Letters from our Readers - July 2007

Give Me My Money Back
Why are legislators and Gov. Perry keeping the $14 million in overpaid taxpayer dollars? 
An average of a $500 to $700 refund is available to every Texas taxpayer and that amount certainly would help defray some daily living expenses. 
Many officials don’t want to return the money because some are afraid that the money may be needed "down the road" and/or to counter any future shortfall. Others don’t want to return the refunds because — let’s face it, money is tight — in their minds they already have determined to use the money for interests OTHER than what the tax dollars originally were collected for. 
State officials also have done the same thing with other tax dollars, e.g., gasoline taxes, whereby some of the money collected does NOT go towards building and maintaining Texas roadways, but are diverted to other interests determined by officials. Originally the Texas Lottery was supposed to go for public education; however, much of it is diverted to other interests. Diverting tax dollars is big business in Texas. 
During the past decade the state legislature has enjoyed diverting taxpayer dollars to whatever interests officials felt were in need. They also may have diverted some to interests of their wealthy campaign contributors/lobbyists. 
If not illegal, at the least diverting tax dollars is questionable and the governor and other officials must be held accountable for holding onto and/or diverting taxpayer dollars. 
BTW, currently the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) continues "to cry" that it hasn’t the tax dollars to quickly and effectively build and maintain roadways and has "creatively" and aggressively pushed for toll roads throughout Central Texas and elsewhere. In truth, TxDOT has been sitting on millions of taxpayer dollars and collects the interest on those millions. In addition, taxpayer dollars have been used to advertise TxDOT’s pro-toll road agenda and also the Toll-Tag program. Furthermore, TxDOT has been using lesser and/or inferior roads materials to perform maintenance work more quickly and at less cost — yet providing a poorer quality of roadway repair, e.g., the recent overlay/repaving of FM 1826 in Hays and Travis Counties. Public outcry on this recent job is pressuring TxDOT to redo that roadwork. At best this is questionable behavior and TxDOT requires revamping and more independent oversight. 
The point is that tax dollars belong to Texas taxpayers and if they have overpaid taxes then they are due a refund ASAP.
Otherwise, it is no better than stealing, and collecting interest on those "stolen" tax dollars becomes fraudulent activity. 
Texas taxpayers should demand the refund from legislators — it is their right and their money! 
Peter Stern
Driftwood, TX.

Eight Liners
Based on the article you wrote on Eight Liner Machines, can you legally go to these game rooms without fear of being taken to jail? I have been searching all over the internet to get an answer and cant really find one. would I be better off calling the police department to get a valid answer? I’ve heard that as long as you have a membership at one of these game rooms there is no chance of being taken to jail. 
Michelle

Veterans Pride Initiative
America's veterans are the face of America, coming from all walks of life, all ages and backgrounds. They served our Nation valiantly and we honor that service. But how do we honor the veteran – the individual who put on the uniform and gave his or her all for our country? This July 4th, I am asking every veteran to wear their medals as part of what we at the VA call the Veterans Pride Initiative. I’m proposing we take an extra step in honoring each individual veteran and the role he or she played in preserving our independence and freedom.
We began this initiative last Veterans Day. It focuses public pride and gratitude on our veterans as individuals with often untold histories of patriotism and honor. Each American veteran has their own story of service. That is why I am calling on America's veterans to wear their military medals this July 4th and also on our other patriotic holidays, Veterans Day and Memorial Day. Wearing their medals demonstrates the deep pride our veterans have in their military service and reminds all American citizens of who they are and the sacrifices our veterans have made. 
It is our hope that families and communities will engage in greater dialogue with a veteran in their midst and learn their unique story of service. 
Veterans, wear your pride on your left side on patriotic holidays! Let America know who you are and what you did for freedom.
R. James Nicholson
Secretary of Veterans Affairs 

Bush Veto On Stem Cell, A Moral Victory
Last Wednesday, President Bush vetoed the second stem cell research bill to pass his desk in less than a year. Conservatives praised his actions last July, and again this time, striking down a bill that, if passed, would have allocated taxpayer dollars to embryonic stem cell research. This victory is not only a Republican one, but also one for all who believe in the ethical use of scientific discovery. If there is one issue the President has been consistent on, it is his view on creating, experimenting with, and destroying human embryos for the sake of science. Of his latest veto, Bush commented: “I made it clear to Congress and to the American people that I will not allow our nation to cross this moral line.” The moral line is crossing over from an ethical position of supporting and saving life to the unethical position of sacrificing one life to save another. 
In fact, embryonic stem cells are not the only viable option for research, although the congressional liberals have misled the public into believing otherwise. Currently, much research is being conducted with the stem cells gathered from umbilical cords, placentas, amniotic fluid, and even adult stem cells. As Gary Bauer in his email column, American Values, points out in his support of the veto: These cells “show just as much, and in many cases more, promise for cures.” Presidential hopefuls Mitt Romney and Sam Brownback have stood by the President’s decision to veto; while scores of liberals, such as Hillary, Barack, and John Edwards, jumped at the chance to call Bush’s competency into question, as though America is not tired of that just yet. Many congressional liberals have pledged to keep introducing stem cell research legislation, hoping that a pro-embryonic stem cell President will surface eventually.
The problem is that we already have a pro-stem cell President  President Bush, who is just not interested in using embryonic stem cells to sacrifice innocent lives. What congressional liberals refuse to acknowledge is the many other useful kinds of stem cells other than embryonic cells; those cells are ethically obtained and do not destroy life. Those supporting embryonic stem cells are proposing the destruction of the embryos to harvest the stems, or the equivalent of abortion. As President Reagan once stated with incisive perception, “Abortion is advocated only by persons who have themselves been born.” Had embryonic cell research been acceptable practice before the birth of these congressional liberals, then the advocates of embryonic cell research might not be around today to advocate for the destruction of embryos. 
Please join me in celebrating the victory of this veto, as well as constant prayer for this issue, which will certainly surface again. Next time, we may not have the benefit of a President who knows where to draw the line.
Gina Parker Ford
Waco, TX

