The Boerne Star (Boerne, Tex.), Vol. 97, No. 59, Ed. 1 Tuesday, July 29, 2003 Page: 4 of 50
fifty pages : ill. ; page 23 x 14 in. Scanned from physical pages.View a full description of this newspaper.
Extracted Text
The following text was automatically extracted from the image on this page using optical character recognition software:
Page 4A
The Boerne STAR
Tuesday, July 29, 2003
vpoint
0
Drug companies are I Businesses leave California in
relying on Christian
community for help
One of the fights going on
now in Washington is over the
rights of Americans to buy
U.S. manufactured pharma-
ceuticals from outside the bor-
ders of the United States.
The Republican leadership
in Congress is doing all it can
to stop this popular practice.
Tom DeLay calls it a “horrible
policy.” They are now even
“bringing up their reserves,”
so to speak — their connec-
tions to the Christian commu-
nity in the United States to try
to persuade Congress to out-
law the practice.
As most are aware, U.S.
drug companies sell prescrip-
tion drugs to Canadian drug
stores at cheaper prices than
they sell to U.S. drug stores.
As a result, you can buy the
same drug from a Canadian
drug store at a far cheaper
price than you can from a
U.S. drug store. Many U.S.
citizens take advantage of this
discrepancy to buy their pre-
scription drugs at cheaper
prices. This practice is called
reimportation.
Reimportation has become
so popular, however, that the
drug companies are afraid
reimportation will cut into
their profit margins. They
have been trying to persuade
members of Congress who are
writing new legislation to in-
clude prohibitions against or
at least put severe limitations
on the reimportation of pre-
scription drugs.
The drug companies’ latest
move is to enlist the aid of the
Christian community. They
have had a group known as
the Traditional Values Coali-
tion, which says it represents
43,000 churches, mail letters
to constituents of members of
Congress who favor the prac-
tice of reimportation. The
letters attempt to say that
reimportation makes it easier
for U.S. citizens to buy RU-
486, the so-called “abortion
KING'S POINT
Bill King
KENDALL COUNTY
DEMOCRATIC
PARTY CHAIRMAN
pill.” The letters urge citizens
to tell their congressman that
they are against reimportation.
According to the Washington
Post, the letters accuse con-
gressmen who support reim-
portation of “missing an op-
portunity to protect the sancti-
ty of human life.”
But according to an article in
the Post, it turns out that the
letters mailed by the Tradi-
tional Values Coalition were
drafted by a former top aide
to House Majority Leader
Tom DeLay who is now a lob-
byist for the drug industry and
by a senior vice president of
the Pharmaceutical Research
and Manufacturers of Ameri-
ca, a trade group representing
the nation’s biggest drug com-
panies. Most believe the mail-
ing was paid for by the drug
industry.
In other words, it appears to
me that this mailing is just an-
other attempt by some in .the
Republican leadership to act
as a “go between” to help one
of their biggest campaign con-
tributors enlist the aid of the
Christian community to help
keep the prices of prescription
drugs in the U.S. the highest
in the world.
The effort has, however,
backfired to some extent.
Many Republican congress-
man were incensed by the mat
suggestion that their support
for reimportation meant they
were against measures to limit
abortion.
This episode shows that the
drug industry still has little
conscience when it comes to
making profits.
The recall of Gray Davis offers an inter-
esting opportunity to view the impact of
“social legislation” on business develop-
ment and should prove to be the “elixir”
that is needed to put the brakes on politi-
cally-correct legislators in Texas.
California state government under embat-
tled Democratic Governor Gray Davis is
turning so stridently anti-business that it
threatens to inflict permanent structural
damage. Since 2002 the state legislature
has enacted or expanded half a dozen laws
dealing with burdensome regulations like
family leave and overtime pay. Some cor-
porate leaders think California is becom-
ing Sweden-on-the-Pacific.
The result, companies — and jobs — are
departing in droves. The state has lost
289,000 manufacturing jobs since 2001.
And, scores of small businesses that form
the backbone of California’s economy are
moving either jobs or headquarters out of
state. It is getting so bad that one large
mortgage lender based near Los Angeles is
shrinking operations in California and
shifting expansion to low-cost states like
Texas.
California companies are staggering
under a flood of Democratic-leaning state
legislation that will increase their cost per
worker by $4,000 to $5,000 a year!
Three of the new laws are particularly
harsh. First, California recently approved
the nation’s only paid family-leave act.
