From: guy@coos.dartmouth.edu (Guy Schiavone)
Newsgroups: talk.politics.misc,alt.politics.elections
Subject: Who is H. Ross Perot? - The Perot Amendment
Keywords: The Best Congress Money Can Buy
Date: 14 Apr 92 06:43:48 GMT
Organization: Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH



            Who is H. Ross Perot? - The Perot Amendment

  In recent weeks the national media floodgates have opened to pour forth
a flood of imagery depicting H. Ross Perot as a white knight and benevolent
saviour.  Awash in this tempest of newsprint and television exposure, Perot
and his views remain an enigma for most voters, and, indeed, many of his
supporters are confused as to where he stands on all but the most
superficial issues.  Perot seems to revel in the mystery, as evidenced by
his reluctance to speak of himself and his past, and his refusal to give
specific answers to specific questions in some of his recent televised
interviews.  Daily it becomes easier to believe that there is little of
substance beneath the veneer of the American billionaire industrialist-
folk-hero.  But in the landscape of American politics, where the candidate
is more important than the candidacy, where the cult of personality rules
over the realm of ideas, and where worship of heroes substitutes for a
belief in one's self, Perot's cloak of mystery can be viewed as an advantage
and, perhaps, as a deliberate strategy.

  With his personal war-chest of 100 million dollars, Perot has already
bought his way to the status of "serious" candidate, without yet having
to spend a penny.  The media monolith has contributed virtually unlimited
free and positive "advertising" in the form of uncritical newsprint
and ample television coverage, which began well before Perot even declared
he was interested in running.  One can only imagine what will happen
when the money really starts flowing.  So it appears that we, as citizens
and voters, will be left to ourselves the task of sorting the truth from
the fiction when answering the question - Who is H. Ross Perot?

  In my recent reading of Philip M. Stern's book _The Best Congress
Money Can Buy_, I encountered a passage concerning Perot that conveys
an image quite different from that of the white knight, Washington-outsider
that we have recently been force-fed:
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     "In 1975, Texas billionaire H. Ross Perot faced a peculiar tax
    problem.  On November 4 of that year, by a 20-14 vote, the House
    Ways and Means Committee approved an amendment carefully tailored
    to solve Perot's problem.  The amendment stood to save Perot
    $15 million in taxes."
     "An examination of federal campaign reports later disclosed that
    in the 1974 elections, Perot had favored various congressional
    candidates with twenty-six campaign contributions totaling $75,900.
    All but two of the gifts were made *after* the election."
     "Twelve members of the Ways and Means Committee received Perot
    gifts.  Of the twelve, ten supported the specially tailored provision
    to confer a $15 million tax saving on their Texas benefactor."
      "Two Ways and Means members, Democrats Joe Waggoner of Louisiana
    and Omar Burleson of Texas, each received $5,000 from Perot just after
    the election.  Perot made the campaign gifts, and Waggoner and
    Burleson accepted them, even though both congressman had been unopposed
    in the 1974 primary and general elections.  Both supported the "Perot
    Amendment" in committee."
      "Later, after the exposure of the Perot campaign gifts in the
    Wall Street Journal set of a storm of controversy, the special
    Perot provision was overwhelmingly defeated on the House floor, by
    a vote of 379-27.  Waggoner and Burleson cast two of the 27 pro-Perot
    votes"

[Source: Philip M. Stern, _The Best Congress Money Can Buy_, Pantheon
Books, New York, 1988, pp.151-152]
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So we see, at the very least, that H. Ross Perot is not above cavorting
with the rascals, especially to the tune of $15 million.  It also
raises the interesting question: Who is more to blame, the corruptible,
or their corruptors?

  -Guy Schiavone                         Guy.Schiavone@Dartmouth.Edu
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   "Poverty in a democracy is as much to be preferred to what is called
    prosperity under despots as freedom is to slavery."
        -Democritus, around 420 B.C.
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