Letters for December 5: On voting, bus service and 'wokeness'

Don’t muffle our megaphone: Citizens need the initiative petition process

“Make Your Voice Heard.”

This is the title to a 44-page document on the website of Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft on how to file an initiative petition in Missouri. The document cites petitions as an opportunity for Missouri citizens to “directly participate in our democracy.”

Free political speech and self-governance are two major tenets of our democratic society. The natural connection is that initiative petitions embrace what democracy is all about.

Despite this, several bills are under consideration in the Missouri General Assembly that would make it more difficult for you and me to file petitions. Senate Bill 149 and Senate Joint Resolution 11 are just two of several bills that seek to obstruct the process. Proposed changes include a $500 fee just to file the petition and a requirement for signatures to be obtained from a majority of the registered voters in each of the eight Congressional districts in the state.

Why would our legislators want to hamstring Missourians who want to be heard?

One rationale for the filing fee is to prevent frivolous petitions and to curtail involvement from special interest groups. A filing fee is a minor hurdle for a large entity seeking to introduce a petition, yet it can be a major barrier for the individual or small group seeking to file a petition. This begs the question: Why do our legislators complain about special interest groups starting petitions when special interest groups contribute to campaigns and actively lobby in Jefferson City?

Currently, signatures are required in only six of the eight districts. This helps ensure people living in areas most impacted are given a voice through the initiative petition. For example, what matters to Missourians in Southwest Missouri may not matter to those in the St. Louis area.

A common misstatement is that petitions can result in special-interest initiatives suddenly becoming law. A certified petition simply puts the initiative on the ballot so Missouri voters can approve it or not.

If you’ve ever found yourself wondering why your legislators are not addressing what you see as an important issue, the initiative petition is the answer you seek. It also is your vehicle for redressing grievances you may have with current laws or unfair practices.

If you want to assure Missourians can have a voice in our governance, email your state legislators today! Ask them to protect the initiative petition process. In so doing, they will be ensuring one of the most effective tools citizens have to fully participate in our democracy. Without citizen participation, democracy withers and dies.

Contact our Springfield area delegation to the General Assembly online: State Senate at https://senate.mo.gov and State House of Representatives at https://house.mo.gov.

Julie Steiger and Jill Smull, co-presidents, League of Women Voters of Southwest Missouri

I must speak out against voter the suppression that plagues America

I absolutely cannot remain silent in the face of the many efforts to suppress the votes of those who see a diverse future for America, efforts to suppress the votes of those who are diverse. I will not be complacent while that which is good and honorable is entirely forgotten in the name of bigotry and fear. I refuse to be counted with those who put up with the travesty of voter suppression.

What I must do is say loudly, clearly and repeatedly that the America I want my children and grandchildren to know does not attempt to prevent its citizens from voting. The America I love trusts the democracy it purports to revere.

And before I close, I must say that I can find no tolerance in my heart for any who support the legislators and legislatures who — in the name of voting "security" — are doing everything they can think of to prevent voters whom they fear, whom they look down upon, from exercising their inalienable right to vote!

I risk nothing by writing these words, but what I would risk by remaining silent — complicit even — in this abomination is no less than my sense of my own integrity.

Debby Baugh, Springfield

Springfield should look to Sioux Falls for ideas on bus service

The cities of Springfield, Missouri and Sioux Falls, South Dakota are roughly 10,000 people apart in total population. The city of Sioux Falls decided to work on ideas to improve their Sioux Area Metro bus service.

One idea was called SAM On Demand, a pilot program launched in December 2020 for their Saturday bus service. Riders could book rides at the times and stops that were most convenient through an app, rather than waiting for the bus on its own schedule. The pilot program led to the creation of two new crosstown bus routes. Perhaps City Utilities could do the same?

Michael Scriven, Springfield

Voters must break Trump's grip to stop insurrectionist party from developing

No more tip-toeing around. When we keep silent, we condone what is happening. Trump and his backers have officially been allowed to take over the Republican Party and remake the party into an insurrectionist party. Planning began prior to the January 6 attack at the Capitol. Trump is like the pied piper of an alternate reality. After all we now know about what transpired, his backers threaten to elect him to House Speaker, and the NRC chair claims he is invaluable to the party.

Past President Trump rebuffed the Jan. 6 committee. He blamed the Democrats, but he has turned against members of his own party. Trump pressures legislators by endorsing opposing candidates. His way of punishing GOP members because of how they vote.

