MOLLY IVINS ON HEALTH CARE Pg. 11
45 ZOTAMW:
A JOURNAL OF FREE VOICES AUGUST 21, 1992 • $1.75
Mourning in America
What's the State of the Union after twelve years of Republican Rule and Democratic Acquiescence? Some answers can be found in new books by John Kenneth
, / " / Galbraith, / /, , William Greider and reporters Donald L. Bartlett and James B. Steele.
Reviews begin on pg. 12 DIALOGUE
democratic dissent sidering human death and the tragedy involved an occasion for raucous celebration. I read with great interest your issue on 2) The second position is related. Mr. A JOURNAL OF FREE VOICES (7/24/92). I Denison spoke of those who favor "liberty We will serve no group or party but will hew .hard to "Remaking The Democrats" the truth as we find it and the right as we see it. We are believe I am a little more optimistic about the from government intrusions but benefits from dedicated to the whole truth, to human values above all prospects of reviving the Democratic Party. I governmental activism." Someone during the interests, to the rights of human-kind as the foundation believe that Bill Clinton just may be the man convention spoke or getting the government of democracy: we will take orders from none but our own out of our bedrooms. I imagine this to be code conscience, and never will we overlook or misrepresent who can lead the way. If he lacks the the truth to serve the interests of the powerful or cater charisma of a John Kennedy or the political language for an actively pro-gay stance for to the ignoble in the human spirit. savvy of a Lyndon Johnson or the personal the democratic party. Once again there is no Writers are responsible for their own work, but not integrity of a Jimmy Carter, still he is the man need for making an otherwise harmless for anything they have not themselves written, and in pub- behavior a criminal activity, and there is a lishing them we do not necessarily imply that we agree we have, and I think he'll do. I certainly hope with them, because this is a journal of free voices. he will be successful. My interest in doing so case to be made for including sexual orienta- is that I am a life long Democrat (except for a tion in the list of civil rights groupings to be SINCE 1954 very brief period in the early sixties that I protected from undue harrassment. The issue however goes deeper, especially in these Publisher: Ronnie Dugger joined the UT Young Republicans under the Editor: Louis Dubose notion at the time that democracy could func- somber days of AIDS and other STD's. We Associate Editor: James Cullen tion better in a two-party state. I consider my must uunderstand how freedom and responsi- Layout and Design: Diana Paciocco, Peter Szymczak brief sojourn among the 'publicans' as one of bility are related. It cannot be stated strongly Copy Editor: Roxanne Bogucka enough that AIDS is not a disease of homo- Mexico City Correspondent: Barbara Belejack the 'sins of my youth'.) During all this time I Editorial Interns: Jubilee Barton, Jay Brida, Paula have been a card-carrying Liberal and eager sexuality, AIDS is a disease of promiscuity. George, Lorri J. Legge, Kate McConnico and willing to defend that position whenever (The freedom-responsibility paradigm is the Contributing Writers: Bill Adler, Betty Brink, Warren called on to do so. As that label has become connection to abortion as well.Were men and Burnett, Brett Campbell, Jo Clifton, Terry FitzPatrick, women sexually responsible, there would be Gregg Franzwa, James Harrington, Bill Helmer, Ellen unfashionable, I have tried to style myself a Hosmer, Steven Kellman, Michael King, Deborah "progressive" democrat, but am a little no need for abortions.)We have come to a Lutterbeck, Tom McClellan, Bryce Milligan, Greg Moses, uncomfortable with some positions taken by time when we must always balance the value Debbie Nathan, Gary Pomerantz, Lawrence Walsh. others who currently use that title. The article of personal individual freedom, with social Editorial Advisory Board: David Anderson, Austin; and community values. It is all well and good Frances Barton, Austin; Elroy Bode, El Paso; Chandler by Dave Denison and the column by Allan Davidson, Houston; Dave Denison, Cambridge, Mass; Freedman articulated several positions that I for a person to say that she is a free individual Bob Eckhardt, Washington, D.C.; Sissy Farenthold, hope Bill Clinton will alter sufficiently to and will sleep with whomever she wishes, but Houston; Ruperto Garcia, Austin; John Kenneth Galbraith, make the Democratic party the party of the since she has contracted AIDS she has Cambridge, Mass.; Lawrence Goodwyn, Durham, N.C.; become indigent so society must pay for her George Hendrick, Urbana, Ill.; Molly Ivins, Austin; people once again. Let me outline three. Larry L. King, Washington, D.C.; Maury Maverick, 1) Abortion. One of the political jokes of medical care as long as she lives. Liberals and Jr., San Antonici; Willie Morris, Oxford, Miss.; Kaye the sixties (attributed to a woman cab driver progressives have always urged compassion- Northcott, Austin; James Presley, Texarkana; Susan Reid, from New York in my first hearing) was that ate treatment for the poor and sick —the lim- Austin; Geoffrey Rips, Austin; A.R. (Babe) Schwartz, its of compassion are strained when illness is Galveston; Fred Schmidt, Fredericksburg. if men became pregnant, abortion would be a sacrament. Adoption of a so-called "pro- 100 percent preventable but the individuals choose to engage in pathological behavior Poetry Consultant: Thomas B. Whitbread choice" platform and the unseemingly vigor- Contributing Photographers: Bill Albrecht, Vic Hin- ous applause which greeted all the references anyway. Some years ago, we made it manda- terlang, Alan Pogue. to a pro-abortion stand at the Democratic con- tory for motorcycle riders to wear helmets, in Contributing Artists: Michael Alexander, Eric Avery, vention lead me to believe that many of my part because the cost of treating closed head Tom Ballenger, Richard Bartholomew, Jeff Danziger, wounds from so many accidents was a heavy Beth Epstein, Dan Hubig, Pat Johnson, Kevin Kreneck, party have made abortion the secular equiva- Michael Krone, Carlos Lowry, Ben Sargent, Dan lent of a sacrament, something which will burden for the rest of society. What recourse Thibodeau, Gail Woods, Matt Wuerker. bring them life and health now and forever. do we have as a society for people who would I was thrilled to see the "End abortion now" engage in dangerous and destructive sexual Managing Publisher: Cliff Olofson signs in the Minnesota delegation as they cast behavior? As a loyal democrat, what I'd like Subscription Manager: Stefan Wanstrom their nomination votes. Many democrats, to see is a people united in compassion for the Executive Assistant: Gail Woods sick and poor, but equally united in urging Special Projects Director: Bill Simmons loyal, lifelong, Yellow Dog Democrats like Development Consultant: Frances Barton myself, simply believe that on this issue the healthy, sensible lifestyles for all its citizens. party is wrong, simply dead wrong. Now Something like a pro-monogamous position SUBSCRIPTIONS: One year $32. two years $59. three years S79
2 • AUGUST 21, 1992 EDITORIALS ,... T HE TEXAS 1 op server AUGUST 21, 1992 State of the Union VOLUME 84, No. 16 FEATURES IlW here would George Bush be with- interest rate is. They can't spend any money. They out the boost he got from the can't borrow any money." Presidential Conflicts: Persian Gulf War?" Austin labor lobbyist Dee If the President had a response, it wasn't Barging Ahead Simpson asked months ago, falling in behind reported in Barlett and Steele's book. By Liz Galtney Bill Clinton back when most were question- 5 ing Clinton's viability as a candidate. Other I s the United States really number one? Writer Health Care Costs: Democrats with less courage, Simpson sug- Andrew Shapiro set out to answer the ques- Whales and Fishes tion in We're Number One!: Where America gested, had miscalculated when they opted By Molly Ivins 11 to sit out the 1992 election, "assuming George Stands and Falls in the New World Order Bush was unassailable." Today, as Clinton (Vintage Books, New York). leads in the opinion polls and the President Are we Number One? Yes, in some cate- DEPARTMENTS looks toward Iraq to enhance his "convention gories, according to Shapiro's research. bounce," Simpson's observation seems like Categories such as the number of teenage preg- Editorials 3 prophetic truth. But it's only a half truth. nancies ending in abortion; birthrate among The other half can be found in an econ- teenage women 15 to 19; low infant birth Books & the Culture omy that is not simply on the downside of a weight; children living in poverty; budget Unsanctioned Thinking long cycle, but structurally impaired. "The deficit; the percentage of the population vic- Book review by Geoff Rips 12 good news is that the recession ended in April," timized by crime; murder cases per 100,000; one economist recently told a reporter on homicide rate among children; number of The Price of Contentment National Public Radio's Morning people killed by handguns; and the percent- Book review by Dave Denison 14 Edition."That's also the bad news." age of the population incarcerated (South Trapped between a no-tax demagoguery Africa is second.). Rewriting the Rules that has become a political cultural impera- In other categories, the U.S. is not ranked Book review by Louis Dubose 16 tive, an impending bank crisis not unlike so high. Among industrial nations surveyed Looking for America the S&L crisis of the mid-80s and a huge the United States is dead last in weeks of paid Book review by Barbara Belejack 17 federal budget deficit, Bill Clinton maternity leave and percentage of pre-school might be better off if he does not win. children with full polio, DPT and measles Bayou Balloting Without extraordinary courage and a whole immunizations. We also rank last in the per- Movie review by Steven G. Kellman 18 lot of luck, even if he wins the election, he centage of the population covered by public loses. Maybe Clinton miscalculated. It's the health insurance, with only 21 percent cov- Journal economy, and not George Bush, that's unas- ered. Ahead of us is Germany, with 92 per- Schools Under Siege sailable. cent, Belgium with 98 percent, and Spain and By Paula George 19 The people of this country know that. Switzerland at 99. All other industrial nations Months after it was published, William are tied for Number One with 100 percent Afterword Greider's Who Will Tell The People?: The coverage. We also rank last in the average If Stones Could Talk Betrayal of American Democracy, remains on growth rate of exports, and in the percentage By Patrisia Gonzales 22 the New York Times Best Seller list. And of earnings saved. With 180 school days per when the Philadelphia Inquirer in 1991 pub- year we are next to last in that category, in Political Intelligence 24 lished Donald Barlett and James Steele's which Japan leads with 243 days per year. special feature on domestic economic decline, The United States also ranks lowest in teach- Cover art by Michael Alexander 20,000 people called or wrote the newspa- ers' salaries. per's offices, asking for extra copies and offer- Shapiro's book is not entirely given over ing comments and suggestions. Something is to grim statistics. Consider that we are num- terribly wrong with the economy and the gov- ber one in belief in God and in the Devil. And In Rod Davis' August ernment can't seem to ask the right questions, in belief in heaven and hell. We also lead the ERRATA: never mind find the answers. world in the percentage of the population that 7 review of Eakin Press's No Consider this exchange between President say they often or sometimes think about the Apologies, Robert Pardun's name meaning and purpose of life and the mean- Bush and Richard Ford, a St. Louis TV was incorrectly spelled due to a reporter, as quoted in America, What Went ing and purpose of death. And the percent- Wrong? by Barlett and Steele. age of the citizens who say they'd go to war typographical error on our part. President Bush :"Interest rates are down and for their country. Japan, with 6 percent of And in Dave Denison's July 24 arti- today yet there's -- another very important those questioned claiming they are ready to go cle, "Remaking the Democratic credit company came down on their rates. At to war, is last in that category. some point when these rates are, people see Economist Robert Reich describes this book Party," a line of type was dropped. the rates where they are, I believe you're going as an "indispensible road map through the The words "Jobs, education and to see confidence start back in housing or in wreckage" and Paul Kennedy, author of The health care" should have preceded consumer buying. And that's what the econ- Rise and Fall of the Great Powers, says both the Bill Clinton quote: "These are not omy needs. Presidential candidates should read it. Ford: "But people don't have jobs, sir. They We agree. — L.D. just commitments from my lips...' don't have any income. They don't care what the
THE TEXAS OBSERVER • 3 This is Texas today. A state full of Sunbelt boosters, strident anti-union- ists, oil and as companies, nuclear weapons and power plants, political Stand By Our Man hucksters, underpaid workers and toxic wastes,, to mention a few. S POLLS SHOW Democrat Bill Clinton real estate — to 15.4 percent from the current A widening his lead over President George 28 percent. Bush says 60 percent of the peo- Bush, GOP ideologues such as George Wills, ple who would benefit from lower capital gains Richard Viguerie and at least four Republican- taxes have incomes under $50,000, but the non- I leaning newspapers, including the Orange partisan Joint Tax Committee of Congress cal- County Register in California, have called for culated the wealthiest 1 percent of taxpayers — Bush to step aside and throw open the those with incomes of more than $200,000 — Republican National Convention. Those who would reap 60 percent of the benefits, with an . tA ,G* ! A salivate at the thought of Bush being forced from average tax savings of $19,000. Bush's $500 rtee' ' t "I ,-1. N _ v4h. ` '' ---' the race should consider the potential choices increase in the exemption for each child would waiting in the wings: Pat Buchanan, Jack Kemp, save $167 for the typical middle class family of Phil Gramm, Dan Quayle. four with a joint income of $40,000, accord- ■:.-...'W a 1!;'''7; '' '•-:-.t. , SW Ir Does anyone believe the Republicans are ing to Citizens for Tax Justice, a liberal tax going to produce a more progressive nominee reform advocacy group. Sen. Phil Gramm, the A.ZI; ■ TY' ' %■:•1 '.- • .. V, than George Herbert Walker Bush? He may keynote speaker at the Republican convention, be a speech-mangling, time-serving disap- will explain it all to you. St1 4PAI re' Am.,' %IT7 i Verl pointment who spent most of his first term snap- '": ... ping at flies, but he's our man and as long as till, Texans have to ask themselves: Why SA he keeps that hotel room in Houston, we're S vote for George Bush? His list of accom- 1111. 4 sticking with him. plishments for Texas is rather short. When Tur Be careful what you wish; it may come true. Lyndon Johnson was President he made his Hill BUT Country Ranch the Texas White House; he DO NOT „ s Republicans head for their national con- brought NASA to Houston, placed a regional DESPAIR! A vention in Houston's Astrodome, the IRS service center in Austin and sponsored Bush/Quayle campaign is indeed in a deep funk. numerous public works projects across the state. ram, THE TEXAS Some of this may be ascribed to the letdown Bush, who keeps his Presidential retreat in since Bush long since clinched the nomination, Kennebunkport, Maine, but claims a Houston but it does appear that his administration has hotel room as his residence for voting and tax II VP server been without a rudder for the better part of the purposes, brought an economic summit to summer. Houston, a drug summit to San Antonio, the TO SUBSCRIBE: Republicans had such high hopes for this Republican convention to Houston and has election year, which was supposed to consoli- promised to put his Presidential Library in date the sea change in American politics behind Bryan-College Station. In addition he has pur- the GOP and perhaps capture control of sued the North American Free Trade Agreement Congress for the first time in a generation. that could increase trade between Texas and A little more than a year ago Bush was rid- Mexico and he has supported efforts to fund the Name ing in the euphoria following the smashing superconducting supercollider near Waxahachie, "victory" in the Persian Gulf, the snatching of although he failed to deliver the promised 105 Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega for a Republican votes as the House in June unex- show trial in Miami and the collapse of com- pectedly cut off funding for the atom smasher. Address munism in Eastern Europe. Bush's position His administration also proposed $2.25 billion was considered so unassailable that several for the Space Station Freedom project at the leading Democrats were persuaded not to expend Johnson Space Center, up $230 million from the effort to seek the Presidential nomination in last year, but the House approved only $1.7 bil- City ' 1992. Instead they were counselled to wait until lion; the administration budgeted $80 million 1996, when Bush would be completing his sec- for Sematech, the Austin-based semiconductor ond term. research consortium. A moribund economy has made the Demo- Oilmen at a Republican platform hearing in State cratic nomination more than a pro-forma exer- April criticized Bush for providing little more cise. Arkansas Governor Bill Clinton survived than lip service to a national energy strategy. vicious attacks in the press during the Demo- Bush went to war to protect oil supplies for cratic primary season this past spring and dur- Europe and Japan, while domestic crude oil pro- Zip ing Ross Perot's abortive Presidential cam- duction has fallen to its lowest level in 30 years. paign Clinton rebuilt himself for the The petroleum industry has lost more than ❑ $32 enclosed for a one-year made-for-TV Democratic convention which 440,000 jobs, compared to 104,000 for the auto subscription. vaulted him into a commanding lead in the polls. industry, and oil imports now stand at $50 bil- Now, after mocking interest in the environ- lion "a year, half of the nation's trade deficit. "A Bill me for $32. ❑ ment and education, Bush wants to be the Capital lot of people in the industry are wandering Gains President. He has proposed tax breaks for around in circles as to who to support [for 307 West 7th, corporation's, investors and home buyers in an President]," Paul Taylor, a vice president of Austin, TX 78701 effort to stimulate business activity. He would Anadarko Petroleum Corp., a Houston inde- slash the top rate charged on capital gains — pendent oil and gas exploration and production profits from the sale of assets such as stocks and company, told the Associated Press.
