The Odem-Edroy Times (Odem, Tex.), Vol. 61, No. 39, Ed. 1 Thursday, September 27, 2007 Page: 2 of 8
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Capitol
Comment
Winning in Iraq
By Sen. Kay Baily-Hutchison
Our mission in Iraq is among the most important in
our nation’s history. As the central front in the Global
War on Terror, Iraq is where the forces of freedom, tol-
erance and democracy are fighting to defeat the
tyranny and oppression of Al-Qaeda and radical
Islam. We know from our troops in the field that if we
allow the terrorists to win in Iraq, they will surely fol-
low us home. This war has been costly for America in
both lives and dollars, but the consequences of failure
would be catastrophic.
On September 10th, Congress received a reveal-
ing report from General David Petraeus, commanding
officer of the international coalition in Iraq. Gen.
Petraeus led the 101st Airborne with distinction and
served in Iraq for three years before he was unani-
mously confirmed to this position by the U.S. Senate.
His report detailed encouraging signs of progress and
offered clear, achievable goals. But, as our military
success continues, we will increasingly rely on Iraqi
political leaders who have thus far failed to make ade-
quate progress.
Earlier this year, our generals on the ground pro-
posed, and President Bush approved, a surge of
30,000 troops deployed to Iraq. These expanded
forces shipped out with the objective to stabilize
Baghdad and embattled regions, and return home. As
Gen. Petraeus reported, he is now able to recom-
mend a drawdown of the surge because conditions
on the ground merit such action.
For example, Al-Anbar was once an Al-Qaeda
stronghold. Thanks to the renewed focus of the surge
and cooperation with local sheiks, progress in this
province is reported to be remarkable. Young Iraqis,
once disillusioned and eager to join the ranks of the
insurgency, are now enlisting in the national army. In
Baghdad, the number of violent civilian deaths has
fallen by 80 percent, and nationwide, car bombings
are down 50 percent. As Gen. Petraeus said in a let-
ter to the troops, “We are, in short, a long way from
the goal line, but we do have the ball and we are driv-
ing down the field.”
Despite clear progress, some of my Senate col-
leagues continue to disregard the advice of our mili-
tary leaders and call for precipitous withdrawal of our
entire force. We’ve seen many challenges in Iraq, and
mistakes have been made, but our goal of a stable
Iraq that can be an ally in the Global War on Terror
must not be diminished. We cannot endanger
American security because of political expediency.
Instead, we can now keep our commitments with
fewer American forces, because the surge provided a
safer environment for the training of Iraqi troops.
President Bush recently announced that 5,700
American servicemembers should be home by
Christmas, and tens of thousands more by next sum-
mer.
The achievements outlined in Gen. Petraeus’ testi-
mony demonstrate that our military strategies must be
determined by events in theatre, not timetables set by
micromanaging politicians 6,000 miles away.
While the security improvements are apparent,
more must be done to achieve long-term political rec-
onciliation. The U.S. Ambassador to Iraq, Ryan
Crocker, also testified last week, and described a
somewhat fractured and ineffective Iraqi government.
As we aid in the establishment of stable leadership,
we must recognize the cultural and sectarian divi-
sions that have existed in Iraq for 14 centuries. We
should allow Iraqis to create semi-autonomous feder-
al regions, sharing in national oil revenues, and each
responsible for local law enforcement, commerce,
security and education. Such a solution helped to
stem the tide of violence in the Balkans in the 1990s,
and would facilitate peace in Iraq. We should also
expect more constructive involvement from neighbor-
ing countries in the region, which have a large stake
in a stable Iraq.
Whatever course our continued progress in Iraq
takes, it must not include abandonment of our princi-
ples, nor disregard for the gains already made by our
armed forces. Our Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, Marines,
and Coast Guards have sacrificed greatly to keep us
safe and free, and we must support them as they
complete their mission. Although some may call for
surrender, I remain dedicated to winning the Global
War on Terror, so that future generations may experi-
ence the same freedom past generations gave to us.
State publishes new franchise tax rules, seeks feedback
AUSTIN -- Businesses can get a clear-
er idea of how much franchise tax they
are going to pay because of tax law revi-
sions, and the state is welcoming feed-
back on the new rules.
The rules implementing changes man-
dated by the state Legislature were pub-
lished in the Sept. 14 edition of the Texas
Register, and a 30-day public comment
period started.
The 79th Legislature in 2006 and the
80th Legislature in 2007 devised
changes to the franchise tax to help pay
for a sweeping property tax cut.
"It is important for all franchise taxpay-
ers, especially those who will be required
to report franchise tax for the first time, to
review these proposed rules," Texas
Comptroller Susan Combs said.
