THE UNO NEWS
BILL IIOBBS
.President
ie
Thursday, August 2, 1962
A
Natkma
Voice
Thank God for dear old David
Lawrence! Without his editorials
on the last page of every issue,
U.S. News and World Report
would be such a frightfully dull,
factual magazine. But as it is you
can always turn to that back page
for good, wholesome comic re
lief. After plowing through all the
p-aphs, economic tables and long
verbatim interviews in the front
Of the magazine one really needs
a little escape from reality, a
flight into fantasy, a nice disor
ganized set of pot-shots from the
Grand Old Man of the conserva
tive columnists. And David Law
rence almost always comes
through. It's wonderful, some
limes even better than Little
Orphan Annie.
' His latest editorial Un the
August 6 issue) is really tops. It
is as if he had been trying hard
all these many years and finally
produced a real, permanent tri
bute to the amazing irrationality
ef the conservative position.
His editorial is all about the
defeat of President Kennedy's
Medicare proposal in the Senate
and the President's subsequent
decision to take his case to the
people this fall in an attempt to
build his support in Congress.
Mr. Lawrence explains, with a
perfectly straight face, that the
President should not, repeat not,
campaign to get congressmen
favorable to his position elected
tecause this would upset the
traditional balance between the
executive and legistlative branch
es of the government! Honest! He
j-eally does! He comes right out
and says it. It's tremendous,
much better than Bob Hope or
Mort Sahl could ever be.
We would still be laughing ex
cept that it hurts so much.
And it's not just the conclusion
Of the editorial that is so amaz
ing. The points leading up to the
conclusion are almost equally
funny.
Look, for instance, at this state
ment in the eleventh paragraph:
"President Kennedy has virtually
a two-thirds majority in both
houses of Congress."
Wheee!
, Here we go skipping happily,
. Off the path from reality.
If Mr. Lawrence had bothered
to read his own magazine he
would have seen that the Presi
dent has a three-fifths majority,
not a two-thirds majority. There
is a considerable difference, es
pecially when important legisla
tion such as the Medicare bill
fails for a lack of two votes.
And even this count doesn't
consider the many Southern
Democrats who consistently vote
against the administration. If
'President Kennedy has virtually
a two-thirds majority in both
houses of Congress," as Mr. Law
rence claims, we would like to
know why the farm bill, the
medicare bill, the urban affairs
Cabinet position bill and the num
erous other Kennedy administra
tion bills have failed to pass the
Congress.
Quite obviously Mr. Lawrence's
statement is completely devoid
of any factual basis.
But let us not linger too long
on the body of the editorial, for
its inconsistencies, misconcep
tions and factual errors are just
minor when compared with the
conclusion. Besides, reading too
much of that sort of thing might
permanently damage one's mind.
Mr. Lawrence's main argument
Is a constitutional one. He con
tends that Mr. Kennedy, by cam
paigning for the election of Con
gressmen who support his pro
grams, will upset the traditional
balance of power between the
branches of government.
He says, "There is no sanction
in the Constitution for a dictator
ship or for the use of presidential
power to influence congressional
elections. It would be better in
the long run if the President left
it to rival candidates in the
Democratic primaries or to the
party nominees for Congress to
fight their own battles. The people
don't like to see their Represen
tatives or Senators beholden, poli
tically or otherwise, to a Presi
dent." In short, he believes that by
going out to campaign this fall
President Kennedy will be over
stepping his constitutional bounds
and moving the executive branch
of government into a field which
rightfully belongs to the legisla
tors alone.
This is patently absurd.
When President Kennedy sets
out on the campaign trail this
fall he will be exercising a per
fectly legitimate function of the
executive office. This is the all
important function of presenting
his program to the people, of
arguing his case, of putting his
position to the basic test of all
positions in a democracy the
test of the vote, the test that is
answered by the people on an
election day. If the President did
not do this he would be avoiding
a basic responsibility which our
system has placed upon him.
President Kennedy, then, is do
'What
Wrong
ing this: He is going out to cam
paign; he is going to tell the
people, "1 am your President;
you have elected me to lead you;
I have certain programs, and I
believe these are the best pro
grams for the country for the
following reasons; I am asking
you to elect persons who support
my programs." There is absolute
ly nothing wrong with this.
Quite the contrary, it is exact
ly what the President should do;
in fact, it is a shame he has
waited so long to do so.
Why must the President do
this?
