Polk County Enterprise (Livingston, Tex.), Vol. 119, No. 21, Ed. 1 Sunday, March 25, 2001 Page: 4 of 46
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EDITORIAL
PAGE 4A
THE POLK COUNTY ENTERPRISE
SUNDAY, MARCH 25, 2001
Letters to the editor
Trinity Neches big success
To the editor:
The 2001 Trinity Neches Live-
stock Show and Rodeo has once
again been entered into the history
books as a tremendous success in
Polk County. A big thanks goes
out to all the students, parents and
teachers for your participation in
this event, for without your support
“the show couldn’t go on.”
If you haven't been to the auction
at the Trinity Neches show lately,
you’ve missed out on a spectacular
treat. The transformation of the
rodeo arena into an auction ring,
complete with show stalls and even
a cafd, would surely delight both
young and old alike. And, oh, let's
not forget those grandstands, totally
full to capacity as the crowd eagerly
awaits the first call of the auction-
eer.
Thanks so much to all the buy-
ers, all the volunteers who gave of
themselves unselfishly and every-
one involved that made this event
such a huge success. A special
thanks to the Polk County Area Go
Texan Committee, Sherry Baker,
Kevan Wood, Polk County Youth
Rodeo Association, Dick Hubert,
Clarice Evans, Cliff Kellett and Jim
Boyd, Sheriff Billy Ray Nelson aid
Windham and Sons.
Again, without your support it
would be impossible for this event
to become a reality and I applaud
your generosity as we all look for-
ward to 2002!
Bobby Smith, chairman
Trinity Neches Auction
Committee
P.O. Box 1388
Onalaska
Defending the president
To the editor:
Is President Bush as bad as the
news media is painting him? In
Time Magazine, an article titled
"From W With Love," at the bot-
tom of the pages there were items
listed. Some had implications of
payback, some crawfishing on
campaign promises. Some say big
business is smiling, unions are
frowning and global wanning activ-
ists hollerin’ foul.
First listed were labor laws -* re-
strictions on labor law violators
from government contracts. What
can government do to enforce labor
laws except to deny these organiza-
tions government money until they
meet the laws? If you cannot penal-
ize them, why should they adhere to
die labor laws?
Second, ergonomics - repetitive
stress injuries. There are some
types of work that will be repetitive
and some people will be stressed,
then others will not. Why then
should your business be held re-
sponsible? This type of problem
would be abused the same as some
of the other reasons. People will
sue - be off sick or on physical
paid leave - because it is hard to
prove the person has reasons con-
nected to his employment to be off.
Third, airline strikes - Air travel
has become a major means of
travel. It seems that each year there
are strikes by one union or another,
halting or threatening to halt air
travel These individual threats
when settled open the door for the
next union group to Jump up and
demand more. Then the next union
follows suit. Maybe there should be
one union for the airline to deal
with instead of many - but then
there would be a lot of union offi-
cials out of their jobs.
Fourth, carbon dioxide and emis-
sion control. Coal is cheap but its
downside is the gas emitted by its
burning. Over the years coal has
cleaned up by cleaning the sulphur
out of its body. This is more so in
soft coal. The hard coal has less
sulphur and all mining companies
have tried to rid their coal of this
sulphur. Now, with the electric
crunch, President Bush has OK’d
more use to attempt to reduce this
problem. The problem is now, not
years from now. Let’s solve the
current crisis and eliminate coal
burning as soon as possible. This
electric crisis did not start with his
election. The crunch came just re-
cently, but was building up over
the years. As with previous presi-
dents, the one in office gets either
the credit or blame for what hap-
pens during his term. I’m sure there
are people blaming him for the drop
in the stock market. 1 agree with
solve people’s problems now aid
then get the problems resolved.
Fifth, bankruptcy bill. What is
wrong with putting a damper on
people or businesses spending
money when they know that, when
push comes to shove, they can turn
to the bankruptcy laws to get out
from under their debts. Knowing
ahead of time that this loophole is
being made smaller may stop peo-
ple or businesses from getting
themselves in debt, knowing they
could walk away. Those using
Beat goes on
To the editor:
The beat goes on. .. The ugly
heads of oppression, racism, aid
reverse discrimination rear them-
selves from the pit from which they
have come, while criticism aid
constitutional bearing seem to have
gotten confused.
I got the word of Mr. Shukan's
letter of intimidation towards those
concerned citizens whom have cho-
sen to exercise their constitutional
rights to the freedom of press aid
the freedom of expression. I recog-
nize Dr. Shukan's right to his opin-
ion, however, I must set the good
doctor straight. There is no Trollin-
ger, Dorwin criticism team I do
not even know Mr. Dorwin. I am
aware of his contributions to this
column and recognize the similari-
ties of his style and mine, however,
that is as far as the similarities go
Numerous readers and myself wel-
comed Mr. Dorwin's insights, and
the Lord knows his convictions,
but we are not to be lumped into a
single group as the New World
Order so attempts to do, so often.
