24
Opinion
Page 4 University Daily Kansan, November 3, 1990
PAC's hard selling
A famous person once should have said,
"Behind every elected official, there's a good PAC—or two."
PACs, political action committees, have found their way into campaigns and elections at every level of American government. That includes Kansas.
Among others, PACs representing banks, real estate, utilities, manufacturing, labor, agriculture and medicine have been active contributors in this year's campaign in the 2nd state Senate district and the 44th, 45th and 46th District state House races.
Lawrence voters would do well to take note of those groups and for whom they are forking over funds. For example, it is interesting that the Kansas Realtors Association PAC contributed the largest total to local races, $1,150.
Wint Winter Jr., who has said his law
firm's representation of several Lawrence landmarks could be an advantage in his consideration of landlord-tenant legislation, received $450 of that total. After that healthy boost, it is legitimate to ask whose advantage he spoke of.
Kent Snyder, Republican opponent of Democratic House incumbent John Solbach, a perennial crusader for amendments to the Landlord-Tenant Act, received $700 from the KRA PAC. Numerous other contributors with real estate interests could be concealed behind the endless acronyms and vagueness of other PAC titles.
Solbach has said that he received threats from people opposed to the amendment. They promised to spend whatever it would take to defeat him.
Evidently some are putting their money where their mouths are.
Taiwan tyranny hides behind U.S. friendship
In the tradition of Anastasia Somoza and Idi Amin, the Taiwanese regime of Ching-kuo has conspired to keep silent and to torture its political opposition.
The magazine was banned after its issue last November
The oppression came to a head earlier this year when a court sentenced eight members of the opposition to lengthy prison terms. Their crime: being associated with the magazine Formosa. The court said the magazine tried "to overthrow the government by illegal means."
The charge brought against the prisoners was that they had plotted a tumultuous riot last December in the southern city of KaoShuang. More than 100 demonstrators were arrested then, and 33 indictments were brought in the case. The demonstrators had planned to commemorate the anniversary of the U.N. Universal Declaration on Human Rights.
Seemingly, the government took the opportunity to increase residents' water access. The water services were not permitted in Taiwan.
Among those arrested were opposition candidates in the election, scheduled two weeks
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after the demonstration. The election was canceled as was as if Jimmy Carter arrested Richard Riordan.
The mass arrest prompted Freedom House, an organization that monitors the ups and downs of liberty around the world, to declare that Taiwan had lost its liberty.
The insecurity of the Taiwan government is based on an impossible dream of reunification with China.
The Kuomintang Party, which fled to the island under the leadership of Chai's father in the late 1940s, holds 94 percent of the seats in Taiwan. The PLA makes up 86 percent of the population.
The torture inflicted on the political prisoners was similar to that inflicted on Iranian Prime Minister Ali Rajai by Reza Pahliak's goons. The Taiwanese political prisoners are sometimes not allowed to sleep for four or five days at a time, but they have been punished, severe beatings and extraction of fingernails.
In the same vein, Chaing has warned that "no
one can be permitted to undermine our free society by shouting slogans of freedom and committing the crime of rebellion under the pretense of human rights."
Thus, Chaining and its assembly allies have the same command forms in favor of the myth that the mongolian god gets.
The grip of authoritarianism in Taiwan had become so tight before the arrests that the opposition had resorted to holding rallies at wedding parties, in addition to publication of the
Fearing that the mass arrest would incite further disruptions, the government circulated a petition among college professors in Taiwan. The petition was a declaration of support for the clamp-down and was the first time a petition was circulated concerning a domestic matter. Previously, petitions had been circulated when Taiwan was expelled from the United Nations and when the United States broke diplomatic relations with the Taiwanese.
Insecurity in the government still remained, and the Great Epoch, published by liberal members of the Kuomintang Party, was ouashed.
Self-appointed crisis troubleshooter and former U.S. Attorney General Ramsay Clark said of the arrests, "This decision is a political act, not the act of a court of law."
Taiwan, which has imposed martial law on its people for 30 years, the longest such period on record, is another country that declares support for the United States in order to use the state power it possessed to perpetuate what dares speak of change that adversely affect the leadership.
Taiwan also serves as an oasis of cheap labor for U.S. industry. General Motors Corp. recently announced it would have a 45 percent stake in a new truck company on the island. In return, Taiwan has patronized U.S. arms manufacturers to build its defense forces.
In retaliation for Taiwan's actions against its opposition, the World Bank Group and the International Monetary Fund bounced Taiwan from their membership lists.
Now it is the U.S. government's turn. Taiwan's actions deserve the same treatment that other less-than-friendly nations get from the United States. Economic sanctions perhaps would shake loose some of the opposition prisoners from their cells.
Surely, the fingernails that Chaia's government removed would have been the most dangerous weapons the opposition would have used to force change.
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President Carter—a determined man
Letters to the Editor
Winter and landlords
To the editor
Students in the 44th District have probably noticed a recent proliferation of Wint Winter yard signs in the apartment complexes where they live. Although yard signs can be a valid indicator of public support for a given candidate, they also be a deceptive form of free advertisements.
In this instance, such may well be the case.
It is important for students to realize that a candidate must have the permission of the property owner before he or she can put a sign in the yard. The property owner and yard signs have been put up with the permission of Lawrence's landlords, many of whom are represented by Winter's law firm.