4 • AUGUST 21, 1992 Even when Bush cuts the military budget, he mary election to Senator Bill Sims, D-San Senator Chet Brooks' re-election chances. comes in for criticism at home. His plan to Angelo, in a marginally Republican district; Republicans charged that Democrats were slash production of B-2 Stealth bombers to 20 Dickson was resurrected in Democratic District manipulating the redistricting process — as if from 75 would cost jobs at the Dallas-area LTV 24 as state Rep. Frank Madla, D-San Antonio, the actions of the GOP and Nowlin, a former plant, a major subcontractor on the project. stepped aside to to become the nominee in Republican state representative, did not con- His Secretary of Defense, Dick Cheney, has District 19, a district that starts in San Antonio stitute manipulation. An investigation by the repeatedly sought to kill Bell Helicopter and runs almost to El Paso, diluting the name 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals resulted in a Textron's tilt-rotor V-22 Osprey, only to have recognition of Republican nominee Ernest reprimand of Nowlin and his recusal from the Congress order him to spend the money on the Ancira, a San Antonio car dealer. case. Nowlin was replaced on the panel by U.S. aircraft; Cheney also would phase out of pro- In the San Antonio area, District 19 Demo- District Judge Harry Hudspeth of El Paso, a duction of General Dynamic's F-16 jet fighter. cratic nominee Greg Luna, a state representa- Democratic appointee. On the eve of Bush's recent visit, General tive, became the nominee in District 26, which Even if the Austin court allows the Legislature Dynamic announced it would cut 5,800 employ- turned from a Republican Hill County district to go ahead, the Republicans succeeded in pit- ees from its Fort Worth payroll by the end of into an urban San Antonio district, as Carlos ting minorities against organized labor, which 1994; Democrats accused the President of bar- Higgins of Austin stepped aside. Sims would backed white incumbents in newly-created ring a job-saving sale of up to 180 F-16s to run in a more Republican District 25 against "Hispanic" Senate and Congressional districts Taiwan for fear of upsetting communist China. state Rep. Troy. Fraser, R-Big Spring. Sims in Houston. GOP-inspired gerrymandering in Taiwan began negotiating with France for has said he would join the Republicans in chal- South Texas also helped business-oriented Mirage jets. lenging Hannah's action. Senator Eddie Lucio, D-Brownsville, win re- Texas officials got no satisfaction from In the Houston area, the Nowlin panel put election against a progressive opponent in the Secretary of Commerce Robert Mosbacher of fewer Hispanics in the "Hispanic" Senate dis- Democratic primary. Houston on the undercount of minorities in trict in Harris County than did the Legislature; The Democratic power grab may not look the 1990 census. Mosbacher, who is now Bush's Senator John Whitmire defeated Rep. Roman pretty and the fight probably will be drawn campaign manager, decided to let the botched Martinez in the court-ordered district. Under out, but as one Democratic strategist said, "If figures stand; as a result Texas is expected to SB 1, Martinez gets the nod to represent the we don't do this part well — dealing with the lose at least $1 billion in federal aid. Democrats in District 6, which was Republican legal and mechanistic elements of the election In Texas, the unemployment rate has risen to under the court plan; Whitmire would remain — the philosophical and ideological concerns 8.2 percent, claims for unemployment com- the nominee in District 15. SB1 also enhances don't have a chance." J.C. pensation are up 5 percent over last year, oil and gas production taxes are $50 million below estimates and auto tax income is $40 million Continued from pg. 2 less than forecast. become a trademark of the democratic party, make the distinction between what political It's little wonder that Democrats are smil- a position, incidentally, greatly influenced by leaders can do for us, and what they cannot. ing and Republican congressmen are talking the secular media which we all absorb with The classic democratic line was that "Jesus about skipping the convention and distancing our morning coffee. Television, especially, is saved my soul and FDR saved the farm." The themselves from the national ticket. written and directed to degrade and humiliate folk wisdom involved was the recognition practitioners of organized religion almost all that there are temporal as well as eternal goals exas Republican Party leaders blustered the time. Do a little test for yourself: How to be sought in life, and we do well to seek the about a "bloodless coup" and threatened T many times have you see religious people, appropriate structures and societies that will to go back to court to regain the advantages especially Christians, portrayed in a positive help us seek those goals. Most card-carrying the Legislature denied them, but Secretary of light in a current TV show? Are they not democrats understand the need to organize State John Hannah waved two court orders at almost always portrayed as narrow-minded and work together to seek temporal goals. them as he ordered Texas Senate elections held buffoons or vindictive axe-murderers? The Too many of my party seem to think that per- under the plan drawn by the Legislature. vast majority if the American people are reli- sonal, philosophical, and ethical goals can After consulting with Democratic elected offi- gious. A party that would become a majority only be sought individually. It just isn't so. cials, including Attorney General Dan Morales, party again would take a definitive stance Humans are social animals which is why we Hannah acted on the strength of a ruling by a against the cultural and media prejudice and need political parties, and which is why we three judge federal court in Washington which say a few kind words about religion. need organized religion. When the found the redistricting plan which the Legislature Democratic leaders (and newspaper opinion Democratic Party forsakes its sophomoric approved this past January does not violate makers) would do well to get in touch with ignorance of religious values, then we will be minority voting rights. The Washington court, the religious community again. Mr. Freedman on the way to the party of the people again. which included two Democratic appointees, spoke of being on a personal search for lead- Wayne Walther conflicted with a three-judge federal panel ership. For all democrats, it is imperative to Lockhart, Tx. headed by Judge James Nowlin in Austin. That court — all Republican appointees — accepted a GOP challenge of the Democratic Legislature's redistricting plan (SB 1) and imposed its own map, drawn with the help of a GOP state rep- OBSERVER PREVIEWS resentative who later ran for one of the seats. The D.C. court found that the Democratic plan would have elected one more Hispanic sena- As we go to press, the Observer editors and interns loin the media tor than the GOP/court plan, which was sup- pilgrimage to the Republican Party Revival in Houston. Convention posed to preserve minority voting rights. coverage will be included in the following issue. Democrats hope reinstating SB 1 will main- tain the two-thirds Democratic majority in the 31-member Senate. Life after Gib? A group of reformers have set out to change the way SB 1 would strengthen the re-election chances the House selects its speaker. Of the last four, only Price Daniel Jr. of incumbent Democratic senators Bob Glasgow of Stephenville and Ted Lyon of Rockwall and was never indicted or pleaded guilty to a crime. Is change possible? it could revive Senator Temple Dickson D= Sweetwater, a trial lawyer who lost his pri- THE TEXAS OBSERVER • 5 Presidential Conflicts: Barging Ahead
BY LIZ GALTNEY
N 1982, THEN-VICE PRESIDENT George former Vice President did not recuse himself behalf of barges despite internal department Bush chaired a task force that helped a Texas from any issues at that time. Perhaps Bush saw analyses which indicate there was no justifi- I barge company kill an oil spill prevention no need to recuse himself since he told one cation for treating barges differently. measure. It's a little-known Houston barge com- reporter in 1979, "I have never accepted the Ultimately, Congress exempted barges alto- pany with some exceptionally powerful Washington thesis that if you know something gether from the double hull requirement. investors. In fact, the extraordinary growth of about a problem, that should automatically dis- Hollywood Marine and other barge operators this company — which has managed to triple qualify you." must only install as-yet-undefined "double con- in size despite the barge industry's severe reces- The White House press office did not respond tainment systems" which, the law says, will be sion in the past decade — may be credited at to this inquiry. But in written responses to ques- defined by the administration. The barges will least in part to friends in the highest levels of tions, Hollywood Marine spokesmen said, "All not have to adapt the "double containment sys- the U.S. government. of the barges in the partnerships owned by tems" until the year 2015. In contrast, single- The name of the company is Hollywood President Bush and Secretary Baker are dou- hulled tankers like the Exxon Valdez must be Marine, and its investors include President ble-hulled barges. Therefore, there is no con- phased out on a schedule beginning in 1995. George Bush, former Secretary of State James flict of interest in the double hull debate." Baker, now White House Chief of Staff, and However, Coast Guard records clearly show A Very Good Investment former Commerce Secretary Robert Mosbacher, that this is not the case. Of the four barges in now with the Bush Presidential campaign. which Bush, Baker and Mosbacher are investors, When the task force killed the double hull But there's more to Hollywood Marine than records show all of them are single-hulled, not proposal in 1982, Bush, Baker and Mosbacher simply boasting three of the country's most pow- double-hulled vessels. had been investors in Hollywood Marine for erful men as investors. In 1982, as Vice Furthermore, this reporter was able to obtain nearly three years. Bush, Baker and Mosbacher President, Bush chaired the task force that killed detailed records on six out of an additional 25 are limited partners in a series of investments an oil spill prevention measure opposed by barges in which Baker and Mosbacher are part- in which Hollywood Marine or one of its affil- Hollywood Marine. At that time Hollywood owners. Of the six vessels, only three meet the iated companies is the general partner. was leading the barge industry's charge against Coast Guard's definition of a double-hulled barge. Since 1978, the President has received approx- Coast Guard attempts to put double hulls on Meanwhile, because the Bush task force killed imately $211,500 from his Hollywood invest- barges, arguing the measure was too costly. the double hull proposal, Hollywood Marine's ment. Baker and Mosbacher do not report the Double hulls are secondary skins on. vessels single-hulled fleet continues to pollute the exact amount of total income from their which help prevent oil spills. nation's waterways. Most recently on this year's Hollywood investments, which are substantially Seven months after he took office as Vice Memorial Day holiday, a single-hulled larger than the President's. President in 1981, Bush announced to the press Hollywood Marine barge spilled nearly 7,000 Since the double hull requirement would have that he was targeting the Coast Guard oil spill gallons of fuel oil on the Mississippi River — affected only oil-carrying vessels, the Bush prevention measure as well as several other reg- endangering the New Orleans metropolitan task force action may not have directly bene- ulatory initiatives, for possible elimination. area's drinking water supply. fitted the President's investment. Bush, along By March 1982, records show Bush's Task If the Coast Guard proposal had been imple- with Baker and Mosbacher, is an investor in a Force on Regulatory Relief killed the environ- mented, this Hollywood barge would have been partnership called Hollywood LPG No. 2. Since mental proposal despite Bush's apparent con- barred from service three years ago. This is LPG stands for liquefied petroleum gas, it would flict of interest as a Hollywood investor. While only one of numerous spills caused by appear that the four barges owned by the part- it is not known if the task force action would Hollywood barges in recent years. Furthermore, nership carry LPG— a natural gas product not have directly affected Bush's Hollywood invest- 80 percent of the 2 million gallons or more of covered by the double hull proposal for oil- ment, it could have indirectly enhanced his annual barge oil spills could have been elimi- carrying vessels. stake in the venture, which now yields about nated, according to the Coast Guard, if the dou- However, LPG barges have been known to $35,000 in annual income for the President. ble hull requirement had been implemented. carry oil products and, in written responses, At the time his task force killed the mea- Besides the 1982 task force action, the Bush Hollywood Marine does not indicate the nature sure, Bush had not placed his Hollywood invest- administration has favored Hollywood Marine of cargo carried by Bush partnership's ves- ment in blind trust — an arrangement by which and other barge operators in a subsequent dou- sels. If the barges do carry oil, the Bush task an independent party manages a public official's ble hull controversy. During the 1990 debate force action could have directly enhanced the investments without the official knowing what over oil spill legislation, records show that for- President's investment. is in the trust at any given time. Furthermore, mer Transportation Secretary Samuel Skinner, While it is not known if this is the case, the former Office of Government Ethics officials now Bush's White House Chief of Staff, suc- task force could have indirectly affected Bush's who handled Bush's filings in 1981-82, say the cessfully lobbied for special treatment of barge partnership since it helped Hollywood Marine operators like Hollywood Marine. avoid millions of dollars in expenditures. When Congress considered mandating dou- Hollywood Marine is the general partner of Liz Galtney is the editor of Informed Sources, ble hulls on all vessels in the wake of the 1989 the President's investment, and owns two-thirds a newsletter of The Project on Government Exxon Valdez disaster, Skinner argued that of the venture. Oversight, in which this article originally barges alone should get an additional 15 years In 1982, the year that the Bush task force appeared. to meet the requirement. Skinner lobbied on killed the double hull measure, the President
6 • AUGUST 21, 1992