The Legislature revised the franchise
tax by changing the tax base and the tax
rate and extending coverage to most
legal entities. About 200,000 new entities
will have to file franchise tax reports in
2008.The rules are expected to be
adopted in December, according to the
Comptroller's office.
Taxable entities with total revenue of
$434,782 or less and entities that calcu-
late they owe less than $1,000 in fran-
chise tax will not be required to pay the
tax, but will still have to file a report,
Combs said.
How to pay for it is the question
Texas transportation officials
announced plans to form a working
group to figure out
how to pay for the
Ports-to-Plains
Corridor road-build-
ing project.
Ports-to-Plains is
a proposed divided
highway running
from Laredo through
West Texas to Denver, Colo. Designated
as a High Priority Corridor by Congress
in 1998, planners intend Ports-to-Plains
to expand economic opportunity and
serve international trade from Mexico to
Canada.
Despite the congressional designa-
tion, adequate federal funding has not
been provided to cover the cost of the
project, officials said.In addition to eco-
nomic development and job creation,
officials said the corridor could provide a
way to transfer energy generated by
wind turbines in West Texas to other
parts of Texas and the Southwest.
Amnesty program brings in
bucksComptroller Combs' tax amnesty
program, Project Fresh Start, brought in
more than $100 million in unpaid taxes
from June 15 through Aug. 16.The
amount included more than $90 million in
state taxes and more than $10 million
owed to local governments, Combs said.
A total of 1,258 businesses reportednd
paid delinquent taxes. Between 3 per-
cent and 5 percent of those were new
taxpayers operating
businesses without
required tax permits
and without paying
state taxes.
In exchange for
their cooperation and
payment, the comp-
troller waived penalty
and interest charges normally added to
delinquent taxes.
Land board rejects all proposals
The School Land Board, chaired by
Land Commissioner Jerry Patterson, on
Sept. 18 rejected all six bids for the pur-
chase of the 9,200-acre Christmas
Mountains ranch tract in Big Bend.
Patterson said a mistake in the map of
the tract in the original bid specifications
was the reason.
The Land Board, which will meet again
in November, is expected to consider
bids again."Moving this land out of gov-
ernment hands is in the best interest of
the land and those who want to preserve
it," he added.
Language certifications approved
If a Texas public school teacher wants
to be state certified to teach a foreign
language, the choices are Spanish,
French, German or Latin at the second-
ary school level.But beginning in
October, they can become certified to
teach Arabic, Chinese, Japanese,
Russian and Vietnamese in pre-kinder-
garten through 12th grade classes.Karen
Loonam, director of educator standards
at the Texas Education Agency, said
"These five new certificates were created
to be responsive to the needs of multi-
cultural communities and to prepare stu-
dents for increasing globalization of the
economy."
Institute releases traffic report
Austin is considered a high-congestion
city, traffic-wise, and a new report has
numbers (mobility data) to prove it.
Texas Transportation Institute, a divi-
sion of the Texas A&M University
System, published its 2007 Annual
Urban Mobility Report for cities across
the nation, including Austin, Beaumont,
Brownsville, Corpus Christi, Dallas/Fort
Worth, El Paso, Houston, Dallas/Fort
Worth, El Paso, Laredo and San Antonio.
To read the report, go to http://mobili-
ty.tamu.edu/ums/.
Capitol
Highlights
Ed Sterling
Of potholes, boondoggles and such ...
Can we really trust the 'trustees' of our hard earned tax dollars?
By James F. Tracy, Jr.
Co-Publisher
Every once in a while we all
need to vent. Well, I guess its
my turn to get on the soap box.
I’m going to point out some
observations that we, the tax-
payer, all think about. I guess
we think about it especially
when we receive our tax state-
ments, or earlier when we
receive our tax renditions.
I do know one thing, its get-
ting worse... not better. We
receive our tax statements and
see where the valuations are
soaring 20, 30, even 50 per-
cent in some cases. Then we
query this reason for the
increase off the powers that be
(our commissioners, school
trustees and council people)
and the response is all the
same... we’re holding the line
on taxes! They respond by
either raising the rate modestly,
holding or lowering it from the
year prior. Either way, the
blame always seems to settle
on the shoulders of the
appraisal board and their staff.
We all know products and
services go up from year to
year. They go up for everybody,
even for those of us in private
business.
I’m attempting to focus on the
roles of the trustees of our tax
dollars. What do these elected
and appointed individuals do
with our money once it is neatly
tucked away in the respective
accounts.