Starting in July 2004, employees can re-
quest six weeks’ leave for a host of med-
ical issues deemed appropriate by state
MORE PLAIN TALK
James J. McGrady
PUBLISHER, PLAIN TALK
FROM THE TEXAS
HILL COUNTRY
agencies. Workers earning as much as
$69,000 will collect 55 percent of their
pay tax-free. All employees will pay a
small payroll tax into a state fund that will
foot the bill.
Second, the legislature made workers’
compensation more expensive by mandat-
ing a large increase in benefits. California
businesses now contribute the highest pre-
miums per $100 of employee wages: $5.85
versus a national average of about $2.50.
Some companies are paying four to five
times more in workers’ comp per employ-
ee in California than in Texas.
Third, California is imposing onerous
rules on overtime. Federal law requires
that companies pay overtime when em-
ployees work more than 40 hours a week.
But California companies must pay it to
anyone who works more than eight hours a
day, a particular hardship for businesses
whose employees who game the system by
working four ten-hour days.
The net result — companies are leaving
California as fast as they can!
Let’s encourage them to come to Texas!
In a recent online issue the Houston Busi-
ness Journal reported that “Texas has the
most favorable business climate in the
United States, according to a new survey
of 287 senior-level corporate executives.
Texas garnered a 25 percent favorable rat-
ing from business leaders surveyed by De-
velopment Counselors International Ltd., a
New York-based marketing firm. Califor-
nia took the biggest tumble on the charts
of favorable business locations. From a
number two positive ranking in the previ-
ous survey, conducted in 1999, California
no longer rates among the top five states
and garnered a negative rating of 57 per-
cent.”
Jeff Moseley, executive director of Texas
Economic Development (TxED) puts it
this way: “Texas’ pro-business image
forms a solid foundation for economic de-
velopment... This demonstrates the need to
aggressively market Texas’ many other de-
sirable attributes, like its extensive high-
quality transportation network, its mature
and reliable utility grid, its access to and
from foreign markets, its fine school sys-
tems and its superb quality of life. Texas
does have the best business climate in the
world, but there certainly are many other
reasons to locate your business here.”
Amen to that and to our long-awaited
Republican majority status!
James J. McGrady of Fair Oaks Ranch is
the publisher and founder of South Texas
Republicans, a political advocacy web site
at www.southtexasrepublicans.com E-
mail him at mcgrody@ gvtc.com.
(
Worth Quoting
The true measure of a man is
how he treats someone who
can do him absolutely no
good.
— Samuel Johnson
(1709 - 1784)
ve
i le Verse
Whoever loves discipline
loves knowledge, but he who
hates reproof is stupid.
— Proverbs 10:12
The Boerne Star
www.boernestar.com
EDITORIAL
EDITOR & PUBLISHER
Brian Cartwright
Texans gear up for sales tax holiday
Getting ready for your annual
tax-free shopping?
The state’s fifth annual sales
tax holiday starts Aug. 1 and
continues until Aug. 3. During
that time, Texans will be able
to buy certain items without
having to pay state or local
sales tax.
The tax holiday was original-
ly intended to help children
and their parents but extends to
CAPITAL HIGHUGHTS
Mike Cox
TEXAS PRESS
ASSOCIATION
ing to the comptroller.
For more information on
items that can be purchased
, most types of clothing and sales tax free during the holi-
footwear costing less than day, check the comptroller s
$100. Eligible items range Web site at
from school and work uni- www.cpa.state.tx.us or call 1-
all consumers.
Exempt are
forms to tennis shoes to under-
wear.
The state comptroller’s office
says that since the program
began in 1999 it has saved
Texans (and visitors from
Louisiana, Oklahoma and New
Mexico who happen to hear
about the program and decide
to visit the state specifically to
buy some tax-free items) about
$150 million. That includes
some $118 million in potential
state tax revenue and $31 mil-
lion in local taxes.
City governments can choose
to opt out of the program, but
no city has since 2000, accord-
800-252-5555.
TAKS ON TRACK....
With so much public focus
on the special session, it didn’t
get a whole lot of attention,
but an effort to hold this com-
ing school year’s Texas As-
sessment of Knowledge and
Skills passing standards for
middle and high school stu-
dents at last year’s level was
defeated by the State Board of
Education earlier this month.
The board voted 8-6 to go
ahead with a planned increase
in the passing standards set
last November for the 2003-04
school year.
For lOth-graders, that means
they will have to get 29 of 56
math answers right. Last year’s
minimum was 25 of 56. (Many
parents may have trouble an-,
swering why their child got a
passing score even though they •
got only 50 percent of the an-
swers correct.)