• • ••••,••-• posed the measure in 1979, it stated that "approx- received $9,000 from Hollywood LPG No. 2. While complete financial data is not avail- Since then, Bush's annual income from the able, Hollywood and its prominent investors imately 80 percent of the oil pollution caused venture had gradually increased over the years appear to be doing quite well. Despite the barge by tank barges could have been prevented if these barges had double hull construction." to about $35,000 annually in 1991. industry suffering its worst recession ever dur- (Since Baker and Bush have the same amount ing the 1980s, Hollywood grew from about 60 The Coast Guard said a double hull requirement of ownership in Hollywood LPG No. 2, it is fair vessels in 1981, to over 230 barges in 1989— was necessary to meet a congressional goal of to assume that Baker also makes about $35,000 an increase of more than 380 percent. eliminating pollution discharges by 1985. annually from this venture. In 1991, Mos- According to a former Coast Guard official bacher's annual income from this partnership familiar with the '79 proposal, the agency Environmental Damage decided to target barges because those vessels reached $75,000.) Overall, Bush has more than quadrupled his Because the Bush task force killed the dou- cause more environmental damage than larger oil tankers. "We wanted to get the most bang original $50,000 investment, receiving approx- ble hull proposal, at least some of Hollywood's for the buck" by focusing on barges, the former imately $211,500 from Hollywood since 1978. profitability has occurred at the expense of the Adjusting for inflation, Bush's Hollywood environment. When the Coast Guard first pro- official says. investment has gen- erated an average rate of return of 27 percent annually — nearly triple the rate of return for ordinary invest- ments. As Mosbacher told The Washington Post in 1988, Holly- wood Marine has turned out to be a "very, very good investment." Moreover, the Bush task force could have directly enhan- ced Baker and Mos- bacher's larger stakes in Hollywood Mar- ine. Baker originally invested $200,000 in a total of 29 Holly- wood barges and four tow boats, while Mosbacher initially put up roughly $3 million for invest- ments in four tow boats and 49 barges. This amount does not include other funds Mosbacher raised on behalf of Hollywood through family, friends and banks. Neither Baker's nor Mosbacher's exact annual income from these Hollywood in- vestments is publicly reported. Baker's in- vestments are placed in a non-public trust. In financial disclosure reports, Mosbacher's Hollywood assets and revenue are reported in vague categories. Records show Mos- bacher's Hollywood investments are val- ued at more than $1 million, while his div- idends fall somewhere between $100,000 and $1 million. THE TEXAS OBSERVER • 7 Hollywood Marine opposed the double-hull touts the NAS study. Financial Impact? measure since 80 percent of its fleet was sin- However, Hollywood's remarks do not dis- gle-hulled in 1979, according to Coast Guard close that the NAS study was prepared by the While the Coast Guard double hull pro- records. Of the 32 barges owned by Hollywood "Committee on Reducing Tank Barge posal might not have directly affected Bush's at that time, only five were double-hulled. Pollution." This nine-member committee Hollywood investment, it could have enhanced While Hollywood recently claimed that 30 included of Hollywood Marine President Berdon Baker and Mosbacher's larger stakes in the percent of its current fleet is single-hulled, that Lawrence and other industry representatives. company. It is difficult to predict the exact means up to 70 of Hollywood's current fleet No major environmental organizations were impact the Coast Guard proposal would have of 230 barges could have been affected by the appointed to the committee. had on Baker and Mosbacher's investments, Coast Guard proposal. While the NAS study pointed out that a dou- but based on available data, some educated Since a double hull requirement could have ble hull requirement could bankrupt some barge assumptions can be made. forced early replacement of some of the 70 companies, it also acknowledged that double If implemented, the double-hull requirement single-hulled vessels, Hollywood could have hulls would reduce oil pollution — though not would have phased-out all single-hulled vessels been forced to spend millions on new tank nearly as much as the Coast Guard claimed. The 20 years or older beginning in 1985. The Coast barge construction. Shipbuilders say that a Coast Guard said the measure would reduce oil Guard said it focused on 20-year-old vessels new tank barge costs anywhere from $500,000 pollution by 80 percent, while the NAS study— because after that age, "the likelihood of (barges) to $1.5 million. compiled in part by Hollywood Marine — con- becoming involved in a pollution incident is sig- While double hulls are expensive, barge oil tends the reduction would be only 35 percent. nificantly greater than that of newer vessels." spills also carry a steep environmental price. Besides participating in the NAS study com- This apparently was the case with .the Oil spills from barges are often overlooked by mittee, Hollywood Marine led the barge indus- Hollywood barge which spilled 7,000 gallons the public since they do not generate dramatic try's charge against the double hull proposal. of oil on Memorial Day in New Orleans. images like the Exxon Valdez disaster. But as During a 1980 workshop on the controversy, Records show the barge was built in 1969 and a 1990 Department of Transportation staff Hollywood's Lawrence presented the industry's would have been replaced three years ago when memo pointed out, "In seven of the last 10 position on double hulls. At that time, Lawrence it reached 20 years of age in 1989 — if the years, barges spilled a greater volume of oil than was head of the Tank Barge Conference of the Coast Guard proposals hadn't been beaten did tankers." According to Coast Guard reports, American Waterways Operators, the barge indus- back. However, because of high replacement barges spill anywhere from 2 million to 3.7 try's trade association. costs, the incentive to continue to operate older million gallons of oil each year. The data show At the workshop, Lawrence said, "It's easy barges is great for barge companies like that barges typically spill about half a million to say that any oil spillage is bad. No matter how Hollywood. gallons more annually than tankers— except in many hulls we use and how many, other mea- The costs of replacing old barges could have years where there is a major disaster like the sures we institute, we will have some pollution." had a great impact on Bush, Baker and Exxon Valdez. Lawrence also suggested that the environmen- Mosbacher's Hollywood investments. For The reason? Barges are involved in more tal hazards of oil spills might be exaggerated. instance, all three are investors in Hollywood accidents because they operate in crowded, "Spillage of oil by barges or other sources has LPG No. 2, a limited partnership which owns shallow and narrow inland waterways. not been proved, despite research, to cause four barges. While LPG is a natural gas prod- Furthermore, the Coast Guard has said, barge imbalances in aquatic systems." Lawrence said. uct which would not have be affected by the oil spills cause more environmental damage A Sierra Club spokesman disagrees: "There double-hull proposal, LPG barges in some cases because they occur in waters that are "ecolog- is lots of research that shows oil spills do cause do carry oil products, according to Coast Guard ically very sensitive to oil pollution." harm to ecosystems, and it is totally absurd to officials. If this is the case with Hollywood say that it doesn't." LPG No. 2, the double-hull proposal could have A Regulatory Reform? Nevertheless, Bush's task force apparently been costly for the President and his partners. agreed with Hollywood Marine's point of view, Two of the Hollywood LPG No. 2 barges Despite the potential environmental benefits, though some of its arguments against double were built in 1960. Assuming they were oil-car- the Bush task force convinced the Coast Guard hulls do not hold up to scrutiny. The August rying vessels, the barges might have been phased to withdraw the double-hull proposal in 1982. 1982 task force report claimed that the double out in 1985 under the Coast Guard proposal. Founded and chaired by Bush during his Vice hull requirement would be "more restrictive than According to government records, the barges Presidency, the former Task Force on Regulatory foreign construction standards, placing U.S. were still in service four years later, as of 1989. Relief was an informal cabinet group designed shipyards at a competitive disadvantage." [The other two barges owned by Hollywood to eliminate government regulation of business. However, many shipbuilders favored the dou- LPG No. 2 were built in 1978, and therefore The Bush task force was the predecessor for ble-hull requirement, since it would generate could have avoided restrictions until 1998.] Vice President Dan Quayle's Council on new construction business. Contrary to Hollywood Marine's claims that Competitiveness. Quayle's council is currently Another reason the Bush task force opposed all of the partnership's four barges are double- under congressional attack for its relentlessly double hulls, according to trade press reports, hulled, none contain double bottoms, accord- pro-business activities. was the "dubious safety value" of the measure. ing to Coast Guard records. In order for a ves- As Task Force Chairman, Bush announced As Platt's Oilgram News reported, "the White sel to be double-hulled, according to Coast Guard to the press in August, 1981 that he was review- House noted that double hulls could increase guidelines, it must have both double sides and ing the double hull proposal as well as 29 other the danger of explosion through oil seepage." double bottoms. Two of barges have double regulatory matters. According to Oil & Gas However, congressional studies indicate that sides, while two vessels do not. Journal, Bush described these regulatory pro- there have been no explosions in double-hulled Meanwhile, Baker and Mosbacher are both posals as "too burdensome" for industry. tankers. Furthermore, double hulls on barges part owners in an additional 25 Hollywood ves- Seven months after Bush targeted the dou- have become commonplace. sels, and all of those barges were built between ble-hull proposal, the Coast Guard withdrew When the Bush task force compelled the 1978 and 1981. Thus, the Coast Guard's pro- the measure in March 1982. Under a section Coast Guard to withdraw the double hull pro- posed impact on those vessels would not have entitled "Reforms Completed," an August 1982 posal, the agency said it "continues to believe been felt for at least six years, when those barges Bush task force report claims credit for the that the frequency of accidental oil spills is too begin to reach 20 years of age. Coast Guard's change of heart on the issue. high." The Coast Guard's withdrawal notice However, it appears that at least some of In its withdrawal notice, the Coast Guard cites added that industry had offered no alterna- Mosbacher's investments in an additional 20 a National Academy of Sciences (NAS) study tives "that would approach the same degree Hollywood barges could have been immedi- that concluded that double hulls are not a cost of pollution preventative effectiveness expected ately affected by the proposal. From 1985 to effective deterrent to oil spills. In fact, in writ- for double hulls." 1988, 13 of Mosbacher's barges would have ten responses to this inquiry, Hollywood Marine reached 20 years of age. If any of one those ves-
8 • AUGUST 21, 1992 sels are single-hulled oil-carrying barges, the are oil-carrying vessels. Of those three, one of the six vessels surveyed actually specified Coast Guard proposal would have forced appears to have a double hull, while the other depth, only three met the Coast Guard require- Mosbacher's partnerships to replace them at two apparently do not. Of the remaining three ment.) great expense. vessels, in which the cargo is unknown, one Hollywood Marine is the general partner for Unfortunately, it is very difficult to determine appeared to have double hulls, while two did not. all of Bush, Baker and Mosbacher's partner- if a barge is a single-hulled oil-carrying vessel (While records show that many of Baker and ships, and the company recently stated that 30 which would have been targeted by the Coast Mosbacher's Hollywood barges have spaces percent of its fleet or roughly 70 barges are Guard proposal. This reporter was able to obtain between hulls, the exact depth of the space is single-hulled. Thus, even if only a few of these data on only six vessels jointly owned by Baker not specified in most cases. This is important, vessels would have been replaced under the and Mosbacher. as the Coast Guard has stated that a vessel must Coast Guard double hull proposal, Hollywood While this data is far from conclusive, it indi- have at least two feet of space between hulls would have had to spend millions meeting the cates that three of the Baker/Mosbacher barges to be considered double-hulled. Thus, while five requirement. Mosbacher's Interest-Free Loan and the Mexican Trade Connection fter Robert A. Mosbacher became President George Bush's that might result in or create the appearance of using public office ASecretary of Commerce in 1989, he received an interest-free loan for private gain." of more than $250,000 from Hollywood Marine President Charles There is no evidence that Mosbacher executed favorable action on Berdon Lawrence. Hollywood Marine is a Houston-based barge com- behalf of Hollywood Marine during his tenure as Commerce Secretary. pany whose investors include not only Mosbacher, but Bush and (He resigned earlier this year to run Bush's presidential campaign.) James Baker, the Secretary of State-turned-White House Chief of Staff. However, during the last year-and-a-half of his tenure at Commerce, Meanwhile, Hollywood Marine has begun trading with Mexico while Mosbacher was free to act on energy issues—and perhaps matters that its prominent investors Bush, Baker and Mosbacher have been nego- affected Hollywood Marine. When he was first nominated for tiating with top Mexican officials for a free trade agreement. The Commerce Secretary, Mosbacher promised to recuse himself from proposed agreement has provoked some controversy due to environ- all energy matters. But during the 1990 Persian Gulf War, Bush mental and job-loss concerns. granted Mosbacher a waiver from that promise which, according to When he was first nominated as Commerce Secretary in early press reports, was never lifted. 1989, Mosbacher apparently had not yet received the interest-free loan Mosbacher has been known to rail privately against the recusal from Lawrence. But sometime during that first year in office, requirement. As he told Dossier magazine in 1990, "(It) is the basic Mosbacher's financial disclosure reports show he received a 2-year law of Washington, if you know anything about a problem, you are loan from the Hollywood Marine President which exceeded $250,000. not allowed to find the solution, because of conflict of interest laws. By 1990, according to Mosbacher's reports, the loan balance had Conflict of interest is something that's hard to legislate against. If some- dropped to less than $250,000. {Public officials must only report body's going to cheat, they're going to find a way to get around it. And their assets and liabilities in vague categories, in this case the out- those are the people you have to worry about." standing loan balance was somewhere between $100,000 to $250,000.] With the recusal out of the way, there have been some interesting The loan was apparently paid off by 1991, since it does not appear coincidences between Mosbacher's government actions and on Mosbacher's reports for that year. Hollywood's new business activities. In 1989-90 when the loan was reported, Mosbacher listed "None" As Commerce Secretary, Mosbacher championed the North American under the section marked "Interest Rate" for outstanding liabilities. Free Trade Agreement with Mexico and Canada while the agree- Interest on a $250,000 loan from a commercial bank at that time ment was being negotiated. During that time, Mosbacher became friends could have reached $37,500 annually. with top Mexican officials including Trade Minister Jaime Serra However, in written responses to this inquiry, Hollywood Marine Punche and Finance Minister Pedro Aspe Armella. Mosbacher also spokesmen insisted that "there was no `loan' to Mr. Mosbacher." attended meetings at Camp David with President Bush and Mexican Mosbacher purchased stock in the company from Lawrence in President Carlos Salinas de Gortari December, 1985, the spokesmen said, and "part of the considera- In fact last February, Mexican Trade Minister Serra attended a Texas tion for this stock was an installment note which provided for no dinner honoring Mosbacher, where he praised the former Commerce interest." Secretary for being "one of the first to promote the free trade agree Mosbacher reports the outstanding debt as a two-year "promissory ment currently being negotiated." note" which was issued in 1989 — not in 1985 when the stock deal Meanwhile, after 18 years of domestic petroleum transportation, took place. Thus, Hollywood Marine spokesmen appear to have con- Hollywood Marine recently began chartering tankers to trade with tradicted Mosbacher's public financial disclosure reports. Mexico. According to the trade journal Chemical Week, Hollywood It is not surprising that Mosbacher would receive an interest-free Marine set up "Hollywood International" last fall, which in January loan from Lawrence, since the former Commerce Secretary is a major chartered five tankers to trade between the U.S. Gulf and the east coast investor in the company— perhaps the largest petroleum mover on the of Mexico. Gulf of Mexico. The article does not specify what products Hollywood is trading, From 1978-81, records show, Mosbacher personally invested up but it is likely that it is petroleum since that is Hollywood's principal to $3 million in Hollywood. Marine, and that does not include his other business. Any petroleum trade would have to be done with PEMEX, stock holdings in the company. Furthermore, Mosbacher raised sub- the monopoly oil company controlled by the Mexican government. stantial amounts from family, friends and banks on behalf of the However, in written responses Hollywood spokesmen insist that the , company. Apparently because of Mosbacher, Bush and Baker also company "does not have, nor has had, any contracts with the Mexican became investors in the company. government or PEMEX." Government ethics rules prohibit public officials from receiving Meanwhile, Bush, Baker and Mosbacher pressed Mexican officials gifts from any person seeking action from the official's agency. The for a trade agreement with expanded energy provisions. The agree- guidelines state that a government official should "avoid any action ment was approved by all three parties on August 11.
