ustxtxb_obs_1986_09_12_50_00016-00000_000.pdf

POLITICAL INTELLIGENCE Lionized Rightwing demagoguery reared its head at a July 9 Lions Club meeting in . Sherman, which featured U.S. Rep. Ralph Hall., D-Rockwall, as guest speaker. Apparently Hall was in his element: the Lions interrupted his talk four times with applause and especially liked Hall’s endorsement of the Supreme Court’s decision upholding a Georgia sodomy law. “Queers,” said Hall, have only two rights. “They have the right to medical treatment, and if they don’t want that, they have the right to a fair trial. He praised Reagan’s bombing raid on Libya, saying, “Gadhafi and terrorism have subsided a little bit since we kicked the heck out of them down there.” On Gramm-Rudman, Hall declared, “I felt the bill was unconstitutional when we passed it. I voted for [Gramm-Rudman], and I’d vote for it again.” 7, Come 11 v It’s a mixed bag supporting the proposition of a state lottery in Texas. Houston Reps. Ron Wilson and Larry Evans introduced it in the House, and Hector Uribe of Brownsville brought it before the Senate, but the real backers are businesses with a direct interest in lotteries. Felton West reported in the Houston Post that major financial support comes from Southland Corp. \(7Circle Association. Convenience stores would be a major outlet for lottery tickets. Companies selling lottery supplies, such as computer hardware and software, tickets, and staff services to lotteries in other states, also are big contributors to the lottery lobby. These companies include General Instruments, Scientific Games. Syntech, G-Tech, and a subsidiary of Control Data Corporation. This is no grassroots movement. Texans for the Lottery, the lobbying arm for the movement, admits to skipping over any fundraising appeal to the public and has a mailing list of only about 300 people, West reported. George Works, an Austin public relations and advertising man and secretary to former Texas House Speaker Billy Clayton in 197580, said his groups’ $200,000 budget comes from “about a dozen contributors.” Most of the money goes for paying himself, two lobbyists, an advertising campaign, and a state poll which shows that public support for a state lottery is on the rise. v Texas Land Commissioner Garry Mauro supported a bill by state Rep. James “Pete Laney, ,D-Hale Center, that would exempt privately developed state lands from city zoning regulations. Under the bill, developers could buy or lease certain land from the state and receive immunity from city development regulations, such as zoning. According to an Austin American-Statesman report, Mauro recommended that certain state properties be sold, leased, or used for other purposes by the state. Properties such as the Austin State Hospital, the School for the Deaf, Austin State School, and land of Travis State School would be vulnerable to condo development. A member of the Austin Planning Commission said the bill would have a “tremendous, horrible, effect on the city, and a spokesperson for Mauro said the land commissioner would recommend a new bill exempting state properties in Travis County. Rep. Terral Smith, R-Austin. said, “The state ought not to be in the business of building condos, and questioned Mauro’s interests in the proposal. Mauro is a partner in a law firm with Ed Wendler, Sr., who represents several major developers. V Bill Clements has received the endorsement of the Texas Coalition for Life, a group representing 30 pro-life organizations. Clements, running again for Texas governor, will join Pat Robertson and Anita Bryant in an October 4 banquet for the Dallas Right to Life Committee. Henderson Switch V In a bit of reverse Gramm-Hanceism, former GOP Railroad Commission candidate John Thomas Henderson, a Democrat-turned-Republican, has returned to the Democratic fold. The Republican Party leadership of Texas “speaks with forked tongue,” Henderson said. “I’m sure I won’t be the last to take this action.” Henderson has endorsed Democrat John Sharp for the Railroad Commission and Governor Mark White for re-election. .Republicans in the Texas House of Representatives were not exactly bowled over by the dinner and conversation at former Gov. John Connally’s Austin home on August 20. Connally, who had appeared with Gov. Mark White at a news conference the previous week to support White’s call for an increase in the sales tax, invited the House’s 55 Republicans for a “social event” to talk about the state budget problems. But Rep. Chip Staniswallis, R-Amarillo, says he and others left the affair with a feeling of “bitterness” and as unconvinced as ever about raising taxes. Staniswallis said UT President Hans Mark and some members of the UT Board of Regents made a presentation about the importance of higher education to the state’s future. He said Republicans saw the dinner as a thinly disguised effort to push the legislators away from their stand against new taxes. “We’ve seen nicer homes, had better meals; that’s not what it takes to get us to listen,” said Staniswallis. V Sen. Lloyd Bentsen is seeking a change in his committee assignments for the upcoming 100th Congress beginning in January. Bentsen wants to move from the Environment and Public Works Committee to the Commerce and Science Committee. He says the economic future of Texas depends on attracting more research and development to the state and, thus, his interest in the committee that has jurisdiction over federal research and development efforts, space-related programs, aviation, and telecommunications. Frost to the Rescue V As part of his role as the Congressman from LTV Corp., Rep. Martin Frost went into action when LTV filed for bankruptcy in July. A recent newsletter from Frost tells how he had to “drop everything and devote my attention to one matter” the LTV crisis. He got the Pentagon to provide a witness for LTV’s hearing in bankruptcy court to urge continued operation of the company’s Aerospace and Defense Division, which made a $160 million profit last year. The court agreed, and the military work will not be interrupted. Frost’s district includes the LTV Aerospace and Defense Division in Grand Prairie, which employs more than 15,000 people. V Congratulations to U.S. Rep. Henry B. Gonzalez for his perfect score of zero on the American Conservative Union’s annual rating of lawmakers. Gonzalez was one of 23 House members and three senators who consistently voted against the conservatives’ positions on such issues as chemical weapons production, the MX missile, sanctions against South 16 SEPTEMBER 12, 1986