If you also wonder how many
students across the state passed
the test last school year, the
answer is 52 percent of lOth-
graders and 49 percent of
llth-graders.
TIME TO GET THAT
HUNTING LICENSE...
Next time they run for office,
$19 to $23, with the Super
Combo license increasing from
$49 to $59.
Fees haven’t increased in
seven years, and the hike will
generate an additional $10.2
million a year for the depart-
ment.
legislators
will be able to tell
their constituents
that they did-
n’t raise taxes during the 78th
Legislature.
Next time you go to buy your
hunting or fishing license, you
will be able to tell your friends
it cost you more.
The Texas Parks and Wildlife
Commission voted unanimous-
ly to raise fees for boat regis-
tration ($5 to $15 for two
years) and hunting and fishing
licenses. Resident hunting and
fishing licenses will go from
A TASTE OF Honey...
Texas is the seventh largest
honey-producing state in the
nation (North Dakota is num-
ber one when it comes to
honey), and these days, it’s a
sweet business to be in.
According to statistics com-
piled by the comptroller,
Texas beekeepers
produced...well, the bees pro-
duced...7.6 million pounds of
honey last year.
That was down by 100,000
pounds compared with the
year before, but the value of
that honey jumped from $5
million in 2001 to $8.3 million
last year. That’s 66 percent, an
increase worth buzzing about.
No one seems to know why
honey suddenly got more
pricey, but Texas beekeepers
are not quibbling over the
matter. Prices also were up
nationwide.
€
U.S. Reps team up to confront judicial abuse
Managing Editor
Staff Writer
Staff Writer
Sports Editor
Typesetter
Valerie Collins
Matt Bartosh
Christianne Young
Kerry Barboza
Molly Meckel
Sales
Sales
Sales
Coordinator
ADVERTISING
Brian Cartwright
Joseph Casanova
Anita Anderson
Krysta McDaniel
FRONT DESK/CLASSIFIEDS
PRODUCTION
Receptionist
Dana Smith
Graphic Design
Carla Wilson
CIRCULATION
Subscriptions Dana Smith
BOOKKEEPING
Office Manager Sandra Pfeiffer
DISTRIBUTION
Circulation Manager Doug Moyer
T-20
Er A
TEXAS PRESS
ASSOCIATION
MEMBER OF Texas Press Association, National Newspaper Association,
South Texas Press Association, Texas Gulf Coast Press Association
282 N. MAIN • (UPS 059-740)
P.O. Box 820 • 830-249-2441 FAX 830-249-4607
THE BOERNE STAR is published twice weekly for $35 per year in Kendall County, $42 else-
where in Texas and $50 per year outside of Texas by The Boerne Star, 282 N. Main, Boerne,
Kendall County, TX. 78006. Periodical postage paid at Boerne, TX. POSTMASTER: Send changes
of address to THE BOERNE STAR, P.O. Box 820. Boerne, Texas 78006-0820.
The Boerne Star welcomes letters on any public issue. Letters may be mailed, faxed, e-
mailed or hand-delivered but must contain the writer’s name, address and phone number. Let-
ters should not exceed 300 words. Addresses and telephone numbers are for verification pur-
poses only and will not be published. Names and city of residence will be published. We re-
serve the right to edit all letters for style and content.
Last week I was pleased to
join a colleague, Rep. Steve
Chabot of Ohio, to announce
the formation of the House
Working Group on Judicial
Accountability. Rep. Chabot
and I will co-chair the Group,
which includes 11 other mem-
bers of the House.
Judicial abuse occurs when
judges substitute their own po-
litical views for the law. Our
judges must resolve disputes
between litigants fairly and
quickly in accordance with the
law. Judges should interpret
the law, not make it.
Our new group seeks to ac-
complish several goals. First,
we want to educate the pub-
lic and Members of Congress
about judicial abuse. Second,
we will try to prevent judicial
abuse and third, we will sup-
port the nomination process
for judges who will not sub-
INSIDE THE U.S. HOUSE
£ Lamar Smith
U.S. REP.
R-TEXAS
stitute their own policy views
for the law.
To use a sports analogy,
judges should be the equiva-
.lent of an umpire in a base-
ball game. An umpire’s duty
is to enforce already existing
rules. They don’t write the
rules; they decide how to
apply the rules to each play.
Like an umpire, a judge
should not apply their own
views to the law. The laws
and our constitution are the
pre-existing rules that judges
must enforce, regardless of
their political views.