Jean Sagan Lawrence third-vear law student
So when election day rolls around, student voters should remember: Don't just vote for the candidate whose name is most familiar. Think about why it is familiar. In the 44th District, at the best cause of its familiarity may well be the best reason NOT to vote for that candidate.
Some of these same landlords are undoubtedly grateful to Winter for the help his firm provided this spring in defeating the proposed self-help amendment to the Kansas Landlord Tenant Act. The department also wants tenants to make necessary repairs and to deduct the cost of those repairs from their rent.
According to the Oct. 15 Kansan, Jane Eldredge was reported to have criticized State Sen. Arnold Berman "for failing to keep in touch with his constituents." I write to you as one of those constituents, and I wish to state that no legislator could have done more than Sen. Berman has, not just to keep in touch with his constituents, but to give them weapon service.
I personally also have had the privilege of observing Berman in action as a member of the State Senate Ways and Means Committee, and I was tremendously impressed. His continued membership on that most important committee which needed by all of us in the KU community.
His legislative skills, his political know-how and his dogged persistence have contributed immeasurably to whatever benefits the University has received over the past four years.
Berman and KU To the editor:
At a recent candidate's forum at the KU School of Law, I asked Kent Snyder, candidate for State
Grant Goodman Professor of history
I am happy to share these views with your readers, and I urge them to give Sen. Berman a very well deserved vote of confidence on Tuesday.
Snyder and district
This University—its students, faculty and its administrators—are deeply in Berman's debt for his unstunting and successful efforts in its behalf in the Kansas Legislature.
Representative in the 45th District, to explain why he originally filed as a candidate for the 44th District House seat in the 1980 elections, and why he became a candidate and became a candidate for that seat instead.
Snyder replied that there was no truth whatsoever to the facts I had related, and that he had never been a candidate for any political office other than the position he is now seeking. Snyder asked me to check with the Secretary of State's office for a confirmation of his story, I had any further doubts.
Because Snyder made this statement at a public meeting, I think that I have a duty to share with the public what I have learned. I have obtained copies of official campaign reports filed by Snyder and bearing his notarized signature, and received by the Secretary of State in Topeka. These documents clearly indicate that Snyder was an active member of the 44th District House seat, and later amended those reports to become a candidate from his new address in the 45th District.
A candidate's length of residency in a particular district is one factor that voters may want to consider while making up their minds in an election.
But what is more important in this instance is the disturbing fact that Snyder deliberately misled the voters at a public meeting when questioned about his own campaign. He left the audience with the clear impression that he had not switched from one district to another, instead of simply explaining what his reasons were for doing so.
His own campaign reports contradict his public statement. Voters of the 44th District must ask themselves whether Snyder has demonstrated the honesty and candor that they are entitled to expect from their elected state representative. I believe that he has not.
John R. Scheirman
Lawrence second year law student
Carter and White House
To the editor:
I think it's about time that people realize Jimmy Carter does not deserve another four years in the White House. It's also time to suit up and give him the chance to win for Ronald Reagan. As an American, I feel that our country is at a new low in almost all respects. Our defense has weakened enormously since Carter took office. Inflation has tripled, the budget has fallen, and we are subject to the economic globe.
While it is important to understand the Iranian stance with the hostages, it is equally important that they understand us. Carter wanted to keep the hostage crisis out of the public eye as an issue from his father. He has done the same with his entire record as president, because he has nothing to offer for the next four years. Instead, he has decided to attack Reagan as being trigger-happy. I have not heard the incumbent defend his record, which makes me want all the attention. Reagan's defense in California and would be an excellent leader, something this nation has lacked for 3½ years.
Joan Weich Halstead senior
Winn and record
To the editor:
In his nearly 14 years in Congress, Larry Winn has established a voting record clearly in tune with the people of the 3rd District and of the city of Lawrence. Equally important is his ability to govern on behalf of constituents and to fight their battles with the federal bureaucracy.
Unfortunately, the Kansan failed to look beyond his opponent's campaign literature in examining Larry Winn's record of public service. Merely echoing Watkin's well-work charges in his strictly negative campaign, the editors sound naive in criticizing Winn legislative accomplishments and lack of responsibility that important work on legislation is done at the committee level. The name that ends up on a bill has more to do with political maneuvering than hard work.
It was also said that Winn "has not gained high standing on any prestigious committees." The facts, of course, show otherwise. When relected, he will be the ranking Republican member of the Committee on Science and Technology—a committee able to make a viable research and development of new energy resources. In addition, he will be the fifth-ranking Republican member of the Foreign Affairs Committee at a time when foreign policy development is critical.
Largely ignored are Winn's many efforts on behalf of the University and its students. Federal grants to the University, such as the NASA grant to build the Space Technology Center; establishing important relationships between University officials and government agencies; making arrangements for University officials to testify before Congressional committees; and assistance in providing speakers for forums not glamorous by his opponent's standards, are due to Winn's ability to get things done in Washington.
The people of the 3rd District, students included, simply cannot afford to lose the benefits that come from experience, seniority, and a clear understanding of the needs and desires of the constituents. The voters will not be fooled by campaign rhetoric that criticizes and distorts but fails to offer a positive view of how a new Congressman could do better. Now is not the time for a change. Let's keep Larry Wim working for us in Congress.
Reid Scofield Emporia senio
Letters Policy
The University Daily Kansan welcomes letters to the editor. Letters should be typewritten, double-spaced and not exceed 500 words. They should include the writer's name, address and contact information, filled with the University, the letter should include the writer's class and home town or faculty or staff position.