From: wag5@quads.uchicago.edu (john peter wagner)
Subject: Clinton in Arkansas!
Reply-To: wag5@midway.uchicago.edu
Organization: University of Chicago Computing Organizations
Distribution: usa
Date: Tue, 25 Aug 1992 19:30:20 GMT


To whom Clinton's record may cause concern,
        My family has been living in Arkansas for the past ten years.
Recently I moved to Chicago for college.  Before I left I was exposed to
some of Clinton's activities as Governor personally.
        1)In education, a few things stick out from family and personal
experiences.  First, a state administrative body was set up to determine
a standardized education curriculum for public schools.  Many teachers at
the time in my school complained because the new guidelines cut into
their own class plan.  I.e, they could not teach what they wanted to teach.
Before you say 'Well, the teachers were thus prevented from concentrating
on 'meaningless' subjects,' consider this: Before these requirements
were in effect my school public high school had six national merit
semi-finalists.  The following year, there were only four, and by the
time I graduated there were only two of us.  The standardization took
the right of teachers to teach in what they considered the best curriculum
for their students and replaced it with a minimalist objective which
, while providing a more 'job-competent' class of 'workers,' did not
give students or teachers the ability to pursue academic interests in
depth.  The government was thus replacing the individual with the drone
for factory or state labor.  I will get to that later.
        2)My mother was hired by Board of Health and Human Services
as a psychological examiner.  This meant that she would go to schools
and give standard psychological tests to students who would be considered
for special education programs or placement.  She would evaluate the tests,
and type up reports on her own.  The total cost to the state was the cost of
one examiner.  Bill Clinton set up a bureaucracy which replaced that position
with no less than two administartive bureaucrats, two secretaries and
a few examiners in what is known as a 'co-op.'  This was a bureaucracy,
and like all bureaucracies, tends to grow and have conflicting factions
engaged in a power struggle. My mother was 'power-struggled' out and
took up a position testing at a youth corrections facility in Alexander,AR.
        Not too long ago I called my family and learned that state workers
would go on 'furlow' for one day of the week(no pay), because of a
budgetary constraint.  Someone had misplaced some money or something, and
there was an old law that requires Arkansas government to balance the budget,
so the Guv laid everybody off for one day of the week. You honestly
want him to run our government?
        3)The economy-Arkansas is the birthplace of Sam Walton, i.e., Wal-Mart.
Taxes which have been low(4 cents/dollar state) for long before Clinton was
born, as well as lack of metropolitan development contributed to the low
cost of living and thus wages.  This meant that entrepreneurs, like Walton,
who had a good idea, could more easily afford to hire people.  The market
in rural areas is different from that in metropolitan.  People will
'drive into town' to buy groceries or clothes, or whatnot, making it often a fam
ily outing.
Wal-Mart provided a central place where people could go to buy all of their
non-perishable goods needs and thus reduced travel inside the towns.
        Once upon a time the people lived mostly on farming. Now much of
Arkansas is becoming industrialized, due to the low wages and cost of living
as well as the decreased cost of transportation in and out of rural areas.
Thus there are new jobs, and the economy seems to be doing better.  However,
I would argue that this is a superficial improvement.  People I have known
in school and in the work force have the goal of getting a 'job' at
a factory or plant which pays 'such and such' allowing them to pay off
on a house and car.  It reminds me of GM, the Chicago steel mills, et al.
People are investing the time in which they are educating themselves
into an act of faith that they will have a 'job' in a factory or state
operation.  There is growth now, because of the low wages. But as the
economy picks up steam, these wages will rise to eventually catch up
with the wages in other states. Will the business sector continue to pay
these high wages?  And if the businesses fail, who will then 'employ'
the many workers?  Clinton is selling the future of his people for
a few digits in the polls.
        4)Corruption-The State of Arkansas has a bureacracy as corrupt
as any other in the US.  Clinton has done nothing to alleviate, only
to add to this problem through his many 'administrative additions.'
        5)Taxes-under Clinton, state sales taxes rose by 25%.  Property
tax also increased.
        6)Drugs-Arkansas is a major center of the drug production and
distribution trade.  Marijuana is a staple crop for many farmers.
        7)Welfare evils-I have known perfectly respectable families on welfare
who were separated by their case workers because they didn't kiss ass.
Case closed.
        8)In my next post I will explore the economic uncertainty of a job-orien
ted
        economy.
                                J. Wagner

P.S. Are these groups moderated? They don't seem to be getting this post. What
are they afraid of?

Newsgroups: alt.politics.bush,alt.fan.dan-quayle