Letter From A Whig
Will, George F.
"Letter From A Whig" The World's Oldest Priority George F. WASHINGTON) - - Christmas comes but once a year, and thank God for small favors. Almost every y e a r...
...I do not know what the guidelines are apt to be...
...The reasons spring to mind in such profusion that I even despair of getting them into an order which reflects relative importance...
...But I am sure that they will work for the short term gain of the party that controls the Congress that passes them...
...The party split in the Senate is 55 Democrats (~clnding Senator Byrd of Virginia, who won in 1970 as an independent) to 45 Republicans (including Senator Buckley who is listed as a Conservative-Republican...
...This is how Washington's empires grow...
...Now comes the Pastore amendment to guarantee that ne matter how much more incompetent and unrepresentative the Democratic Party becomes, it can still count on a sizeable slug of public revenues...
...Address all correspondence to The Bootblack Stand, The Establishment, R.R...
...But today there seem to be a number of secular institutions widely acclaimed by the organized religious to which various sacrifices are deemed proper and are encouraged...
...And given the current consumer boom, the politicians in the Administration and the economists at Treasury (the two categories are t~ot exclusive) would like to put that $200 into the hands of consumers anxious to put it right back into the economy...
...This debt is a legacy of Democratic candidates who treat the Party treasury the way Democratic office holders traditionally treat the national Treasury -- as a place to incur debts for others to pay...
...Thus he will be under treatment at the Arlington Veterinary Clinic this winter where he will undergo a brain transplant replacing his own damaged instrument with that of a four-year-old Guernsey cow...
...Sugar plums, of course, are supposed to serve as insurance against a veto...
...The promise of that rebate, plus the price freeze on 1972 models, plus the general wave of optimism about the economy caused an enormous spurt of automobile sales...
...16) The cost of administering this -sorting out the dollars, categorizing them, distributing them to the individua l s - w i l l be substantial...
...7) Note that the money is given to individuals, not to parties...
...And the fact that I cannot think of what these guidelines will be only convinces me that they will be unimaginably pernicious...
...Powell: It is most unlikely that you will hurt Justice Douglas' feelings, for he is going to be in the hospital much of this winter...
...But here goes...
...Not in my lifetime has there been such a brazen raid on the Treasury for purely private gain...
...As such they are not going to run for President and they are so powerful that they do not need to curry favor with anyone who is going to run...
...If the principle is sound for Presidential candidates, what limits it to Presidential candidates...
...If the Pastore anaendment becomes law, the United States will go to the money market to pay for the campaign of impecunious politicians like...
...Specifically, it was a bill that began as th~ Administration's request for measures considered necessary for Phase II of the new economic program...
...Now, through this column, the distinguished Dr...
...This would seem to be the trend of our times...
...Sincerely, Lewis F. Powell, Jr...
...Make no mistake about it...
...Ttw above is the seCot~i satire on abortion which has appeared in The Alternative under the pen name "-dohnathan Quick," who is in fact Dr...
...I must admit, I at least enjoy this practice while questioning the principle - - and I am not even sure the principle is bad...
...The tax bill does three things which a substantial number of Americans would not iike to see undone by a Presidential veto...
...10) The real effect of the Pastore amendment will be governed by a version of Gresham's law...
...This list is not supposed to be complete, and is not...
...The Christian religion, among others, would likely take a dim view of this proposal were we to worship any other than our present deities...
...The rich will be especially free with their own money in primary races...
...Of course, I do not intend that the people of this world revert to worshiping the god, Moloch...
...This is so because it tends to freeze the three existing parties into well-subsidized existence, while making it very difficult indeed for any other parties to compete by starting from scratch...
...Admittedly this is not the first law which works against the proliferation of parties...
...11, Box 360, Bloomington, Indiana 47401, Continental U.S.A...
...than it has revenues...
...it can be purchased in all bookstores...
...Third, the bill contains a provision whereby working mothers in families with a gross income of $18,000 or less deduct up to $400 a month for child care...
...13) Yes, the Democratic Party is in debt and has its problems...
...The Internal Revenue Service has always said that it c a n not handle each tax return individually...
...More than 40 percent of American wives work...
...Gabriel School Greenville, North Carolina r Ah how sophisticated are the ways of the modern Klan in its schemes to discredit Mother Church - - R E T . j To the Editor: I find your publication an excellent and timely commentary...
...and Federal aid to education, at every level...
...This is nonsense...
...It is not clear why they did so...
...final race, and you encourage people to put their private money behind candidates seeking nominations...
...But it is worth remarking in the light of the Pastore amendment...
...can he live without a car and driver...
...George B. MarMe, a Carlsbad, New Mexico medical doctor...
...Almost every y e a r when Christmas comes, it brings a legislative monstrosity...
