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Show AAS 7, 1997 Regarding Fund-‘Raising Fete It’s the Legal Contributions, Stupid MOLLY IVINS friendly on blooded American money buying financing, it was ie spending $55 2 overmment favors just.as million to investigate $3 miller” worth of questionabie contribu- fap ass minuscule percentageof the moneyin the 96 election. This may be a useful exercise, but it doesn’t CREATORS SYNDICATE AUSTIN — Whee. here we go again. Sen. Fred Thompson and the boys (plus one girl) return. and we get to see if they have made anyprogress toward grasping The Big Picture quite address the problem of what's wrong with our system of campaign financing. As everyone whois not on the Thompson committee has already grasped, the real problem is not illegal campaign contributions; the real problem is whatis legal. The real problem is not foreign contributions but good old red- to'the Dile Famytign. be better if the president or any other politician ducked out the door, raced down thestreet to a But havewe heart anything phone booth and made calls ask- By focusing on foreign contri- about “Strudelgate”? Do we sus- butions, the committee is doing a grave disservice to the country. I say this not to mitigate the lawbreaking involved in taking foreign contributions but, again, to point out that the whole problem is far larger and far moreserious. pect the German governmentof a who have business with the gov- nefarious schemeto influence our ernmentfrom there? policy toward the Bundesbank? Have right-wing magazines run The problem is not the site — it’s the system. tions. which had already been re- turned and which amounted to a German gentlemanlivingin Florida who. gave.a-laige ig of cash 7am Congre: Congressedole than ing for contributions from folks racist caricatures of Germans or pause te salute Sen. Phil Gramm. ofall people, for haying the cour. No. Such treaiment is reserved for Asians and Democrats. Anotherred herring in all this ey. In point of fact, the Federal Election Commission recently levied the largest fine in its history for a foreign contribution — on a the first or only senator to do so; but so far, he is the only one gtitsy enough to admitit. So, to end this painful. and pointless hypocrisy, should. we just makeit legal to use a govprnment phone for campaign fund Taising as long as a separate credit card is used? No. What we should But speaking ofthesite, let us of Doie wearing a Nazi uniform? Also, thereis at least a whiff of racism in the focus on Asian mon- ready know, that Gramm is pot age to announce thathe, too, had dois reform the entire system. End legalized bribery. Completely eliminate all soft money. Putstrict limits on contributions : and spending. Provide public fi- nancing through a check-off ays- is the “He madefund-raising calls used his office for political calls during his presidential race. tem on the IRS forms. Require the networks to givefree time for shocked-by-gambling-at-Rick’s- It is painfully obviousto all of us, even without the egregious law campaign advertising. Require that all contributions come from the White House!”from the Cafe crowd. In what way would it Dick Morris to tell us what weal- political debates. Reform or cutfrom within a candidate’s district. Whenlast we checkedin on our PRICES EFFECTIVE THRU MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 8TH, 1997 Users Should Chip in For National Lands ecteO TCSTiewe ‘sp DAY SAVINGS! i ma sense TOM KENWORTHY THE WASHINGTONPOST DENVER — I've spent part of this summer taking subsidized vacations. In early June, myson and i met two of his uncles, plus one girl- friend, at the South Rim of the 8 PIECES fei3 Manueloes Grand Canyon. Overthree glorious days, we hiked down the South Kaibab Trail to the bottom of the canyon, crossed the Coiorado River, and slogged our way up the otherside to the North Rim. Wehiked for about 22 miles, lost and gained about 11,000 feet in elevation. traveled through millions of years of geologic time and saw the wonders of the canyon in an intimate way most visitors don't get to experience. We stayed at back-country camp: grounds built and maintained by the National Park Service, and we hiked along precipitoustrails lovingly cared for by the agency's trail crews under extremely arduous conditions Howmuch did the Park Service charge us for this extraordinary privilege? The five of us paid less than $100 — $20 apiece for two ears to enter the park, and the re- a mainder for bac ing permits. Ma: peopie like us — and regular tourists — started paying more Caliiit what you will, it's a subsi- dy for tens of millionsof visitors who use national parks and forests for recreation each year. ? PIECE FOR ONLY. 7 PIECE TRADITIONALSTYLE LIVING ROOM Grour © eSofa eLoveseat Cocktail Table #2 End Tables #2 Lamps chased Spry «Soto.cLovesec."449" LomEa." «9Pe ctorIa.HF” Now the environmental com- munity will argue it’s nothing comparedto the sweetheart deals the mining, ranching and timber industries get on public lands, and they have a point. But weelitists in the hiking and backpacking communities get a subsidy, too. We could pay moreand the land. management agencies could use the money to better protect the > LA-2-BOY* BSRECLINA-REST me, ROCKER RECLINER Bleak FEATURES CHANNEL BACK DESIGN Peet oan NeliaenTh4 resources we claim to care so much about Consider: You can get a Golden Eagle Passport from the National Park Service for $50 — double what it was a year ago. The passportenti- tles you (and however many people you stuff in your car) to visit any park, as many times as you wish, fora year. At $25, it was a steal, At $50, it's still an incredi- ble bargain If you're over 62, you can get the Golden Age Passport for $10. Until three years ago. it wasfree. If you're disabled, the yearly Ac- cess Passis free Entrance fees at mos! Park Service facilities for people who don't have yearly passes are less than $10, though undera new fee demonstration program begun this year, some of the big ones such as the Grand Canyon are charging $20 a car for seven days. 405-234 5 PIECE KITCHEN SET 4 Large 36° x 49° durable laminate top table with Gimond finish. Set tnciludes 4 matching upholstered side chats. Skut3052396 The park gets to keep mostof the increase for critically needed projects. But this government generosity comes at a price. With budgets of government land-management agencies being cut by Congress -— | QUEEN SIZE RAKE BED in constant dollars the Park Ser- Available in fan finish. vice budget is about half of what it was in 1978 — and withvisitation climbing steadily, these great resources are beginning to fray around the edges. Queen size bed with antiqued mibbed finish and natual accents. Perfect for today's casual h Skt? 22618 The Park Service alone has more than $5 billion in deferred maintenance. The leaking roof at the park headquarters building in Grand Canyon and crumbling roads in Yellowstone are all too common examples of work put off for lack of funds. We needto startfixing up these things. I'm willing to drop some moneyin a box at the traii head if it means someone will come through more often with a chain saw to clear the deadfalls. And the smash-and-grab tour- ists in their 30-foot land yachts who do three national parks in five days? Let's charge them, in doed all visitors te the crown jew Siaeet Monday-Saturday 77A-2800 AE INOS 227-8800 cos sor Oper... 'til 10:00 pm § wa aie”Dore SH pal charged at Disney World, If they mhgpeed don't think the Grand Canyon is worth as muchas Disney, they can re 1990 AMM10000 Pak raed el parks, the same fees that are go elsewhere aT STORE URS! ee ane "WilleyOnlineweww:rewilleycom ot {ot elaccording, J t "60-7400 ws 2c dn bond akaten ‘M41 66005, 261-6800 a Sarvoneynty, ay WEY 967-4800 DLR pol anal SSGIAO,taer0BSReneAM,rhmtpm,el \ ¥ s |