A Case for Repealing NAFTA
Americans should be very disturbed about the federal government’s plans to have the United States join the Security and Prosperity Partnership (SPP) that will merge the U.S., Mexico, and Canada into one nation with open borders by year 2010. The federal government also is quietly working to entangle us in a North American Union (NAU) similar to the European Union.
In 1993, Congress entangled us in the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) that is now being used as the basis for the SPP and NAU. We must repeal NAFTA if we are to remain a free and independent nation. Concerned citizens need to tell their U.S. Representative and both U.S. Senators to support H. Con. Res. 22 to withdraw the U.S. from NAFTA, and H. Con. Res. 40 to Stop the NAU! Go to www.thenewamerican.com  for more details.
Nancy B. Brennan
Camarillo, CA

Bush isn’t Churchill
I visited the Holocaust Museum in Houston last week and then watched the wonderful PBS story on the importance of news coverage in World War II London. In my opinion, our country is closer to being Hitler and Germany in our treatment of Iraq than Churchill and England.
Name Withheld

Price-Gouging Laws Will Only Cause More Pain at the Pump 
With the summer travel season underway and Texas consumers watching the cost of filling up their gas tanks steadily increase, they may believe that oil companies are getting rich at their expense. This is an understandable but common misconception whenever prices seem to inflate inexplicably. 
Unfortunately, some federal policymakers are all too eager to seize on this frustration and propose so-called solutions like price controls to stop so-called “price gouging.” Phrases like these should raise red flags, because no matter how well-intentioned or politically motivated, history and basic economics teach us that price caps ultimately produce harsh unintended consequences, including supply shortages and unnecessary economic hardships for consumers. 
Anyone who remembers the long lines, gas shortages and inflation from the 1970’s price controls on gasoline knows that this is not a legacy to fall back on.
Despite previous lessons learned and the overwhelming evidence that price controls simply do not work, Congress is again looking to shelve the requisite leadership needed to implement sound energy policies based on supply and demand. Rather than helping to increase domestic refining capacity and reduce our dependence on foreign oil, they instead have chosen a purely political strategy void of economic fundamentals.
Of course, there is no sense in taking the hard road to address increasing gas prices or the nation’s broader energy challenges when pointing fingers is so much easier.
Consumers should note that while such lawmakers seem preoccupied in their misguided pursuit to label “culprits” in the court of public opinion, they might ask their elected officials to look in the mirror. On average, American consumers already pay 42 cents per gallon in combined federal and state taxes on gasoline.
Spikes in fuel prices during the devastating 2005 hurricane season have been the primary motivation for “price gouging” legislation and investigations, including here in Texas. Suspicions hold that producers were profiting from tragedy, but the economic reality is that fluctuations in fuel prices serve as basic signals to producers to either increase or decrease supplies. This holds true both in times of crisis and normal operations. Because of the massive damage that occurred in the Gulf Coast, where 30 percent of production was estimated to be knocked offline, energy supply and distribution was severely interrupted throughout the nation. In response, gasoline prices rose to most efficiently allocate the available supplies to the areas they were most needed. 
Following these hurricanes, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) investigated allegations of price manipulations, but found no evidence of widespread “price gouging.” In fact, over the last several decades, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and the FTC both have investigated numerous instances of regional price spikes. The conclusions have been the same: gasoline price increases were due to basic supply and demand economics and that price variances corresponded directly to available supplies. 
Yet, had “price gouging” legislation now being supported in Congress been in place during Hurricanes Rita and Katrina, the ultimate result would have been higher costs for consumers and tighter supply. A recent American Council for Capital Formation (ACCF) economic study reviewed investigations of past gasoline price increases. In every case, the price increases were due to the operation of supply and demand and not from withholding supplies.
The study also estimated costs associated with price controls as defined under current legislative proposals. Had they been implemented during the supply disruptions caused by Katrina and Rita that occurred between September and October 2005, the cost would have totaled $1.9 billion. Price controls would have made shortages worse by reducing supplies available to consumers. Imposing criminal charges for price increases would discourage suppliers from seeking replacement supplies – which might cost more – therefore limiting consumers’ access to gasoline supply. Further, the very expectation of price controls would tend to discourage refinery investment, resulting in tighter capacity at all times.
No one likes to pay more at the pump. Yet, while such misguided and ineffective “price-gouging” laws may play well for politicians in the short-term, they will ultimately harm the very consumers they are purportedly meant to protect.
Bill Peacock & Margo Thorning 
Bill Peacock is Director for the Center for Economic Freedom with the Texas Public Policy Foundation, a non-profit, free-market research institute based in Austin. Dr. Margo Thorning is Senior Vice President and Chief Economist of the American Council for Capital Formation 

