ustxtxb_obs_1984_03_23_50_00021-00000_000.pdf

tion of the first Stetson he used in filmings of the TV series “Dallas,” Jim Wright commented on the rumors: “My wife thinks vice president is the best job in town because you get a house with a big dining room, and you don’t get shot at. If I were offered the choice of Speaker or vice president well, I’m not sure but maybe I’d prefer Speaker. Now, we got some other fine Texans: Lloyd Bentsen. It’s nice to be speculated about though.” What Wright did not say was that, unlike the speakership, the vice-presidency often leads to the Presidency. V In an interview on Feb. 29, Tip O’Neill said that he wants to be appointed ambassador to Ireland if a Democrat is elected President this year, which could mean that Wright’s moment would come in 1985. O’Neill said that in any case he intends to serve no more than one more term in Congress. Thus he will step down as Speaker at the end of 1986. Reporting this, the Wall Street Journal added: “Majority Leader Jim Wright is the strong favorite to succeed Mr. O’Neill. Though more conservative than Mr. O’Neill, the Texan has sought to strengthen his ties among liberals by taking a strong stand for cuts in defense and opposing funding for the MX missile and the CIA-backed war in Nicaragua.” v In a recent issue of Village Voice, James Ridgeway wrote: “The worst election nightmare haunting liberal Democrats is that Walter Mondale will win the nomination and then hook up with the LBJ of 1984 in the form of Lloyd Bentsen, the colorless Democratic senator from Texas, long and ardent advocate of Reaganomics.” Ridgeway’s article continued in this vein, reviewing Bentsen’s roles in the Senate, his defeat of Ralph Yarborough for the Senate in 1970, and Bentsen’s father’s business activities in the Valley as these were reported in the Observer some time ago. V It seems that a political ad run by the Mondale campaign in New Hampshire may have contributed to the erosion of Mondale’s support in the state shortly before its primary. The ad, created by Austin’s public relations consultant Roy Spence, showed Mondale playing tennis. New Hampshire labor reacted adversely to the fact that the man with the AFL-CIO endorsement was portrayed in coordinated tennis togs, playing a sport usually associated with country clubs. V Gary Hart’s rise has put something of a damper on the speculation around the Capitol as to which Democrats would be making the run for Senate should Mondale tap Lloyd Bentsen as his running mate. The names appearing on most lists as possible candidates were Buddy Temple, Lt. Governor Bill Hobby, and the two losers in the Democratic primary for Tower’s seat. San Antonio Mayor Henry Cisneros was considered a likely candidate, but he faces an obstacle of his own creation in any statewide race. The Democratic Party faithful are less than enthusiastic about Cisneros since his reluctance in 1982 to be identified with the Democratic candidates running for statewide office. Never one to identify himself with progressive campaigns, Cisneros was even hesitant about signing on for Lloyd Bentsen’s re-election bid. Apparently San Antonio city politics, which have never been identified according to Democratic/Republican party lines, have created in Cisneros an inability to choose sides. His performance on President Reagan’s Central America Commission provides another example of Cisneros’ centrist politics. “He’s always had a difficult time deciding he’s not a Republican,” said one Democratic campaign worker. V The Austin City Council recently voted unanimously to violate Austin’s City Charter and sell revenue bonds without the approval of Austin voters. Why? Because the ‘city needs the bond income to make its $2 million weekly payments on the unfinished South Texas Nuclear Project, and the City Council feared that Austin voters would defeat a proposal to borrow any more money for the troubled nuke. The City Council has asked a state district court to confirm that state law supercedes the City Charter requirement that voters approve the sale of revenue bonds. The City Council authorized the sale of $605 million in bonds for STNP, enough to pay all the rest of Austin’s share of construction costs. The last nuke bond election in Austin, in January 1983, was hotly contested and was for $97 million in bonds. Austin continues to participate in STNP under a contract with the partner utilities \(Houston, San Antonio, and City Council to sell Austin’s 16% of the project and the recent assertion of City Council member Sally Shipman that she would happily unload Austin’s share for one dollar. \(Austin’s investment to date in STNP is roughly $450 In response to the City Council decision to skip the election and issue bonds anyway, a group of local activists has begun work to initiate a recall election of the City Council. V A Houston Industries shareholder resolution calling for the cancellation of the South Texas Nuclear Project has been filed by the Sisters of the Sorrowful Mother Finance, Inc. , of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and the Christian Brothers of St. Louis, Missouri. The resolution calls upon the board to support cancellation and to “approach the partnership with such a proposal.” The religious investors are being represented by the Texas Coalition for Responsible Investto manage their shareholder interests in this matter. The management of Houston Industries had asked the sponsors to withdraw their resolution, but they were not so persuaded, and the resolution remains on the proxy statement to be voted on in the Houston Industries annual meeting of shareholders on May 9. In presenting the resolution, Sister Susan Mika, Executive Director of Texas CRI, said, “The poor and needy should not be deprived of electricity because of escalating prices and problems in the nuclear industry.” The resolution sponsors were also critical of a contribution of $380,000 made by Houston Industries in 1983 to the U.S. Committee on Energy Awareness, which sponsors advertising promoting nuclear power. This advertising is paid for by the ratepayers of the utilities belonging to the committee. According to Timothy Smith, Executive Director of the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility, the Houston Industries resolution is one of eight filed by religious investors with ten utilities across the country this year. Resolutions with three utilities involved in the Zimmer nuclear plant in Ohio were withdrawn when the nearly-completed facility was converted to a coal-fired generating plant. V The Fort Worth arm of General weapons maker, builder of the Trident submarine and the cruise missile almost had some of its Pentagon money cut off last month. Fort Worth GD builds the F-16 fighter and is solely supported by the Defense Department, which paid it more than $2 billion last year. The trouble over the payments came when GD headquarters in St. Louis refused to show Pentagon auditors its general ledger. The Pentagon threatened to hold back $10 million due Fort Worth GD; GD gave in and the money went through. Fort Worth GD is the largest defense contractor in Texas. THE TEXAS OBSERVER 21