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♦ TUESDAY, JUNE 27, 2006
(Tff If Cii Houston Home if
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OPINION
Daniel F. Evans
Editor and Publisher
Julie B. Evans
Vice President
Don Moncrief
Managing Editor
Let Medicare negotiate prices
When Congress created the Medicare
Part D (prescription drugs) program
the drug companies’ lobbyists appar
ently had the lawmakers in their hip
pockets.
The law, as adopted, prohibits Medicare from
negotiating the price of drugs, which gives the
drug manufacturers access to an open pocketbook
of the federal government.
Taking advantage of this, the drug compa
nies already are raising the prices being charged
for drugs, though the program is less than two
months old.
The Veterans Administration is permitted to
negotiate the
prices paid for
drugs and a com
parison between
what this agency
pays and what
Medicare pays
for the same
drugs is startling.
The VA is
paying 46 per
cent less than
Medicare for the
same drugs, and
the drug compa
nies are free to
continue to raise
prices as they
see fit. There is nothing Medicare can do.
Members of Congress obviously did the bidding
of the drug manufacturers when they adopted
Medicare Part D.
Taxpayers should remember this when the
lawmakers come up for reelection, unless they
have the decency to revisit this law soon and give
Medicare the right to negotiate prices being paid
for drugs.
That is the least they should do. Otherwise,
the drain on the U.S. Treasury to the tune of bil
lions of dollars in excessive charges will continue
unabated.
LETTER TO THE EDITOR
PHS, state vary on policy
I would like to let the parents of Perry High
School students know of a recent occurrence
involving the school sending in a letter to the
drivers license department that has suspended
several students’ licenses including my daugh
ter’s without notifying the parents.
My daughter was arrested for driving on a sus
pended license on June 14 and we weren’t even
notified that her license was suspended. We were
notified on June 19 by certified letter from the
Department of Drivers Services and I am in the
process of an appeal.
In the interim I would like to notify parents
the school did not follow the regulations set forth
by the state to notify parents of the absences and
the consequences of having more than 10 unex
cused absences in a year. The student handbook
states, "more than 10 in a semester," but the
state law is more than 10 in a year.
I have contacted the school on this matter and
have provided proof of a doctor’s excuse that will
excuse my daughter back to nine absences if the
school will accept it, but to date I have received
no evidence they will or will not accept the
excuse.
My main concern is there could be students
driving around Perry unknowingly on a suspend
ed license because of the school’s lack of follow
ing procedures.
Even if my daughter had missed 11 unexcused
days we should have been notified by the school
pursuant to the state regulation.
Quent Mikeal, Perry
WORTH REPEATING
“The dull pureblind folly of the
very rich men; their greed and
arrogance ... the corruption in
business and politics, have tended
to produce a very unhealthy
condition of excitement ana
irritation in the popular mind,
which shows itself in the great
increase in the socialistic
propaganda.”
Theodore Roosevelt, 1858-1919
26th President of the United States
Communication to William Howard Taft, 1908
Foy S. Evans
Editor Emeritus
Taxpayers should
remember this when
the lawmakers come up
for reelection, unless
they have the decency
to revisit this law soon
and give Medicare the
right to negotiate prices
being paid for drugs.
Revenue issues plague Centerville
Apparently, city offi
cials in Centerville
believe that they need
more money to keep the
city on a progressive course.
Cities do need more
money as they grow. And
cities that do not find more
money to meet the chal
lenges that go with growth
begin to atrophy, which is
the first step toward run
away taxes and a flight by
those who can afford it to a
better place to live.
Public hearings are being
held by Centerville on two
issues, both concerning rev
enue.
The hottest issue, the one
which has attracted large
and angry crowds to public
hearings is the property tax
exemption being enjoyed by
homeowners over 70 years
of age.
Mayor “Bubba” Edwards
has pointed out that the
number of homeowners in
Centerville above the age of
70 is increasing and the city
could use property taxes
"Sure, this freedom idea sounds great...
but I doubt it will survive the court challenges!"
Is the penny a token of our disesteem?
Zinc’s price keeps ris
ing. Our mostly zinc
penny was worth just
under a cent in metal last
year; each one is worth 1.4
cents now.
