European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - March 24, 1992, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Tuesday March 24, 1992 the stars and stripes a Page 13 commentary William f. Buckley  scandal just Nickel and dime affair it inflicts much pain on those who Welcome any Opportunity to disparage the habits of democratic members of Congress it is obviously they one gathers who Are mostly delinquent in the Story of unbalanced checking accounts in the House of representative but my own inclination is to conclude that it is not quite a bum rap but certainly a bum Mish rap. Considering what lawmakers get away with every Day to get mad at them Over the Check overdrafts is indeed to break a Butterfly on a wheel. The Story As it gets out tells us nothing much More than that a Bunch of House members did no to pay special attention to whether there was enough Money in their congressional Bank accounts to cover their checks. But we know that what happened when the House banker a civil servant got word that congressman Jones had sent in a Check in excess of his balance was that the Check got paid and if the overdraft exceeded the monthly paycheck of the lawmaker a notice would be sent drawing attention to the overdraft. Most of the easy riders would then make up the deficit and a month or so later in Many cases the whole business would Start up again. From the information available at this writing it Isnit charged that any lawmaker simply defaulted. On the other hand we done to quite know what exactly would have happened if congressman Jones failed to be re elected in november 1990, at a moment when he owed the House Bank $4,089. Were there any such who actually left town owing Money to the House Bank if so How were they pursued what if any was the penalty or Are we talking merely about hypothetical cases that did no to happen rep. Stephen a Solarz of new York is an interesting Case in Point. He is a democratic lawmaker with a Stakh Novite appetite for work. Those who Are on his mailing list Are not surprised to get reports from him addressing the situations in Manila phenom penh Moscow and Johannesburg. Sometimes you will even find yourself screaming a Solarz Why done to you stay in Addis Ababa for a week or two and let us have a Little breathing space a but Solarz emerges As the fifth most a guilty a which Means that he wrote 743 checks Over a period of 30 months that exceeded the Money he actually had in the House Bank. The most that the voters can say about him is that he availed himself of a soft perk a kind of in House credit card facility that did no to bother to charge interest on rubber checks. Solarz takes immense Pride in his civic mindedness and raises tvo interesting Points. The first is that it is not exactly right to bring Down the Guillotine on congressional members who violate a Standard that had not Ever been enunciated. A second Point is that sure the lawmakers ended up getting the equivalent of inter est free Loans. But congressional members who deposited their Money in the House Bank As distinguished from a commercial institution were forfeiting interest they might have earned. And then Solarz pointing to his own record established that the overdraft Money Wasny to being used to play the commodities Market or to Gamble in Atlantic City. It was just household expenses. With a grand flourish seeking to expunge from the record whatever conceivable Trace there might be of material opportunism Solarz wrote out a Check for $2,400 to the House Bank. That sum represents hypothetical interest on overdraft checks from the Day they bounced until the Day they were covered. That comes to interest saved amounting to approximately $80 per month. And remember Solarz is one of the highest offenders measured in terms of the number of checks that bounced. When you consider the reasons we have for ousting the majority of House members one is rendered almost speechless at the idea that the $80-per-month perk should distract attention from the grand indictments that should be drawn against the congressional fraternity. These Are people who appropriated Money that has resulted in a Federal deficit of $400 billion. These Are pork minded Public Money plunderers whose least Home Bridge or Tunnel or Highway bypass would pay for interest free House Bank Money for every congressional member $80 per month until the turn of the next Century. Choleric info ration with the performance of Congress and with its banana Republic institutionalized devices for staying in office is urgently recommended and critically needed. The fixed term amendment is the Best political idea of the half Century. So focus on it and forget the Penny Ante stuff. C Universal press  Lewi Brown relishes playing cold role of spoiler when Jerry Brown was elected governor of California in 1974, his Cam Fia Ign finance director was Richard Maul in. A few years later Maullin said a Jerry does no to have the same attachments As other people do. He does no to care about friends or possessions or sports. He a totally into  the truth of that observation has been brought Home to me Over Many years of watching Brown. He assumes various guises from the zen mysticism of the Early California years to today a Blue Collar look the United Auto workers jacket. But the subtext is always the same Power for Jerry Brown. He used to talk about Friendship with Mexico and about the economic potential of the Pacific rim. But campaigning in Michigan in recent weeks he was a Xeno Phobe who made opposition to the proposed free Trade pact with Mexico a main theme. A Clinton and Bush want to Send your jobs to Mexico a he told Michigan audiences. When he returns to California to Campaign for its june presidential primary he will no doubt be a free trader again. Brown has real Talent As a politician. It is an ability to find the current sore spot in the country a political psyche and rub the Hurt. This year he has identified As his opening the Public a resentment of Washington insiders and their privileges. So he is running As or. Outside the enemy of vested interests the Man who will give politics Back to the people a thus his saintly refusal to accept Campaign contributions of More than $100. The evil of big Money contributors was not so Clear to Brown two years ago. Then he and his Law firm worked hard to defeat a California initiative that would have put a limit on contributions to state candidates. He comes on As casual a candidate of engagingly Impromptu actions. But when i first interviewed him 16 years ago i concluded that underneath he was a Cool one might even say  the latest example of cold calculation was his attack on Bill and Hillary Clinton in the television debate before last weeks Illinois and Michigan primaries. On sunday March 15, the Washington Post put on Page 1 a Story headlined a Hillary Clinton a Law firm does business with  it was a headline that vied with the one that years ago won Claud Cockburn the nightly prize for dullness at the times of London a Small earthquake in Peru not Many  the Rose Law firm in which Hillary Clinton is a partner is one of the three largest in Arkansas so the fact that it handles cases connected with the state is unremarkable. It has done so for decades Long before she was there. The Post article made no suggestion that the Rose firm had been favored during Bill Clinton a governorship or that Hillary Clinton had benefited improperly. In fact she does not accept the portion of partnership income attributable to state connected Legal work. It was hard indeed to see what the Point of the Story was. That night in the debate Brown said Clinton was a a funnelling Money to his wife a Law firm As state  he said that was a right on the front of the Washington Post. A the statement was a calculated lie. The Post Story had made no such charge. The Media covering the debate was caught As it often is when confronted with demagogy a caught As it was Long ago by Joe Mccarthy. It just printed the charge and Clinton a angry denial. But Thomas Oliphant a Boston Globe columnist who was there was not trapped by the journalistic Shibboleth of a a balanced coverage. He pointed out the falsehood and said Browne a behaviour a gives hypocrisy a bad  Why bother puzzling Over the phenomenon of Jerry Brown he is not going to be the nominee for president. He decided not to run for senator in California because he could not win even that. But he is going to be a spoiler and a mean one. He will be in the race at least through California. And he will probably be Back in 1996, and 2000, and. He is the democrats Patrick Buchanan. Cythe now Yorito times