THE TEXAS OBSERVER • 9 The Exxon Valdez: More However, Mitchell Lax of the Maritime area," Gunderson said. "Spills of between White House Favors? Administration (MARAD) wrote a memo, 500,000 and one million gallons are possi- which says, "My office has quickly reviewed ble ... and I am saddened by the failure to After the Bush task force killed double hulls Secretary Skinner's draft letter... the letter ref- cover inland barges under the most important in 1982, the issue was dormant until 1989 erences a 50-year economic life for inland provisions." when the single-hulled Exxon Valdez ran equipment and a 30-year economic life for aground off Alaska, spilling 11 million gal- ocean going tank vessels. lons of oil in Prince William Sound. Due to "These time frames are not consistent with Oily Water public outcries over the incident, Congress MARAD's memorandum... on this matter in Though Hollywood has prevailed in the oil revived the double-hull issue. But the Bush which we stated that a 20-year economic life spill debate, the company's barges continue administration again fought the environmen- was appropriate for both inland and ocean to pollute the nation's waterways. According tal measure. going vessels." In other words, there is no to a 1990 report by the public interest group Perhaps the White House point of view was age distinction between barges and tankers, Common Cause, Hollywood barges have best expressed by Robert Mosbacher Jr., son according to the Department of spilled at least 200 times from 1980 to 1989. of the Bush campaign chairman, who is also Transportation's professional staff at The amount of oil spilled during each incident a Hollywood investor and was an unsuccess- MARAD. was not available from public records, the ful candidate for Texas Lt. Governor. During Despite these comments from MARAD, group said. the 1990 Texas campaign, Mosbacher Jr. was Skinner continued to argue that inland barge Of all Hollywood's pollution incidents, the widely attacked not only for Hollywood's poor operators should get more time to meet the recent 7,000-gallon Memorial Day spill in pollution record, but for a controversial speech, double-hull requirement. In the final version New Orleans was one of the most dramatic. in which he discussed the Valdez disaster: of his letter to Congress, Skinner says barges Since the spill stretched 40 miles down the "The saddest thing about the Valdez oil need an'additional 15 years to phase out their Mississippi River from Norco past New spill," Mosbacher Jr. said, "is that Congress single-skinned vessels "since such freshwater Orleans, drinking water intakes had to be has found a renewed enthusiasm for oil spill vessels have generally longer lives than ocean- shut down because oil was washing over legislation." going vessels." Vessels which operate in fresh- protective booms. Coast Guard officials said President Bush apparently was also con- water tend to last longer than ships exposed to the area's drinking water had not been con- cerned about the public's growing outrage over saltwater. taminated. oil spills. Less than a month after the Exxon However, many barges—including Holly- A Hollywood Marine spokesman told the Valdez disaster in the spring of 1989, Bush wood Marine's—operate along the Intracoastal local press that the company would pay for the decided to place his Hollywood investment in Waterway, which stretches along the Gulf $1 million cleanup. However, in the past the blind trust. Coast between Texas and Florida. Industry company has fought attempts to make it pay However, government ethics rules state an representatiVes say these barges are exposed for cleanups. For instance,. in 1985 a investment cannot be considered part of a blind to salt water along many parts of the water- Hollywood barge spilled 21,000 gallons of trust unless it is liquidated—and records show way, though it is difficult to say precisely how crude oil in the Atchafalaya river and swamp the Hollywood portion of Bush's blind trust much. Thus, contrary to Skinner's claim, it is — perhaps Louisiana's most important wildlife has not been sold. In other words, because Bush not always true that barges are "freshwater area. Hollywood refused to accept responsi- knew about the Hollywood investment, and vessels" which "have generally longer lives." bility for the spill, according to press reports, it was not sold, that part of his trust is not Nevertheless, Skinner got his wish and more. so the Coast Guard was forced to take charge considered "blind" under ethics rules. Thanks to Congressman Billy Tauzin, D-La., of the cleanup. Therefore, the President's potential conflict of a member of the House Merchant Marine The Hollywood barge in the 1985 incident interest was not eliminated during the renewed Committee, inland operators are now com- might have been single-hulled since the bot- oil spill debate (In fact, while Baker placed his pletely exempt from the double-hull require- tom of the vessel ripped open when it hit a sub- Hollywood investments in blind trust in 1981, ment. Months after Tauzin received $2,000 in merged object, creating a 2-mile long slick they, too, were never liquidated.) speaking fees from barge interests, his staff in the Atchafalaya swamp. Four years later, With Bush, Baker and Mosbacher's successfully lobbied for the exemption during another Hollywood barge spilled another 5,000 Hollywood Marine investments intact, the last-minute bill negotiations. gallons of oil-tainted wastewater at the head administration once again sided with industry The law says that barges will only have to of the Atchafalaya River Basin. on the oil spill issue. For instance, Sam Skinner, adapt a vague, not-yet-defined "double con- Besides the1985 Atchafalaya spill, Holly- whiled he served as Transportation Secretary, tainment system" to be determined by the wood also tried to avoid paying for two spills initially told Congress the administration Secretary of Transportation. While most sin- along the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway during opposed double hulls on all vessels. In a let- gle-hulled tankers will have to be phased out the mid-1970's. In both cases, the government ter to House Speaker Thomas Foley, Skinner on a schedule beginning in 1995, barges will was forced to sue Hollywood to recover wrote, "the administration would oppose, any not have to adapt the double containment sys- cleanup costs. amendment that would mandate double hulls tem until the year 2015. Besides oil spills, Hollywood barges have or double bottoms for oil tankers." When Congress voted on the legislation, proven to be hazardous in other ways. In 1989, When it became apparent that Congress Representative Steve Gunderson, R-Wisc., a Hollywood barge carrying liquefied was going to mandate some sort of double complained about the exemption, since he petroleum gas (LPG) hit a bridge in Houma, hull-requirement, Skinner argued that the Bush had tried to force barges to construct double La. and began to leak. About 2,000 people administration should be given broad discre- hulls within 10 years. Gunderson's district were evacuated, since LPG is highly flam- tion implementing the requirement. When that includes the Upper Mississippi River National mable. It is not known if the barge was owned didn't work, records show, Skinner lobbied Wildlife and Fish Refuge, which is heavily by Bush, Baker and Mosbacher's Hollywood for special treatment of inland waterway barge burdened with barge traffic. LPG No.2 partnership. operators like Hollywood Marine. "Each year hundreds of barges pass through In addition, a barge partly owned by Baker In a draft version of his letter to Congress, the [wildlife refuge]," Gunderson told the and Mosbacher exploded in October, 1986, Skinner initially argued that the useful life House during the floor debate. "Those of us generating a fire that burned for two days in the of inland barges is 20 years longer than ocean- who live in the region carry a constant con- Houston Ship Channel. The barge was carry- going tankers like the Valdez. "We estimate cern that we may lose the refuge in the event ing a gasoline additive which caught fire. A the useful economic life of these vessels to of a major barge spill of oil or other hazardous Coast Guard spokesman at the scene said, "It he fifty years," Skinner wrote in the draft let- material on the upper river. is burning so hot you can see the water boil- ter, arguing that inland barges should be given "Each year, one billion gallons of hazardous ing around [the barge]." Seven men were more time to meet the double-hull requirement. materials are transported through the refuge injured, and one man was killed. ❑ 10 • AUGUST 21, 1992 Health Care Costs: Whales and Fishes
BY MOLLY IVINS
INCE THE PRESIDENTIAL candidates administration, academia, think tanks, the media, here are the insurance companies, the American clearly aren't going to debate health insur- and select environmentalists." Medical Association and a truly impressive coali- ance in an intelligent fashion (Bush's As you probably already know, much of the tion of those with a stake in the status quo. 5 •political debate in Washington is controlled There are two things you should keep in mind campaign is now claiming he does so have a health care plan, 94 pages of it, much longer by the research and position papers done by when you hear competing claims about national than Clinton's, so there: just because he's been think tanks, and as you surely already suspect, health insurance: one is that it is working in president for three and a half years and the those think tanks are funded by the same sources every other industrialized democracy. Perso- centerpiece of his proposal still hasn't been writ- of money behind the Superfund Coalition, i.e., nally, I think if the Italians can make it work, ten, much less sent to Congress, has nothing organized corporate special interests. For exam- so can we. It is true that wealthy Canadians cross to do with the case) let's us do it ourselves. ple, the major funders of the American Enterprise the border to get high-tech health care in this A useful starting point here is the chapter of Institute are AT&T, Chase Manhattan Bank, country: Beloveds, the rich are always going to be able to buy themselves better care, no mat- Bill Greider's book Who Will Tell The People? Chevron, Citicorp, Exxon, General Electric, (Simon and Schuster), on the Superfund General Motors, Procter & Gamble and so on. ter what system is in place. Coalition, a political lobbying consortium of An additional sophisticated device of deep The argument that the Oregon plan, just shot companies who want to repeal the Superfund lobbying is also at play in both the Superfund down by the Bush administration, proves that law that forces corporations to clean up their fight and in the health care debate purchased Americans will not put up with rationing health toxic waste disposal sites. What the hell does democracy. There are lobbying firms in care is piffle. Health care is already rationed that have to do with health insurance, you nat- Washington that specialize in getting us regu- in this country, drastically, cruelly, and unin- telligently rationed by income level. urally inquire. lar citizens involved in these huge interest fights Ah, but you see, first we want to get the Big — on the side of the huge special interest and One of the best features of the Oregon plan, Picture: we need to understpd how major issues against the general public interest. Greider pro- which had the advantage of being openly dis- like health care got debated and decided in vides some wonderful examples of how this cussed at great length over a long period of Washington and how our understanding of them works, but we can find them closer to home. It time with much input from ethicists, was the is manipulated by the big fish. To use an old happens in the Texas Legislature, too, because decision not to make extraordinary efforts to populist metaphor, we're the topwaters in this legislators can't just say, "I'm voting for this save those in the terminal stages of cancer and deal, the little bitty fish swimming around on bill because Exxon's PAC gave me a big con- AIDS. Well upwards of 60 percent of the cost the surface. The big fish swim down deep where tribution." They've got to be able to say, "Look, of health care in this country is spent during the no one can see them, and in the health-care I got all these letters from the Martha Masons last month of a patient's life, when it is far too debate, there are some by-God whales among and the Bosque County Dairy association and late to save him or her. ❑ the players. The whales can afford to do what the AARP in Luling — this is what the people is called "deep lobbying," long range, extremely want me to do." In other words, be very, very expensive — but effective — shaping of the careful of where you get your information on ,"' dSea boundaries of political debate. this issue, because a whole lot of information is To use Greider's example of the Superfund bought and paid for. 0A••••• Horse Coalition, the founding members were General Now, the good news for us topwaters is that • Inn Electric, Dow, Du Pont, Union Carbide, some of the big fish are on our side in the health I• insurance debate. Greider reports, "For decades, 0 Monsanto and AT&T. They stand to lose bil- Kitchenettes-Cable TV the American public expressed its support for 1., lions of dollars if they actually have to clean up Pool 04 the toxic sites they created, as the law now national health insurance, and such groups as ir organized labor actively campaigned for it. $ beside the Gulf of Mexico 0 ih,. mandates. They have been joined by major insur- °kw ance companies, also potentially liable for huge Nothing happened. Now major corporate lead- j on Mustang Island losses — Aetna, Cigna, Crum & Forster, ers—the CEO's of Chrysler, American Airlines, / Available for private parties 41171 Ford, and many others, have declared support Hartford and others. Their purpose is to con- &ily► Unique European Charm vince both the public and Congress that the for basic reforms for their own purposes, because the soaring cost of private health-insurance sys- & A tmosphere Superfund law doesn't work. Greider notes, "the Spring & Summer Rates .0, initial budget was set at $480,000 a year—a tem is devouring corporate balance sheets, too. Special Low lot of money for political research but a pittance "The political community, therefore, is at last Pets Welcome c'et compared to the billions the companies might stirring on the subject. A goal that was routinely save by changing the law." dismissed as 'socialist' or too expensive has 1423 11th Street.* abruptly found a place on the agenda." Happy j The coalition's plan, written by the lobbying iifil Port Aransas, TX 78373 IS firm Charles E. Walker Associates, was to finance days, even General Electric is in favor of uni- high-quality research and concentrate on "the versal health-care reform. call (512) 749-5221 building of key allies in industry, Congress, the But that doesn't mean victory is in view. Just for R e se rva t ions ,f for starters, those opposed to national health insur- ance are putting $10 million a year into trying to oSik Molly lvins, a former Observer editor, is a convince Americans that the Canadian single- columnist for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. payer system is no damn good. The chief whales THE TEXAS OBSERVER • 11 BOOKS & THE CULTURE Unsanctioned Thinking
BY GEOFF RIPS WHO WILL TELL THE PEOPLE: ishment, unfortunately, is yet THE BETRAYAL OF AMERICAN to be meted out. Then the DEMOCRACY. exploration of the Purgatorio By William Greider. of those striving to change 464 pages. New York: things, some ascending higher Simon & Schuster. $25. than others. Finally, there is Paradiso–only briefly dreamed We have it in our power to begin the world of and not realized. again. —Tom Paine You must gird yourself for the descent, even the follow- ILL GREIDER HAS this knack for lay- ing brief description. So I give ing bare the unfathomable. His Secrets you the words of your thought- of the Temple began with the fairly arcane ful and humane guide, Bill B Greider: subject of the Federal Reserve System and turned it into a tale of the culture of money in this "The elusive, redeeming country, how that culture has manipulated the paradox of American democ- American economy for the benefit of the few racy is that people are made and how that affects the daily lives of Americans. powerful, despite all of the Now he has taken on the political culture of political obstacles, when they the United States, the promise and abject fail- come together and decide that they can be powerful." ure of American democracy, and he has ended up with a handbook to be used in the rescue of American democracy—if there is to be one. n the first circle of the It is a book about government torn loose from Inferno belong the think its moorings—the people it purports to repre- I tanks. "Democracy is held sent. It is about the justifiable alienation of captive by the mystique of most of the electorate; about a system of gov- rational policymaking," ernance at once deliberately obscure and hope- Greider writes. In the Infor- lessly transparent; about the politics of gover- mation Age, it has become nance and not simply the biennial spasm of necessary for politicians— elections; about the system's key players, now separated by a gulf of spe- reformers and outsiders; and it is about the cial influence from most of political power that remains untapped, largely their constituents—to have unknown at the heart of the populace, the rough reasons for their actions. And beast moving its slow thighs. so think tanks came to their This is what former Observer editor Larry rescue, most funded by major Goodwyn would call an "unsanctioned" book, corporations or by foundations loaded with unsanctioned ideas about what we funded by corporations, which themselves have also sprouted call American democracy. It is premised on the ALAN POGUE renegade notion that we should know why peo- public affairs offices oozing ple don't vote, why our government doesn't information. The once mar- William Greider at LBJ School, 1988 work, why our battles are never won, why it ginal American Enterprise takes 20 years to get airbags, why government Institute, for example, became a major player Virginia suburbs into the richest counties in machinations trump common sense, why we are in the 1980s, funded by AT&T, Chase America and, in many cases, drowning out the in such a fix. Manhattan, Chevron, Citicorp, Exxon, General public-interest argument. Ordinary citizens come The book can be read rather loosely as a par- Electric, General Motors, Procter & Gamble and go. But the corporations stayed. allel of Dante's great journey (itself a major and others to spew in myriad forms the mod- Their purpose, in large part, was to circum- political critique): the descent into the circles ern-day equivalent of "what's good for General scribe the debate, to fill the air with words, to of government as it is: regulatory agencies, lob- Motors is good for America." provide officeholders with a rationale for con- byists, corporations, the parties, the press, the Many of these corporate-sponsored think tanks tradicting the will of the people. They equated Presidency. The sins are revealed, but the pun- initially were created in answer to the appear- the unsanctioned grassroots protest with the irra- ance of public-interest groups in the early 1970s, tional. Real citizens were "made to feel dumb" loaded with data and driven by crusading reform- by reams of information generated by think- Geoff Rips is a former Observer editor who ers like Ralph Nader. They also appeared in tanks, public relations hacks and lawyers. "The had been waiting for a contemporary sequel response to the increased regulation by federal real political contest," writes Greider, "is a to C. Wright Mills' s The Power Elite and found agencies spawned in the 1960s and '70s. And so struggle between competing value systems— that and more in Greider' s book. money flowed to the Potomac, transforming the confident scientific rationalism of the gov-
