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Show Weelkly Special j'"? rsH" Republican plan to smear Ferraro won't hold water Washington The Republicans are already looking for a scandal in the way Democratic vice-presidential candidate Geraldine Ferraro financed her first congressional campaign in 1979. But we believe they will be disappointed. Here's the story: Six years ago, Ms. Ferraro went to a bank to borrow money for her campaign. But, she told our associate Vicki Warren, the bank wouldn't lend it to her unless her husband co-signed the note. That would have been illegal under the then federal election rules. Loans are considered campaign contributions. And at that time, no individual could contribute more than $1,000 to a congressional candidate. So Ms. Ferraro and her husband dropped the idea of a loan at that bank. But Ms. Ferraro ran into trouble with the Federal Election Commission over another financing arrangement. She borrowed $110,000 from banks and family savings plans, including her children's trust funds. An insurance policy in her husband's name was used to secure one bank loan, and the trust funds were administered by him. A Federal Election Commission official advised Ms. Ferrro that this was a perfectly legal arrangement, and she took the official's word for it. But the election commission's lawyers ruled otherwise. They said the $110,000 in loans actually came from her husband, which meant he had contributed $109,000 more than the legal limit at the time. So, Ms. Ferraro sold property she owned and paid her husband back $109,000. That satisfied the election commission, but Ms. Ferraro was levied a fine for the violation. As best we can determine, that's all there is to the story. There was no attempt to hide anything. There was an honest difference of opinion among the experts. Ms. Ferraro was held in technical violation of the campaign law. She paid her fine, and that was that. End of scandal. The Federal Election Commission, incidentally, later changed its rules. Spouses x of candidates are now exempt from the limit on campaign contributions. Ironically, the rule change arose because of a male candidate with a wealthy wife. When Tom Hayden ran for the U.S. Senate in California, his wife, Jane Fonda, financed his campaign. That was legal because California is a community-property state, which means that half of everything Jane Fonda owns or earns belongs to her husband. So, in effect, Hayden was spending his own money. The Federal Election Commission realized that this loophole gave an advantage to candidates in community-property states, so it changed the rules. As things stand now, Geraldine Ferraro could' borrow whatever she wants from the trust funds, or she could have her husband co-sign a bank loan. In other words, Ms. Ferraro was ahead of her time. RED CROSS RED INK: The war between Iraq and Iran has been dragging on for almost four years. The toll in human lives has been terrible. Hundreds of thousands have been killed or maimed. Some of them are no more than children. The toll in human misery is also enormous. Thousands of prisoners-of-war are languishing in desert stockades under the most primitive conditions. After much prodding, Iraq and Iran grudgingly allowed International Committee of Red Cross officials to visit some POW camps, and what they found was not encouraging. Iraqi prisoners, for example, are being methodically brainwashed. The Iranians are trying to convert them to the Ayatollah Khomeini's Islamic revolution. On the other side, the Iraqis are treating their young Iranian prisoners as if they were adults. Yet some of the boys are not even in their teens. It is clear that the Red Cross has a vital role to play. The humanitarian agency's inspection teams are all that stand between the POWs and brutality. But no one seems to care if the Red Cross does its job or not. The international committee is operating deep in the red, yet when it appeals to governments for money, its pleas are frequently ignored. Red Cross officials recently tried to raise funds in the oil-rich countries of the Persian Gulf, but they came away empty-handed. The oil sheiks have been pouring billions of dollars into Iraq to keep the war going, but they won't spend a nickel to help the victims. The Red Cross has also appealed to the United States, and here they've had some luck. The State Department pledged $1.5 million for the prisoner-of-war program. But the money has to be approved by Congress, and Sen. Robert Kasten, R-Wis., who heads the Appropriations subcommittee that is considering the matter, is blocking approval. He doesn't believe either Iran or Iraq deserves any money from the United States. The senator apparently doesn't accept the argument that the funds wouldn't go to either dictatorship; they would go to the Red Cross as a humanitarian gesture. There is a practical consideration Kasten might keep in mind: Some day, it could be American prisoners of war who depend on the Red Cross for their safety. Copyright, 1984, United Feature Syndicate, Inc. - i mm J.: I !.!! '.?. .-.-..I '7Z?- '!..'.. ..'A The Silver Mill Mall, a.k.a. The Main Street Marketplace, a.k.a. 333 Main, has been the source of some discussion lately, as the graffiti suggests. See "For the Record" below and "Letters to the Editor" on page A3. , r photo by David Hampshire |