Ask any reporter or public watchdog dealing with federal agencies and they will tell you the Freedom of Information Act is an invaluable tool to ensure government transparency and accountability. They can also share stories of dealing with mind-numbing bureaucracy and yearslong waits.
Missouri’s legislative special session dealing with tax cuts is a reminder of how often in past decades tax-cut bills have become food fights for getting tax burdens reduced for a variety of special interests.
The campaign rhetoric is heating up in the Missouri U.S. Senate race, once again with Attorney General Eric Schmitt on the defensive over his support for a bill years ago that opened the door for Chinese companies to buy up Missouri farmland. Though his supporters say it’s much ado about nothing, the bill he backed as a state senator has had some serious knock-on effects for rural Missourians — the very people he is counting on for support.
Doris M. Thompson Buckner To the editor: When the caller asked me my views on abortion several years ago, I told her I believed abortion should be legal under certain conditions, but not as a means of birth control. She hung up on me! I can only assume she didn’t like my answer.
What do you do when it seems there’s nothing you can do? I recently spent 10 days visiting family in the small Southern town where I grew up. We celebrated my sister’s birthday, told stories and ate a frightening lot of fried food.It was hard to say goodbye, to leave my sister in a nursing home, and my blind brother all alone in his apartment.
For many women, especially those who have had children, leakage of urine is a common complaint. So, too, is an urgency to use the bathroom.
How encouraging that Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has discovered the importance of setting aside partisan rancor to help suffering Americans in times of crisis. DeSantis’ willingness to shelve his usual attacks on the Biden administration to politely request emergency federal aid in the wake of Hurricane Ian is an inspiring example of constructive bipartisanship — as is Biden’s announcement that the government will bear a big part of the expense.
Despite the proven health risks in vaping — inhaling misted nicotine — e-cigarette companies have marketed it as a healthier alternative to cigarettes. But there’s nothing healthy about vaping.
There is only so much craziness I can take, and I’m afraid I’ve hit the brick wall when it comes to this current chant for “net zero” by 2050. The chances of that happening are about equal to my becoming the president of the United States.
DEAR ABBY: My niece, “Amanda,” is 19 and fairly close with my daughter “Hayley,” who is 18. Since graduating from high school and through her first year away at college, Amanda has been going out of town to meet men she meets online.