I Like It
Kudos to Richard Amburgey. I will happily add "Gypocrite" (GOP + hypocrite) to my vocabulary.
Bill Barnes
Conroe, TX 

Montgomery County Needs a Trauma Center
It is a shame the Willis Fire Department is being criticized for the hour delay in getting definitive emergency medical care to a burned infant. Since there are no major trauma centers in Montgomery County the only option the firefighters had was to try and get the infant to Houston by helicopter. 
Unfortunately, as was the case with the burned Willis infant, helicopters are not always available and critically injured residents of Montgomery County must be driven to a Houston hospital by land ambulance. These patients will seldom make it to a Houston trauma center within the “Golden Hour”, which is the critical time frame for surviving major trauma.
As a paramedic, I routinely witness delays in emergency care to Montgomery County residents that never make the news. We should not live with high teenage and adult traumatic death rates in Montgomery County. We need a trauma center.
I wonder how Montgomery County Hospital District Board Members can ignore the stories that make the news and continue ignoring the fact that small hospitals in places like (resources poor) Cleveland, Texas have higher level trauma care than The Woodlands, Conroe, New Caney, Magnolia, Montgomery and Oak Ridge. Montgomery County is a dangerous place to live because of inadequate emergency trauma care.
Jim Becka 
Splendora, TX

Don’t Know Much
“Whenever the people are well-informed,” Thomas Jefferson wrote in 1789, “they can be trusted with their own government.” No doubt the Founding Fathers’ faith in self-government would be challenged today with the reality of how little Americans know about their heritage.
In anticipation of the Fourth of July, “Tonight Show” host Jay Leno took his “Jaywalking” camera crew to the streets to ask people questions about the number of original colonies, who made the first American flag, and the title of the National Anthem, among others. 
It is hardly surprising that almost all of the half dozen people he interviewed ranging from a college professor to a teenage boy were unable to answer the questions correctly. Two years ago, the same roving game of trivial pursuit produced a National Football League-bound student from UCLA who declared Ben Franklin the first president of the United States.
Week after week, the segment entertains viewers with such grand demonstrations of ignorance as people willingly reveal on national television just how little they know. The sketches are at once entertaining and depressing. Sadly they reveal significant deficiencies in civic education.
For its recent and aptly titled report, The Coming Crisis in Citizenship: Higher Education’s Failure to Teach America’s History and Institutions, the Intercollegiate Studies Institute asked students at 50 of the nation’s institutions of higher education about history, government, foreign affairs, and the economy. 
Among them were three Texas colleges and universities: Baylor University, West Texas A&M, and the University of Texas at Austin. The results suggest no shortage of candidates for Mr. Leno’s sidewalk shtick.
After three years of undergraduate coursework, seniors scored an average of 53.2 percent, while 22 of the 50 schools have average scores below 50 percent. More than half could not identify the correct century when the first colony of Jamestown was established. Twenty-eight percent believed that Gettysburg was the battle that brought the Revolutionary War to an end.
Fewer than half of the students knew that it was the Declaration of Independence that so boldly declared “we hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.”
Shockingly, in some cases students knew less at the end of their college years than when they first set foot on campus. But these scores are hardly an indictment on colleges and universities alone. The average improvement during one’s undergraduate years was a mere 1.5 points (almost three points for Texas), highlighting failures in civic education in K-12 days as well.
The report concludes that “students don’t learn what colleges don’t teach,” arguing that student knowledge will improve when schools require students to take more courses in American history and economics. The same can be said for all of education whether in middle and high school classrooms or on college campuses.
Ultimately those who care deeply about the future of this country—moreover the future of liberty and freedom—know that civic virtue is essential to the system of self-government we enjoy today.
With the fanfare of Independence Day just passed, it is appropriate that we do more than pay tribute to our nation. Indeed, we might wonder whether students failing at civics also fails our country, and how well we are preparing future generations to lead this country in the tradition of its founders.
Brooke Leslie Rollins
Austin, TX

