Sweetwater Reporter (Sweetwater, Tex.), Vol. 112, No. 220, Ed. 1 Monday, August 2, 2010 Page: 4 of 10
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Viewpoints
Page 4 ■ Monday, August 2, 2010
Sweetwater Reporter
DEDICATED TO PROUDLY DELIVERING LOCAL NEWS SINCE 1881
1—x Sweetwater 1
Reporter
■ tWIENIBER
| m A 2010
P.O. Box 750/112 W. Third
TEXAS PRESS
Sweetwater, Texas 79556
ASSOCIATION
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Fax: 325/235-4967
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EDITORIAL POLICY
The editorial section of the newspaper is a forum for
expression of a variety of viewpoints. All articles except
those labeled "Editorials" reflect the opinions of the writ-
ers and not those of the Sweetwater Reporter.
Hamilton
GUEST COLUMN
California brushfires
BEVERLY HILLS—God bless America, and how's
everybody?
Southern California broke out in brushfires
when Santa Ana winds blew into Los Angeles and
ignited dry brush Wednesday. The
winds came from Arizona. It was
the breeze from all the illegal immi-
grants making a U-turn the moment
the Arizona law was stayed.
Arizona hotels and resorts were
reported Wednesday doing booming
business this summer. The boycotts
failed. Pollsters were astounded to
learn that hotel guests would rather
Ami ,,o make their own beds than give ille-
" 1 gal immigrants a pathway to citizen-
ship.
Democratic congressmen led by
Dennis Kucinich bolted Tuesday
and voted against Afghan war funding. The anti-
war left could destroy the Obama administration,
The TSA has put Jane Fonda on the no-fly list just
to make sure she can't get to Kandahar.
Florida Marlins star Chris Coghlan tore a liga-
ment in his left knee while giving a teammate a
pie in the face during a post-game interview. The
timing is terrible. It's another reason for Michelle
Obama to come out against rich desserts.
President Obama was in NewYork on Wednesday
to tape The View and welcome back Barbara
Walters to the show. She rushed back from surgery
to be there. Barbara is sick of aspiring talk show
hosts sneaking into the studio to audition for her
job.
President Obama's appearance on ABC's morning
talk show The View aired nationwide on Thursday.
He loves to do daytime television. Next week
he's going on the Jerry Springer Show where old
girlfriends from Kenya will accuse him of being a
deadbeat dad.
The Coast Guard said the oil spill is vanishing
in the Gulf of Mexico because ocean microbes ate
up oil faster than the oil well could spill it. The
microbes cleaned up the problem. Think of the
debt we could have avoided two years ago if George
W. Bush had only thought of throwing subprime
mortgages into the Gulf of Mexico.
Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed a law
Wednesday making Ronald Reagan's birthday
an official California holiday. Republicans had to
pinch themselves. It's the first time anything in
California's been named after a white guy since
Disneyland.
Chelsea Clinton enjoyed a lavish wedding in sub-
urban New York Saturday. The family spent two
hundred thousand dollars on security guards and
it turned out to be a smart idea. Not once did the
father of the bride get near the bridesmaids.
Portland detectives interviewed Al Gore last week
about allegations he sexually assaulted a massage
therapist four years ago. She'd heard all the stories
about him. She lived in terror until the lab tests
came back negative for Dutch Elm Disease.
NASA sighted an asteroid headed for Earth in a
hundred and sixty-two years. Do the math. This
means in one hundred years kids can stop worry-
ing that Social Security won't be there for them and
start worrying that they won't be there for Social
Security.
Oliver Stone said he will make a movie about
Hitler and Stalin that is fair to them. His own
beliefs always get in the way. In his George W.
Bush movie the studio threatened to cut off fund-
ing if he made the coke dealer the moral center of
the story.
