Houston--Voucher "Hearing" on Wed Sept 6--Leininger at Work--Action Item

[texastoast]

From Texas Freedom Network--Take Action

Voucher Lobby Turns ‘Hearing’ into Public Relations Scam

The hearing begins at 12:30 p.m., Wednesday (Sept. 6) at the University of Houston Hilton (Shamrock Room, Suite 261B). Public testimony will probably begin around mid-afternoon. The UH Hilton is located at 4800 Calhoun Street in Houston (713-741-2447).

If you want to testify at the hearing, please contact TFN beforehand so that we can track our impact. Send your e-mail to [e-mail] or call 512-322-0545.

The voucher lobby is turning up the heat in its assault on public education in Texas. Several weeks ago James Leininger and his cronies began promoting private school vouchers on radio and billboards in inner-city communities around the state. Now their lackeys on the state Senate Education Committee will hold a sham “public hearing” in Houston next week. But this "hearing" is clearly nothing more than a public relations stunt to promote what voters and lawmakers have rejected in every legislative session for more than a decade: draining millions of dollars from our neighborhood public schools to pay for tuition vouchers at private and religious schools. Even worse, those private schools would not have to meet standards that apply to all of the state's public schools!

The hearing will include invited testimony from more than a half-dozen supporters of voucher schemes. Even Leininger’s Texas Public Policy Foundation has been invited to send a representative to speak! Only two voucher opponents – including TFN President Kathy Miller – will have the opportunity to explain why voucher schemes would snip

[kurth]

1. Do not buy Whole Foods milk:

Leininger's Many Holdings

James Leininger owns all or part of a dizzying array of companies. Here's a partial list for consumers who want to know if they are doing business with him and helping fund his political projects:

Promised Land Dairy. Leininger is sole owner of this Floresville company that makes ice cream and milk in glass bottles emblazoned with Biblical verses. Products are distributed throughout Texas, at grocery stores such as Sun Harvest, Albertson's, H.E.B., and Whole Foods, and by the scoop at some places.

Whole Foods private label milk. Promised Land Dairy provides all the milk that Whole Foods markets under its own label in Texas, Colorado, and Louisiana. When asked about the company's relationship with Leininger's dairy, Whole Foods spokeswoman Patty Lang said in a written statement, "We do not boycott companies. We carry products that meet our core values." She praised Promised Land's quality standards and treatment of its livestock.

Home Court America. Leininger is part owner of the San Antonio basketball and gymnasium facility located in the northwest suburbs.

Focus Direct. A San Antonio direct mail facility, owned wholly by Leininger. Clients include Delta Airlines, Ralston-Purina, the Texas Republican Party, Oregon Public Radio, and the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC)/Klan Watch, an Alabama-based nonprofit that monitors far-right, potentially violent groups. (Mark Potok, SPLC spokesman and editor of its magazine, Intelligence, said his organization was "completely unaware" that Leininger owns Focus Direct. "We will be looking into the matter," Potok said.)

Kinetic Concepts International (KCI). The medical bed and supply company was sold for $875 million last year and is no longer public, but Leininger still owns about a third of it.

Mission City Properties. A San Antonio office-building rental agency.

Sunday House. Leininger co-owns this Fredericksburg company that makes and markets smoked turkeys.

Mission City Television. This San Antonio company produces videotapes for commercials and other TV formats.

The Beginners Bible. Children's Bible and coloring books. Leininger holds the license to the trademark name of these products.

TXN (Texas Network). A television news service that will air statewide on 16 stations, including KTVT in Dallas, KTRK in Houston, and KMOL in San Antonio, beginning in January. TXN officials insist that although Leininger owns the company, he will have no input into the production of the news.

The Spurs. Leininger holds an estimated 10% interest in the San Antonio basketball team.

http://www.austinchronicle.com/issues/vol18/issue22/pols.leininger.contr.side.html