Polk County Enterprise (Livingston, Tex.), Vol. 127, No. 36, Ed. 1 Thursday, May 7, 2009 Page: 4 of 17
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OPINIONS
PAGE 4A
THE POLK COUNTY ENTERPRISE
State Health Chief speaks
out about swine flu safety
AUSTIN - The Texas House and
SenateonApri! 30passed legislation
to revise the accountability
system for public schools.
The legislation, SB 3 by Senate
Education Committee chair
Florence Shapiro, R-Plano, and
HB 3 by House Public Education
Committee chair Rob Eissler, R-
The Woodlands, have long lists of
amendments that must be agreed
upon or discarded as the process
moves forward.
Under both bills, the education
system would be changed to focus
on students’ readiness for post-
secondary education that could be
college or other forms of training.
Shapiro said Texas’ current
accountability system has created
an illusion of progress.
’The passing standards on the
assessments lack any link to
success after graduation. The world
today requires sound preparation.
All students must be prepared for
post-secondary education."
SB 3 and HB 3 update
curriculum requirements for high
school students. They’ll take
four years of math, science, social
studies and English, two years in
the same foreign language, and
eight electives that could include
fine arts, or career-in-technology
education that gives students who
don’t plan on going to college
workforce training.
in addition, school districts would
have new accountability standards.
Accreditation and performance
ratings would be based not only on
passing standards, but also on how
students score on college readiness
standards.
Schools could receive recognition
in more areas, for success in 21st
century workforce development,
fine arts, secondary languages, PE,
and academic excellence.
Speaker names budget conferees
The primary task of the Texas
Legislature is to produce a budget
for fiscal years 2010-2011.
The House and Senate versions
of the $180 billion (give or
bike) budget don’t match, so the
two bodies are going to have to
compromise.
House Speaker Joe Straus on
April 27 announced the following
appointees to the Conference
Committee on SB 1, the state’s
biennial budget for 2010-2011:
House Appropriations Committee
chair Jim Pitts, R-Waxahachie, and
vice chair Richard Raymond, D-
Laredo; Ruth Jones McClendon,
D-Sah Antonio; John Otto, R-
Dayton, and John Zerwas, R-Katy.
The five House members will
work with five Senate members
named earlier by Lt. Gov.
David Dewhurst. They are:
Senate Finance Committee chair
Steve Ogden, R-Bryan, and vice
chair Juan “Chuy” Hinojosa,
I [ XAS F’RF SS ASSOCIATION
State | Capital
HIGHLIGHTS
By Ed Sterling_
D-McAllen, Shapiro, Senate
Intergovernmental Relations
chair Royce West, D-Dallas, and
Senate Administration Committee
chair Tommy Williams, R-The
Woodlands.
June I is the last day of the
81st regular session of the Texas
Legislature, so the pressure is on to
wrap up the budget and get it to the
governor.
Bill may change agency’s name
SB 341 by Sen. Jeff Wentworth,
R-San Antonio, proposes to rename
the Texas Railroad Commission as
. the Texas Energy Commission.
The bill was passed by the Senate
and now moves to the House for
consideration. If the bill becomes
law, the name change will be phased
in before Jan. 1,2010.
The Texas Railroad Commission
regulates the oil and natural gas
industry, pipeline transporters,
natural gas and hazardous liquid
pipeline industry, natural gas
utilities, the LP-gas industry, and
coal and uranium surface mining
operations. The Texas Department
of Transportation regulates
railroads.
Health chief addresses swine flu
David Lakey, Texas Health
commissioner, on April 29
delivered a public statement on
swine flu or HINl.
Lakey said the Department of
State Health Services is taking
measures to prevent the spread of
this disease.
“In communities where we have
identified swine flu, we’re asking
the communities to do specific
steps.
We’re asking them, at certain
times when they have the disease
in their schools, to close their
schools.
We’re asking them to implement
their Pandemic Influenza Plan so
we are ready, and the community is
ready, for whatever comes their way.
We’re working with health care
providers throughout the state so
they know what they need to do in
order to protect your health.”
Letters to the Editor Policy
The Polk County Enterprise encourages readers to submit letters '
expressing their views and opinions. The letters will be published in
the Enterprise’s “Letters to the editor” column on Thursday or Sun-
day.
The letters may be written on any subject or issue of general inter-
est.