Nothing's Free
My family understands the "need" to move the fireworks display to the waterway -- but to make the free fireworks as stated "seen from more area locations" while at the same time making them impossible to see because of the Anadarko skyscraper from the Mall parking lot -- THOUSANDS of people parked at the Mall (as they have for MANY years) and were disappointed to only have the fringe of only some of the larger bursts able to be seen because the display was directly behind the Anadarko building. 
I have no comprehension of how this is supposed to be better for everyone when the Mall provides (as it has for many years) a prime location for gathering to view the fireworks. The fireworks display could have easily been fired from a "waterway" location that added additional viewing (to the south) and still been 100% visible from the Mall (from the north). As it was, maybe 15% of the entire show was visible from the Mall parking lot. Pretty pathetic when you claim to be providing such a great, free show. 
To top it off, you claim the "Fireworks Extravaganza is free and open to the public" but yet you still try to alienate many by encouraging visitors to pay $5 to park in the Town Center Garage located on Six Pines Drive. I would love to hear the justification for charging $5 for a free fireworks display. 
THOUSANDS were disappointed by not being able to view the fireworks display as they have for MANY years. 
The 2007 Fireworks display was a dismal attempt by the organizers to profit from a traditionally family oriented outing to view fireworks. I, along with my family, and everyone else at the Mall who TRIED to watch the fireworks felt horrible for all our children who look forward to the fireworks display and all they got for their trouble was 15% of the satisfaction. Truly disappointing!!!
Stacie Kelly
The Woodlands, TX

The Judicial System
Thank you for publishing my letter regarding and article titled Judicial System. I want to apologize for not posting my name which is Janie Buys and the story is about my sister. I accidentally pressed the send button without proofing my letter. Regardless I just wanted to personally thank you because what is happening to my sister is wrong. We have sent so many letters to the city, state and other entities but to no avail. The sad thing is that everyone tells us to call someone else because they don’t handle such matters. It’s pretty sad when we are just shuffled through the system until there is no one else to turn to and we have to live with their actions. My sister has many friends in her community who also want to speak out about how the system works against victims like my sister. They too are in shock about what she has gone through and cannot wait to come forward. I just wanted to say thank you for caring enough to publish my letter. My sister did not deserve the abuse including the lack of due process. 
On behalf of our family thank you and God Bless
Janie Buys
buysfamily@gvtc.com 
Boerne, Texas

People Will Die
Accepted definitions of "genocide" generally involve the mass killings of people belonging to a particular group. Selecting the black people in Africa for misery, disease, and death by deliberately depriving them of life-saving DDT, as described in http://www.jbs.org/node/1603 , is, therefore, consistent with the ordinary definition.
World energy rationing, by preventing the construction of refineries and atomic power plants, affects a much broader socioeconomic group. This group is perhaps best defined by those who are not in it. Al Gore, for example, flies about in expensive personal jet planes, lives in a home that uses 20 times the energy as that of ordinary people, and rides in gas-guzzling limousines. He obviously does not consider himself to be in the group who must submit to energy rationing.
World taxation, rationing, and shortages of energy will hurt primarily the poor, lower, and middle classes sufficiently to markedly increase their death rates. The upper classes within which the hysteria for global energy rationing has originated expect to maintain their own lifestyles with only minor inconvenience.
While, therefore, the group of people who have been selected for diminished lives, suffering, and death from energy rationing and the resulting technological decline is larger than ordinarily associated with genocide, the number of likely deaths is also much larger than in previous genocides.
I think the term "genocide" appropriately describes the outcome of world energy rationing.
Frank M. Pelteson
Las Vegas, NV