As a baseball fan once said,
“Let us commit to respecting
the basis for these rules and an
understanding of the damage,
the anarchy, that would ensue
were we to allow each umpire
to develop his own interpreta-
tions.”
All Americans are entitled to
a fair hearing before indepen-
dent-minded judges whose
only allegiance is to the law.
Too often, we take that for
granted. Indeed we have
come to expect it. But it is the
rule of law - and the role of
the judiciary - that helps sepa-
rate democracy from tyranny.
The judiciary is a co-equal
branch of the federal govern-
ment. They are subject to
checks and balances, criti-
cisms and reactions. Congress
is right to evaluate them when
they behave like un-elected
super-legislators.
The 1995 Supreme Court
case Missouri v. Jenkins is a
prime example. In this case,
the district judge instituted a
new school system by order-
ing the renovation of 55
schools and construction of 17
new schools. The high
schools were ordered to have
lavish swimming pools, a
2000 square-foot planetarium,
greenhouses and vivariums,
and a model United Nations
wired for language translation.
The judge cost taxpayers over
$200 million before the
Supreme Court stopped him.
Supreme Court Justice Louis
Brandeis said, “sunshine is the
best disinfectant.” Our judi-
cial system needs a little sun-
shine from time to time. Our
House Working Group on Ju-
dicial Accountability intends
to be that sunshine.
WRITE ’EM!
KENDALL COUNTY
JUDGE EDDIE VOGT
204 E. San Antonio
Boerne, Texas 78006
249-9343
Commissioners
JOHN KIGHT
GENE MIERTSCHIN
DARRELL LUX
RUSSELL BUSBY
204 E. San Antonio
Boerne, Texas 78006
249-9343
BOERNE ISD
School
Superintendent
JOHN KELLY
123 W. Johns Rd.
Boerne, Texas 78006
249-5000
COMFORT ISD
School Superinten-
dent
MARLIN MARCUM
232 High
Comfort, Texas
78013
995-3664
CITY OF BOERNE
MAYOR PATRICK
HEATH
402 E. Blanco
Boerne, Texas 78006
249-9511
STATE LEVEL
STATE REP.
CARTER CASTEEL
District 53
P.O. Box 312404
New Braunfels, TX
78131
(830)627-8820
fax. (830)627-8895
STATE SENATOR
JEFF WENTWORTH
District 25
1250 N.E. Loop 410 St.
720
San Antonio, Tx
78209
(210) 826-7800
U.S. REP.
LAMAR SMITH
District 21
2231 Sam Rayburn
Bldg.
Washington, D.C.
20510
(202) 225-4236
Smith - Locally
1006 Junction Hwy.
Kerrville, Texas
78028
(830) 895-1414
1100 N.E. Loop 410,
Suite 640
San Antonio, Texas
78209
(210) 821-5024
U.S. SENATOR
JOHN CORNYN
Russell Bldg. Rm.
179
Washington, D.C.
20510
(202) 224-2934
KAY BAILEY
HUTCHISON
703 Hart Senate .
Office Building
Washington, D.C.
20510
(202) 224-5922
GOVERNOR
RICK PERRY
State Capital
Room 200
Austin, Texas 78701
(512) 463-2000
STATE BOARD
OF EDUCATION
District 5
205 W. Travis
Fredericksburg, Tx,
78624
(830) 997-9759
PRESIDENT
GEORGE W. BUSH
White House
1600 Pennsylvania
Ave.
Washington, D.C.
20000
BOERNE
CITY COUNCIL
7:30 p.m.
second and fourth Tues-
day of the month, City Hall
402 E. Blanco
KENDALL
COUNTY
COMMISSIONERS
9 a.m. second and fourth
Monday of the month,
Kendall County
Courthouse,
204 E. San Antonio
BISD
Board Meeting, 6:30 p.m.
the third Monday of the
month,
BISD boardroom
COMFORT ISD
7 p.m. second and fourth
Wednesday of the month
at the board offices
1
Upcoming Pages
Here’s what’s next.
Search Inside
This issue can be searched. Note: Results may vary based on the legibility of text within the document.
Tools / Downloads
Get a copy of this page or view the extracted text.
Citing and Sharing
Basic information for referencing this web page. We also provide extended guidance on usage rights, references, copying or embedding.
Reference the current page of this Newspaper.
Cartwright, Brian & Collins, Valerie. The Boerne Star (Boerne, Tex.), Vol. 97, No. 59, Ed. 1 Tuesday, July 29, 2003, newspaper, July 29, 2003; Boerne, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1650579/m1/4/: accessed July 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Patrick Heath Public Library.