...It is ahnost certainly too much ~ hope that the House Conferences (a majority of whom will be Democrats)will oppose the Pastore amendment...
...Presumably these good Democrats are not supposed to care who will be nominated or who will wind up spending their money...
...There are only three reasons why the Democratic Party is in trouble with the electorate: its past record, and its current issues and candidates...
...The repeal will mean an average rebate of $200 for each person who has purchased an automobile since the freeze" began on 15 August...
...Democrats Eastland, Ervin, McClellan and Stennis voted with the Republicans...
...It ranks higher than national defense, increased aid to education, or more spending for the environment -it ranks at the very top of their list...
...out of the monies of the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, an amount equal to the sum of the amounts designated during the fiscal year by individuals...
...GWP dent's veto power...
...The United States now goes to the money market to borrow money -- at interest -- in order to pay its bills...
...Cordially, Lawton Chiles, U.S.S, Dear Mr...
...Every presidential campaign generates millions of bills, receipts, budgets, etc...
...The principle is, of course, unsound, but, sure as God made little green apples, before 1060 the dollar check off "' will be a five dollar check off," and every candidate for (eont'.nuod on pa~9 2C) 20 The A l t e r n a t i v e J a n u a r y , 1972 LETTER FROM A WHIG (continued from page 4) every city council will have a piece of the action...
...11 Apologists for the Pastore amendment argue that the Amendment respects the individual because only the individual" is affected by his own free decision to earmark a dollar of his tax bill for the party of his choice...
...This version, henceforth known as Will's Law, is that public campaign money drives private money into the primaries...
...I would not be at all surprised if, at least in the first years, the cost of administering the check off" system equalled or even exceeded the amount of money actually disbursed to the parties...
...As those words reveal, the fundamental • point about this plan is that it involves the use of appropriated funds, drawn from tax revenues, for political purposes...
...It is titled Escape: A New Demand Respo~se System...
...Teddy Kennedy...
...I realize that the bill stipulates that not more than X dollars should be spent, but there is no way to police this...
...Party organization, it is well to remember, is the place where real participatory democracy is practiced in this Republic...
...A direct $100 or $150 bonus is a rarity: it is a noticeable, tangible benefit from the Government...
...Still, the President might veto the tax bill and a,,t aw . . . . . . : " it...
...If during pre-Pastore amendment days X million dollars were spent in Presidential campaigns, and the Pastore amendment makes Y dollars available, then it is a lead pipe cinch that approximately X plus Y dollars will be spent in the next election...
...How about three such mailings...
...11) Once the Government begins to pay for campaigns, it will not be long before a variety of Federal controls - - guidelines" - - will be forthcoming...
...2) The United States is in debt...
...By the time the Senate was done with it, it resembled the usual kind of legislative Christmas tree that legislators love to decorate in the chaotic closing days of a session...
...It would be perfectly legal...
...So a lot of voters are already counting this chicken and they will be peeved if it does not hatch...
...But you can bet your bottom dollar that each candidate will spend his bottom dollar...
...Second, the bill contains the repeal of the excise tax on automobiles...
...The answer is that no one will prevent it because there is nothing in the bill to prevent it...
...Of course more brain damage is not a terribly serious debility for a man like Justice Douglas, but Liberal critics of the court feel Ms commentaries will lose some of their old zing if he does not undergo surgery by February...
...None of this constitutes a news bulletin...
...A few of us may have read in the Bible that such pagan worship was considered by some of the prophets as an abomination...
...That is, guarantee that the candidate will be well funded in the...
...This column is to assist statesmen, and I doubt that you actually are a U.S...
...It was hung with various baubles to gladden the yuletide for various categories of citizens...
...Dear Mr...
...It thrusts the Federal Government deeply into the business of subsidizing the political process and it puts us all on a slippery slope toward ever increasing Federal subsidies...
...Senator since no one has ever mentioned you as a Presidential candidate...
...That is one very good reason why the basic IRS audit is limited and random...
...Perhaps our little human sacrifices could be made to the United Nations, that organization dedicated to the solution of world tensions and problems, not the least of which is the population explosion...
...That has been the pattern in Federal aid to agriculture...
...We have not subscribed to this disgusting type of printed matter and ask you to please discontinue sending the booklet to us...
...t is worth more, politically, than a slew of trips to Peking...
...The vote was 52-47 with Senator Mundt absent...
...Who is going to prevent some sub-Wallace figure from putting his relatives on the campaign pay-roll at $50,000 a month...
...Our tax forms will have a spot where we can check off" a dollar for the Democratic, Republican or American Independent Parties...
...Republicans Mathias and Case voted with the Democrats...