I do not know how long Mr
Dorwin has lived in Polk County,
Mr. Shukan, but 1 know that I have
been here longer than you and have
over 150 years of family to honor
in these hills, not the chamber of
commerce as some local business-
men would lead us to believe. My
interests are constitutionally bound,
not mismanaged by the confusion
created through failed speculations
The contributors to this column
have diverse and sometimes familiar
opinions and ideas and as common
men and women who have common
thoughts, and anyone else who is
ever so guided to this column,
should feel free and welcome to do
so. Keep up the good work.
If the masked men and women of
the chamber of commerce,
DETCOG, and their associated afi-
cionado would stoke up dialogue
instead of hiding, maybe there
would be less criticism and more
delightful and productive conversa-
tion. If the truth hurts, let the
wounds run deep, for social diseases
are like alcoholism, you have to
admit you have a problem before
you can treat it. Honesty is the best
policy and I live on the east side of
the U.S. 59 BYPASS, before or-
ganized crime. You know, the abso-
lute section of town, not the cor-
rupt. The flowers of adversity often
smell sweeter to those who have
rail 1$ kSMERINVtSmWT THAN
Wf STOCK MARKET RIGHT NOW...
SUTNO.’WKAKT TRANSfER
&h6iwmo^to
THE NCAA OFFICE POOL. J
Jl I EZBB
Tax cut would help us all
ByJACK FARIS
Polling shows that about half of
Americans believe that President
Bush's tax cut plan will mainly
benefit the wealthy. They fear that
there is nothing in it for them - the
average Joe, the working man or
woman.
But a closer look at the likely ef-
fects of the cuts show that there is
plenty in it for the middle class. . .
because the president's proposed
plan will go a long way toward
helping out America's small-
business owners. And small-
business owners are not "the
wealthy" by any stretch of the
imagination; most of them are
firmly situated in the middle class
and truly define the term "working
American."
Furthermore, the cut will benefit
the "average Joe's" who do not own
businesses because so many of
those folks arc employed by small
firms. Many do not realize it, but it
is small businesses, not large cor-
porations, who employ well over
half of the non-farm private sector
workforce and create two out of
three new jobs in this country. It is
small business that feels the pain of
a slipping economy, first, small
business that saves us during eco-
nomic downturns, and small busi-
ness that needs a break so owners
can afford higher wages and benefits
for their employees.
The enormous economic signifi-
cance of small business in this
country is why, when the Federal
Reserve takes stock of how our
plans provided.
The bottom line: allowing small-
business owners who file their
taxes as individuals (almost half of
whom file modest incomes of
$30,000 to $75,000 annually) to
keep more of the money they earn
has a really wonderful “ripple ef-
fect,” for other middle and lower-
income Americans. It leads to an
increase in their personal income
and level of employee benefits.
That’s why NFIB is supporting
the President's tax plan, and that's
why it really is a plan carefully
designed to benefit those who bring r
the most to our economy and way j
of life: the working Americans we
know as small-business owners. g
Jack Fans is president of the Na- >{
tional Federation of Independent 0
Business (NFIB), the nation's larg-
est small-business advocacy group.
A nonprofit, nonpartisan organize- ,<)
tion founded in 1943, NFIB repre- , j
sents the consensus views of its q
600,000 members in Washington
and all 50 state capitals. More in- ,j|
formation is available on-line at
www.nfib.com.
credit caids will now have to pay
more attention to what they spend.
You buy, you pay, if not, don’t
buy.
John W. Rippon
2581 Pridgen Rd.
Livingston
Stock market warning
To the editor:
Sir John Templeton, one of the
world’s most respected investment
advisers, in an exclusive interview
with NewsMax.com Editor Chris-
topher Ruddy says that the recent
run-up in the stock market was “the
biggest financial insanity ever in
any nation in history" and has led
to a stock crash greater than the
Great Crash of 1929. He is advising
investors to stay out of die market -
- and he doesn’t expect a recovery
from the resulting slump anytime
soon. He also thinks President
Bush's tax cut will help
Richard Thomas Prows
11776 FM 350 South
Livingston
P S. And it’s not over
Decent people out there
To tha adltor:
Labrador disappeared last
le jumped the fence before
rained the dispatchers at the
•partment all afternoon, but
e they hadn't seen him.
Watson said nobody had
im in at the animal shelter
nised to watch for him I
oney Simons at the radio
ad reported Danny missing
ive miles searching for
placed an ad in the Emer-
cribing Danny.