12 • AUGUST 21, 1992 erning elites versus the deeply felt human val- downfall and so denied the obvious. The citizen fortable position among the affluent and pow- ues expressed by people who are not equipped bailout of these wheeler-dealers was the result of erful. The Democratic Party has lost its way as to talk like experts and who, in fact do not nec- more of the same. Who will tell the people? a mediating institution for working people. The essarily share the experts' conception of public The people are cut out of the debate. They corporate influence in the party has kept "new morality." know that this country needs a growing econ- ideas off the table." Why has the Democratic As illustration, Greider tells of the industry's omy based on growing incomes for workers. Party avoided issues of real economic change response to the Superfund legislation of 1986. But the power elite want that old trickle-down, to benefit the vast majority of this nation? Rather than live with this surprising defeat, so they close the game before it starts. "The Because the party as an institution has lost touch General Electric, Dow, Du Pont, Union Carbide, problem of modern democracy is rooted in its with real people in favor of power players. Monsanto, AT&T and large insurance compa- neglect of unorganized people," writes Greider. The Republicans, on the other hand, have nies including Aetna and Cigna formed a been successful in recent years by posing as the Coalition on the Superfund 'to influence the nd lower still: "the Grand Bazaar." In part of the disaffected while holding power. A debate when the Superfund would be up for the executive branch, writes Greider, neat trick. It is a party devoted to marketing. more funding in the early '90s. They hired the "high art of governing ... has been What the Republicans sell in elections has lit- William Ruckelshaus, a former EPA adminis- reduced to a busy commerce in deal making." tle to do with governing but everything to do trator, and, after approaching the major And the most important deals are cut over the with establishing emotional bonds, even with Washington environmental groups, convinced law itself, its interpretation and enforcement. an electorate that understands the Republican the Conservation Foundation, headed by William "There are already plenty of laws. The problem Party is the guardian of the interests of the rich. Reilly, to undertake a study on how to make the is political power," says Lois Gibbs, Love Canal People know, writes Greider, that the "elections, Superfund work (and shift the cost to the pub- hero and leader of the Citizen's Clearinghouse like television commercials, are not real....the lic). The way to make it work, of course, was for Hazardous Waste. Republican Party gives them the chance...to for the EPA to enforce the law, which the pol- The grand bazaar is a major source of the breach `share the fantasy.' luters were fighting every step of the way. of trust felt by this country's citizenry. Greider Who are these political parties? Greider asks. Instead, the Conservation Foundation set up an says it is characterized by the application of laws The national Democratic Party consists of about advisory panel, composed of the polluters and at random, amounting to a kind of lawlessness. 100,000 people contributing money in off- some environmentalists. By 1991, the debate in He quotes political scientist Theodore Lowi on Presidential election years. The GOP has the press had been steered clear of corporate the regulatory behavior of Washington as gov- 750,000 contributors. By comparison, Amnesty responsibility to questions of the cost to busi- ernment by "universalized ticket fixing." Every International has 450,000 dues-paying mem- ness of the cleanup and the suddenly reduced issue is negotiated in the fine print. bers; the Industrial Areas Foundation counts 2 estimates of actual health dangers. Meanwhile, As a result, Lee Iacocca, then with Ford, million families nationwide. The National Rifle William Reilly became head of EPA and the was able to delay airbags as a required safety Association has 2.5 million dues payers. AARP Ruckelshaus deputy assigned to the coalition device for 20 years—airbags he now touts on has 32 million members, and the AFL-CIO became Reilly's lieutenant. For polluters and Chrysler commercials. It took 25 years to ban has 14 million. There are 55 million Roman their insurers, the Superfund problem was, tem- red dyes in food and still takes years to require Catholics in the United States. "Political par- porarily at least, under control. increased fuel efficiency in cars. ties do function as mediating institutions, only As a result of this kind of activity, we find Curtis Moore, former Republican counsel not for voters," Greider writes. ourselves in debates about whether acceptable to the Senate Environment and Public Works The relationship between ordinary people and levels of toxics should kill one human per Committee, described the process: their government has become dysfunctional. 100,000 or three. We find the White House "Twenty years ago, we set out to eliminate Gulfs have grown between the people and their Office of Management and Budget (OMB) this sulfur dioxide from the air. Here we are twenty representatives, between the workers and the past spring saying that new toxic exposure reg- years later and more than 100 million Americans investors. Voting has dropped, says Greider, per- ulations for certain work should be suspended are still breathing air with unhealthful levels haps because people understand that their rela- because OSHA hadn't adequately considered of sulfur dioxide. Why? Because the companies tionship with the governance that affects their the adverse effect on the workers' health of busi- fight you when you try to pass a law. They lives is sundered. They are not apathetic or unin- nesses' costs of compliance. We encounter cost- fight you when you try to pass a second law. formed. They know the score. They've lost hope benefit debates on the relative value of work- They fight you when you try to write the regu- in their ability to control their own lives. They ers' lives based on the costs of protecting them. lations. They fight you when you try to enforce understand that elections are meaningless if This becomes acceptable debate in Washington, the regulations. Nowhere do they ever stop their bond with govymment is meaningless. while the outrage of a neighborhood group fight- and say: 'Let's obey the law." Their citizenship has been "miniaturized." ing a toxic dump is unacceptable. Greider descends further—into the realms of ltimately, citizens end up having to ow we enter Purgatory. We come here "well-kept secrets" and "elite debate." The enforce the laws themselves through to look for and build mediating insti- debate on taxes, the S&L crisis, the current U mobilized outrage and protest. Witness N tutions. The old institutions, such as secret bailout of banks through artificially low the East Austin tank farm, where a minority parties based in local politics, glued by ward short-term interest rates—those in power, says community's protests of health hazards from heelers , are gone. Vast numbers of people used Greider, would like these issues to remain in the gasoline storage tanks brought belated state to be protected and represented by labor orga- hands of officeholders, corporate lobbyists and action. But this is not an adequate or demo- nizations, but their power has been cut by both lawyers so that they can work out policy that cratic solution. Government should not be the global economic shift and the legal ham- best suits them. If the public knows, then things functioning the stifle the people's will but to mers imposed on workers by the federal gov- will get messy. But who will tell the people? make it manifest. Nor should political debate ernment over the past 15 years. How can Congress pass successive tax bills be removed to the courtroom. Even when cit- But there is hope. There are heroes. Lois that increasingly burden the middle class? By izens are able to enter that room, they have left Gibbs and her efforts to spur and coalesce com- not telling the people that is what they are doing. their leverage outside. "Of course the law's up munities in their fights against toxic hazards. "You can do taxes as long as Dan Rather can't for grabs!" former Carter advisor and corpo- There is the IAF network. [Note: San Antonio explain them in 10 seconds," said tax lobbyist rate lawyer Stuart Eizenstat told Greider. "The spawned two of the three heroes in this book: John K. Raffaeli, explaining the "Rather rule." law's always up for grabs....The law is not Cortes and Henry B. Gonzales.] How could the S&L crisis have gone on so long an inflexible instrument like a cannon that can While the Nader-style reformers belong with with no public attention (save for Congressmen be lined up and fired. It's a flexible human those striving for change, Greider argues that Henry B. Gonzales and Jim Leach of. Iowa)? instrument that responds to political power." they fall short because they depend too much Because the government and its friends were heav- There are other circles to visit. The press has on individual action, on the courts, on the game's ily invested, financially and politically, in the been transmogrified from vox populi to a corn- being played on the terms of those in authority.
THE TEXAS OBSERVER • 13 Instead, change has to be based in commu- remain dysfunctional. How to cross over? that is to seize control of what happens within nity and in relationships. Politics begins in per- t is interesting that Greider believes that, our borders. The working people of this coun- sonal relationships. Real political change to ultimately succeed, the democratic pol- try already understand this. But this puts them requires the melding of the personal and polit- I itics born around kitchen tables and in in direct conflict with the interests of the multi- ical: "the power of [the civil rights move- church basements must embrace a global national corporations now controlling U.S. ment]...was rooted in what people believed understanding: "To salvage democr4cy at policy. Rescuing the American and global about themselves." Its legitimacy came not home, Americans... must learn to act as demo- economies is not a question of policy. from press bites but from thousands of meet- cratic citizens of the world." Solutions are known and can be applied. It ings in church basements. The Cold War has been replaced in the new is a question of power. So too, the IAF network derives its strength American Ideology with the fear of falling And that power must begin at kitchen tables, and moral authority from thousands of meet- behind in international competition. As a where political relationships are first formed. ings in churches and homes and from the fact result, the international market has become Greider believes the closer regular people are that its positions are derived from "personal a "closet dictator." In the name of this mar- to the center of government, the greater pos- experiences, not from the policy exl3serts." The ket we are not preventing jobs from leaving sibilities are for real democracy. The demo- Industrial Areas Foundation concentrates on the our shores, we are signing away our rights cratic conversation requires that the muted substantive end of the political process—hold- to environmental and product safety by sign- babble of lawyers be replaced by the bar- ing government accountable for actions that ing international trade agreements, The new baric yawp of the people. But these conver- affect people's lives. Greider goes on at length national agenda is dictated by multinational sations will only amount to harmless talk and about the IAF network, particularly as it func- interests, who themselves show no loyalty will not change anything, writes Greider, tions in Texas, wondering at one point if the to this country. "The U.S. trade deficit is not unless the people at those tables "decide it debate in a Texas IAF meeting held in San the most important thing in my life...running ought to." Antonio were "what the dialogue of a genuine an effective business is," said a GE executive. "This is an unsanctioned idea, but this is democracy would sound like?" Greider says the current global economy the democratic idea," wrote Larry Good- But there is still the problem for these orga- necessitates declining living standards at home wyn, "that the people will participate in nizations of reaching beyond their own bound- and abroad because it is predicated on pro- the process by which their lives are or- aries, getting a hearing in the age of mass com- ductive overcapacity and declining wages. ganized." munication. Elections as the great connector The need instead, writes Greider, is to foster That way Paradiso lies—even if only faintly between the people and the structures of power worldwide economic growth. The way to do imagined. The Price of Contentment
BY DAVE DENISON THE CULTURE OF CONTENTMENT. economically and socially fortunate were, By John Kenneth Galbraith. as we know, a small minority — char- 195 pages. Boston: acteristically a dominant and ruling hand- Houghton Mifflin. $21.95. ful. They are now a majority, ...a major- ity not of all citizens but of those who WO YEARS INTO THE Bush recession actually vote." As members of this con- and now in an election year marked with tented majority Galbraith includes, of T citizen disgust, disaffection, and discon- course, the wealthiest citizens, as well as tent, bookstore browsers might well wonder the professional class of lawyers, doc- what Professor Galbraith is onto in his latest tors, journalists, engineers, and inde- book, The Culture of Contentment. pendent businesspeople and mid-and The national political discussion has been col- upper-level managers, and, as well, the ored by reports of a deep restiveness on ques- two-career working couples and others tions of race relations, doubts about the efficacy in the working class who saw promise in of politics, and anger about the ways the the Reagan-Bush policies. As Galbraith Democrats and Republicans have sold out the describes it, these contented voters have interests of the middle class. As polls show a identified in the Republican approach to towering majority of people who say the coun- politics and economics that which is most try is "on the wrong track," a good number of likely to protect their comfort, their pock- voters were even willing to look toward an etbook, and their own short-term inter-
unproven — and, as it turned out, unwilling - ests. "What once justified the favored - Texas billionaire for economic leadership. position of the few — a handful of aris- Meanwhile, the at least temporarily popular tocrats or capitalists — has now become Democratic candidate presses forward with a the favoring defense of the comfortable campaign for "change." many," Galbraith writes. And yet Galbraith gives us a picture of The rise in the number of Americans American politics ruled by a comfortable, con- living in poverty during these past years tented, self-satisfied majority: "In past times, the is duly noted; but "the much larger num- ber of Americans who live well above the poverty line and the very consider- Dave Denison, a former Observer editor, is a able number who live in comparative ALAN POGUE freelance writer based in Cambridge, Mass. well- being have, on the other hand, occa- John Kenneth Galbraith, 1983
