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111110011t II1E=S Union printing with corn . petitive prices. Support the local Sadlowski backers are just a small, vocal group “who don’t have much support.” He says Riehle and his group have amassed as much support as they have by “trying to get as much mileage as they can out of the violence and the shooting incident.” Ball says the shooting was regrettablebut insists the union had nothing to do with it. “Hughes Tool was probably the one place in Houston where that could have happened. That’s where all those commie parties pass out their literature. I’m sure things just got out of hand.” Ball gives both the national and local elections to McBride by “a substantial margin,” because as he sees it, Sadlowski appeals to only a small, disgrun Hightower . . . The new lobbyists are as corporate as their clients, both in style and perception of the public good. They are big business, and they handle themselves accordingly. The Association of Taxpayers is represented by five lobbyists, two of whom are attached to CMH, the HoustonAustin PR firm. At its head is Lyndon Johnson’s longtime crony and aide, George Christian, who is himself one of the registrants for the “taxpayers.” Christian is listed also as agent for the Association of Consumer Finance Companies, the Slurry Transport Association \(made up of such interested parties as Union Carbide, Texas Utilities, and General Contractors \(an organization of Natural Gas Co. You won’t see top-of-the line lobbyists hauling satchels of money up to the state senate like the bagmen of old, and you won’t even see them hanging around a lot. They can do their work with an occasional, timely phone call, or they can see a committee chairman at the country club. There’s no need to storm around, bulling people over. The thing nowadays is just to act when it’s time to act, and as discreetly as possible. The corporate lobby has ample favors to dispensefrom campaign contributions to the simple flattery of a phone call from a major corporate executivebut big business’ real clout is its sheer staying powerits constant presence at the seat of government. Day in and day out, Texas business is there to get theirs they have a bill prepared, they have an information booklet for the member’s consideration, they have a local district constituent to talk to the legislator. And, too, they’re such a swell bunch of fellows. Many were important themselves once, you know, so it gives it all such a close feeling. Friendly like. Con tled percentage of the union’s membership. “Sadlowski has made his pitch to the basic steelworkers in the plants,” he says. “Those basic steelworkers comprise only about a third of our total membership, since the rest are employed in other metal industries. Sadlowski has appealed to 400,000, but he’s turned off the other million members.” But Ball could be wrong. When he was asked for his assessment of Sadlowski’s Houston support, he replied that “it would really be hard to find even one Sadlowski backer around here. This is really McBride territory.” Does Riehle mind being dismissed like that? “No,” he says. “That way, they’ll really be surprised when we win.” sider the Austin law firm of McGinnis, Lochridge & Kilgore. Lloyd Lochridge is a former president of the state Bar, and Joe Kilgore is a former state and U.S. representative. A member of the same outfit, James Wilson, was an assistant state attorney general and used to work for Lyndon Johnson. And Wade Spilman, another McGinnis, Lochridge man, served in the Legislature from 1955-1962. There’s a lot of establishment legitimacy there, and firm members have the lobbying accounts of Exxon, Continental Airlines, Seadock, Tobacco Tax the Securities Industry Association, among others. These are just some of the figures that maintain business as usual in Austin. They hold enormous power; power that is rarely discussed in print, and even less rarely on the air. There have been literally hundreds of newspaper stories published in the past couple of weeks on the 65th Legislature, all reporting the same basic thingthe session will be devoted to property tax reform, school finance, highway construction, medical malpractice insurance, crime control, etc. But there has been virtually no coverage of the economic forces that have already come together to shape the session. In part, there is so little coverage of big business lobbies because they hide their light under a bushel. Various newspapers have done thorough reporting on the legislative programs of groups like AFL-CIO and Common Cause, but these groups are forthcoming about their plans \(AFL-CIO even printed a little booklet Brown & Root, Dallas Power & Light, and the crowd they run with don’t put out press releases on their legislative programs; they just get them passed. If Texans are to know what really is at stake this legislative session, the state’s press is going to have to give an uncommon lot of attention to the real story the relationship between economic power and the government. J.H. January 28, 1977 31 BOOK* 903 S WEST 17 TV 476.004 , insult Texas 71701 T “Home of Texas Traditional Music” Down-Home Food 217 So. Lamar Austin, Texas ANDERSON & COMPANY COFFEE TEA SPICES TWO JEFFERSON WARE AUSTIN, TEXAS 7831 512 453-1533 Send me your list. Name Street City Zip Bob and Sara Roebuck Anchor National Financial Services 1524 E. Anderson Lane, Austin bonds stocks insurance mutual funds optional retirement program ‘ : movement, help us build : the ideal. Come to I.D.A. for your printing needs. 901 W. 24th St., Austin 477-3641 15