Yellow Dog Journalism, The Best and Worst Lists
Thirty-four years ago, Texas Monthly began publishing a bi-annual article on the “Ten Best and Ten Worst” Texas State Legislators. Political insiders in Austin and die-hard politicos across the State look forward to this review with much gusto like a blood-thirsty audience at a boxing event or a bull fight. 
A comprehensive review of the 34 year history of the “Ten Best and Ten Worst List,” however, shows distinct patterns of bias and prejudice against Hispanics, Conservatives, Republicans, and Women and Black members of the Legislature. Conservatives and Hispanics often dominate the “Worst List” and can be twice as likely to make the “Ten Worst List” as compared to the “Ten Best.” The most likely profile of a candidate for their “Ten Best List” is a white, urban, liberal male Democrat. 
Even more disturbing are the comments made about minority legislators in the various articles over the years. They indicate a pattern that denigrates the intellect and ethics of Hispanic and Black members, accusing them of personal prejudices far beyond those by which Anglo members were accused of. In 1973, Texas Monthly said that Rep. Lindsey Rodriguez “…actually works at being dumb….” The writer called Clay Smothers, an African American legislator from Dallas in the 1970s, “a black Archie Bunker.” Black Rep. Lanell Cofer’s legislative activities were referred to as “monkeyshines.” Hispanic Senator Bob Vale was described as a “parasite.” Current Black Rep. Yvonne Davis was accused of “legislative terrorism” in 2003.
The comparisons, however, against Anglo legislators who make the “Ten Worst List” in the same years can be striking. Rep. Tim Von Dohlen was put on the 1973 “Ten Worst List,” but in his write-up he was referred to as “resourceful, hardworking and…quite intelligent.” In 1991, Ernestine Glossbrenner was described as “decent and caring.” In the collective review of the write-ups, one gets a sense that the magazine is saying, “it didn’t have to be this way” when writing about white members and “there is virtually no hope” when writing about minority members.
The irony of all ironies is that Texas Monthly writer Paul Burka, who has written on each of the articles, endorsed Kinky Friedman for Governor last year, even though he said he didn’t approve of his (Friedman’s) racially tinged remarks.” 
Often when Conservatives made the “Ten Best List,” it was for doing some rather non-conservative acts. In 1985, Jim Rudd was praised for opposing a 2% across the board budget cut proposed by the House Conservative Caucus. Jack Vowell was put on the “Ten Best” in 1987 for opposing cuts to welfare and AFDC spending. Fred Hill, a repeat offender on the “Ten Worst List,” was suddenly awarded status on the “Ten Best” by Texas Monthly citing his opposition to lowering appraisal caps and implementing spending caps on local government. 
Since 1989, Burka has been joined in compiling the Lists by Austin writer Patti Kilday Hart, 52, and the magazine’s editor, currently Evan Smith, 41, a New Yorker who has lived in Texas since 1992. 
Burka, Hart and Smith are all Democrats by their own words, deeds, or familial ties. Hart and Smith have voted in the Democratic Primary in Travis County - with Hart voting in seven of the last nine Democratic primaries and Smith voting Democratic at least four times in the past decade. 
Evan Smith’s wife, Julia Null-Smith, is a Democratic Party activist who has served on the Board of Directors of the local chapter of Planned Parenthood. The Smiths also hosted a primary season gathering at their home for then-frontrunner Democratic presidential candidate Howard Dean in 2003. 
Paul Burka stated in 2001 that he was a “Conservative Democrat” who voted in the Republican Primary because Republican “nominees are most likely to win those (statewide) races. Burka then promptly voted in the Democratic Primary the following year.
Burka and Hart are not shy about trying to have an impact on the legislative process. For example, in 2005, Rep. Phil King’s inclusion on the “Ten Worst List” referred to his work on anti-abortion bills. Rep. Robert Talton’s campaign against gay foster parenting was cited as the reasoning behind his “Ten Worst” designation the same year. 
Being a Christian is bad, too: Rep. Robert Talton’s inclusion on the 2003 “Ten Worst List” ridiculed his use of his Christian faith during floor debate. Rep. Tim Von Dohlen was attacked in the “Ten Worst List” in 1973 as a Christian “zealot” who was “cut from a Crusaders Cloth.”
In a time when technology takes its toll upon the weekly news magazine and the daily newspaper, the lack of diversity demonstrated by both writers and the writing may demand that the magazine’s owners bring this longstanding work into modern day journalism which demands balance, accountability, and fairness. Time will tell.
Gina Parker Ford
Waco TX.

Bush's Moral Victory?
Gina Parker Ford wants readers out there to "celebrate" "w's" veto of stem cell research. "w", she cheers, has been consistent in his view that he will not cross the moral line of "supporting and saving life to the unethical position of sacrificing one life to save another." Tell that to the families of the 3,606 dead US soldiers who were sacrificed, not to save another life but, to insure greater profits for "w's" buddies in the oil business. 
If 'w' has such high regard for life, then why was he so "consistent" in signing the execution papers of so many Texas prisoners? Did they "not count" because they were already born? Maybe their lawyers should have offered the argument that their clients were once themselves composed of embryonic stem cells! Then, Governor "w" would have pardoned them faster than you can say Scooter Libby! 
She claims president bush "...is just not interested in using embryonic stem cells to sacrifice innocent lives." I think her Freudian slip is showing and what she meant to say was that "w" is just not interested in using embryonic stem cells to SAVE innocent lives" 
Ms. Ford evokes a famous quote by Ronald Reagan (a living person who suffered from a disease that might have been cured from stem cell research) who said "Abortion is advocated only by persons who have themselves been born. To people like Ms. Ford, an embryonic stem cell is just as valuable as a living, breathing human. I disagree. I would add that "the right to life is advocated only by persons who themselves and their friends and family have already been born". 
George bush has no morals whatsoever. He does not care for anyone- either embryonic or alive. If he did then there would be thousands of American soldiers laughing and laying on their couches instead of lying in their graves. 
If there is one issue the President has been consistent on, it is his cozying up to his fanatical right wing base by protecting their stem cells while he sends thousands of their brothers and sisters to their deaths. So, you can "celebrate" this "moral victory" with Gina and pray that "...Next time, we may not have the benefit of a President who knows where to draw the line." or, you can save many thousands of the already living and impeach this immoral criminal and his cronies and hope that we never get another one like him ever again.
Richard Amburgey
Spring, Texas

More Media Brainwashing? 
Pres. Bush is busy today (7/12/07) giving his spin to news media of the progress made in Iraq. Bush's denial is being picked up by the media in another one of many deceptions and lies presented to the American people, who have the right to know what REALLY is happening in the far away country that has devoured more than $4 TRILLION of U.S. taxpayer money. 
It is urgent that media editors recognize that Bush no longer resides in the U.S., but apparently now is living deep in the Wonderland of his denial. 
The U.S. needs to leave Iraq and instead spend taxpayer dollars on reconstructing our own disheveled nation. We need to rebuild our own representative democracy, which has been consumed by the current administration's "shock and awe" tactics of spending our tax dollars frivolously, ignoring our laws and dismissing our civil rights and liberties. 
It's time Americans force Bush and the administration back down to Earth and to face the reality we all live daily. In addition, they must be held accountable for their actions. 
Peter Stern
Driftwood, TX