A sitting president is traditionally blamed for inflation during his presidency. In America and other countries, the cost of food, services and gas have risen. Mainly caused by the universal pandemic shutdowns and current supply shortages.

Americans are upset, but if you do not want an insurrectionist party candidate elected in midterm or 2024, you must make your voice heard. Research, be informed, and exercise your right to vote. Vote for a dedicated, knowledgeable candidate who reflects moral values and who votes his/her own conscience.

Norma Salchow, Springfield

Is your community "wokesick"?

The TV series “Dopesick” tells the story of how a pharmaceutical company — I will call it Big Pharma — used deceit to sell America the idea that their new drug, OxyContin, was going to cure the world of pain. Big Pharma constructed language to deceive the American public. Terms such as “Break Though Pain,” “Pain is a 5th Vital Sign” and “Pseudo-Addiction” were used by Big Pharma to disguise their new drug’s poisonous effects on the community. Big Pharma constructed a “Pain Assessment Scale” to use as a tool to introduce their new drug to the community. Big Pharma lied to America, and America became “Dopesick” with a plaque of opioid addiction responsible for ruining the lives of thousands of Americans.

The political trend of wokeness, centered on Critical Race Theory, has a similar storyline of the TV series Dopesick. Powerful academic learning institutions, which I will call Academia, are using deceit to sell America the idea that all of America’s problems should be seen through the prism of race. Academia constructed language to deceive the American public. Terms such as “White Privilege,” “White Debt,” “White Fragility,” “Systemic Racism” and “Social Justice” are used by Academia to disguise this new philosophy’s poisonous effects on the community. Academia constructed an “Oppression Matrix” to use as a tool to introduce their new philosophy to the community. Academia is lying to America, and America is becoming “Wokesick” with a plaque of hatred, racism and violence ruining the lives of all Americans. I will end this with a double-barreled question. Is your community Wokesick, and if so, what are you going to do about it?

David Nokes, retired police major, Springfield

Vicky Hartzler should criticize response to COVID-19, not vaccine mandates

Vicky, Vicky, Vicky! Your recent opinion article on vaccine mandates in the Springfield News-Leader was quite shocking! You painted the COVID vaccination mandate with a broad brush, but you used the wrong paint!

You asserted it is because of President Biden’s mandates that there are “scary images of pink slips and empty store shelves nationwide.” Let’s examine that a little further.

So far, there have been 740,000 deaths in the United States from COVID. Early in the pandemic, many of the deaths occurred in nursing homes. But since then, many of the people who died were workers in the service industry in low-paying jobs that were deemed essential, causing many of these workers to be highly vulnerable to exposure. Many of these people had more than one job to make ends meet. So when they contracted COVID and died, that left a lot of job vacancies. Then, with the onset of the Delta variant, we saw more people in their middle years contracting COVID — many of these were young professionals and had their careers, leaving even more job vacancies.

Of the 45.7 million COVID cases in the U.S., over 37 percent developed complications and enduring problems; they’re being referred to as “the Long Haulers” (WBAL-TV Baltimore, MD 9/29/21). That amounts to some 16 million people who have such debilitating symptoms that they cannot work, causing even more job vacancies.

Even back in 2018, there was a shortage of 60,000 truckers, according to Bob Costello, Chief Economist for the American Trucking Association. Since the advent of COVID-19, that number has risen to 80,000. According to the Washington Post, there were 59,000 cases of COVID among truckers during the first year, which exacerbated an already difficult shortage of truckers.

You state that the jobs report indicates 26,000 women have lost their jobs during the pandemic. We all know that during the pandemic, child care facilities closed and many have not reopened. Those that have opened up have become so expensive that the average family, especially working moms or single moms, cannot afford it. If they don’t have family or friends to help out, what are they to do?

In addition, over 3 million Americans have retired early from the work force during the pandemic, leaving another host of job vacancies.

It’s important to remember, first of all, who was president when the pandemic began. Had leadership accepted and trusted the science and refused to make this a political issue, had everyone voluntarily practiced safe distancing, masking, avoiding crowds, perhaps this pandemic would already be over and we would not be having this discussion.

We certainly hope this pandemic is a once-in-a-century occurrence. Let’s hope we’ve learned something through all this. Lay the blame where the blame belongs — on the COVID-19 pandemic and not on mandates or those leaders who have been faced with a terrible situation and are trying to save as many lives as possible while moving the nation forward.

David N. Buhr, Springfield

This article originally appeared on Springfield News-Leader: Letters for December 5: On voting, bus service and 'wokeness'