I’m going to speak to some
occurrences with regard to gov-
ernment spending at the county
levels.
Our taxing entities take in
huge amounts of money. The
crux of the problem is those
individuals budging or prorating
these funds are off balance.
Let’s start with the
county...the taxing entity that
affects us all. We took a drive
with Tony Kunitz last week
along several county roads in
Commissioner Nina Trevino’s
precinct (Pet. 1). Kunitz is one
of the larger land owners of this
county, and pays a large share
of taxes. To make a long story
short, he drove (hobbled us)
over some county “maintained”
roads not fit for a military tank.
If one were going to a specific
destination and not familiar with
the “terrain” (that’s what I call it),
they would most likely have to
have their vehicle’s suspension
repaired following the trip.
See POTHOLES, page 8
County (mis-maintenance)...
This photo shown on County Road 908 north and west of Sinton facing east
shows the shape most county roads to be in around the county. Its all
because the commissioners are not engineers, nor do they have the expert-
ise to fix them properly. This county has a huge investment in roads, and
just like a piece of equipment... they need to be maintained. (Photo by Jim
Tracy).
Lookingback
__
from the Odem Edroy Times archives
Fifty Years Ago - 1957
The Odem Owls defeated the Mirando City team by a score of 26-0
Friday in a hometown game. Lucio Cisneros hit paydirt three times for the
Owls and Stanley Webb added another touchdown and two extra points.
Uncle George Moore of Odem who has been fiddling since he was
knee-high to a duck, is all set to enter the Old Fiddlers’ Contest in Sinton
Halloween Night in the high school auditorium.
Prof. R. L. Laney, who has connections to the high school music pro-
gram, has consented to be the choir director for the First United Methodist
Church.
Pat Mertz, Joyce Nan Smith and Beverly Knight, accompanied at the
piano by Raymond Clark, provided the musical program for the Odem
Kiwanis Club Wednesday.
Mr. and Mrs. Siance Lane and Mr. and Mrs. R. J. Lane Sr., are home
from an extended vacation trip through the southeastern states.
The Baptist Brotherhood brought along their wives Monday for an
evening of work, cleaning the church auditorium. The men mopped and
waxed the floors and the ladies dusted and polished the pews and altar fur-
niture. They enjoyed visiting and having refreshments following their clean-
up evening.
Supt. W. Herndon has been invited to write an article under the caption,
“Building the School Plant” for publication in the December issue of Texas
School Board Journey.
Janet Tewes of Odem was named a candidate in the Southwestern
University beauty congest set for October.
Kids Day was held in Odem with the public schools and the Kiwanis
Club sponsoring events. All children 12 and under received free passes to
the football game. Kids also received treats from an ice cream novelty
stand manned by Kiwanians L. T Kolb and Carroll Janicke.
T. Leon Mertz reported that 10 sky scanners were manned the Odem
post tower with seven planes reported at the Ground Observer Corps drill
held Sunday in Corpus Christi.
Mrs. Bill Dudley was hostess to the Friday Bridge Club last week. Mrs.
Wilson Baylor won high and Mrs. Bob Turcotte took second.
Also playing were Mrs. R. E. Stalcup, Mrs. Brian Taylor, Mrs. A.
O.Tally, Mrs. Herb Kickihutt, Mrs. George Evans, Mrs. J. E. Wallace,
Mrs. R.J. Lane Jr., Mrs.Theda Welch and Mrs. A. M. Weatherly.
THE ODEM-EDROY TIMES (USPS 402-940) is published weekly every Thursday by San
Patricio Publishing Co., Inc., 113 S. Rachal Ave., Sinton, Texas 78387. Periodical postage
paid at Odem, Texas 78370.
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THE ODEM-EDROY TIMES Phone:361-364-1270 Copyright © 2007 The entire contents
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Sinton, Texas 78387-0167 E-mall: editoresanpatpubtishing.com The Odem-Edroy Times
JAMES F. TRACY, JR. & JOHN HENRY TRACY
Co-Publishers
JAMES TRACY
Editor
JOHNNIE SUE LITTLETON
Community Editor
RON JACKSON
Graphic Designer
CATHY JO SUAREZ
Advertising Sales
ASHLEY TREVINO
Receptionist/Classified Sales
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Reporter
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(Bookkeeper
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Asst.Bookkeeper/Biiling
JIMMY PEREZ
Distribution Manager
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Tracy, James. The Odem-Edroy Times (Odem, Tex.), Vol. 61, No. 39, Ed. 1 Thursday, September 27, 2007, newspaper, September 27, 2007; Sinton, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1055443/m1/2/: accessed July 9, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Odem Public Library.