Prescription Drug Advertising
Congress simply doesn't get it! The largest contributing factor in high drug prices is advertising and promotion -- about 37% of the price we pay. Costs of research and development for new drugs doesn't even approach that percentage, since a huge part of the research going into the development of new drugs is performed by our National Institutes of Health (NIH). About $25,000,000,000 of taxpayer money goes to the NIH each year, much of which is spent on research for new drugs. It's the pharmaceutical industry's advertising, promotion and excessive profits, not research and development, that drives up costs. 
The waste of valuable prescription drug resources is appalling. One example of such waste: hundreds of thousands of pharmaceutical company ads appear in magazines and newspapers each year. Most of the pharmaceutical ads in magazines usually contain a couple of pages of 'stats' describing the product and its contraindications. These pages are usually set in type so small that they cannot be easily read. And if one were to take the time to read it, the technical language is virtually incomprehensible to almost all readers. Since only a physician may prescribe prescription drugs, such information properly belongs in medical journals. 
Billions are spent (and wasted) each year on television and print media ads. These enormous costs are reflected in the price of the product. Direct to Consumer advertising of prescription drugs should be banned. 
It's time to rein in the pharmaceutical industry drug cartel and their congressional co-conspirators. 
Paul G. Jaehnert
Vadnais Hts., MN

Rush to Judgment
On May 1, an immigration rally was held in Los Angeles. There were many illegals
and their supporters present. The rally was peaceful until somebody started throwing rocks and bottles at the police who were there to keep the peace. The police soon restored order. Some people, including police officers, were injured. 
The mayor, who was out of the country, rushed back to LA. He said he wanted to punish the officers. The police chief promptly demoted a high ranking officer, transferred another, and took an elite group of 60 officers, who were at the rally, off the streets. Neither the mayor nor police chief said much about arresting those who caused the disturbance. Even the FBI is involved. These actions have caused a sharp decline in officer morale. 
Now, more than ever, it is time to support our local police and keep them
independent of federal control. Go to www.jbs.org/node/696  for more. 
Mark Brent Weiss
Santa Clarita, CA

Let the Russians Do It
Media reports show that the Russian air tanker fleet at Global Emergency Response (on internet), also at: waterbomber.com and 1-804-240-4065, have always offered to come in to stop our fires on a promotional cost only basis but the U.S. Forest Service always refuses to allow them in thus facilitating our ongoing holocausts. As they have six of these supertanker water bombers at 12,000 gallons capacity each, the fires would be out in a matter of days instead of the weeks and months our so-called fire officials are now predicting. We should see: www.JBS.org  (search for: wildfire) and learn how our paper-pushing forest service bureaucratic mugwumps are “managing” our forests to actually encourage wildfire. 
Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger of California recently ordered the 12,000 gallon DC-10 Supertanker into firefighting service in California with great success in and out of state. We should demand that other governors do the same. As the Russian supertankers are the only game in town, so to speak ,we must demand our public officials call them in immediately, & then build our own Supertankers. We must demand it, for if we don’t we’ll remain at the mercy of the wildfires our phony fire officials are encouraging by refusing the Supertankers ! Call your representatives now!
Kevin Homotoff P.O.
Landers California

Are YOU a Terrorist?
Please forgive me if you are offended or not interested, but I had to write this and send it out so that we are not blindly led down a path-
http://www.redding.com/news/2007/jul/13/drug-czar-gives-warning/ 
This first salvo by the government to label those it wants to go after as "terrorists" With this designation they can apply all sorts of new anti-terrorism laws to you. You come under the auspices of the Patriot Act and other legislation enacted to limit your civil liberties. Grow pot? BAM! There go your constitutional rights... 
I am no pot smoker and certainly not a grower, but at what point does the government bring this fascist mentality to bear on other beliefs or actions. What happens when the federal government decides that Christianity is against the common good and that Christians are "terrorists"? What about those who want to speak against the government in protest? What about gun ownership or freedom of the press? 
We have laws in place that deal with drug use and drug manufacture, yet this is not sufficient. Ask yourself why...
More and more you will begin to hear more about the need for "the fairness doctrine" to be reinstated- This is a purely transparent attempt to curtail the influence of conservative talk radio, the immigration bill went down in flames and it easy to assert that talk radio had a HUGE impact on that bill getting shot down. 
http://www.heritage.org/Research/Regulation/EM368.cfm 
The fairness doctrine has much more to do with stifling dissent than it does with "fairness" If you are more liberal than conservative, you may think that talk radio is too one sided, but newspaper and tv journalist are more liberal and vote that way. I do not see the need to force newspapers into hiring conservatives; the free market will dictate the success of any media outlet and determine the interest the community has in it's content. If a liberal newspaper is read it will be a success, if a conservative talk show has a lot of listeners, it be a success; I see no valid reason to force "fairness" on either one. 
One last thing, ask yourselves why a Republican President with a 29% approval rating and a Democrat controlled Congress with a 22% approval rating were so hell bent in passing this "comprehensive immigration reform" bill when almost 80% of Americans were against it? Why were they in such a zealous stupor to legalize and legitimize 13-20 million illegals, without really solving our border security crisis? 
Look at this for a possible answer and think about the EU- Do you think it cannot happen here?
http://www.cfr.org/content/publications/attachments/NorthAmerica_TF_final.pdf  
http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=North_American_Union  
Our rights are being eroded from beneath our very feet, and no one even so much as whimpers about it. If we do not take back or country from those who seek to destroy sovereignty and our reliance on the Constitution, then we will perish a slow and freedom-less death.
D. Keith Ray
Conroe, TX.

