Texas Smoking Ban and Other Issues

Senator Ogden is chairman of the Texas Senate Finance Committee.
----- Original Message -----
From: sam nettles
To: Samantha Phillipe
Cc: samnett@msn.com
Sent: Sunday, May 20, 2007 8:11 AM
Subject: Texas Smoking Information And Other Issues
After several attempts to contact the State Senator representing Williamson County, Steve Ogden, regarding power lines scheduled for construction in the cornfield behind my son's house and other issues, I was contacted by phone by a member of his staff a few days ago. She said the 130 toll road route didn't have enough eminent domain ownership available on both sides of the road. I told her that I had been up and down the road and plenty of space was available on both sides of the road and that eminent domain was going to have to be utilized no matter where the route went. I told her that perhaps Governor Rick Perry, who appoints the Public Utility Commission, should be asked to use his influence since the commission will make the final determination. I fussed a little about the state going with privatization on road construction and she said it was because of the loss of federal funds. I said, "I wonder why?" and then told her Texas has always had the best roads in the country until recently and suggested that a state income tax for the wealthy was the best answer, even though the general public is against it. I explained that the leadership responsibility rested with our public officials to explain the benefits of a state income tax over the regressive sales tax which robs the poor and the middle class. Of course, I'm sure the toll road owners are against the power line construction alongside 130, no matter what happens to the citizens of Hutto. I'm sure the Governor and the Commission don't want to offend the toll road owners.
She wasn't aware of the recent news about 1/3 of the bees in the U.S. dying every year which may be caused by power lines. Additional costs shouldn't be a factor with burying the lines. Current research is only done in Europe, not in the U.S. and it appears that Big Money interests in America just don't care.
I also complained about the absolute ignorance of the Texas House in passing the smoking ban and that it reflected a much deeper intellectual problem with Texas leadership at this time. The second hand tobacco smoke danger problem is totally non-existent and all subscribers are either making money out of it or they are unaware of the dangers to the country and its freedoms and the junk science involved. She said the ban appeared to be dead in the water before reaching the senate.

Sam

Sam Nettles - mailto:samnett@msn.com
Real Texas Freedom - http://www.realtexasfreedom.net
RTF Blog - http://realtexasfreedom.blogspot.com/