Iran's Mahmoud Ahmadinejad launched a fer-
tility drive Wednesday, offering Iranian families
nine hundred dollars for every kid they have plus
ninety dollars a month for college tuition. It's obvi-
ously a CIA plot. U.S. sanctions have been a failure,
but our welfare program's sure to bankrupt them
before they ever get a nuclear device.
Argus Hamilton is the host comedian at The
Comedy Store in Hollywood and speaks to groups
and organizations around the country. E-mail
him at Argus@ArgusHamilton.com.
CAPITOL COMMENT
Preserving flexebility, choice
and cost savings in health care
If has always been my
view that Americans are
better qualified to make
decisions about their own
lives than the federal gov-
ernment. This is especial-
ly true when it comes to
something as personal and
consequential as health
care. I have long
advocated for the
broad availabil-
ity of health care
insurance options
that maximize
patient choice and
planning.
Health savings
accounts (HSAs)
and flexible spend-
ing accounts
(FSAs) are innova-
tive and popular
health options that
employers, both
large and small,
are increasingly offering
to their employees. These
accounts allow individu-
als to set aside a certain
amount of money each
year on a pre-tax basis
in order to pay for vari-
ous health care expenses.
Because employee contri-
butions are made before
they are taxed, these
accounts are another way
to ease Americans' grow-
ing tax burden. Enrollees
have been able to use these
funds for costly medical
services, such as dental or
vision, and to help allay
the expenses associated
with chronic illnesses.
Americans are flocking
to take advantage of these
benefits. Over 35 million
Kay Bailey
Hutchison
employees are enrolled in
FSAs, and another 10 mil-
lion have chosen to receive
benefits through HSAs.
Consumers are drawn to
these plans because they
emphasize flexibility and
choice. The programs are
also growing in popular-
ity because they
help Americans
plan for upcom
ing medical
expenses, which
can factor sig-
nificantly into
household bud-
gets.
For many
Texans, enroll-
ment in FSAs
and HSAs is not
merely a choice
of common
sense or conve-
nience - it is an
imperative. Individuals
who are self-employed or
work on a contract or com-
mission basis, for example,
may not have the same
income level from year
to year. Enrollment in an
FSA or HSA ensures that,
in the event of a medical
emergency or when facing
a costly chronic illness,
families have a safety net
to help cover out-of-pock-
et costs.
Despite the popularity
- and, in many cases, the
necessity - of HSAs and
FSAs, the newly enacted
health care law, pushed
through by the Obama
Administration, will place
significant limitations on
these plans. Starting next
year, the health law will
prohibit individuals from
using either HSA or FSA
funds to purchase over-
the-counter medication
unless they have a pre-
scription from their doc-
tor. One of the reasons
these programs have been
so popular is that they give
patients the freedom to
use their benefits for non-
prescription purchases
without the added costs
of needless visits to their
physicians' offices.
Another provision in
the new health care law
will also limit patients'
cost savings by placing an
arbitrary across-the-board
cap of $2,500 on flex-
ible spending accounts.
Prior to enactment of the
Democrats' health care
bill, there was no federal
cap that an employer had
to comply with in order
to offer FSA benefits to
employees. Consequently,
the median limit on FSA
benefits has been $4,500.
Reducing the contribu-
tion level to $2,500 will
indirectly raise health
care costs and add to
the tax burden for many
Americans who subscribe
to these benefits.
By placing these limita-
tions on HSAs and FSAs,
the health care l aw under-
mines the fundamen-
tal benefits of flexibility,
choice, and cost savings.
These unexpected provi-
sions in the health care
law defy common sense
and deny Americans'
flexible access to quality,
affordable care of their
choosing. For these rea-
sons, I have introduced
the Patients Freedom to
Choose Act, which would
repeal these provisions.
My legislation would
repeal the $2,500 limit on
FSAs. It would also allow
over-the-counter drugs
to be purchased through
these accounts.
This is just one of many
efforts that my colleagues
and I will undertake to
reverse the damaging pol-
icies of President Obama's
health care "reforms."