...If two thirds of these have been bought by married adults, there are five million voters who stand to lose $2110 if the excise tax is not repealed...
...Plunkitt has agreed to advise American statesmen in this time of troubles...
...Thank you ! Lynn Kinsky Santa Barbara, California To the Editor: For two months now we have been receiving what we consider a very vulgar, smutLy sort of magazine entitled The Alternative addressed to a Sister Paschal...
...This year's monstrosity appeared like the Ghost of Monslrosities Past: it was a tax bill...
...There would be a salutary by-product of this practical sociologic innovation...
...The nation has more needs (or the politicians continu~ t, discover more needs...
...Enclosed please find a check for fifty cents (please bill me if that's not sufficient...
...If the Pastore amendment becomes law, it will be no more than four years before Democratic Senators and Congressmen vote themselves a place at the public trough...
...But, dear reader, do not hold your breath for the liberal Democrats to rally round this insight...
...If they have only modest means of their own, they will supplement the public funds with the usual private fund raising activities...
...15) The mechanics of .administering this check off" system will be complicated and expensive...
...Jackson...
...That means $80 million every four years for the major parties and $24 million for Wallace...
...Rather it will lower by $1 the amount which we pay in taxes for Government programs...
...8) So this will just leave the parties free to do what they do now - - that is, raise as much money as possible...
...Then there is land to be purchased and a new building to be built...
...There is no reason to believe that campaigns will be exempt from the iron law of Federal aid: Strings follow cash...
...Is it possible thai this cheek off" plan might be aborled...
...Since atheism, the creed of the socialists and communists, is becoming so popular in our universities, the liberal clergy is anxious to free us from the reslraints and shackles of traditional dogma, and our Supreme Court has declared that official encouragement of Christianity is unconstitutional, perhaps we need a new religion, a religion without God, yet dedicated to social welfare...
...Anonymous) St...
...The real moral of this story is that, given enough rhetorical rope, the Democrats have hung themselves...
...And why not...
...12) So for four years good Democrats cheek off" a dollar for the Democratic Party...
...But then the parties can spend the money for other political chores, such as funding voter registration campaigns...
...The important words in the amendWill ment are: There is hereby established on the books of the Treasury of the United States a special fund to be known as the Presidential Election Campaign Fund...
...Quick now, guess: What party benefits most from aggressive registration drives that fill the voting rolls with people who, under normal circumstances, would be too lethargic to bestir themselves for any civic activities...
...9) And what about the individuals who get the money...
...11, Box 360, Bloomington, Indiana 47401...
...Dear Mr...
...The rich, impressive, ceremony attendant to these infant sacrifices would lend color to our drab existences and would rekindle the flames of patriotic fervor which are so lacking today...
...How about such a mailing to every mailbox in America...
...Every time a taxpayer directs the Treasury to take $1 out of his contribution to the Treasury and give it to the politicians, it will mean that someone else has to be taxed that much more Io provide the funds needed to operate the Government...
...For these of you who have not been closely monitoring the Democratic Party's latest style in theft, the check off" system works this way...
...As I write this the tax bill is on the way to conference with the House where conferees will iron out the differences between the two versions of the bill...
...say...
...lTteve are morne,ts, and this is one Of them, when I almost-but only almost -- wish the President was armed with an item veto...
...Well, how about direct mailings, computerized to include the recipient's name in the body of the letter...
...The ethic implicit in the Pastore amendment is: Shut up and fork over, and CORRESPONDENCE To the editor: I just heard that the current Al ternatwe contains a letter written by me...
...Plunkitt: If I am raised to the Supreme Court can I possibly avoid sitting next to Justice Douglas without hurting his feelings...
...In that case the cost of the check off" plan to the Treasury will be more than double the figure originally antioipated...
...Plunkitt: I'm the only Senator who hasn't been considered by a national magazine as a front runner for the Democratic nomination...
...You see this summer the Justice suffered severe brain damage while sitting under a women's hair dryer at a sit-in at the Luscious Skull Beauty Salon in Arlington, Virginia...
...The Phoenicians and later: their descendants, the Carthaginians, found that these ceremonies, and the necessary sacrifices involved, brought their people together and heightened their religious and civic sensibilities...
...First, it raises the individual exemption from $650 1o $750 or .$800...
...There are hereby appropriated to the fund each fiscal year...
...That is, if a citizen's tax bill is $5,000, he can pay $5,000 to the Treasury for the support of regular Government programs, or he can check off" a dollar, so that $4,999 goes to support the governing process, and $1 goes to support a political party...
...These problems - - and not public revenues - - should be the wages of sin...
...14) There is a case to be made for the position that this check off" practice is unconstitutional because it denies equal protection" of the laws to minor parties...
...PROPOSAL continued from page 11) condoned by our modern liberal society...