Letters must be accompanied by a name and mailing address and
will be subject to editing for grammar, punctuation, spelling and
length.
Letters must include a telephone number for verification. We will
not publish the telephone number.
Readers should keep their letters brief and to the point. Each letter
should contain no more than 6S0 words. Letters exceeding that length
will be subject to editing or withheld from publication. Letters will
also be subject to editing for libelous statements and commercialism.
This column is not meant as a forum for political candidates, al-
though we welcome comments from the public concerning campaign
issues. During election campaigns, we will not allow reference to spe-
cific local candidates.
Letters may be submitted in person; mailed to “Letters to the edi-
tor/’ Polk County Enterprise, P.O. Box 1276, Livingston, TX 77351;
sent by fax to (936) 327-7156 or sent via e-mail to polknews@gmail.
com.
Deadline for letters is 5 p.m. Tuesday for Thursday’s newspaper and
noon Friday for Sunday’s newspaper.
r
Vv 1
▼▼ f
Thankful for an unenlightened' mom
BY: TOM PURCELL
HUMOR COLUMNIST
A fy mother would have brained us had we
IVlacted like the runts at the coffee shop.
My mother entered the world 72 years ago, the
oldest of six. My mother and her three sisters not
only shared one bedroom, they shared one bed
- she learned lots about sharing and humility.
In the late 1950s, when she graduated from
high school, there was no money for college or
business school. My mother got a job in a bank.
She became engaged to my father and awaited
his return from the military.
They married when she was only 19. They had
their first daughter, Kathleen, within the year -
- they’d have five more children by 1972 - and
she was thrust head first into the adult world. She
took on her child-rearing responsibilities with
great passion and love.
In the late ‘50s and throughout the ‘60s, most
mothers weren’t yet influenced by new-age
parenting techniques - ideas that had still been
incubating on college campuses. They didn't
know they were supposed to place their child’s
self-esteem and ego above all things.
And so they raised their kids with the same
common-sense parenting techniques that had
been used by moms for centuries.
In our home, my mother established a very
clear order. She was the adult and she was in
charge. Why? Because she said so, that’s why.
My parents were not our best friends. We
were not there to make them feel good about
themselves. They lived in the adult world and we
lived in the children’s world and there was no
blurring of the lines.
When we complained of being bored, my
mother said, “You want something to do, I’ll
give you something to do,” and we were soon
mowing the lawn or dusting tables.
My mother knew, instinctively, that children
want parents who set clear boundaries - not
parents who are their buddies.
She knew it was her duty to prepare us for
life - to teach us good values, to give us a good
education, to make sure we were polite and
respectful.
Unlike modern parents, she didn't obsess over
our self-esteem. She didn't tell us repeatedly we
were handsome or pretty or smart or talented. She
didn’t boast about us in public. If she had any
obsession, it was that we better not embarrass her
in public.
Whenever we visited family or attended an
event, she threatened us before we left the house
and gave us “the eye” throughout the event.
No matter how good we were, she was STILL
embarrassed by something we said or did, and
gave it to us in the car the whole way home.
Which brings us to the runts at the coffee shop.
I, like many people these days, spend a good
bit of time at coffee shops pecking away on my
laptop. I try to be quiet and polite and considerate
toward my fellow laptop companions. Not many
new-age parents share my concern.
One coffee house I frequent has a group of
such mothers that meets up once a week. While
the mothers talk and laugh, they let their little
darlings shout and run and take over every inch
of the coffee house.
These mothers watched two of their runts run
under my table, rattling the table to and fro,
causing my coffee to spill, yet said nothing.
They weren’t embarrassed a whit.
Their children are God’s gift to the universe,
after all - God forbid a modern mother would
say or do something to hinder her child’s
creativity, self-expression or self-esteem.
And so it is that their runts will grow up into self-
centered adults, hopelessly trapped in themselves
- hopelessly inept at being considerate, civil and
gracious toward their fellow man.
Fortunately, the mothers of my era had not
been infected by modern psychobabble. If we’d
carried on like the runts in the coffee shop, we
would have not survived.
We turned out to be considerate, civil and
gracious as a result; our self esteem is just fine,
too. If the world needs anything this Mother’s
Day it is this: more “unenlightened” moms
like mine.