As the true effects of the
rushed health care bill
come to light, we are
sure to see more of these
types of disastrous con-
sequences. The alarming
reality of this new law is
that it makes the feder-
al government a part of
every health care deci-
sion Americans make for
themselves, their families,
and their businesses. The
law will raise taxes and
premiums. It is laden with
mandates, fines, and hid-
den cost increases. The
health care law signals the
increasing size and role of
the Federal government in
every family and business
decision.
Kay Bailey Hutchison
is the senior U.S. Senator
from Texas and is the
Ranking Member of the
Senate Committee on
Commerce, Science, and
Transportation.
TH&15 I
TERhHLE.
.cuvtorron-i-
GIIEST COLUMN
Child support evader Marcus Spanihel, Jr.
Attorney General Greg
Abbott needs your help
locating Child Support
Evader Marcus Spanihel
Jr., one of the Most Wanted
Child Support
Evaders in Texas.
spar
adde
added to the Child
Support Evader's
list in April 2008,
owes $56,258 for
the care of one
17-year-oW son
living with his
mother in a small
town outside of
Brenham.
In August 1993,
Spanihel was
ordered to pay
$480 a month
in child support.
Spanihel, who
had the ability to
make his payments, did
not follow the judge's
order to support his son
financially.
By 2005, he owed more
than $20,000 in unpaid
child support. After being
given many chances to
pay what he owed, a Lee
County judge issued a war-
rant for Spanihel's arrest.
Marcus Spanihel has
not made a single child
support payment in more
than five years. By refus-
ing to provide the financial
Greg
Abbott
resources his son needs,
Spanihel has turned his
back on him and violat-
ed the law. A combina-
tion of missed payments
and interest that
accrueson unpaid
child support
adds up to more
than $56,000
in unpaid child
support Spanihel
now owes.
Investigators
from the Attorney
General's office
have searched
the state for
Spanihel, who
may be living
in Hallettsville,
a small town in
Lavaca County.
He may be work-
ing for cash to
garnishment of
wages to pay child sup-
port. Contact the Attorney
General's Office at (866)
EVADERS (382-3377) to
report information thai
may lead to the arrest of
Marcus Spanihel Jr.
Last Address:
Hallettsville, TX
Occupation: Bricklayer
Born:10/24/60
Height: 6'o"
Weight: 170 lbs.
Color of Eyes: Hazel
Color of Hair: Brown
avoid
Race: Caucasian
Distinguishing Marks:
Mole on right side of face
Texas law requires the
Office of the Attorney
General to publicly iden-
tify certain parents who
are delinquent in the pay-
ment of child support. The
Child Support Evaders
are selected because they
have the ability to take
responsibility for their
children but refuse to do
so. Incarceration is the
only option for parents
who repeatedly ignore
court orders to pay child
support. The Attorney
General's Office helps par-
ents who lack the ability to
pay child support by refer-
ring them to job training
and employment services.
Visit the agency's web-
site www.texasattorney-
eneral.gov to find out
about other Child Support
Evaders, and to obtain
information about the
Attorney General's Child
Support Division.
Greg Abbott is the
Attorney General of Texas.
Comments about this col-
umn may be e-mailed to
edior@siueetwaterre-
porter.com.
The SWEETWATER REPORTER
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Correction Policy
Editorial:
As a matter of policy, the
Sweetwater Reporter will
publish corrections of errors
in fact that have been print-
ed in the newspaper.
The corrections will be
made as soon as possible
after the error has been
brought to the attention of
the newspaper's editor at
236-6677.
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advertising at any time with-
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V
__ Sweetwater
Reporter
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Sweetwater Reporter (Sweetwater, Tex.), Vol. 112, No. 220, Ed. 1 Monday, August 2, 2010, newspaper, August 2, 2010; Sweetwater, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth229231/m1/4/: accessed May 4, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Sweetwater/Nolan County City-County Library.