual predator of children in their midst? Is that the kind of deal that they’re going for so he doesn’t have to admit to any wrongdoing?
Hone in on mental health problems: I’m getting tired of listening to all this pizazz about mental health. They leave it up to people with mental problems to take their medicine. If they don’t take it, they can’t function. If you’re killed by someone considered normal or by someone with mental health problems, you’re still just as dead. They should get rid of the innocent by reason of insanity.
Galled by GOP: Members of the Republican National Committee are like a bunch of little whining babies. Now they want a dog for the house speaker job that they can put on a leash and stop feeding if he or she doesn’t cooperate. They want someone that they can tell what to do. What is wrong with these people? They need to go home and take a good look in the mirror.
Disagree about free amnesty: I read the article about President Obama flexing his powers. That’s fine and dandy since he is the president. But he’s so worried about people all over the place like refugees. He wants to change Columbus Day because the Europeans brought diseases over here. What about the Hispanics and other nationalities who are coming over now who have not been inoculated and don’t believe in getting shots for flu, polio, etc.? Is he looking at that side of the card, or do we just have to live with it because he lives in his ivory tower? I don’t think that’s fair. It’s free amnesty that he wants for them. I don’t care how he names it. That’s what it is. It’s not that we don’t want Hispanics or other nationalities to come here. It’s that they break the law to get here. If I break the law, I go to jail. If you break the law, you go to jail. But if the people Obama lets across the border break the law, they live on Mulberry Hill. Something is wrong with this picture. He needs to be fair to everybody.
Naysay Columbus Day: Some people may call this Columbus Day. I don’t know why we still celebrate it. I call it the “Beginning of the End Day for the Native Americans.”
Comparing debates: I would like to say Donald Trump was right about one thing. Compared to the Republican debates, the Democratic debates will be boring. That’s only because you don’t have so much turmoil. They will be civilized with only three people running. The Republican debates had half a dozen people running with most of them at each other’s throats. Yes, the Democratic debates will be boring.
Big businesses should help the needy: I know how important it is to clothe, feed and shelter the needy, but there is more to all of it. I also know many junior colleges are offering free tuition. Big businesses and industry need to financially support the needy. Teach them how to budget money and keep up a home properly. Show them how to feed a family nutritiously. Teach them the difference between needs and wants. Develop their social skills so they can keep a job. This all could be done by opening buildings and having teachers teach them these skills. People with addictions would also be helped by classes to wean them off their addictions. This could be accomplished by Corporate America instead of all the corruption of stealing from the public. After a time, you would find there would be less need for food pantries and homeless shelters. Families would be families again instead of all these broken homes.
Separate church from state: I wish they would keep church out of government. It seems like religion is the cause of half the trouble we are having now. Keep religion in church where it belongs, and leave the political side alone. It’s not doing us any good.
Don’t pump up the volume: I don’t understand why neighbors insist on playing their music loud enough so you can hear them a block away. That’s the only good thing about winter, but there will be some idiot anyhow out there playing it. Either they don’t know the ordinances, or they don’t care. They just don’t want to abide by the rules. I hope there is someone in Aurora who will help low income seniors take care of the snow this winter.