14 • AUGUST 21, 1992 sioned much less comment," he states. It is of reasonable, comprehensible, and sane eco- that the contented majority is not always silent the mood and the "culture" of this upper- crust nomics (a uncrowded subspecialty), which as in its contentment. "They can be...very angry crowd that Galbraith seeks to explain. To put been marked by The Affluent Society in 1958, and very articulate about what seems to invade it informally, he is interested in showing exactly The New Industrial State in 1967, and their state of self-satisfaction." In this case, if what variety bill of goods these voters have Economics and Public Purpose in 1973. The many of the contented are now discontented bought. "Galbraith argument" holds up the New Deal are they still operating within the culture of In this task, Professor Galbraith is his usual as the standard for favorable government pol- contentment? devastatingly rational and persuasive self. He icy; against this period of crisis, government Galbraith's answer seems to be yes. As long examines one of the central tenets of the poli- response, and social progress our own times are as the common understanding of the purpose of tics of contentment: that government is a bur- measured. politics is to insure one's own well-being and den (as per R. Reagan, "Government is not the Clearly the domination by the contented comfort and privilege, as long as citizens' bear- solution, it is the problem."). From this, it fol- is, as it has always been, an obstacle to ings are set by calculations about what burdens lows that the contented will naturally oppose progress. But... there are a few nagging ques- of government can be shirked or avoided, then taxation, and the many "wasteful" uses for their tions about whether Galbraith's framework — the polity is more interested in contentment than tax dollars. But those government functions the culture of contentment — is a suitable in citizenship. At any rate, whether or not the which favor, or do not threaten, the contented explanation for our times. In the income fig- contented are as numerous and as monolithic as are not opposed: Social Security, military expen- ures provided by Professor Galbraith, we find Galbraith would suggest, it is hard to deny that ditures, bailouts of wealthy depositors at failed almost 13 percent of Americans living below contentment is at least one of many factors banks, interest payments on government debt... the poverty line. We find, by contrast, 20 per- that explains the deterioration of politics and "These constitute in the aggregate by far the cent living on more than $50,000 per year. the decline of a civic vision. Galbraith envi- largest part of the federal budget and that which Those at the bottom, he asserts, play little sions several possible scenarios that might break in recent times has shown by far the greatest part in influencing politics, so it is not sur- the mood of contentment: widespread economic increase. What remains — expenditures for prising that government policies have favored disaster, an unpopular foreign war, or an angry welfare, low-cost housing, health care for those those at the top. But what these figures also uprising by the underclass. The 1930s and the otherwise unprotected, public education and the tell us is that with 13 percent at the bottom and 1960s saw such conditions. diverse needs of the great urban slums — is what 20 percent at the top, that leaves 67 percent — Hinted at but not explored is another possi- is now viewed as the burden of government." a vast majority — in the middle.. Galbraith bility: that a new understanding of politics and How is it, Galbraith asks, that the contented places much of this group in the contented elec- citizenship could gain in strength and compete majority has thought itself to be opposed to toral majority. with the politics of contentment. Is this a mat- government solutions and yet accepted such There is first of all the problem of whether ter merely of the public being seized by a social an expensive government program as the it was, in fact, contentment and comfort that led conscience or awakened to an intelligent view Reagan-era military build-up? How is it that the those in the middle class to vote for Reagan and of the long-term best interests of the commu- new understanding of government's role has led Bush and to turn against government and taxes. nity? Few would argue that politics operates to the expenditure of billions to rescue failed Could it not be argued that wage- earners in the on such an ethereal or altruistic level. The link financial institutions instead of the reasonable $20,000 to $50,000 range have been working that needs to be made is between individual self- regulation that could have prevented such a harder just to keep even and have legitimate interest and the self-interest of the commu- debacle? How have we come to be saddled fears about losing income to the IRS? Maybe nity. Understanding that we live with corpo- with an economy that requires a large and per- the contentment is not so deep as Galbraith rate capitalism means understanding that the manent underclass and that was designed in the supposes. In black America, even though a community as a whole cannot experience 1980s to richly reward those corporate honchos numerical majority are employed, it is known progress without a strong role played by gov- whose energies. were spent on mergers and acqui- what is happening to black communities and to ernment. The new article of faith will need to sitions rather than on long-term, productive black families — the pain touches all who pay be "Not less government but better government." investment? ti attention. Among women there is a discon- And better government depends on active cit- Galbraith explains these and other familiar tent with social policies that make it difficult to izenship. What Galbraith seems not to envision highlights of the Age of Reagan as the natural raise and support children — with or without is away to get to that point by appealing to consequences of the dominating politics of con- help from fathers. Among working families there pocketbook issues. It could, in fact, be that sti- tentment. As would be expected, he is especially is an awareness that it is harder in this genera- fled economic aspiration is as much a factor attuned to the role economists have played in tion than in the previous one to become finan- in American political culture as widespread con- constructing the rationale for the policies that cially secure. tentment. There may be a natural majority out gained favor in the recent decade. Noting that It is true that the significant segment of the there in favor of again setting out toward the reputable economics has always accommo- middle class represented by such people has not Great Society if only this majority can regain dated itself to "what the socially and econom- rallied to a new vision of New Deal politics. its faith in government — that is to say, if it can ically favored most wish or need to have But there are other explanations than content- regain faith in itself. It may not be contented- believed," Galbraith finds in current economics ment to explain that. (The most obvious being ness impeding that so much as it is hopeless- age-old arguments against government action, that such a new vision has not been offered.) ness. ❑ as well as a suspicious moral approach to ques- There is a mass resignation at work. The polit- tions of wealth and poverty. George Gilder, for ical culture is producing little that offers citi- one, a popular theorist in the Reagan White zens real hope; and power protects itself in House, wrote of the ways regressive taxes help innumerable ways by preventing people from ANDERSON & COMPANY the poor and argued that "In order to succeed, imagining something better, from believing in COFFEE the poor need most of all the spur of their it, and from acting for it. The Culture of TEA SPICES poverty." The companion doctrine of what came Contentment suggests Americans are victims TWO JEFFERSON SQUARE to be known as supply-side economics was, of of a failure of conscience or of intelligence, or AUSTIN, TEXAS 78731 course, that the rich needed tax relief, so as to both. But that is not the same as a failure of 512 453-1533 be able to productively use their wealth. "To imagination, which may be the more accurate Send me your list. this end," Galbraith concludes, "the rich needed diagnosis. Name the spur of more money, the poor the spur of Even if Galbraith's analysis serves as an Street their own poverty." explanation for what was going on in the 1980s, The political and economic critique of the does it stand up now? The professor sensed the City Zip Culture of Contentment is vintage Galbraith. beginnings of a new ferment as his book was He draws on a distinguished career in the field going to press. Thus, it was important to note
THE TEXAS OBSERVER • 15 Rewriting the Rules and Winning the Game
BY LOUIS DUBOSE AMERICA: WHAT WENT WRONG? House committee in 1989. In truth, the authors services, an increased deficit or an effort to By Donald L. Barlett and James B. Steele write, "more trucking companies failed in the recapture the money somewhere else — often 235 pages. Kansas City: 1980s than in the entire forty-five years that the from the middle class. (And the budget deficit, Andrews and McMeel. $6.95. Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) reg- Barlett and Steele observe, is not bad news for ulated the industry." (The Motor Carrier Act everyone. It is the largest transfer of wealth in ere is a book that Ross Perot described was passed in 1980.) And the "$20 billion" that history, much of it taxes paid by workers to ser- as "world class" and Bill Clinton has the Brookings Institution reported was saved vice interest on debt held by foreign and domes- H been, according to the The Wall Street in rate and service charges was never passed tic bankers and bondholders.) Journal, "clutching like a prayer book." It was on to consumers. What seems to be missing from the politics made into a PBS program, frequently cited in New trucking companies were created by that we not so much practice as observe today Sunday morning policy wonk shows and will deregulation, as proponents had predicted. But is connectedness. What Went Wrong? makes be quoted repeatedly between now and the elec- most were one-person operations, business ven- connections. tion. But after November, the work of Donald tures patched together by workers laid off by Pharmaceutical companies didn't leave places Bartlett and James Steele, a Pulitzer team consolidations -- entrepreneurs, earning less like New York, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey with the Philadelphia Inquirer, could be for- working for themselves while sacrificing health to relocate to Puerto Rico just because wages in gotten, regardless of who wins. That's because insurance and pension benefits to survive. The Puerto Rico are lower, but because in 1976 this book is one-half of an election campaign. sort of entrepreneur truckers who show up at Congress amended the Tax Code and "exempted It serves the all-important purpose of focusing Snow's Welding and Truck Repair in Tyler, car- dividends - or profits - in Puerto Rico from the political discourse on the most important issue rying their own used parts for DeWayne Snow United States income tax, and allowed the prof- — not abortion but the political economy. Then, to install. "It's real tough on them ... they don't its made there to be shipped back into the United in the straightforward language of workaday fix anything anymore," Snow said. Nor did States tax free." That's one connection. Another: journalism, it discusses how the U.S. economy deregulation help Charles Wright, a Maryland based on Treasury Department data, that 1976 was mismanaged into its current perilous state. warehouse worker who also became an tax code amendment resulted in $14 billion Then, after examining the wreckage of the entrepreneur, through an Employee Stock in lost income taxes during the '80s. American economy, it ends. The few solutions Ownership Plan (ESOP). Recognizing his com- Individual workers' pensions weren't lost proposed are procedural and not programmatic. pany was about to go under, Wright put on an because of economic downturn. They were lost What Went Wrong,? is diagnostic, not prog- "I'm an Owner" button and accepted his stock because, in part, companies are now raiding pen- nostic or therapeutic. certificates and a pay cut from $500 to $425 a sions to deal with the staggering debt incurred But the diagnosis, based on two years of inter- week. In the end the company he "owned" failed. in the '80s. Such debt would never have been views and 100,000 pages of documents, is thor- Similar results were documented in the dereg- incurred had the government responded by end- ough. It supports the authors' basic theme: ulated airline industry, where the story contin- ing the tax write off for corporate debt, thus that what happened to the economy didn't just ues even after the book ends, as TWA employ- eliminating the incentive to borrow. Prohibiting happen; it was made to happen by a federal ees in mid-August acquiesce to salary and companies from moving protected pension funds government that acted as a servant to busi- benefit reductions in hopes of holding onto their into unregulated annuities would have also ness and "rewrote the rule book." jobs. (Now President Bush, the authors observe, made a big difference. The rewriting of the rule book, as exam- now promises to deregulate banking.) Connections are also made between perpe- ined by Barlett and Steele, began not in the The rewriting of the rule book as it pertained trators of corporate policy and their victims. Reagan Administration but in the Carter to taxation wasn't what was promised, either. Fifty-six-year-old Patsy Perry of Teas Valley, Administration. Back when some economists 1986 was to be a year to return some of the tax West Virginia, did not receive a flat $1,000 in and politicians spoke of "deregulation" with the burden to the wealthy, and Illinois Democrat pension from the retail chain where she had same reverence many now attach to "free trade." Marty Russo of the House Ways and Means worked for 12 years because no money had Deregulation, then touted as the economic Committee described that year's Tax Reform been set aside, but because executives Russel tonic that would heal the American economy, Act as a guarantee that "everybody pays a fair Isaacs and Ray Darnall, who together had less was the Democratic Party antecedent to the share." The law Russo designed was supposed company tenure than Perry, drew $532,345 economic policies of Ronald Reagan. And the to eliminate loopholes by imposing an alter- out of the fund to pay their own pensions first. results were not exactly what policy makers had native minimum tax. The result: "[In 1986] The 450 employees who lost their jobs when promised. In one chapter, the authors consider 198,688 individuals and families with incomes the 88-year-old Sakowitz retail store chain in three deregulated industries, trucking, airlines over $100,000 paid alternative minimum taxes Houston was closed were not victims of a weak and to a lesser extent S&Ls. In doing so, they totaling $4.6 billion. Three years later, in 1989, economy. A change in "the rule book," which separate politicians' claims from harsh eco- under the new law praised by Russo and his col- made Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings an nomic realities. leagues, 49,844 individuals and families with easy escape for corporate raiders, helped close "The trucking industry has saved billions incomes over $100,000 paid alternative mini- the stores. Sakowitz had been acquired by the of dollars through the more efficient opera- mum taxes totaling $46 million. ... On average, L.L. Hooker Company which had incurred so tions allowed and stimulated by deregulation. a millionaire in 1986 paid an alternative mini- much debt, it finally declared bankruptcy. ... The benefits to customers from deregula- mum tax of $116,395. Three years later the It is by relating policy decisions to human tion exceeded our fondest dreams " former average millionaire paid $54,758." Such lost consequences, proceeding from documents to ICC chairman Darius W. Gaskins Jr. told a revenue inevitably results in cuts in government Continued on pg. 21
16 • AUGUST 21, 1992 Looking for America
BY BARBARA BELEJACK THE BURIED MIRROR. ranging introduction to Latin or Spanish seeds of Latin America's potential in the exam- Reflections on Spain and the New World. America, depending on the nomenclature you ple of medieval Spain, with its multiple cultural By Carlos Fuentes. use. Fuentes favors Spanish America, although heritage of Islam, Christianity, and Judaism, 399 pages. Boston: he's not opposed to plucking a reference from and in early Spanish democratic institutions. At Houghton Mifflin. $35. Brazil when it suits his purpose. The "mirror" times the connections seem thin, and he stretches is a reference to the mirrors buried by the ancient them to fit his overall purpose, a new look at the VERY TIME I come back to Mexico from Totonacas at El Tajin, an archeological site in Black Legend and its lingering influence. New York, I feel as if I've just stepped northern Veracruz. It is also suggests an image While France, England, and the Netherlands E into Brigadoon. of the Americas projected onto Europe, and "piously disguised their own cruelties and inhu- Mexico doesn't exist in New York. It dis- an image of the Mediterranean projected back manities," he writes, "they never did what Spain appears from the air waves, from print, from onto the Americas. Not surprisingly, one of permitted. A debate on the nature of the con- consciousness. From time to time someone or Fuentes' cultural heroes is Spain's Golden Age quered peoples and the rights of conquest raged something pushes the button that brings out the master, Diego Velazquez, whose "Las Meninas" through the Hispanic world for a full century, three D's — debt, drugs and disaster. Of course, plays with the same concept of shifting per- becoming the first full-fledged modern debate there's no more foreign debt anymore. It's ti spective and images. Are we watching the artist on human rights. This was hardly anything that been reincarnated as FREE TRADE, accom- watching us? Is he watching us watch him? the other colonial powers worried about." panied by the wonderful PR that only Carlos Who's the subject here? He cites the well-known advocacy of Fray Salinas de Gortari can generate. Lots of rumors We're all entitled to our obsessions, and I Bartolome de las Casas, but also the efforts of and press releases. Jobs that disappear in the should probably confess that Fuentes is one of other, lesser-known figures, such as Juan Pablo night on little cat feet, bound for Mexico. mine. I follow his work the way some people de Viscardo y Guzman, a Jesuit born in But the stuff of daily life, the things we talk follow a football or baseball team. Carlos has Arequipa, Peru. While in exile in London dur- about, the music we hear, the art we see, the been playing away for some time; he's not really ing the third anniversary of the "discovery" of writers we read, the lives we create in the world's on the home team: He hops into Mexico City Columbus, he wrote "the history of the past three largest city— they vanish up north. They dis- long enough to remind us that the air is no longer centuries...can be reduced to these four words: appear into the parallel universe. transparent, we're all inhabitants of Make-sicko Ingratitude. Injustice. Slavery. And Desolation." It works that way for the rest of Latin America City. His audience is elsewhere, somewhere Fuentes documents the extent to which religion as well, even though New York at heart is a very in the realm of universal literature and politi- was force-fed to the native population, result- Latino city. Even before Peru became the hemi- cal statements loosely wrapped in plot and char- ing in countless examples of syncretism — sphere's biggest disaster story, the finest Andean acter. The Campaign, the first volume of his Christianity on the outside, native religion on musicians played in New York. Every year trilogy on the history of Spanish America, is a the inside. But he also argues that there was a young artists make their way north, just as case in point. genuine appeal in Christianity, which conjured Rivera and Tamayo did before them. EveTyone The Buried Mirror is the nonfiction version up the ancient Aztec myths of the sacrifice at who writes in Spanish knows their horizons are of The Campaign. It's the book Fuentes says he's Teotihuacan. limited unless they're on the New York-London waited a lifetime to write. As he shifts his focus "In a universe accustomed to seeing men circuit. Old-time New Yorkers may mourn the from political to cultural history, from Spain to sacrificed to the gods, nothing amazed them passing of the Yiddish and Italian theater of the Americas, Fuentes asks the big 1992 ques- more than the sight of a god who had sacrificed decades past. But contemporary Spanish-lan- tion: Do we really have anything to celebrate? himself to men. It was the redemption of guage theater is there for the asking. He answers with a resounding "yes," not sur- humankind by Christ that fascinated and really I have a theory about this. The world is divided prising, since Fuentes jumped