...Then he could end his five minute speech by announcing that he is calling the Congress back into emergency session and that he hoped the Democratic-controlled Congress would have the decency to act with dispatch to redecorate the Christmas tree, up to but not including Pastore's star on top...
...But what made this Christmas tree especially vulgar is a bauble hung by Democratic politicians for the benefit of...Democratic politicians...
...They are all senior Southerners...
...GWP Dear Mr...
...Shirley Chisolm...
...6) The check off" plan as drafted contains no effective provision for policing the use of these substantial sums...
...Published in August, it focuses on the unique position of minority groups in the Congolese electoral process...
...But now each return will have to be scanned for the check off" detail...
...But those figures represent the annual take...
...Chiles: I am returning your letter unanswered...
...Thus the only possibility for eleminating the cheek off" plan resides with the PresiThe A l t e r n a t i v e J a n u a r y , 1972 21 The Bootblack Stand Dr...
...I have heard that he never wears any clothing under his judicial robes and that he talks in his sleep...
...It took place after, and because, Democratic Party Chairman Larry O'Brian took stock of the Party debt...
...And they would like to have that $200 in time for the Christmas shopping...
...That is an absurd amount of money...
...The crucial vote was as much of a strict party line affair as you are apt to find in the Senate...
...Thai is, a stable two-party system is so beneficial that I would hate to see an attack mounted against these laws...
...Many state laws concerning procedures for getting a party on the ballot are designed to make it difficult for minor parties to prosper...
...Egotist that I am, I would like to have a copy...
...If you are in doubt as to why the check off" plan is obnoxious, just consider the following sixteen reasons...
...4 The A l t e r n a t i v e J a n u a r y , 1972 The World's Oldest Priority George F. tWASHINGTON) - - Christmas comes but once a year, and thank God for small favors...
...Before moving the amendment, they helped load the bill with sugar plums...
...It prbvides for a new check off" system for using tax incentives to induce taxpayers to contribute money to the three established political parties...
...If the Government starts subsidizing these campaigns, it will be abrogating the important principle that our Government does not engage in domestic propaganda, if the Government should not participate in the selling of the Pentagon, surely it should not participate in the selling of Hubert Humphrey or George Wallace or any other individual politician...
...George Washington Plunkitt, our prize-winning political analyst, has just completed a penetrating study of the last Congolese election...
...Obviously the merits of the case meant nothing in getting the amendment passed...
...For several years now the principle Democratic slogan has been that it is time to reorder our priorities...
...This bauble was the Pastore amendment regarding the financing of Presidential campaigns...
...5) Who among you, dear readers, believes that Presidential candidates will be the only persons subsidized...
...In ramming through the Pastore amendment, the Democrats clearly stated that subsidizing the Democratic Party is their first priority...
...4) How much money are we talking about...
...3) Political campaigns, or at least the most costly parts of them, are largely exercises in propagandizing...
...The problem is that, artistically speaking, the Democrats did a very stylish job of attaching the Pastore amendment to the tax bill...
...Thus the effect of the Pastore amendment may be to make it harder for men of modest means to get nominated...
...Will it be Kennedy...
...Craig Edwards Hanover College Hanover, Indiana pay for whomever we decide to run...
...It will require a lot of new programs, a large staff, a director to direct this empire...
...More than three million ears have been sold during the freeze...
...During the debate on the Pastore amendment the generally accepted figure was $20 million a year for each major party, and $6 million for George Wallace...
...This will further weaken parties and party responsibility, while making strong (and particularly charismatic) candidates increasingly independent of party organization...
...He could express his anxiety about the good things in the vetoed tax bill...
...In fact, he could veto it and put the monkey on the back of the Democrats if he were to go on television and explain that the Democrats were raiding the Treasury and that he would not stand for it...
...and Federal aid to everything else...
...But if the Pastore amendment becomes law, then perhaps we will have reached a point at which justice and utility are no longer served by what will then be an excessive pattern of discrimination against unestablished parties...
...We are ashamed to have our mailman even deliver such poor literature to us...
...But enough of this...
...Who is going to monitor the mountain of paper to see that the money is spent for legitimate campaign expenses...
...It is continuing to live beyond its means at an ever increasing rate...
...The Alternative Educational News Service is o bi.weekly publication which offers feoture stories, book reviews, research and background materiol for student publicotions~ For a flee subscription send the name and address of your campus ptlMication to: The Alternative Educational News Service, R.R...
...What can I do...
...Such a check off" will not increase our tax bill by a dollar...
...To repeat, we can be sure that the Pastore amendment will give birth to a variety of guidelines" designed to influence who runs, and when and where and under what circumstances the campaigus take place...
Vol. 5 • January 1972 • No. 4
