European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - May 23, 1992, Darmstadt, Hesse Saturday May 23, 1992 the stars and stripes a Page 13 George f. Will Washington operates on inbred persuasion commentary with the tides of anti incumbent sentiment lapping higher and higher Washington a hands Stop trembling Only when Washington is wringing its hands in unfeigned horror about the coming constitutional amendment to require a balanced budget. A sufficient reason for ratifying the amendment is the horror it inspires in the political class that has transformed american democracy into that word was coined by James l. Payne a scholar who has taught at Yale and Johns Hopkins and elsewhere. He asked a simple question and in answering it came up with some stunning statistics that he reported in the Public interest quarterly two years ago a and nothing much has changed since then. His question was Why do members of the House and Senate support so Many spending programs one reason he found is that almost no one testifies against spending. He Analysed the testimony of 1,060 witnesses in 14 hearings on proposed spending. Seven witnesses opposed spending 39 were Neutral a they testified about something else a and 1,014 favored spending. This 145-to-one ratio reflects Washington a inbred persuasion process. Payne says that people suppose because democratic theory teaches that Congress responds primarily to individuals and groups a out there a beyond the Beltway. Not so says Payne. A overwhelmingly Congress views on spending programs Are shaped by government officials of the 1,060 witnesses Payne studied 47 percent were Federal administrators 10 percent were state or local government officials and 6 percent were . Senators or representatives testifying to colleagues. So 63 percent represented government acting As an interest group. Another 33 percent were lobbyists for groups purporting to be and generally perceived to be private sector institutions. But Payne says Many of these groups Are a Semi governmental often their leaders Are former government officials socialized in governments benign View of its own motives and competence. Furthermore Many of these groups Are extensions of government in that they receive government contracts and Grants. He cites the National Council of churches the National education association the league of women voters the Sierra club and other environmental groups. Governments Peculiar persuasion process also includes billions of government dollars spent hiring consultants to evaluate government programs or the need for programs. These consultants Are not famous for frowning on the work of the government agencies that hire them any More than the agencies Are famous for hiring politically unsympathetic evaluators. The evaluators Are socialized Tor sympathy. Many Are former government officials inclined to favor what government wants More. An evaluator who wants to be invited Back to the Federal banquet will when confronted with a failing program prescribe a better management and More Money. Payne says that when he discussed his 145-to-one finding with congressional staffers they were surprised a surprised it was so Low. Payne also found a no Surprise this a that among representatives and senators republicans As Well As democrats support for spending increases As tenure does. There Are two reasons for a Broad correlation Between length of service and enthusiasm for spending. One is the socialization into the government mentality. Another is that spending is the principal Way members achieve Long tenures. Today for example the ranking Republican on the House appropriations committee Joseph Mcdade is in serious Legal trouble but no political trouble. He has been indicted for racketeering conspiracy and accepting bribes. He shall be presumed innocent until proven guilty but he can be presumed guilty of what he boasts about and what causes his constituents to care not at All about his Legal troubles he is a billion Dollar Industry for his District. Pennsylvania a 10th District a a Scranton and its environs a used to be Coal country. Today it relies on a different kind of extraction its 15-term congressman a mining of the . Treasury. Federal state and local governments have collaborated with each others growth. The scores of millions he has won for Scranton so steam town a the notorious Boondoggle of a Railroad museum is just a fraction of the estimated $1 billion he has shovelled to his voters. They Are not ingrates. Not since 1976 has a democratic opponent held him below 65 percent of the vote. He was unopposed in 1990. This year he won not Only the Republican nomination but also by a write in Campaign the democratic nomination. Next year he Wilt of gun his fourth decade As a participant in american. What democracy maybe. But Payne a analysis of Washington a incestuous closed Circle of government in conversation with itself led him to Muse about a question of typology. If Rule by a King is monarchy and Rule by a single individual is autocracy and Rule by a few is oligarchy and Rule by the people a the demos a is democracy what word describes government that controls itself Payne suggests ugly word. Ugly fact. Good reason for a balanced budget amendment. C Tia Washington Post William f. Buckley to take care of your own problems the big Public event of last weekend was the March on Washington whose purpose it was to marshal Public opinion in behalf of our tatter Demalio cities. The spirit of the event merits applause though it is thin on analysis. It is just for instance extremely hard to engender support from. Out there. For new York City when even a fast look at the situation there discloses the extravagance of new York City life 31,000 extra City employees Between 1985 and 1990. But economic analysis stands in the Way of the grand chimera of modern politics. It is of course that Washington d.c., if Only it had a heart could transmit the Money necessary for instance to remedy those awful tensions in South Central los Angeles that Tore the City apart. President Bush and Congress have played along with this Romance by promising More than $1 billion in Aid to los Angeles where the self inflicted damage is estimated at $775 million. What or. Bush will heavily depend on is Public ignorance. Public ignorance is the Best Friend of special leaders. Its primary nutrient is again the notion that a Dollar emitted from Washington d.c., to los Angeles or new York or Detroit or Philadelphia arrives so to speak tax free. Consider for instance the City of los Angeles in the framework of the Revenue figures for 1988. They reveal that the average per capita income in the United states at that time was $16,444. Ones curiosity immediately turns to the question what was the median income in California answer $18,855. There is no reason to suppose that in the three years that have intervened the relative standing of California has changed significantly. It has had bad times but so has Well new Hampshire. Assume then that the objective is to help restore los Angeles a better not Only to restore los Angeles to where it was before the riots but to an improved condition of economic metabolism the idea being to prevent future riots. So that what we Are talking about is More Money for los Angeles. But any Money that flows through Washington in route to los Angeles needs to come in from tax revenues a or from borrowing. If the Bush administration intends to borrow in order to support los Angeles then the Burden of the added debt Falls to individual americans scattered about the 50 states. But this Means that the per capita incidence of interest on the debt tends to fall a Little More heavily on californians than on others because the median income there is higher and Federal revenues tend to reflect income. The direct Way of financing los Angeles problems if we do not borrow to do so is to allocate to los Angeles a share of the Pool of Money accumulated by Washington through regular taxation. Consider the state of new York. It ranks sixth among the richest states in the Union. California is eighth How can an advocate of Aid for new York City go with a straight face to Congress and ask for Money Given that there Are 44 states whose per capita income is less than that of new York , if he were a pedagogue might say this to the american Public a look if if Mississippi which is the poorest state in the Union needs help Why i think we ought to help them since their per capita income is Only $10,992. But it makes no sense for the wealthier states to ask for help since any help they it is going to come out of their pockets o i urge Sacramento to look at the problem of California and go to work. But forget Washington. All that we could contribute is an extra Burden on who will talk to us using this kind of language Ross Perot if so he might have a Chance after All. R Universal Poss syndic la
