Fiscal Conservative Chair Removed.

Missouri Senate President Pro Tem Charlie Shields is using strong arm tactics to push the "Manufacturing Jobs Act" to the Senate floor according to State Senator Chuck Purgason.

"I guess he doesn’t like the way I’m holding government accountable," says Purgason whom Shields removed from Chairmanship of the Government Accountability and Fiscal Oversight Committee.

Purgason raised the ire of some in Republican leadership by steadfastly refusing to pass the "Manufacturing Jobs Act" out of Committee.

Senator Purgason has been openly against the union supported bill for which Democratic Governor Jay Nixon convened the Special Legislative Session.

Purgason says, "Pretending that this bill is going to benefit Missouri is foolish. Government should allow the economy to grow the right way as proven in the Reagan years with across the board tax cuts. We need to let true free enterprise work and not play favorites. "

Ford was absent from the hearing and has given no promise to remain in Missouri if the bill should pass. However unions like the AFL-CIO, the United Auto Workers and several others were heavily represented at the hearing, and have been forcing the bill through the House and Senate.

In the House, two representatives were removed and replaced from the Special Committee hearing the bill to ensure that it came to the floor. Purgason said, "The arm twisting must have been effective after Pratt and Kraus were removed, because it passed 15-1 out of Committee in the house. Some in Republican leadership think it’s alright to treat the elected representatives of the people as puppets by simply removing anyone that isn’t willing to sell out their constituents."

Purgason was told by the Senate Pro Tem to get the bill out of committee or lose the chairmanship. If Purgason wouldn’t budge, leadership would then install a temporary Chair to pass the bill and re-instate Purgason as Chair once it was out of Committee.

"In this economy, the fact that too many in Republican leadership are lying and using the false promise of jobs as cover is untenable. When a bill can’t pass through the safeguards of the process and threats can’t buy a Chairman, it is simply wrong to remove them and disrespect our form of government to make a deal. There is no point in being the Chair of a Committee if you are controlled by leadership and not your conscience."

The basic premise that the natural order of things is ta be in chaos is comforting at times. There are times however, that I feel I’m livin’ just a little closer to nature than I’d like. I suppose the most we can hope for is "controlled chaos."

The example sometimes used is a balloon filled with hellium. The gas is flyin’ around inside the balloon tryin’ to expand and get out into the atmosphere. The balloon is the controllin’ factor, bringin’ some order to it all and providin’ entertainment for a child.

Even in this situation, there is always the random possibility that some other kid will like insertin’ a pin into the mix.

If ya want ta experience chaos, try to explain to a three year old where his toy disappeared to and the natural order of random acts by the neighbor’s kid.

This is some fact, but mostly,

Just Jake Talkin’.

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Weekly Columns

To Your Good Health

By Paul G. Donohue, M.D.

DEAR DR. DONOHUE: I would like to call your attention to a question you answered about emphysema. I think you should have mentioned alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency. It would have been a good opportunity to bring this condition to the public’s attention. I have it and was diagnosed at age 53, after having been misdiagnosed for eight years. I have been on Prolastin, which has stabilized my lung capacity. While more doctors are aware of this condition, there are some who are not. -- D.C.

ANSWER: Lungs come equipped with their own janitorial crew. They inhale lots of foreign debris, and they create trash in their work of transferring oxygen into the blood and carbon dioxide out of it. The cleanup crew is trypsin, an enzyme. Trypsin, however, can go overboard, so another enzyme, called alpha-1 antitrypsin, stops it from overdoing the trash collection and destroying air sacs in the process. Emphysema is destruction of those delicate structures. Cigarette smoking is the No. 1 cause of emphysema, also known as one of the chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases, COPD.

Symptoms of emphysema, regardless of cause, include shortness of breath with little physical exertion, cough and increased sputum production.

The delay in your diagnosis of alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency is par for the course. On average, the diagnosis takes eight years from the time a person first visits a doctor for emphysema symptoms. This illness should come to mind when a relatively young person or a person who has never smoked develops emphysema. A simple blood test for the level of the antitrypsin enzyme can secure the diagnosis.

Treatment is the same as treatment for smoking-caused emphysema. However, there is an additional treatment for alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency emphysema. Intravenous infusions of the missing enzymes can benefit those with the deficiency. Your Prolastin is one such product.