ustxtxb_obs_1967_01_20_50_00009-00000_000.pdf

Spears Keeps Blasting Away at the Governor Gillespie, Llano, and Burnet counties, including lakeside lots. The AP reported the roles of “middlemen” such as Donald S. Thomas of Austin, M. C. Winters, president of the Johnson City Bank, and A. W. Moursund of Johnson City, and of Johnson-associated companies, including the Texas Broadcasting Co. and Brazos-Tenth Street Co. V The Dallas News’ Jimmy Banks noted that Moursund and Jesse Kellam \(listof the President’s, are among 30 passengers whose presence on the Army helicopters used by the Presidency can be noted, on the required lists of passengers, merely by a check mark. Texans in D.C. The Republicans’ general reaction to the President’s speech was cheers on Vietnam, but nix on the 6% corporate and personal income tax surtax unless domestic spending is cut substantially. This was also the reaction of the Texas Republicans and of such Texas Congress men as Joe Pool and Earle Cabell of Dallas and Graham Purcell of Wichita Falls. Cong. John Young, Corpus Christi, supported the surtax for the war effort. Freshman Cong. Bob Eckhardt, Houston, San Antonio Franklin Spears no longer a state senator, since he ran for attorney general last spring, but rapidly moving into the role of a leader of anti-Connally Democrats presented to home-town Democrats in San Antonio last week a kaleidoscope of criticisms of the governor. In this he continued to develop a sharp contrast with himself less than a year ago. He has clearly decided that his previous strategy of trying to combine his liberalism on issues with conciliation of Connally failed and that he will now model himself on Sen. Ralph Yarborough’s tough attitude toward Connally. Here are a few of the things Spears said about Connally in the public San Antonio meeting of voter registration workers: “I predict that his arrogance and his tremendous ego which was mentioned by Jackie Kennedy will drive him to attempt to be the state’s first four-term governor. In so doing he believes himself greater than Sam Houston.” Running for a third term, Connally “broke his promise” in 1962, a statement that no man should serve three terms as governor. “I predict he will break his promise again and seek a fourth, term.” “Many who call themselves Connally men don’t like him in fact, they despise him.” Many go along with state leaders “because of fear of retaliation.” Connally’s appetite for power is “insatiable” and led said it was a “great speech,” and Yarborough said it was a “no retreat” speech, especially emphasizing that it was honest for the President to attribute the need for the surtax to the war. Freshman Republican Bob Price of Pampa said, “My first reaction is generally unfavorable to most of the proposals.” V There were two test votes in the House. In one, the House backed water, reverting to rules that let bills be bottled up in the conservative rules committee. Except for Jack Brooks, Eckhardt, Henry Gonzalez of San Antonio, freshman Abraham Kazen of Laredo, and Wright Patman of Texarkana, who voted to retain the liberal rule, and Jim Wright of Fort Worth, who didn’t vote, the Texas delegation voted to go back to the way it was before the liberals had their day in the House. . In the other test, the House grappled with the Adam Clayton Powell issue. Powell was stripped of, his committee chairmanship in a closed Democratic caucus. Eckhardt voted to suspend Powell from his chairmanship pending findings of the inquiry into his doings, but voted against depriving him of the chairmanship before then. On the latter step, which prevailed, 18 Texas members reportedly voted aye. Powell’s scalp loosened, the House de cided to finish the job. Pickle, Brooks, Eckhardt, Gonzalez, Kazen, Price, and Wright voted to let Powell be seated as a congressman until the investigation was completed; all the other Texans voted against this, and it lost. Then, on the motion to deny Powell his seat while he was being investigated, all the Texans voted aye, except Wright, who didn’t vote, and Eckhardt and Gonzalez, who voted no. V Eckhardt reportedly has accepted an invitation to join the Democratic Study Group of liberal House members. V Gonzalez has been made chairman of the Texas Democratic delegation. The three Texas Republicans, Tower, Price, and George Bush, of Houston, may have delegation meetings of their own, since the Democrats exclude them. V Gonzalez is preparing to make a push in Washington for a barge canal down the San Antonio River to the Gulf. . . . Bob Casey of Houston has a bill making ten years mandatory for using a gun in committing a felony. . . . Kika de la Garza of Mission wants to let U.S. tourists import up to a gallon of liquor indigenous from Mexico. A previous cut in the booze allowable from Mexico has hurt the Mexican-side border towns. . . . Pool is trying again with his bill against those who aid the Viet Cong. . . . Patman proposes that the Federal Reserve buy non-interest-bearing bonds from the Treasury to help finance the war. V Sen. Yarborough’s legislative plans in clude the Big Thicket national park, expanded and higher Cold War GI Bill benefits \(from $100 for a single student to $130; from $125 for a married student to $155; and from $150 for.a student with a tims of crime; and a federal educational program for Spanish-speaking children. V Hunter McLean, the Texas insurance commission chairman, has been in Washington seeking to dissuade leading congressional figures from investigating soaring auto insurance rates. He has been arguing that the rates are no higher than they have to be. V Sen. Tower has accepted membership on the senatorial campaign committee, which frees him to travel at the Republican Party’s expense and thus to wheel and deal on the presidential nomination. Tower’s office confirmed he met with Ronald Reagan Dec. 30 and talked two hours. Talk emanates from Tower’s associates of California backing Reagan as favorite son and Texas, and some southern states, backing Tower; this would be a bloc to keep the GOP from going moderate. Nixon would be the presumed beneficiary \(potentially, if lightning struck, mally thought to be Goldwatery reverberate with a surprising number of proRomney remarks. One-Party Cities V Monolithic one-slate politics seems to be increasingly the order of the times in Texas’ big cities. The dissenting Dallas Charter League him to grab control of the attorney general’s office. “He already owned ‘Baby Ben’ Barnes with whom he operates as a father-and-son team. He’s now out to get the lieutenant governor and strip him of his power, and I predict he’ll do it.” Education, Spears said, isn’t better, just costlier, as a result of Connally’s administration, and “he appointed the major polluter on the Gulf Coast to head the board to control pollution.” The governor’s “reform measures” were really power-grabs. “Connally has perpetuated the: control of the out-of-state oil companies and gas transmission companies in this state. Connally has shown us he is no Democrat. He is a Shivercrat, through and through. I didn’t discover it until too late.” The governor failed to propose a minimum wage, and his appointees have called for higher college tuition. Connally “seduced thousands of Goldwater Republicans to come back into the Democratic primary and vote,” destroying the Democrats’ ability to win a close general election. “If Connally is in charge of the President’s campaign next year,” Spears also said, “Texas will wind up in the Republican column of 1968.” Spears reportedly now has several political staff workers. He reported ending his 1966 race for attorney general with a debt of $40,000; evidently he has backing for another state-wide race, lieutenant governor or governor. Ja,nuary 20, 1967