©2009 Tom Purcell. Tom is a humor columnist
nationally syndicated exclusively by Cagle
Cartoons newspaper syndicate. For more info
contact Cari Dawson Bartley at 800 696 7561
or email cari@cagle.com. Visit Tom on the
web at www.TomPurcell.com or e-mail him at
Purcell@caglecartoons.com.
ill
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
POLKCOUNTY
ENTERPRISE
ALVIN HOLLEY, PUBLISHER
Telephone Number 936-327-4357
(USPS 437-340)
WEBSITE: www.EaftTexuNewi.Com
E-MAIL: AdwrtWng/CIrcutaUon: poUcnewi9living9ton.net Ncwaroom: poHcnews@gmail.com
Entered as Periodical Matter at the Poet onice el Livingston, TX 773SI
Any tnomom reflection upon the chancier, standing or reputation of any person, firm or corporation which
M* appear in tNa newspaper will be gladly cornered upon being brought to the attention of the publisher.
Opinion expressed in columns are thoae of the writer and nor necessarily those of this newspaper. Opinions
tapaaaaad in editorial are those of the Enterprise. POSTMASTER: Periodical postage paid at Livingston. TX.
‘ nddnm changes to PO. Box 1276, Livingston. Taxas 77351.
rl.iiiu/ul missing |u|u i nr In n port .1 l»mki n w mlmu mat him (.ill (At. 105
Dear Editor:
As with all addictive behavior, there are
often enablers. That is those who allow
people to continue in addictive behavior by
providing shelter, food or other resources.
The Christian Life Commission of the Baptist
General Convention of Texas has been a chief
investigator on the vice of gambling.
Their records prove that most of the gambling
that takes place is by a small number of people.
That is a smaller group provides most of the activity
and there are fewer casual or infrequent gamblers.
Thus, the conclusion is that the majority of
gambling takes place by folks who are having
a problem with this vice.
Byplacingafaceoflegitimacyonsuchactivity
by the government gives license and credibility
toa process that often leads toaddicti ve behavior.
There are no victim-less crimes in vice. Local
law enforcement officers have gone on record
as opposing the legalization of gambling.
Truth is that a large portion of those who
engage in such activities are those who can
least afford such things.
This means an increase in visits to food
pantries, clothing exchanges or housing
assistance. Even churches unknowingly will
aid in such addictive behavior by supplying
financial, food or other resources to provide the
use of family money to be used in gambling.
Perhaps the best resource to use to stop
gambling is to encourage people to at least
finish eighth grade math. The figures would
reveal that the odds are stacked against you.
To those who suggest that this will provide
new jobs. I would suggest it will also mean
the additional employment of law officers
and social workers. The county will be using
resources to enable this “harmless” activity.
Don Wiikey
Onalaska
To the Editor:
There are powerful liberal forces today, who are
working to remove the words “one nation under
God” from our Pledge to the Flag and the wonb
“in God we trust” from our currency. We can help
to overcome this with a constitutional amendment
which states: ‘This Constitution upholds the words
‘one nation under God’ in our Pledge to the Flag
and’ In God we trust’ on our currency.”
In 1952, the U.S. Congress inserted the
words, “one nation under God,” into the Pledge
of Allegiance to our flag. The Congress at tint
time stated: "Our American government is
founded on the concept of individuality and the
dignity of the human being. Underlying this
concept is the belief that the human person is
important because he was created by God and
endowed by him with certain inalienable rights
which no civil authority may usurp.”
The Congress passed this vital legislation.
The insertion of these four powerful woids
make all the difference in our American way of
life. They teach that we are not upholding our
nation above God and his laws.
it underscores the difference between a free
nation with a limited government and a totalitarian
state that demands we make our highest allegiance
to the government instead of toGod, which oocured
in communism and Naziism and which is occuring
today even in America with abortion-oiMlemand
through all nine months of pregnancy and la other
unjust actions of our government
We should contact our elected representatives and
ask them to co-sponsor the proposed amendment
You can reach your two U.S. Senators at U.S.
Senate, Washi ngton, D.C. 20510and you can reach
your member of the House of Representatives at
U.S. House of Representatives, Washington, D.C
20515. The President cannot veto it Thank you.
Mary Frances Elledge
Lnfkia
THUWfOAV, MAY
Texas jobs at
risk of death
by a thousand
cuts
BY: LUKEBELLSNYDER,
TEXAS ASSOCIATION OF
MANUFACTURERS
ith just weeks to go in the Texas
Legislature, lawmakers are busy
focusing bn issues that matter to
their local communities. With mote than 7,000
bills filed this year, some might have lost sight
of the big picture and the collective effects of
individual proposals on the state’s job force.