Lady Bird's Legacy
As Lady Bird Johnson was taking her last breaths on July 11, 2007, Texas Department of Transportation (TxDot) contractors were spending hundreds of thousands of tax dollars destroying her legacy by mowing down millions of beautiful wildflowers lining our highways.
My own mother, who died at age 91 on May 27, 2007, had also dedicated her life to protecting "America the Beautiful" from harm. She had dedicated her life savings to purchasing or helping to purchase some six miles of the most beautiful highway frontage in Texas in order to protect and preserve it for future generations.
Before her death, she asked me to communicate with TxDot and beg them to not mow down the wildflowers along the highway until they had finished blooming and had gone to seed. A nationally prominent botanist friend of hers wrote to TxDot with his suggestions about when and how often it would be biologically correct to mow. A TxDot botanist also tried to convince the bureaucrats within her own agency to hold off on mowing until the wildflower season was over, yet her suggestions were ignored as well.
To add insult to injury, the highway frontage lining both sides of FM 135 which leads to my mother's grave deep within the 716 acre Holy Trinity Wilderness Cathedral was mown on the day of Lady Bird's death as an insult to both her legacy and my mother's. Hundreds of miles of Texas highways were skipped in order to mow the wildflowers down in front of three Natural Area Preservation Association preserves and sanctuaries, which had been dedicated in perpetuity by my mother, as if the sanctuaries had been purposefully targeted because of her efforts to protect the wildflowers blooming along their borders.
The wildflowers on two parts of a new Texas Parks and Wildlife Prairie and Piney Woods nature trail were also mown down and in several places TxDot contractors actually trespassed beyond the TxDot Right-of-Way (ROW) onto the nature preserves in order to mow down blooming wildflowers. After the heavy rains that East Texas has experienced during the last few weeks, the ground was saturated in many places along the route taken by the heavy tractors pulling the mowing machines, causing deep rutting. (photos of this damage may be seen at www.georgerussell.net )
When I attempted to talk to some of the contractors I discovered that only a very few of them could speak any English. It seemed apparent to me that many of the contract workers were not Americans and were probably in this country illegally, taking jobs from our own citizens. Even if TxDot ignorance and abuse of the natural beauty of Texas was going to take place regardless of our efforts to stop the abuse, I would rather the income help feed needy American citizens rather than people, legal or not, who haven't even bothered to learn our language.
The bottom line is that the decades of hard work by Lady Bird Johnson and Marjorie Haw Russell to protect the beauty of our highways and byways has apparently been for naught, which is a great insult to not only their efforts but an insult to the citizens of Texas and all Americans.
George H. Russell
Huntsville, TX.

Kudos to The Bulletin
Kudos to "the bulletin" for doing an exemplary job in their letters to the editors page. They print exactly what I say -complete with bad grammer, speling and punctuation errors,:,; and, most importantly, they print it without editing the content of my letter. 
I used to write to the Houston Chronicle until I got tired of their editor erasing words, rearranging sentences and whole paragraphs and altering the letter's content to reflect what the Chronicle wanted to say. I salute "the bulletin" for doing it right.
Richard Amburgey
Spring, Texas

800 Pages on Goodman
Good to see your Bulletin story about the Lounge Lizards and your passing reference to Steve Goodman. He often doesn't get his due. Thought you might be interested in an eight-year project of mine that has come to fruition -- an 800-page biography of Goodman published in May, "Steve Goodman: Facing the Music." Please check my Internet site below for more info. Just trying to spread the word. Feel free to do the same!
http://www.clayeals.com 
Clay Eals
Seattle, WA