Monday morning, Randy
hton called ®d said he
he bad our dog. I met
nd. sure enough, it was
Vben I called his name, he
jut of Randy’s truck art
1.1 took Danny home. He
e bouse, leaped into BJ’s
gled down and laid his big
m in BJ’s cheat. (D**®y
e’s a 10-poond miniature
d.) We are delighted to
have our dog back.
Randy McCreighton returned
Danny to us art refused a reward
Randy said his son sure did like
Danny, but Randy cautioned his
son about becoming too attached
because a good dog like that had to
belong to someone It would have
been real easy to just keep the dog,
but Randy searched the paper art
saw our ad. Thank you, Randy
worked the garden. Maybe it is time
more people got their hands dirty. It
is good for the soul, that is, if you
have one. .. I can't believe that
Mike would be so predisposed that
he would not know what the human
condition is and the constitutional
provisions that continue to protect
our rights, stand on our inalienable
rights. Thank you, editor, and thank
you, Polk County Enterprise.
What about those census num-
bers? Say, NO to the courthouse
renovations bond election. Go one
step further and vote NO and send
them the message that we want our
courthouse cleaned out, not relo-
cated on the backs on property
owners and our heritage. Why isn't
the state granting any matching
funds to this project? Has anyone
inquired? It is loo easy to dump on
the little man. Why don’t they give
it up? We do not even know the
specs on this pipe dream There was
some mighty fine cooking of the
books in order to come down with
an estimate of expenses right down
to 80 cents. It's about time that we
took this political washing machine
out of the spin cycle and put it on
rinse. Vote NO to courthouse
bonds...
Robert Earl Trollinger
816 W. North St.
Livingston
econdttiy is doing, it looks first at
how small business is doing.
Many Americans are unaware of
these facts; they are things that
have been a part of our economic
fabric and well being for so long
that they are taken for granted.
Many are also unaware of the fact
that more than half of small-
busincss owners file their taxes as
individuals, not as corporations...
and that cuts in personal income tax
rates benefit them more than corpo-
rate rate cuts do.
Not knowing these facts, some
folks in Washington, D C., were
surprised a few weeks ago when the
small-business lobby NFIB eo-
founded the Tax Relief Coalition -
a group formed in support of the
president's tax-cut package
But for the more than half-
million independent-business
owning members of NFIB, this
action was no surprise at all Be-
cause 55 percent of NFIB members
actually file their income as indi-
viduals. not as corporations. They
arc so small that they “zero out"
their corporate income to avoid
double taxation. This is why the
president's proposed cut in personal
income tax rates is so good for
NFIB members, and indeed for the
more than six million business
owners nationwide who file as indi-
viduals.
And here is the good news for
the folks who work, or are seeking
to work, for those small-business
owners:
(1) We learned from the 1986 rate
cuts that lower personal income tax
rates encourage small-business
growth and increase the probability
of raising employment levels nJ
the wages of those new employees.
(2) We also know that there is a
Jirect relationship between the earn-
ing levels of small-business owners
and the level of wages paid to their
employees, the frequency of em-
ployee-health insurance offered, and
the frequency of employee pension
Do you have an opinion?
The Polk County Enterprise encourages readers to submit letters ex-
pressing their views and opinions.
The letters will be published in the Enterprise's "Letters to the editor"
column on Thursday or Sunday.
The letters may be written on any subject or issue of general interest.
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 650 words. Letters exceeding that length will
be subject to editing or withheld from publication.
Letters will also be subject to editing for libelous statements art
commercialism.
This column is not meant as a forum for political candidates, although
we welcome comments from the public concerning campaign issues.
During election campaigns, we will not allow reference to specific local
candidates.
Letters may be submitted in person; mailed to "Letters to the editor,"
Polk County Enterprise, P.O. Box 1276, Livingston, TX 77351; sent to
the Enterprise by fax to (409) 327-7156 or sent e-mail to
<polknews@livingston.net>.
Deadline for letters is 5 p.m. Tuesday for Thursday's newspaper and 5
p.m. FridayTor Sunday's newspaper. __
'U
POLK COUNTY
ENTERPRISE
ALVIN HOLLEY, PUBLISHER
Telephone Number 936-327-4357
(USPS 437-340)
WEBSITE:WWW. EasiTexasNews.Com
E-MAILS: polkncws@livingsion.nel - etexnews@sanilink.com
Texas 77351 under the Act of Congress of March 3, 1987. Entered as
Second-Class Matter at the Post Office at Livingston, Tx.
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White, Barbara. Polk County Enterprise (Livingston, Tex.), Vol. 119, No. 21, Ed. 1 Sunday, March 25, 2001, newspaper, March 25, 2001; Livingston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth821199/m1/4/: accessed July 17, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Livingston Municipal Library.