Stepping back to survey this Legislature's
potential impact on jobs shows the Texas job
machine might be in danger of death by a
thousand cuts.
The very economic pillars that are helping
Texas weather the global economic storm
- low taxes, a rational legal environment and
economic development incentives — are all
under assault at the Capitol.
Financial Times, CNBC and Site Selection
Magazine rank Texas as the strongest economy
and the best state to do business, but that
standing can’t last unless lawmakers save our
competitive edge from dying a slow death.
Energy prices and policy are central to
Texas’ economic health.
Electricity is the single greatest cost for most
manufacturers. Some energy bills circulating
the Legislature might only cost a homeowner
a few dollars a month, but without care the
same proposals can cost a manufacturing
facility millions. And that costs jobs.
Access to affordable energy is further
compromised by an air proposal that would
limit manufacturers’ ability to generate their
own power, which eases the burden on the
public electric grid.
The well-intentioned legislation essentially
closes the door on economic expansion by
prohibiting construction of power generation
where Texans need it most.
Texas doesn’t need air proposals that would
choke economic progress when existing I
state and federal regulations are dramatically
improving Texas air quality.
Low taxes are an oft-cited reason employers
brinfc jobs to Texas. It’s no accident that Texas |
is home to more Fortune 500 companies than
any other state.
Yet only two years after Texas adopted a
sustainable, low-rate, broad-based business
tax, some want to abandon the new tax and
resurrect a system where mostly capital
intensive businesses — which drive the
economy — shoulder the tax. The new broad-
based tax should be allowed to work to keep
Texas competitive.
We’ve also seen many proposals to raise
local sales taxes, fuel taxes and water fees
(by as much as 150 percent). Increasing
the cost of doing business and the pike of
everyday goods and services undermines the
ability of Texas companies to compete in any
marketplace.
Tax proposals might seem narrow or local
in scope, but individually they erode the fiscal
environment that makes Texas attractive.
Undoing years of lawsuit reforms will leave
another ding on the state’s economic engines.
As seen on TV, personal injury lawyers are
dedicated to finding, new ways tosu$.
Some are pushing to lower tire causation
standard for mesothelioma cases so low that
employers might be forced to settle, even if
they’re not at fault for an illness.
Other lawsuit-related.. pioposalSL_.might
discourage businesses from bringing jobs
here by expanding lawsuits against property
owners and increasing health care costs.
Texas' reputation for common sense legal
reforms is in serious jeopardy.
To attract more jobs to Texas, lawmakers
should extend the Texas / Economic
Development Act, also known as Chapter
313, which allows school districts to offer tax
incentives to attract Economic development
projects. Chapter 313 abatements were part
of the economic development packages that
attracted the likes of Toyota in San Antonio
and Caterpillar in Seguin. Renewing Chapter
313 keeps an ifflpoftant economic development
tool in the Texas toolbox. . .
As the global economy contracts, Texas
it indeed performing better than other states
- and not by accident. But Texas employers
- especially manufacturers and the 900,000
high quality jobs they provide - are not
immune from the collective’consequences at
the Capitol.
Even before any ominous legislation
from this session becomes law, Texas is
hemorrhaging jobs. In March alone, Texas
lost 47,100 jobs; more than 25 percent of
those were manufacturing jobs.
Increasing energy costs and taxes,
undermining legal reforms and eliminating
economic incentives signal a slow death of the
competitive edge in Texas.
We may boast the strongest economy in the
nation today, but it remains to be seen if this
Legislature leaves a legacy that helps to keep
it that way.
Luke Bellsnyder has been involved in Texas
politics at the state and national level. Having
worked for several prominent elected officials
and associations. Luke has established an
impeccable reputation and a wide array of
public policy experience in the government
affairs arena.
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Reddell, Valerie. Polk County Enterprise (Livingston, Tex.), Vol. 127, No. 36, Ed. 1 Thursday, May 7, 2009, newspaper, May 7, 2009; Livingston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth788149/m1/4/: accessed July 17, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Livingston Municipal Library.