on the oppor- defeated the Indians of the New World ... Christ into two kinds of people: Those who took French tunistic side of the 1992 debate a long time ago. was the recovered memory that in the begin- (or nothing) in seventh grade and those who For Fuentes, that something is Latin ning it was the gods who sacrificed themselves took Spanish. Or maybe it's the editors who cut America's cultural heritage — "what we have for the benefit of humankind." their teeth on World War II the Cold War, and created with the greatest joy, the greatest grav- Fuentes' take on Spanish America post- haven't adjusted their intellectual and cultural ity, and the greatest risk. This is the culture that Independence is that of a place that endlessly compasses. Or the culture brokers who see the we have been able to create during the past tosses between Sancho Panza and Don Quijote, world in terms of one big western sweep, lots five hundred years as descendants of Indians, between reality and the ideal. "The deep divorce of Mesopotamia, Egypt, Greece and Rome. blacks and Europeans in the New World." The between the legal country, enshrined in royal When Britain's Kenneth Clark created his next big question, of course, is why a part of the laws, later Republican constitutions, and the real "Civilization" television series years ago, he world with such a rich and diverse culture has country, festering behind the legal face, thus purposefully omitted Spain and Latin America. not created its own economic and political mod- demoralized and disrupted the Spanish American Not civilized enough, said Mr. Clark. His series els of the same caliber. Or as the Mexican writer from the start," he concludes. was not about intolerance. Elena Poniatowska once said, "The dearest The only way out is for the continent to That's why Carlos Fuentes likes to cite Clark things I know about Latin America I know from recognize its multiple selves — Spanish, mean- as the indirect inspiration for his own public its writers, filmmakers, photographers, painters, ing Moslem, Jewish and Christian, as well as television project, "The Buried Mirror." The sculptors, musicians, choreographers and Roman, Gothic, Celtic — and Indian and accompanying picture book and text is a wide- dancers. The most depressing things, I've Black. It sounds wonderful and is wonderful, learned from its presidents and politicians." although Fuentes isn't above using a cliche Fuentes begins with a long discussion of the or triviality or two as he makes his pitch: "We With this dispatch Barbara Belejack, the bullfight and flamenco and tries to connect had to put our house in order." "The enchilada Observer's Mexico City correspondent, moves ancient Spain to yesterday's graffiti in East can coexist with the hamburger." Nor is he on to a journalism fellowship in New York. L.A. or "the latest tropical rumba." He sees the beyond tampering with the facts to fit the THE TEXAS OBSERVER • 17 drama. It's high drama and symbolism to por- The problem with Fuentes' lifelong quest only to graciously step aside, on order from a tray Martin Cortes, son of the conqueror and to find authentic Spanish American political and priest, when the man she claimed as her hus- his Indian translator, La Malinche, as the first economic models is that he never gets specific. band's wife wife also arrived from Spain. The mestizo. But Fuentes knows better. That dis- He's done quite well at cultivating the current man both women claimed was killed. "I don't tinction belongs to the children of Gustavo crop of Chicago Boys or Harvard Boys who know whether the two widows ever met," coyly Guerrero, a shipwrecked Spanish sailor who dominate Mexico's political economy and whose suggests Fuentes. Ah, there's a novel for you. landed on the Yucatan before Cortes, went imported models are as worthy of satire as the Or take the headless body of Francisco Goya, native, married the daughter of a Maya noble- nineteenth-century Latin American elites he the Spanish painter of caprichos, horrors of man and ended his days fighting Spaniards mocks in The Buried Mirror. Moreover, Fuentes war, and moronic Bourbons. Decades after in Honduras. misses the point of the indigenous groups who his death in exile, the Spanish government More significantly, the problem with The are most adamant about not celebrating 1992. sought to retrieve his remains. The official in Buried Mirror is its scope. Prehispanic "Every time we hear about equality, we get charge of the inquiry discovered that Goya's America gets fairly short shrift. Mexico dom- worried," an Indian lawyer in Mexico City told body did not have a head. "Goya skeleton with- inates. Central America reenters the picture me last year. "What we want is to be recognized out head," he wired home. "Please instruct only as a mirror held up to a painfully long his- as different." me." "Send Goya. With or without head," came tory of a dreadful U.S. foreign policy. Fuentes But who can argue with Fuentes panorama the reply. warns that the United States would do well of cultural icons — Cervantes and Calderon Or for those of you interested in Texas trivia, to reconsider the image of the bloated, hollow de la Barca, Rivera and Orozco, Sor Juana and consider the contribution of Santa Anna to pop- Spanish empire. "Spain...became the first Quetzalcoatl, the tango and (Francisco) Toledo? ular culture. While waiting to be received at the example of an anomaly that the United States For those who have not been this way before, White House by Andrew Jackson after the loss runs a risk of repeating as our own century The Buried Mirror is not a bad place to begin. of Texas, a North American named Adams spot- begins: that of being a poor empire,•debt-rid- And for those of us who took Spanish in sev- ted Santa Anna chomping away, but not swal- den, incapable of solving its internal problems enth grade, or otherwise have a stake in the lowing. Mr. Adams was intrigued. What was while insistent on playing an imperial role Spanish-speaking world, there are still plenty His Excellency chewing? Santa Anna promptly overseas, but begging alms from other, sur- of delightful details retrieved from the archives. I demonstrated by stretching his piece of gum out plus-wealthy nations in order to finance its Take the story of Ines Suarez, who left Spain to of his mouth. "It is called chicle. I produce it expensive role as a world policeman." look for her husband in Venezuela and Peru, in my tropical haciendas." ❑ Bayou Balloting
BY STEVEN G. KELLMAN LOUISIANA BOYS: be amused and entertained." If you can ignore selves passionately into the process. "Politics RAISED ON POLITICS a legacy of corruption, exploitation, and injus- is the fourth meal Louisianans eat every day," Directed by Paul Stekler, Andrew tice unparalleled anywhere else except per- says one, and, on the evidence of "Louisiana Kolker, and Louis Alvarez haps Illinois, New Jersey, and Romania, the Boys," it is a piece of cake. amiable scalawags who have ruled out of "We're better than our politics," insists CCORDING TO ITS license plates, Baton Rouge have been great entertainers, Buddy Roemer, who continued the cycle of Louisiana is a sportsman's paradise. as much fun as a barrel of donkeys. Beginning outrageous populists and out-of- office reform- AAccording to "Louisiana Boys," the with a merry montage. of Governors Huey ers that, according to the film, explains final offering in this summer's weekly P.O.V. Long, Earl Long, and Jimmie Davis, Louisiana. Voters gorge themselves on the series, the sport of preference is politics. The "Louisiana Boys" is true to the style of its sub- gorgeous antics of Davis, Edwards, and the 52-minute film scheduled for broadcast on ject. Politics in Louisiana is just Mardi Gras Longs but seek a purge, usually for only one PBS affiliates the week of August 31 portrays by other means, and directors Paul Stekler, term, in righteous figures like Roemer. David the state's rituals of suffrage as rather like Andrew Kolker, and Louis Alvarez exult in Duke is, insists "Louisiana Boys," neither its state bird, the pelican — large, colorful, the whole gaudy spectacle. as anomalous nor as insidious as an outsider and bearing a huge bill. More money is spent With the exception of former Congress- might think. With antecedents in segregationist on a race for city council in Louisiana, explains woman Lindy Boggs, who is not mentioned, stalwarts like State Senator Willie Rainach a political consultant, than for governor of Louisiana politics has been the pastime of and Judge Leander Perez, Duke, says Stekler, Connecticut. In the Bayou State, where it mischievous boys. "Louisiana Boys" recounts "is part of a tradition — there have been much takes more than $2 million to run for insur- the puerile deeds of Jimmie Davis, who crazier people. And within the Louisiana sys- ance commissioner, campaigns offer Marxism crooned his farewell address to the legisla- tem, it is completely rational that people will without revolution; they redistribute wealth. ture. Boasting that he cannot lose his bid for vote for David Duke in one election and a pro- By almost any measure of achievement — the governorship "unless found in bed with gressive candidate in the next. When David education, income, health, employment — a dead girl or a live boy," gambler Edwin Duke is gone, there will be other people just Louisiana is a state of emergency. And yet its Edwards wins another bet. "Every man a like him getting forty to forty- five percent of politics wallow in gumbo and circuses. king," proclaimed Huey "Kingfish" Long, the the vote." Somewhere in their history, claims observer assassinated demagogue who secured his own In a democracy, what does it mean to assert Gus Weill, Louisianans lost the gland for crown by obscuring the distinction between that the populace is better than its politics? indignation. "The important thing is that we cabbages and kings. The claim seems as lame as the one that Louisiana voters get so caught up in the Wagner's music is not as bad as it sounds. pageantry of politics they seem to forget its "Louisiana Boys" uses politics as a metaphor Steven Kellman teaches comparative literature purposes. For coroner and constable as much for society at large, as though the garish at the University of Texas at San Antonio. as governor and senator, they throw them- road signs, shopping bags, and TV spots that
18 • AUGUST 21, 1992 Subscriptions to and back issues of The Texas Observer are available.
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multiply throughout campaigns are symp- JOURNAL tomatic of Louisiana's soul. "We party more than most people elsewhere," says former New Orleans Mayor Moon Landrieu, explain- ing why, more than Moscow or Washington, Riding Hood Safe, lution in public school science courses. Louisiana is the natural habitat of party Simonds, the CEE national president, refused politics. Schools Under Siege all requests for telephone interviews and would "Shreveport is a suburb of Dallas," scoffs only respond to questions sent to him by fax. one downstater, making the case that poli- AUSTIN CEE's Texas state director, David Muralt, said tics in northern Louisiana is more sedate, Little Red Riding Hood is still safe in San he would answer no questions until he had first less colorful and intense, than in the South, Antonio — contrary to a recent report in the seen a copy of the Observer. more like Arkansas, Mississippi, or even Wall Street Journal. The front-page Journal story In 1991 CEE claimed 61 chapters in Texas, Texas. In New Orleans, where blacks have was published last month and included a report 1,500 chapters nationwide and a support base dominated the races, light- skinned candidates that the children's tale was pulled from regu- of 40,000 American parents. People for the have traditionally triumphed, with the help of lar circulation in a San Antonio elementary American Way, a public interest group that hundreds of neighborhood organizations. But school library. The Journal's Red Riding Hood works on behalf on constitutional rights, quotes throughout Louisiana, the state's motley mix censorship tale seems to have been based on a Simonds saying: "There are 15,700 school dis- of Cajuns, Creoles, Catholics, Baptists, and four-year-old story written by Express-News tricts in America. When we can get an active others has shaped the body politic into some- columnist Roddy Stinson and Little Red appar- Christian parent's committee in operation in all thing that is at once wondrous and grotesque. ently has been restored to full library privileges. districts, we can take complete control of all As much as any of the other forty-nine, The book, according to Brewer Elementary local school boards. This would allow us to Louisiana is a welfare state, where candi- School principal Sylvia Reyna, was returned to determine all local policy: select good textbooks, dates have prospered from promising — and the book shelves at least three years ago, shortly good curriculum programs, superintendents, sometimes delivering — hospitals, schools, after the Stinson column ran. But the rest of the and principals. Our time has come." and bridges. "Louisiana Boys" begins its story Journal's story sheds some light on a funda- When asked (by fax) where his organiza- in the 1930s, with a Long view of Huey, Earl, mental Christian organization that prefers to tion had been successful in Texas, Simonds and others of the modern ilk, but a longer work unobserved. replied by fax: "We do not give out names of view, at least as far back as the purchose from Citizens for Excellence in Education, a chapters or locations because of past media and Napoleon, might have done more to explain California-based group, was founded in 1983 school teachers unions' abuse to CEE workers." why parish politics thrives in only one state. by Robert Simonds as a division of the. National Subsequent faxes to Simonds' California office Because Louisiana boys take care of their Association of Christian Educators. The group's have not been answered. constituents, grown men and women invest stated goal is to "return faith to our public CEE has been successful, according to the so much energy in getting them elected. One schools" and "change the atheist-dominated ide- Journal story, because many parents pay little never ceases to marvel at the choices others ology of secular humanism in our schools' texts, attention to schoolboard politics, leaving orga- make in lovers and leade,rs. "Louisiana Boys" curriculum, and teachers' unions." The CEE nizations such as CEE greater opportunity to is marvelously entertaining, but the spectacle also wants to see textbooks cleansed of "all influence school boards. of electoral choices made on the east side of teachings of secular humanism." According -- Paula George the Sabine inspires pity that other people are to the Journal article, the CEE1 also supports not better than they could be. ❑ teaching of creationist theory along with evo- Paula George is an Observer editorial intern.
THE TEXAS OBSERVER • 19
,a• A public service message from the American Income Life Insurance Co. — Waco, Texas — Bernard Rapoport, Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer. (Advertisement) A Legacy for Future Generations By Ralph L. Lynn
Ben Wattenberg, a right-wing think tank pundit and Wattenberg in praising the wisdom and prudence of their consistent defender of the Reagan-Bush administra- parents? Or are our children more likely to regard us as a tions, contributed a column some time ago which could generation of foolish, selfish, short-sighted spendthrifts and have been more amazing only if he had damned his fellow the estate we bequeath to them as a burden rather than a conservatives. blessing? (I always want to put conservative in this context in quo- Still another question: must not Wattenberg abandon tation marks since the people now so-called among us have the standard conservative condemnation of a Democrat-dom- presided over the growing gap between the rich and the poor inated Congress which supinely supported the Reagan- and the amassing of an astronomical national debt which Bush budgets? It seems that Wattenberg must praise the prevents us from dealing adequately with either domestic or Congress as wise and prudent participants in the program foreign obligations.) he praises. On several questionable grounds Wattenberg defended as Finally, some compelling realities indicate that an "estate" a prudent procedure the approximately three trillion dollar with a generation of peace as its centerpiece does not and rise of the national debt in the last twelve years. probably will not ever exist. First, against the judgment of nearly all of the professional First, the component parts of the former Soviet Union students, he argued that the military buildup financed by bid fair to become a "shatter belt" of weak nations at war increasing yearly deficits caused the breakup of the Soviet among themselves: They will certainly be continually threat- Union. ened by powerful neighbors who, like the United States, want The specialists have long thought that the rise of living and friends on their borders. educational standards and the consequent development of Second, the continuing population explosion threatens a a thoughtful, informed, ambitious middle class in the post doubling of the earth's population in the lifetimes of our young World War II Soviet Union made the question not if but adults. This is no recipe for peace. when the Stalinist- type regime would crumble. Third, a billion or so of the Third World people are already Second, Wattenberg seeks to defend the wisdom and suffering severe malnutrition and the consequent debilitat- prudence of the increase in our national debt by equating this ing diseases. Moreover, these suffering millions know from expenditure with the building of an estate which wise, pru- radio and television that a better life abounds among the rich dent parents acquire to bequeath to their children. nations. Thus, we have intensified the "revolution of rising This alleged estate consists of the breakup of our only super expectations" which rightly concerned the generation of lead- power rival, the end of the Cold War, and a generation of ers before our present visionless weaklings. peace for our children. In our global village, it is fair to paraphrase Lincoln: how Questions about the value of such an estate should spring long can the world remain at peace half surfeited and half immediately to the minds of even the blindest conservatives. starving? As already indicated, the military buildup contributed little Ben Wattenberg, with all his fellow "conservatives" — both to the demise of our rival — although it enormously strength- Democrat and Republican — owes us wiser guidance. ened our industrial-political military machine against which a truer conservative, President Eisenhower, warned us. Another question: are children who inherit an estate bur- Ralph Lynn is Professor Emeritus of History at Baylor dened with mortgages greater than its value likely to join University.