Where is the Compassion?
Does anyone else remember the term compassionate conservative that George Bush threw around during his bid in 2000 for President? We heard it over and over, Bush likes using one slogan like, "No Child Left Behind." But it worked, that and a Supreme Court decision to give him the Presidency. But that was all it was, a slogan.
Does anyone else wonder what happened to that agenda? Every social service department from education to health, environment, research, security, National Guard, Coast Guard, immigration has been downsized, depleted of resources so that the service is scarce or non existent. Funds have been cut drastically in every single area. Oh, we hear the proclamation of so many dollars being provided, but then we find that those dollars never made to the destination. Does anyone wonder where that money has gone? Sure, Iraq is sucking up alot but not all of it. 
Would a compassionate conservative vow to veto a bill for extended health insurance for children? What about vetoeing a bill for science research to alleviate suffering for those with illness's. Or what about denying our troops a break to re connect with their families, troops who have been extended and extended over and over. What about adding the Stop Loss for the military that have served their time and want to go home. Or this was really good, last week, saying "that anyone can have health care, just go to the emergency room." Yeah, we have all been there, after a loooooong wait, you had better have proof of payment . 
Where is this compassion that we were promised? Actually I would just settle for honesty. How about a candidate that says, " I will lie about everything, I will do whatever I damn well please with your money and to hell with you." That would be refreshing. Yeah, how about being honest instead of wearing that smirk that says believe me or not I don't care. There is a reason the media calls Bush, King George. He really thinks he is and we are the commoners. Remember the other King, whose wife said "let them eat cake". I believe history said they lost their heads. Wouldn't that be wonderful if history could repeat itself? 
You believers out there, how do you feel about the Iraqi military getting the V-Bottom Humvees 15 months ahead of our own military? Or the Iraq government taking a two month vacation while our military are sweating in 113 degree heat protecting their interests. Does that tell you where Americans are on George Bush's priority list? 
It is still OUR GOVERNMENT, not a pretender's. We, the people, need to say NO MORE and shout until our paid Representative listens and hears and does something. We all are gritting our teeth until 553 days are past, but can we afford to wait? Each week is more destructive by this administration than the last.
Linda Woode
Montgomery, Texas

The Middle-Class
Middle-class income growth has slowed in the last 26 years, particularly during Republican administrations. Democrats work for all the people while Republicans favor the wealthy. 
During the Reagan/Bush administrations from 1981 through 1992, the average income of the middle-class and poor (for this comparison, the lower 80% income bracket) went up an average of $182 per year. During the Clinton/Democratic years of 1993 though 2000, the average income for the middle-class and poor went up $763 per year. And, during the second Bush years (2001 through 2006), the average income of the middle-class and poor went down $260 per year. (All numbers are in 2006 dollars and were supplied by world economist and New York Times Best Seller author, Dr. Ravi Batra, 2007).
If we average all 18 years of the Republican administrations, the average income for the middle-class and poor went up only $35 this, compared to $763 for Clinton/Democratic administration. Or, another way of saying this is that average income for the middle-class and poor went up 21 times as much per year under Clinton and the Democrats when compared against the miserable average achieved by three Republican administrations.
Republicans have touted for their last three administrations (close to 18 years), the concept of “trickle-down economics” (i.e., cut taxes for the wealthy and that alone will produce “trickle-down” positive economic effects upon the middle-class and poor). This has not happened and 18 years is long enough. We must return to the Democratic economic policies, put to great success by President Clinton, of putting more money directly into the hands of the middle-class and poor.
Even the annual income increase of the upper 10% in income went up significantly more under Clinton and the Democrats than under any of the three recent Republican administrations. When you take care of the middle-class, everyone wins -- the middle-class, the poor, and even the wealthy.
Dick Alexander
The Woodlands, Texas 

The "I" Word is Now Operative
Surprisingly, a recent poll by the American Research Group showed Americans who favor the impeachment of Dubya at a shocking 45%. Even more surprising, the percentage hit 54 when Americans were asked about their collective feelings on the impeachment of Dick Cheney!
Adding to the above mentioned surprises, Bruce Fein, a constitutional scholar and Republican conservative who served in the Justice Department in the Reagan administration, and drafted the first article of impeachment (perjury) against Bill Clinton, is in the forefront of demanding the impeachment of both Bush and Cheney. Fein, a strong advocate of impeachment of Clinton, finds Dubya’s and Cheney’s crimes to be much more worrisome than Clinton. Fein claims that Bush and Cheney are seeking more institutionally to cripple checks and balances and the authority of Congress and the judiciary to superintend their assertions of power. Fein added that Bush and Cheney have claimed the authority to tell Congress that they don’t have any right to know what they are doing with relation to spying on Americans, using that information in any way that they want in contradiction to a federal statute called the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA). Further, Fein stated that they (Bush & Cheney) also claim the authority to kidnap people, throw them into dungeons abroad, and dump them out into Siberia without any political or legal accountability. Fein claims that Dubya’s and Cheney’s standards are totally anathema to a democratic society devoted to the rule of law.
When Fein was asked why he lumps Cheney into the impeachment equation with Dubya, he stated that the vice-resident is de-facto president most of the time and most Americans realize this fact. Fein claims that the issues that he speaks about above, especially when it comes to overreaching with executive power, are the product of Cheney and his aide, David Addington, not George Bush, “Fredo” Gonzales , or Harriet Myers, who he claims.. “don’t have the cerebral capacity to think of these devilish ideas (Fein’s words not mine!)”. 
It seems that it is only the US House Speaker, Nancy Pelosi, who now stands in the way of a rising tide of American outrage over the excesses of this administration. Ms. Pelosi has told us that impeachment is off the table as far as her Democratic agenda is concerned. Judging from the latest poll above and Mr. Fein’s scholarly assessment of the crimes of this administration, it appears to me that as in Iraq, the American people are, once again, light years ahead of the politicians on the impeachment issue.
Jim Farrell
Oak Ridge North

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