This gives Representative
Jim Kolbe, Republican from
Arizona, a pretty good rea
son to abolish the Lincoln
penny, our current one-cent
piece. When the cost goes
just a tenth of a penny up,
he predicts, “Everyone will
horde their pennies because
the metal will be worth
more than the coin.”
Well, it is Gresham’s law,
isn’t it? Bad money that
is, paper dollars, and nick
els and dimes will “drive
out the good” because the
good is legally valued at less
than its commodity value.
This may not seem like a
burning issue of our time,
but it is a constitutionally
mandated one (“regulating
the value of money,”) so I
won’t make fun of Kolbe as
he brings up the issue every
few years.
Besides, we have
Americans for Common
Cents to do that. This
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Friday.
Foy Evans
Columnist
foyevansl9@cox.net
from them.
Three options are on the
table. One would completely
eliminate the 100 percent
tax exemption. Another
would allow an exemption
up to a determined amount,
as is the case in Warner
Robins. The third option is
to leave things as they are.
Some Centerville citizens
are riled up at the mayor
and council enough that
they are threatening to vote
them out of office if they
take the 100 percent exemp
tion away.
It is going to take some
Paul Jacob
Americans for Limited
Government
lobbying group defends
the maligned penny
against Kolbe’s repeated
onslaughts. Mark Weller,
Executive Director for the
group, notes that when
Kolbe advanced the penny
de-monetization idea in
2001, “he received no sup
port. Not one co-sponsor.
I think we’ll see a similar
response this time.”
I have no idea. I don’t
even know if getting rid of
the penny’s a good idea or
not. I can think of halfway
sensible reasons on both
sides. Still, the little copper
colored zinc disks do clog up
the pockets, rattling around
too much, falling out behind
I# mm
4 tl
powerful political courage
for the mayor and members
of council to go against the
wishes of this large segment
of the voting public.
Also under discussion is
changing the law pertaining
to the sale of mixed alcohol
ic beverages in Centerville.
So far Centerville has for
bidden sale of alcoholic bev
erages.
Most upscale restaurants
will not locate where they
cannot include the sale of
mixed drinks. Centerville
has been left out and
Warner Robins has been the
-Mm ■
f 111iwfliy
the seats in restaurants or
behind the pews at church,
tempting skinflints to
skimp on tipping and tith
ing. (“Uh, check my seat; I
left you a little something.”)
But it comes as no shock
to learn that zinc manufac
turers are to some degree
backing Americans for
Common Cents, and that
Arizona, Kolbe’s state, is a
copper-producing state.
Why should Arizona’s
metal industry matter?
Well, it just so happens that
our now misnamed “nickel”
consists mainly of copper
these days. Stop making
one-cent pieces and guess
the result: The nickel would
THE HOUSTON HOME JOURNAL
beneficiary.
Oddly, seniors who want
their tax exemption to
continue have expressed
opposition to sale of mixed
drinks.
It might be in their best
interest to support the sale
of alcoholic beverages in
restaurants as a means of
increasing city revenue,
which might make their
desire to retain the tax
exemptions more accept
able to the mayor and city
council.
This would be a solution
in which there are no los
ers, and that is an impor
tant part of any political
standoff.
One more public hear
ing will be held before the
decisions are made. The
outcome is important to' the
city of Centerville. A com
promise could get the city
officials off the hook.
Opposition to both tax
raising proposals by seniors
could get results they do
not want.
naturally be conscripted to
do much of the work now
reserved for the penny.
Let’s not make too much
of this; Kolbe’s partially
selfish motivations might,
after all, dovetail with good
policy.
Still, maybe we should
shed a tear as we watch our
only on-the-horizon chance
of establishing a hard cur
rency go away with the
penny. Making the Mint
crank out the things regard
less of cost would put us
on a metal standard again,
wouldn’t it?
And doing it with zinc
would be fitting. I know
when I think American
economic policy I no longer
think gold. Zinc will do. It
would match the “genius”
of our current jury-rigged
fiscal and monetary system.
We could do worse. We
have done worse. We are
doing worse. Perhaps we
should think zinc.
Jacob is the senior fellow
at Americans for Limited
Government. Mor of his
commentaries are online
at www.getliberty.org.