ustxtxb_obs_2003_11_07_50_00019-00000_000.pdf

GRAND OLD PARTY A 11:4″,”Jr:v \(>5″ THE R LEWIS L. GOULD Start llannih 40 Hard-Earned Truths ti from Politics, Faith, and Life Arineys Axioms 5 DICK ARMEY &bi.fity s .’ – [Book Signings at BookPeople] Something for Everyone Sidney Blumenthal The Clinton Wars Farrar Straus & Giroux Mon 10 Nov 7 pm The chronicle of a generation’s political odyssey, The Clinton Wars is a lasting contribution to American history. Every page, with its intimate insights into Clinton’s personality and politics, attests to Blumenthal’s literary skill and profound understanding of politics. Blumenthal is the former senior and assistant advisor to Clinton. Dick Armey Armey’s Axioms John Wiley & Sons Sat 15 Nov 7 pm As an economist, congressman, and House majority leader, Dick Armey has been one of the most outspoken and highly visible conservatives of the last few decades. Now, in Armey’s Axioms, he presents a lively, folksy collection of concise lessons on politics, power, faith, and life. Lewis Gould Grand Old Party Random House Wed 12 Nov 7 pm UT Professor Lewis Gould’s political history blends historical disciplines, exploring, for example, the interaction of demographics and ideology as the party’s vision and tactics have changed over the years. 1 L LL.L Book A Community Bound By Books. Bookstore Giftshop Coffeehouse 9 am 11 pm everyday 603 N. Lamar 472-5050 shop online at: www.bookpeople.com Editorial, continued from page 3 the franchise tax loophole and raising the cigarette tax would have garnered the state billions, enough to keep CHIP and most of Medicaid whole. Even before the session, Texas was shortchanging its citizens. In 2002, the state once again boasted the nation’s highest percentage of people without health insurance, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Last year, one in four Texans didn’t have health insurance. During the past two years, the number of uninsured Texans ballooned by 1.4 percent, the fourth-highest increase in the country. In the next two years, the legislature’s severe cuts to CHIP and Medicaid will deprive several hundred thousand more Texans of health insurance. It’s not hard to imagine that in a few decades this very rich state will resemble a third-world nation. An elite group will live in gated communities. Armed guards will protect them from the majority of the population, a permanent underclass that lacks adequate education or health care. It’s not too late to prevent this future from coming to pass. But change can begin only when people make the connection between the budget choices the Republican leadership made in Austin during the last session and the reduced services at their local clinic and school. Dialogue, continued from page 2 We have only one planet’s finite supply of the “stored sunlight of paleozoic summers” that fuels 90 percent of our transportation. Natural gas, the supply of which is more landlocked, may be peaking right now for North America. The combination proverb: When the cup is half empty, what has gone up must come down. I remain clueless why fossil-fuel depletion isn’t more prominent as a second reason for the energy transitions sought by greenhouse-effect worriers. Chris Kuykendall Austin NEWS FROM THE SAIPAN BUREAU This comes from a loyal fan and longtime reader of Molly Ivins. After just ordering a few copies of Bushwhacked, the word shrubbery floats back up from the past. What about hedge, hedging and hegemony? Might be too much of a stretch. But just thinking. Martha Spiess Via e-mail P.S. While doing a short stint of veterinary relief work out in Saipan, island just southeast of Japan near Guam, I was purchasing a snorkel and discovered that erstwhile lawyer behind the counter hailed from Austin and couldn’t say enough complimentary things about you. You find us ardent followers all over. 11/7/03 THE TEXAS OBSERVER 19