BERNARD RAP OP 0 RT , American Income Life Insurance Company Chairman of the Board and Executive Offices: P.O. Box 2608, Waco, Texas 76797, 817-772-3050 Chief Executive Officer
20 • AUGUST 21, 1992 Continued from pg. 24 representative from Travis County, has had Waldman, who is fully aware of the grim sit- his federal judiciary appointment put on hold. uation facing the nation's bankers and knows and Gore and the Wright Brothers —James and The Austin American-Statesman described how easy it would be for a newly elected admin- Levi, that is. James, of New Caney, said in an Smith as a "casualty of election year politics," istration to be seduced by arguments on behalf interview (he called us) that he did not take citing a Democratic source who said there "may of deregulation and forebearance. Waldman has geography into consideration when he selected not be any more lifetime appointments this been writing and speaking on banking, urging his brother Levi, of Goldsborough, N.C. as year" because Democrats now sense they can Congress and the President to confront the bank his running mate. James, an unemployed New win in November. Smith, a moderate crisis now. Delay in dealing with the S&L col- Caney truck driver involved in protracted liti- Republican, was recommended for a San lapse resulted in $66 billion of the $500 bil- gation with his former employer (and it does Antonio judicial post by Republican Texas Sen. lion bailout price. seem like he got stiffed, as he tells it) is run- Phil Gramm. Democratic Sen. Lloyd Bentsen ning on a platform that would restrict the elec- has also pushed unsuccessfully for a confir- ✓ CREDIT CRUNCH. President Bush wants toral college to the popular vote; "reinstate- mation hearing for Smith. Sixty-three judicial to loosen regulations on banks at the same time ment of the First Amendment as written by appointments; according to Washington Post, he wants to funnel investments into the nation's Forefathers of America and protecting the right are now stalled. troubled inner cities. The Wall Street Journal of the voters to use their free choice or write- recently noted the potential collision course in candidate thus removing corruption within ✓ DOING LESS TIME. Criminals in Texas as the Bush Administration has proposed relax- politics (Wright's perception of difficult bal- are getting longer sentences but all except the ing the Community Reinvestment Act, which lot access as a First Amendment issue is an inter- most serious offenders are serving less time in was adopted 15 years ago to require banks to esting idea.); and "term limitation to two terms prison, the Texas Criminal Justice Policy lend in all areas where they accept deposits. The maximum." Council reported. While the median prison sen- administration would allow small banks and His fax, received on a Sunday afternoon, tence has increased 20 percent, from five years thrifts — those with less than $100 million in was addressed to: "ABC, NBC, CBS, CNN in 1985 to six years in 1991, the median time assets and are in towns of less than 20,000, to and The Mutual Radio Network, F.C.C. oper- served by a state prison inmate has dropped from "self-certify" themselves as meeting the stan- ating stations and networks and to: Larry King, 15.5 months in 1985 to 11.2 months in 1991, dards without submitting the paperwork required Phil Donahue, Sally Jesse Rafael, Barbara a decrease of 27 percent. The number of offend- of larger banks. But borrower advocates note Walters and Sam Donaldson who seek the ers admitted to prison has nearly doubled, from that 75 percent of the lenders who receive unsat- respect of America's Citizens, and not least of 25,635 in 1985 to 44,593 last year, an increase isfactory ratings in CRA reviews are small banks all, the American newspapers not politically due mainly to the fourfold increase in sentenced and thrifts. controlled and who will give truth to America." drug offenders. Tony Fabelo, executive direc- Since we at the Observer consider ourselves tor of the council, said more rehabilitation and Continued from pg. 16 to belong to the latter category, and because drug treatment programs are needed to reduce we are willing to bet that Levi is brighter than the number of inmates who commit crimes after anecdotes, in a fashion those familiar with for- Dan Quayle, we thought we'd do our part to their release. The Legislature is expected to mer Texas Ag Commissioner Jim Hightower spread the word.. review the state's parole, sentencing and prison will recognize, that Barlett and Steele work policies in next year's general session. best. And there is also something in this ✓ ONE TEXAS NUKE made the Nuclear The Dallas Morning News also found that book, which began as a special series in the Information and Resource Service's shut-down despite public outrage over dangerous offend- Philadelphia Inquirer, that helps vindicate a pro- petition submitted to the Nuclear Regulatory ers being paroled, 205 criminals sentenced to fession that too frequently allows the perpe- Commission (NRC) in mid-August. Cable insu- life in prison were released in 1991. That num- trators of public policy to speak while victims lation used in the Comanche Peak reactor at ber includes 45 murderers and six capital mur- remain silent. Ample space is provided for peo- Glen Rose includes material that fails to meet derers. Almost half of the life termers released ple to tell their stories. And when government government standards, according to the non- last year were convicted of non-violentcrimes, officials speak, they are often quoted then rebut- profit nuclear industry watchdog, which pro- including drug possession, theft, forgery and ted with facts in the following sentence. For vides information to environmental groups. driving while intoxicated and received the example, assistant labor secretary David Walker Nuclear Information cited NRC test results enhanced sentence under habitual offender in 1989, reassuring Congress that pensions are released last month showing that temperatures statutes. State prison and parole officials are safe, says: " 'Annuity contracts must be pur- in an area protected by Thermo-Lag, the insu- under pressure to release prisoners to make chased ... participants are fully protected with lating material they claim is not safe, reached room for new convicts. regard to their accrued benefits when there is 1,716 degrees. "The average temperature dur- Harris County judges have filled alternative a termination.' There's one problem with that ing the test was 1,206 degrees, the firewall sentencing programs this year, sending 28 per- last statement. It isn't true," the authors write. panels burned through and 85 percent of the cent fewer criminals to prison, the Houston They then explain that annuities are not pro- protected area was burning," according to NRC Chronicle reported July 30, but a spokesman tected by the government.) information released by Nuclear Information for the county's judges said more money is Despite relentless anecdotal and documen- and Resource. Michael Mariotte, executive needed for the alternative programs, such as a tal evidence of the abuses of a decade, in which director of the group told the Associated Press, county boot camp, intermediate sanctions facil- the government worked for the plunderers, the "The Thermo-lag itself was burning." To meet ities, electronic monitoring, drug rehabilitation authors of What Went Wrong? are not bereft government standards, the temperature in the and intensive probation. During the first six of hope. Other Congresses responded to des- insulated test area should have been no more months of 1991, local judges sentenced 9,832 perate public need and outrage, protecting food than 325 degrees, according to Mariotte, whose felons to prison and 676 to alternative pro- and drugs by passing the Pure Food and Drug group claims that Thermo-Lag used in power grams; in the first half of 1992, they sentenced Act of 1906, relieving the tax burden of work- plants is a serious potential hazard which could 7,054 criminals to prison and 1,978 to alterna- ing people by enacting an income tax in 1913, allow cables to burn and operators lose control, tive programs. overhauling the securities system in 1933. creating the risk of a meltdown and the release "Whenever excesses within the economy of radiation. The manufacturer of Thermo-Lag, ✓ GOOD COUNSEL. Michael Waldman, resulted in private gain for the few and hardship Thermal Science of St. Louis, Mo., told the director of Public Citizen's Congress Watch and for the many, Congress and the White House Associated Press that its product works when Author of Who Robbed America? A Citizen's responded. Often reluctantly. Usually after inter- installed correctly and used in the proper con- Guide to the Savings & Loan Scandal, has taken minable delays. But in the end they responded." figuration. a leave of absence and joined the Clinton cam- "Until the 1980s and 1990s." paign. If Bill Clinton and Sen. Al Gore are lis- Even such a subdued ending seems optimistic TERRAL SMITH, ✓ a Republican state tening, they could learn a great deal from at the end of that decade and this book. ❑
THE TEXAS OBSERVER • 21 AFTERWORD If Stones Could Talk
BY PATRISIA GONZALES
N THE PYRAMIDS of the Chisholm Trail, stone ruins speak the history of 0 my people. In my dreams I have revis- ited this place, which was my home when I was a girl, when there was always watermelon in the refrigerator and what is now Heritage Park was our land. I occasionally return to our home, now a Stonehenge in a park with monuments to vision and courage. The dirt road my mother played on is now a red brick path where school chil- dren with names like Shortzie, Sassafrass, and Cash have carved their names. Water gardens and modern grottos grace the bluff where our homes gazed upon polluted waters. The City of Fort Worth christened it Heritage Park because it was here that a fort was founded in 1849 at the confluence of the Clear and West forks of the Trinity River, to protect set- tlers from Indians. The first school was built thereabouts and so were the first homes -- on the old army outpost. City history doesn't tell what the Indians did to protect themselves from the settlers. There are no monuments or plaques to the families who settled here at the turn of the cen- tury, many of them poor and Mexican, with names like Maldonado and Rodriguez. All that remains are shards of Mexican tile from a fire- place where a girl once played with a big dolly and the red brick arches of a room where a curandero healed with herbs. Memories of the last family to leave -- my family. Near there, a plaque along the banks of the Trinity River reads: "Tradition holds that Robert E. Lee looked over the valley from this bluff and remarked, 'I hear the incoming march of thousands of feet.' Thousands did come. In war, fleeing war. My grandfather, Jesus Maldonado, fled the hor- rors of the Mexican revolution and eventually built a home there. At age seven he lived along the poorer section of the riverbanks and peddled GERRY DOYLE copper. He fell in love with a girl named Carmen who lived in a big white house. She was part the story of the common people, like my grand- Of course, if you want to pick horse hairs, it Kikapu Indian, the daughter of an hacendado, father, who helped lay the foundation of the city wasn't really the Chisholm Trail, it was the or landowner, who once owned so much land and many of the state's bridges. He was a dyna- Eastern Cattle Trail that fed into the Chisholm, it took three days on horseback to see it. The miter for the WPA. Barely literate, he started but Fort Worthians think otherwise. hacendado had lost most of his land to the a concrete company, read the daily news, and As a child I never played on the riverbanks Revolution — and his daughter to marriage at voted for both Republicans and Democrats. that today are sylvan bike paths. My grand- age 15. He died one May while laying concrete. He mother always told me there were hobos there, Untold on those plaques and monuments is was '79. His friends had called him "maestro," living in cardboard boxes. I believed her master teacher. because once my grandmother had fended off Only after the city built a monument, long a prisoner who escaped from the jail up the hill Journalist Patrisia Gonzales, a Ft. Worth native, after we were forced off our land, did we learn from us. She pointed a shotgun smack in his is writing a book about anonymous heroes. we had lived on a stretch of the Chisholm Trail. face. My grandmother went to bed every night
22 • AUGUST 21, 1992 braiding her long hair and saying the rosary. made stills for bootleg whiskey. A lot, of has been slowly swallowed by brush and time. By the time I was born, we were the last fam- Mexican families survived the Depression with My grandfather built the house with stones from ily living on Franklin Street. What had been a those stills. Like my uncle Jesse says; an old well that likely would have a plaque thriving barrio became a phantom street. All "Sometimes good follows evil." today. We heard rumors that the city would that remained were a few stone cavities of In 1976, the city and state told us we had to make our house a historic landmark, but the homes, most of them swept into the river by the move because the city needed our land. My house was destroyed in a fire, reduced to stones flood of '49 and later replaced by the M&O' sub- grandfather built a house nearby Joshua and just like those other houses I held in wonder way, better known today as the Tandy Center planted beans and corn and watermelon. I as a child. Today, the stone foundations serve parking lot. During the Depression, when those remember he told my mother to take good care as spider-hole mattresses for the homeless. But houses were alive, my grandfather went to the of the peach tree, saying, "Daughter, I'm plant- if I look close, I can still find the bric-a-brac gar- forest to cut lumber for the fireplaces. Took any- ing this tree. You will get to see it bear fruit den where I played with ladybugs and made one along who had the will to cut and earn. because I won't." mudpies. My great-grandfather built a tunnel where he The old house on the trail is still there, but To me, this place of stones was and will always be magic, a house with hidden com- partments, where people came by horse from as far away as Waco to be cured by my great- grandfather in the room where he kept his secrets. I went on to live in Philadelphia, Hollywood, and Mexico City, cities with other monuments. I have climbed many pyramids and sacred cliff dwellings. But what we know of PEOPLE them is mostly myth and legend — their history destroyed by the conquerors. Make a world of difference ! The water sculpture at the park pays tribute Were proud of our employees and their contributions to your to the spirit of Fort Worth: "Embrace the spirit success and ours. Call us for quality printing, binding, mailing and preserve the freedom which inspired those of vision and courage to shape our heritage." and data processing services. Get to know the people at Futura. Indians believe that stones speak and when I return to the stones that were my home, the P.O. Box 17427 Austin, TX 78760-7427 ruins are pyramids, sacred voices from the past, FUTUM of the builders of the world, from every heritage. COMMUNICATIONS, INC. 389-1500 They speak of the fruits our ancestors never tasted but knew would come. ❑
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POLITICAL INTELLIGENCE
that manufacturers will move blue-collar jobs Coleman of El Paso, Chet Edwards of Waco, ✓ BUDGET SMASHERS. The U.S. Senate revived hopes for the superconducting super- south of the border, where labor costs are dra- Henry B. Gonzalez of San Antonio and Charles collider as a 62-32 vote Aug. 3 approved $550 matically lower. Wilson of Lufkin. Leaning against are Dick million for the atom smasher under construc- Armey, R-Lewisville and Ralph Hall, D- tion near Waxahachie. Both Texas senators ✓ DEATH ROW AID. A group of Colorado Rockwall. The newspaper got no response from supported the project, although Sen. Tom defense lawyers helping indigent Texas inmates Sen. Phil Gramm and reps. Larry Combest, R- Harkin, D-Iowa, who proposed diverting the on Death Row has gained its first stay of exe- Lubbock; Kika de la Garza, D-Mission; Pete money to child immunization and health care, cution. Research done by the Colorado lawyers Geren, D-Fort Worth; Greg Laughlin, D-West reminded the Senate that Sen. Phil Gramm, R- helped Irineo Tristan Montoya, 25, a Mexican Columbia; and Solomon Ortiz, D-Corpus Christi. Texas, in a 1986 speech opposed government national who was scheduled to die Aug. 6, gain funding of science research and said such mat- the stay on July 31 from a trial court judge. ✓ GAYFEST? Not if Corpus Christi City ters are better left to private corporations. "Where Execution will be delayed at least until Sept. Councilmember Leo Guerrero can help it. In an are all the budget balancers?" wondered Sen. 15. Colorado Lawyers for Justice was formed interview with a local Spanish-language radio Dale Bumpers, D-Ark., who sought to kill the after the Texas Resource Center, which was show, GUerrero said he supported a controver- $8.3 billion project which employs 7,800 peo- formed in 1988 to represent inmates facing the sial council decision to put up a fence and charge ple, but senators faced bipartisan pressure from death penalty, issued a nationwide plea for help a gate fee at the city's "Bayfest." Guerrero's rea- President Bush and Governor Richards to save as its 14 attorneys have been overwhelmed by son: fences and fees would "keep out the drunks, the smasher. Senate SSC supporters now must the rise in executions in Texas. "There are just winos and those involved in homosexual activ- get the House — which killed the SSC appro- no more lawyers in Texas who are willing to do ity." His remarks were quoted in the Corpus priation on June 17 — to go along with the this because Death Row is so out of control Christi Caller-Times. At Bayfest, Corpus restoration of funds. The Fort Worth Star- here," Lane told the Austin American-Statesman, Christi's annual outdoor food, drink, crafts and Telegram also reported that industries with adding: "... it's an outrage that only people with music bash, Guerrero said, there have been contracts at stake are giving generously to the money can get their cases heard." Since the death problems with homosexuals soliciting chil- re-election campaigns of Texas lawmakers and penalty was reinstated in 1976, Texas has exe- dren. Not so, according to Corpus Christi Police other key congressmen in an effort to salvage cuted 50 inmates, including five in 1991, eight Chief Henry Garrett, who told the newspaper the mammoth project. so far this year and 16 scheduled for execu- he recalls no arrests on solicitation charges on tion in August and September, the American- the seawall in the past several years. Guerrero's Statesman reported. Texas has 364 people on statement drew fire from the city's gay com- ✓ HARD LINE ON FREE TRADE. Bill Clinton and some Democrats in Congress may Death Row. munity leaders, who called for a public apol- still have doubts about the labor and environ- ogy. Guerrero told the Observer, in a telephone interview, "I have nothing to apologize for ... mental standards contained in a free-trade agree- ✓ ABORTION CHOICES. The Texas ment with Mexico, but Texas officials gener- Congressional delegation is split over the when I talked about homosexuality I stated ally welcomed the agreement. Before the Freedom of Choice Act, which would codify the very clearly I thought it was a sin from a moral agreement was announced, Comptroller John right of women to choose abortion, although it aspect.... The only issue we were talking about Sharp, a Democrat, told the Texas Association would give states the right to require parental was criminal activity, be it homosexual or het- of Mexican-American Chambers of Commerce notice and to refuse state tax money for abor- erosexual." Guerrero said he meant no offense, Clinton was wrong in his reservations and Sharp tions. The Austin American-Statesman reported and explained that the Spanish word for "homo- said all Texans should support the proposal. that supporters include Sen. Lloyd Bentsen, a sexual" includes a wide range of illicit sexual "There is not one person in the state of Texas co-sponsor in the Senate, and representatives activities, including public display (indecency), who can benefit from an anti-free trade posi- Mike Andres, Houston; Jack Brooks, Beaumont; sodomy, and child molestation. Corpus Christi tion," Sharp said in a speech reported by the San John Bryant, Dallas, Albert Bustamante, San Mayor Mary Rhodes called Guerrro's com- Antonio Express-News. "The problem with Antonio; Martin Frost, Dallas, Jake Pickle, ments regrettable and said they have no place being against the free-trade agreement is folks Austin and Craig Washington, Houston; all are in city council business. "It's a shame, it's stirred that are looking at the next quarter instead of Democrats. Opposed are Republicans Bill up a lot of hate," Rhodes said. The city's Human the next quarter-century." Gov. Ann Richards Archer, Houston; Joe Barton, Ennis; Tom DeLay Rights Commission issued a formal reprimand applauded the pact, which she said would make of Sugar Land; Jack Fields, Humble, Sam against Guerrero. "South Texas the front door to a $6 trillion Johnson, Plano; Lamar Smith, San Antonio; and market." She said it sets the stage for improve- Democrats Bill Sarpalius, Amarillo and Charles ✓ SOUTHERN STRATEGIES? Now there ments in the environment, transportation and Stenholm, Stamford. Leaning toward the bill are two all Southern presidential tickets. Clinton education costs. Labor leaders are still concerned are Jim Chapman of Sulphur Springs, Ron Continued on pg. 21
24 • AUGUST 21, 1992