Mr. Lawrence approaches the
answer to this question when he
says, "The American people want
their Senators and Representa
tives to represent them first and
the interests of other States or
districts second." That is the
heart of the matter, although Mr.
Lawrence seems unable to see
it even when he himself writes
it.
Essentially he is saying that
the Congress is local and region
al in nature. This is only natural.
A senator is elected from a single
state; he is responsible to the
people of that state and he must
represent their interests. A re
presentative is elected from an
even smaller geographic district
and must represent an even
smaller number of people, an
even more restricted set of eco
nomic interests.
And yet these men do not just
vote on matters which affect
their home states or districts.
Willi Leading A
I )' m y'i yj n.c. miocRfiuC I
III i - V A CONGRESStfiSU I
They must vote on matters which
affect the whole country, al
though they are actually respon
sible to only a very small pro
portion of the country.
The President, on the other
hand, is responsible to the whole
country. He must see the prob
lems of the nation from the broad
er point of view; he cannot look
at just one district but must look
at how a program will affect the
country as a whole. And he is
responsible to all the voters, not
just a few of them in one geo
graphic area.
That is the heart of the diffi
culty between President Kennedy
and the Congress, and that is why
the President must take his pro
gram to the people this fall.
His task is to convince the
people to vote as Americans, not
as North Carolinians or Calif orn
ians or New Yorkers. He has to
convince them that his program
is best for the country as a
whole and that they should there
fore elect representatives who
favor his program.
He understands that if his
program is to succeed, he must
have a Congress which can trans
cend the traditional sectional and
local nature of Congress and look
at the good of the entire country. .
And this is apparently what
upsets Mr. Lawrence. Quite right
ly he sees the traditional, consti
tutional role of the Congress to
represent the local and state in
terests in the Federal govern
and the role of the President to
represent the interest cf the
Double Life?'
country as a whole. He thinks
that by taking a national point
of view into the Congressional
elections the President is going
to overturn ths traditional bal
ance of interests.
But is that not just what tho
President is expected to do?
Of course!
That is precisely why we have
a President. We could have a gov
erns, nt which was run complete
ly by a Congress of men elected
from small areas. We could, but
thank God we don't. If we dkl
we would soon find this Congress
dissolved into little bickering
groups of men who would spend
all of their time talking of tiny
sectional issues and accomplish
nothing. It is for this reason that
we must have a President, a man
who is elected by ail of tho
people and who can see the coun
try in a total viewpoint and can
thus provide some purpose and
direction for all of the country,
not just a part of it.
And the most important placo
for the President to give nation
al leadership is at the polls. In
elections at a time this crucial
in the country's history it is im
portant that there be a national
voice in even the local elections,
a voice asking us to vote as
Americans, not as little men cf
a single limited area. Tne Presi
dent's duty as the executive cf
the whole country is to provido
this voice in these elections.
Eut Mr. Lawrence speaks cf
"dictatorship" ami the unconsti
tutional use of "Presidential pow
er." These words have no pertin
ence and no significance to tho
matter at hand. Mr. Lawrer.c
put it very well him; fit when he
said, "The people the-nuelus
must be the judges of whet legis
lation is best for them."
In order to make this decision,
the people must be well-informed;
they must hear a national as
well as a local noi-it cf iew. The
President is giving them Um
view.
And the decision is EtilJ in their
hands.
Reflections
Leu Brown pleaded guilty in
Durham Monday to a fizi in tho
conspiracy to fix college taikct
b?H games a ycar-ard-a-half ago.
Sentencing was pei'pened
next week.
Erown now lives in Durham
and works in Ra'cich. He v?ns
married Saturday. He apparert
ly is well on the way to re-hat ui
tating himself. Horefu-ly, io
cicty will rot try to speed tho
jcb with a jail sentence. Iho
stigma he carries is tncugh fcr
any man.
We hope "justice" lets eU
enough alone.
'
The Women's Council net Men
day night. One defendant asVe
about having an eren trial. Tho
chairman expressed hostility to
the idea. She apparently prefer
red that the wheels cf justice
grind quietly in this case.
Ln the rackets, it is calkJ
"hushing it up.'
The fire department, the pclice
department and the ihcrLTs tojs
all converged cn Scuth Building
Friday after a fire alarm. Un
fortunately, the -fire" was noth
ing but the burning ir-sulation ca
an electric appliance ccrd whxh
ted been shorted.
Donations to buy a vscd ceffee
maker for Central T.eccnds may
te sect to the VNC News.