Editorials
Friday, August 16, 1996
Dole-Kemp ticket
off to strong beginning
BOB Dole is enjoying a sizable rebound in his presidential campaign, which was to be expected at the climax of the Republican National Convention in San Diego. Dole helped his cause by selecting ebullient Jack Kemp as his running mate and, with the aid of a teleprompter, delivering a forceful acceptance speech last night.
Look for a campaign spiced with fighting words. Dole did not hesitate to question the character of President Clinton and his White House team, referring at one point to the "corps of the elite who never grew up, never did anything real, never sacrificed and never learned" but "have the power to fund with your earnings their dubious and self-serving schemes."
Dole's most important asset has been his integrity and credibility in Washington, but little was said in the tightly choreographed convention about his 35 years of service in Congress. Instead, the focus was on a proposed 15 percent reduction in income taxes along with a balanced budget within the next six years.
The proposal is consistent with Dole's choice of Kemp, a disciple of supply-side economics who endorsed Steve "Flat Tax" Forbes in the primary elections. Both Dole and Kemp called in their acceptance speeches for a "flatter" tax than embodied in the present tax code.
For his part in adapting to the Dole ticket, Kemp has dropped his support of affirmative action and his opposition to denying public services to illegal immigrants. His challenge will be to control his extemporaneous remarks over the next 11 weeks to mesh with Dole's policies, remaining Dole's "blocker" and not the quarterback. Skeptics doubt he can do that.
Dole and Kemp promise a robust campaign, proposing numerous, fundamental changes in national policy. But they have much explaining to do about the complexities of their economic plan.
Welfare fraud
THE slap on the hand given to a 28-year-old woman for welfare fraud sends a very clear message to others who steal money from the state: Tsk, tsk, don't do it again. Stella Kelly, 28, and her 48-year-old mother, Pamela, were indicted by the state Attorney General's Office for illegally obtaining public assistance money on behalf of fictitious twins. The two filed for $11,000 in welfare payments from 1992-94 before an investigation by the Department of Human Services revealed that the twins never existed.
To waive punishment against blatant welfare-fraud transgressors because it's a first offense is like issuing an open invitation to steal money from state coffers. It will take more than a slight tap on the wrist to discourage future welfare cheaters.
GOP on immigration
WENDY Gramm's speech seconding the nomination of Bob Dole at the Republican National Convention in San Diego was an inspiring American success story. "My grandfathers came from Korea to work in the sugar cane fields of Hawaii," said the wife of Sen. Phil Gramm. "They came with nothing, not even speaking the language. They were just looking for freedom and opportunity."
The key question now, though, is whether Gramm's words fell on deaf ears, and whether those in charge of the Republican Party see America today and in the future as the land of continued opportunity for immigrants.
Published by Liberty Newspapers Limited Partnership
Rupert E. Phillips, CEO
John M. Flanagan, Editor & Publisher
David Shapiro, Managing Editor
Diane Yukihiro Chang, Senior Editor & Editorial Page Editor
Frank Bridgewater & Michael Rovner, Assistant Managing Editors
A.A. Smyser, Contributing Editor