ustxtxb_obs_1970_10_30_50_00021-00000_000.pdf

r Happiness Is Printing By w p FUTURA PRESS Phone 512/442-7836 1714 SOUTH CONGRESS P.O. BOX 3485 AUSTIN, TEXAS Newspapers Magazines Political Specialists Signs and Placards Bumperstrips Office Supplies 100% Union Shop RIFE YOUR KITE COUNTED’? “The handling of information about the counted ballot in Texas is still haphazard, meager, and sometimes error-filled,” says Lance Tarrance, Jr., in Texas Precinct Votes ’68. Against enormous obstacles he has managed to uncover precinct-level returns \(published here 1968 precinct boundaries, for 75% of the population of -Texas. These returns, compared to official county totals, reveal serious disparities. “An invaluable reference for scholars, political analysts, and politicians.”Dallas News $7.95 SOUTHERN METHODIST UNIVERSITY PRESS DALLAS, TEXAS 75222 1968 ateit EVECION VONCI 01,1S1 S WS latT ante It Compiled and Edded by Vane Meditation on a mess Austin The current electoral campaign in Texas is standing proof of the futility of lesser evilism. Once again Texas liberals are faced with a choice between men whom they cannot support in good conscience. So we try to decide which will be the least harmful and vote on that basis. Another alternative is to not vote at all. But I revolt at the idea that the selection of candidates will disenfranchise thousands of voters. It is to be hoped that the trauma of having to make up our minds about the unappetizing selection we are being offered on Nov. 3 will make us work a little harder to see that the selection is more promising next time. In the senatorial race, I have a vague leaning toward Bentsen, of all people. Since I was not here to witness the apparently slimy primary campaign he waged against Ralph Yarborough, the grudge I hold against him on that score is second-hand. I believe him to be a shade more moderate than Bush in foreign policy and a shade more conservative on domestic policy. Bush has been closely aligned with congressional hawks since he went to Washington and his reaction when the Koreans captured the U.S. ship Pueblo was extremely hawkish. Incidents similar to the Pueblo will probably recur, and at such times I’d prefer to be represented by an isolationist rather than a hawk. Bentsen is also presumably less tied to Mr. Nixon, who is still waging war all over the Indochinese peninsula. Since it seems impossible that anything significant will be done about the domestic problems in this country until we kick off our foreign entanglements, the fact that Bentsen is more conservative than Bush on domestic issues makes no odds. IAM unimpressed by the arguments of the Democratic Rebuilding Committee. We have already elected one Republican senator to spite the state Democratic Party and a fat lot of good that’s done us. I am also given to considering the Texas senatorial race in light of the national political picture. I do not want to see Nixon’s man elected. I do not want to see any man aligned with Spiro Agnew elected. I believe the vice-president is a hatemonger. I believe he is condoning some of the worst impulses in this society. It is apparent that he is trying to redefine the Republican Party to include only those of his own philosophical ilk. If Bush must agree with Agnew in order to be counted a Republican, I want none of him. True, Bentsen himself is discouraging. Traces of the sliminess remain despite his now statesmanlike pose. For example, in his campaign appearances, he keeps citing an absurd example to prove that the welfare reform bill proposed by Nixon is a bad idea. Bentsen says over and over that a woman on welfare with four children could get more than a working woman who earned $7,000 a year. Such diddling with welfare figures to make it appear that recipients can get more than working folks well above the poverty line is much-used and completely disgusting practice. Irresponsible pols and officials who use such cockeyed examples have done a great deal to crap up whatever understanding the American people have of the welfare system. Anyone familiar with the procedures for welfare disbursements and the provisions of the Nixon reform bill’ knows that the example used by Bentsen is at the limits of theoretical possibility and is literally impossible in practice. Bentsen’s media campaign is touting him as “a man with new ideasi” The only new idea he has advanced is to have the performance of federal judges reviewed every ten years by the senate. If the judges were voted incompetent by a two thirds majority of the senate, they would be removed, according to the Bentsen plan. But the reasoning behind giving federal judges life appointments in the first place was precisely to safeguard them from the kind of political considerations that would arise under the Bentsen plan. A federal judge faced with making a constitutionally correct, but unpopular decision would be vulnerable. And rare would be the pol with enough fortitude to ignore extraneous considerations, such as the fact that William 0. Douglas has been married four times. Bentsen is regularly accused of being racist. For all I know, he is, but he can’t afford to let it show even if he gets elected it’s more than bad ton these days, it’s politically fatal. What concerns me more is his apparent lack of compassion. Mr. Bentsen says he cannot find it in himself to support a bill that would give a destitute family of four $1,600 a year to live on. I can recall with painful clarity seeing Mr. Bentsen’s own life style. I was particularly struck with the bathroom in his luxurious home in Houston. It was the size of an October 30, 1970 21 CLASSIFIED BOOKPLATES. Free catalog. Many beautiful designs. Special designing too. Address: BOOKPLATES, P.O. Box 28-I, Yellow Springs, Ohio 45387. ANNE’S TYPING SERVICE \(Marjorie Anne Binding, Mailing, Public Notary. Twenty years experience. Call 442-7008 or 442-0170, Austin, WE SELL THE BEST SOUND. Yamaha pianos, guitars; MoeckKungAulus recorders; harmonicas, kalimbas and other exotic instruments. Amster Music, 1624 Lavaca, Austin. 478-7331. ASTROLOGY in Houston: Full chart service available. Special consultations by arrangement. 668-3107.