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Opinion
Wednesday, September 30,1992
The Battalion
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System needs reform now
Bank regulation is arcane stuff.
Perhaps all the better to pinch your
purse with — cheery appraisals of
the cost of the S&L crisis are esti
mated at $1,500 for each American
which is why widely predicted
bank failures this winter ought to
trouble the mind of every student.
On Dec. 19, federal regulators
will commence closing scores of
banks and thrifts that fall short of
meeting new capital requirements.
Many of these institutions operate
in Texas. Forecasters predict that
another 600 banking institutions
will fail nationwide over the next
four years, with thousands more
teetering on the edge.
Whichever candidate wins the
November election will be forced to
hold this hot potato. One proposal
allows interstate banking so that
banks will not be tied completely to
a the local economy. In the past, a
downturn in the local economy
could drag down local banking in
stitutions. Interstate branching
would help banks put their eggs in
more than one basket.
Another proposal would limit or
even do away with deposit insur
ance. Anticipating huge profits and
insured against losses, many banks
in the past invested as if there were
no risks and no tomorrow. Risks
and costs were shifted onto taxpay
ers through federal deposit insur
ance.
Limiting deposit insurance
would restore market discipline by
requiring banks to face the costs of
any risks they might take. That
would help keep the banks out of
your pockets.
U.S. must stop spending frenzy
Term limitations on Congress indefinite solution
A mericans have resorted of late
to a number of methods to
control the spending of the
hated United States government.
The latest idea to be flushed down
the tubes was electing "fiscally con
servative" Republican presidents.
Unfortunately, the fiscal conser
vatives were fiscal contortionists and
showed more than inchoate talent for
spending and taxing and then some.
Record deficits over the last 12 years
put to rest the naive idea that presi
dents do not have any plums to hand
out. An old wheeze is that deficits
will finally get so large that even Re
publicans will begin to notice it.
Not to lay the blame at the feet of the Republicans,
Democratic members of Congress even now attach "family
values" — a term they recently swore had no meaning — to
various costly bills and dare President Bush to veto them.
Most spending initiatives coming out of Congress dur
ing the deficit-building 80s were sponsored by the .
Democrats. P. J. O'Rourke's recent book on the U.S.
Congress, Parliament of Whores, which graphically de
scribes Congressional ineptitude, is an insult to prostitutes
everywhere.
Throw the bums out — just not our bum
Congress was created for our collective loathing. Run
ning the bums out was always good in theory as long as it
was the plundering Congressman in the other district that
was the target. The interests of one particular district rarely
coincide with the interests of the nation as a whole. The
costs to the nation of building a super-collider in one dis
trict are small relative to the huge benefits that said district
will derive.
This same calculus is at work in every other pork-barrel
project in the nation. That's why replicas of the Great Pyra
mid of Cheops are being built in Bedford, Indiana. That is
Democracy. That is Progress.
The good people of America are getting exactly what
they want, good and hard. They want their members of
Congress to bring home carloads of pork. And those Con
gressmen do.
That is why President Pork and Governor Barrel are
running for president, and that is why the deficit has gone
through the ceiling, and will continue to do so as long as
we financially plunder each other.
Another much ballyhooed solution to governmental
spending is now making the rounds. Term limits laws
have been passed in number of states for state legislators.
Fifteen states comprising one-third of America's population
will be voting this November to limit the terms for mem
bers of the U.S. Congress. While it falls far short of a good
broad-spectrum insectifuge for the nation's capital, it is
worth considering.
We’ve elected congressmen-for-life
Advocates of term limits do have an important point to
make. The turnover rate due to death, retirement, electoral
defeat, and rapture was running at about ten percent. The
re-election rate was well over 90 percent. A member of
Congress was likely to die in that exalted state.
Interestingly enough, while term limits would certainly
deal with the problem of low congressional turnover, it
fails to address the problems that its advocates claim it will
solve, namely deficit spending and pork-barreling. And
that is the flaw in term limits.
Just how or why term-limited legislators are suddenly
going to stop running up deficits and dam the flow of pork
to their districts remains a mystery. As the selfless, "New
Soviet Man" was to spring from the womb of Socialism, so
now the deficit cutting "New Congress Man" will spring
from the womb of term limitations. How, we are not told.
