ustxtxb_obs_2001_06_22_50_00029-00000_000.pdf

Rylander, continued from page 5 “You make a profit. You do recover the cost of your taxes when you sell your product, otherwise you wouldn’t make a profit,” he all but shouted at Koch. Later, after Koch slunk away and other distributors came forward to testify, each made a point of telling Heflin that they did, in fact, pass the cost of the excise tax on to the retailers. How could they not? \(They did favor an easier system of paying excise taxes, however, and supported Rylander’s bill, which they Reached at his Austin office, McLane attorney Gilbert Bernal conceded that the company’s basic argument, rejected three times previously, hadn’t changed in the most recent suit. Still, he dismissed the notion that the change in comptrollers had any bearing on McLane’s ultiniate success. Rylander spokesperson Mark Sanders dismissed the conflict of interest argument as well. Sanders told the Observer that the Attorney General’s office advised Rylander to settle. Asked about this version of events, a spokesperson for Editorial, continued from page 3 Mexican and Tejano sheep-shearers are noted in other sections. Finally, there is a portion of wall well surrounded by a display about World War II military installations, a scale model of the Apollo lunar module, and a case devoted to the inventiveness of the Texas Instruments companywhich I confess I completely missed on my first two trips to the museum. Entitled “Peacetime Challenges 1945-1970,” it features a large backscreened picture of downtown Austin onV-J Day, and seven small placards devoted to civil rights milestones. I’m sorry to have missed this the first time, but then again civil rights history should not be quite so easy to miss. \(When I suggested this to Brand, she acknowledged that the “Peacetime Challenges” display might be less information than some would like, but the AG’s office declined to confirm it, citing “attorney-client privilege.” In the end, Rylander’s tax revision failed to make it out of committee in either chamber. The big loser was U.S. Tobacco, which had invested in a sixfigure lobbying effort. Another loser was the state budget, at least in the short term. In her initial projections, Rylander had counted on collecting an additional $18 million over the next biennium from the bill, which would have created a temporary bubble in the tobacco excise tax revenue. In the long run though, the bill would have cost the state considerably, since the amount of excise tax collected rises with inflation under the current price-based system; it would have been capped under a weight-based system. The big winner was McLane, which, despite the embarrassing grilling in Ways and Meansand the light shined on a legal maneuver that looked a lot better in the darkalready has its settlement safely in hand. And, of course, the satisfaction of beating one tough grandma. noted that “It’s larger than some others. It’s larger than the section on the Old 300” \(the first 300 families brought by ought to have read every piece of text, and I apologize to both the museum and our readers for not having done so. Even so, the brief mentions of sheepshearers and civil rights advocates on the third floor did not alleviate my disappointment with that section of the museum. Immigration before 1900 is seen as essential to the museum’s “Story,” while post-1900 immigration is minimally portrayed as one of the side effects of economic growth. The vast social changes wrought by 20th century population shifts and social movements in Texas play a distant second fiddle to information about oil, ranching, and the military industry.This is an imbalance that the museum should seek to rectify as it plans its future exhibits. KO Plants, continued from page 13 mandate, the head of the ICBG program at the National Institutes , of Health said he might be willing to sign on. Berlin will have until the end of July to submit a new proposal, and then Joshua Rosenthal at NIH will decide whether to continue to fund the project. In the end, a project that was supposed to be nonpolitical would require a very political solution. It would also depend on a tremendous leap of faith and trustsomething that had always been lacking in Chiapas. When I last spoke to Berlin, he was in Chiapas, at the home he and Elois Ann had built on the outskirts of San Cristobal, along the Panamerican Highway. I asked how long he would be in Chiapas, thinking in terms of his academic schedule and the next semester in Georgia. He misunderstood me:or maybe he didn’t. Maybe he was really responding to Don Antonio. When I asked my question, Berlin didn’t miss a beat: “Forever,” he said. “We’re going to be here forever.” SUNDAY, JUNE 24TH In honor of WORLD REFUGEE DAY and as part of the Forgotten Refugees Campaign, the Political Asylum Project of Austin and Caritas of Austin are co-sponsoring a community screening and panel discussion of the film ABANDONED: THE BETRAYAL OF AMERICA’S IMMIGRANTS Following the film, we will have a brief panel discussion with refugees, asylees, and local advocates. The screening and discussion will take place Sunday, June 24th at 3:30 p.m. at the Austin History Center Reception Room located at 9th and Guadalupe. Admission to the screening is FREE. There will be refresh ments available and informational materials about asylum, refugee, and immigrant issues. Please join us! Becky Pastner Outreach and Education Coordinator 6/B/01 THE TEXAS OBSERVER 29