"Hello, everyone. It's your beloved national icon and TV best friend Oprah again! I'm back with another entertaining yet relevant show that the whole country will be talking about next week. As you know, the two major presidential candidates were my guests recently and all of us came off pretty lame.

"Hello everyone. I'm Bob Costas, saying 'Welcome back to NBC, your Peacock Network for the 2000 Olympics and Third Rock from the Sun.' We're all very excited to be coming to you live right now from Sydney, Australia.

"Governor Bush, you in there?" "Sure as shootin', but I'll be right out. Hey, they got real Charmin here! Darn, I love these luxury hotels." "Governor, since this is Election Night, I thought you might want to turn on the TV.

What are we coming to when we allow special interests like those of Jack Bush, CEO of McCarthy-Bush Real Estate, but more importantly McCarthy Improvement Company, one of Scott County's largest builders and repairers of roads, to influence spending with schemes like the "Big Bang" theory for capital improvements needed in Davenport? How is this any different from developers, of which Bush is one, asking taxpayers to pay their upfront costs for real estate projects in Davenport? According to a recent article in the QC Times, Bush's "Big Bang" theory, in a presentation to city leaders, calls for borrowing "millions, hike property taxes and take care of the city's major infrastructure needs all at once.