The culture of the Washington establishment would al
most certainly welcome fresh ex-representatives created by
term limits into the so-called Gucci Gulch — the U.S. Shad
ow Congress of lobbyists. There is a rich after-life for the
Congressman as a lobbyist. Ex-representatives' salaries
would correlate closely with compliance with term limita
tions.
Far from creating better representation, term limits
could very well create a monster in which short terms in of
fice would be matched with even shorter term interests.
Imagine for a moment that you are a member of Congress
(if you are not already).
If you have only a few years as a representative, you
will have to make hay while the sun shines. Since your job
does not depend on the voters in your last term, you would
have little or no accountability to them. Thus the new cry
for term limits is a hemorrhaging American public bawling
for fresh leeches.
Dickerson is a sophomore economics major
MATTHEW
DICKERSON
Columnist
Final comments on
Quayle appearance
In response to Mr. David Stead's let
ter in Wednesday's Battalion, I would
like to point out mat many people were
allowed to protest outside tne coliseum
doors without being told to move.
The man who was told to move on
was not ordered to because of his dis
senting views, but because of the offen
siveness of his sign.
Perhaps if his sign had contained
some modicum of taste or intelligence,
he would have been left alone. Texas
A&M is not a place where opposing
views are not tolerated. It is a place
where standards of decency and respect
are upheld.
Keith Stubbs
Class of'96
Well, you certainly showed us Aggie
Republicans a thing or two about deco
rum in the presence of a nationally
elected official! Who else would have
thought to bring signs, noisemakers
and vociferous spectators into G. Rollie
White Coliseum and to post an obnox
ious, placard-waving, molting chicken
out front?
But don't you think you ought to get
all the Aggie Democrats involved?
Why, I took an Aggie Dem with me to
the rally and she didn't even know how
to behave! She just sat there and lis
tened. Next time, get organized, and
Ret all your fine, feathered friends in on
the act.
We Republicans salute you. This
jvas, without a doubt, the Aggie
Democrats' finest hour. Congratula
tions. Carry on.
Ann M. Horton
Class of '90
The author of the letter citing liberals
"strange, amusing creatures"
Charles Scott, Sept. 25) and his 11 sign-
tog cohorts make me ashamed to be an
pe.
m new here — so please correct me
i[lam wrong — but I thought being an
;ie meant respecting each other.
The bottom line — your political stance
is your own business. Wnether you are
a fascist or (heaven forbid) a liberal,
you still have the right to have your
voice heard and your signs read, even
in this Republican-dominated region.
Everyone deserves some respect, even
Dan Quayle. Bad bull, Charles. By the
way, there are quite a few more of us
than you think.
Jeremy D. Eubanks
Class of '96
From the negative opinions I've read
about the appearance of yell leaders
and the Aggie Band at G. Rollie White
during Dan Quayle's visit. I'm begin
ning to think that this campus will not
allow them to have a political point of
view.
If my memory serves me correctly,
Dan Quayle's visit was free to anyone
who wanted to attend — not anyone
except yell leaders and band members.
If I remember correctly, attendance was
not mandatory. All Aggies who want
ed to be there could be there — those
who did not want to attend could stay
at home.
Dan Quayle was a guest on our cam
pus and deserved the same Aggie wel
come that any other guest — politician
or otherwise — deserves.
To the band and yell leaders: Keep
up the great work. This Aggie supports
you 100 percent!
Me;
r an Bailey
lass of '96
The presence of the Texas Aggie
Band and yell leaders at last week's re
ception for Dan Quayle is justified by
two facts.
First, regardless of political affilia
tion, Mr. Quayle is the vice-president of
the United States, occupying the second
most prestigious office in our country.
It is this world-class University's obli
gation to honor such an esteemed
guest.
Secondly, all band members who
were in attendance last Tuesday were
willing participants of this non-manda
tory event.
The liberal attack on the Aggie Band
and yell leaders is hypocritical consid
ering their accusation of the denial of
the protesters' freedom of speech. Indi
viduals, be it of the student body, the
Aggie band, or the yell leaders, had the
right to attend and support Quayle and
the Republican party.
Furthermore, the protesters outside
were far more tactless in their demon
stration, attacking Quayle personally.
If Clinton or Gore decided to visit Texas
A&M, and protesters decided to like
wise attack their character, smoking a
cigarette, holding up a sign "l didn't in
hale," wearing a swastika, with a poster
"Communist health care," would
Democrats walk by without saying a
word?
Corey Y. Chen
Class of'95
In response to Charles Scott's letter,
"Liberals are strange, amusing crea
tures," I have a few comments. As a
mostly liberal minded thinker myself, I
object to being lumped in the same cat
egory with the extremists that he men
tioned were protesting in front of G.
Rollie.
I have never eaten tofu, don't own a
tie-dyed shirt, have only seen maggots
in a few trash cans in back alleys, and
have never held up a sign protesting
anything. In addition, I study hard, en
joy partying on Northgate, am a mem
ber of an A&M sports club team, and
have never missed a home football
game.
I am your worst nightmare, Scott; I
am an intelligent liberal that you cannot
recognize on sight. And one thing is
for sure — there are more than 30 of us
on campus. While you seem to be driv
en by your hatred of diverse peoples
and changing times, we are driven by
our compassion for people and our be
lief in a person's fundamental rights.
People like me are the true represen
tatives of liberal thinking on campus.
Scott. But whatever you do, don't fear
me for the signs that I won't be waving
or the slogans that I won't be yelling.
Fear me for the vote I'll be casting.
Chet Lenox
<■ Class of '95
I would like to appeal to the fanatic
fringe to please give the rest of us a
break and quit whining about First
Amendment rights, thought control
and Nazis until you actually have
something to complain about.
So far, it has been we: the average,
open-minded, level-headed Aggies
who have been the ones suffering the
abuse.
It has been you, the radical anti-ev-
erything two-percenters who show up
at midnight yell practice with the sin
gle-minded intention of insulting us
and starting trouble by running across
Kyle Field. Well, you succeeded. You
did indeed manage to anger a few of
your victims enough so that an incident
occurred. Congratulations!
It was also you who showed up at
the Republican rally for Vice President
Dan Quayle with signs saying "Dan
Quayle is Satan" and "The only thing
worse than an ignorant Republican is
Dan Quayle," to name only two. And
again, you managed to embarrass a few
of us with your insults and bad man
ners to the extent that you were asked
to leave.
Although you really didn't succeed
in creating a real incident this time, it
didn't stop you from pretending that
you had. So, congratulations again!
Although we would not prevent you
from continually victimizing us (be
cause of the same First Amendment
rights you claim to be denied) and we
cannot appeal to your sense of shame
(since you obviously have none) we ask
that you quit whining and pretending
that someone has done you wrong.
You set out to create an incident and
then you manage to pull one off; good
for you! Throw a party! Just please,
quit whining.
John McLeod
Class of'93
Just when it seemed
life was at its worst...
Saturday, Sept.19, I parked my car
beside the MSC in a university business
parking slot off Clark St. In the back
seat of the car was my recently pur
chased 1992 forest green Trek 950
mountain bike. I was inside for only 15
minutes. I finished my business inside
and journeyed back to where I was
parked thinking and feeling how things
were looking up for me. I opened my
car door and put down the front seat
and suddenly I knew something was
missing. I realized my bike had just
been stolen. The car was locked, win
dows up, in broad daylight (3:20 pm),
and parked by the MSC. There were no
witnesses.
Just three weeks ago, my car was to
taled by a highly intoxicated young
lady who was doing about 45 miles per
hour through a mobile home park
when she hit my car. I had a 1956 Ford
Ranch Wagon in excellent condition
and it was probably the only two-door
wagon left on this earth. Gone. I was
just beginning to get over that loss and
now this happens. I work very hard for
things I want and now all I can do is
wonder ff all of it was worth it. It really
bugs me how someone can work for a
long time, get something that is really
nice and it takes seconds for someone
to snatch it away. Right now, all I have
to be thankful for is the saying, "Things
can always be worse." To the rest of
you Aggies, if you have something you
worked very hard to get, never take it
for granted.
James A. Polonis
Class of'94
:-r 5HAFT0N
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