bruce, Would still like to see a clear and lucid definition of the "tax predator ruling class".
On Jun 18, 4:25 pm, bruce majors <[email protected]> wrote: > from working and middle class people to the tax predatoir ruling class > > The Honest Graft of Lady Bird JohnsonHow she and Lyndon came by their > millions.By Jack ShaferPosted Monday, July 16, 2007, at 5:06 PM ET > > [image: Lady Bird Johnson. Click image to > expand.]<http://www.slate.com/id/2170515/>Lady > Bird Johnson greets the pressThe perturbed spirit of Lady Bird Johnson will > rest until somebody writes a more complete article about how she and her > husband became millionaires. Of the top dailies, only the *New York > Times<http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/12/washington/12johnson.html?ex=134206...> > *and the *Washington > Post*<http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/07/11/AR200...>obituaries > slow to savor the political skulduggery she and her husband, Rep. > Lyndon Baines Johnson, relied on to pour the foundation of her business > empire. Some of the clips find her scheme to "beautify" America more > interesting than her blatant exercise in political graft. (See the deficient > obituaries in the* Los Angeles > Times<http://www.latimes.com/news/obituaries/la-na-johnson12jul12,1,3203470...> > *,* *the *Boston > Globe<http://www.boston.com/news/globe/obituaries/articles/2007/07/12/lady_...> > *,* *and *USA > Today<http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2007-07-11-lady-bird-obit_N.htm> > *. See the relevant passages > here<http://www.slate.com/id/2170481/sidebar/2170529/>.) > > [image: Print This Article]PRINT > <javascript:toolAction('print','2170481')>[image: > Discuss in the > Fray]DISCUSS<http://fray.slate.com/discuss/forums/68090/ShowForum.aspx?ArticleID=2...>[image: > Email to a > Friend]E-MAIL<http://www.slate.com/apps/emailafriend/email.aspx?mailid=2170481>[image: > Get Slate RSS Feeds]RSS <http://www.slate.com/id/2154868/>[image: Share This > Article]RECOMMEND... <javascript:ToolbarRecommend('recommend_tab');>[image: > Single Page]SINGLE PAGE <http://www.slate.com/id/2170481/pagenum/all/> Yahoo! > Buzz<http://buzz.yahoo.com/buzz?publisherurn=slate&guid=%7B%24rootpath%7Di...>[image: > Facebook] > Facebook<http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=http://www.slate.com/id/2170481/...>[image: > Post to > MySpace!]MySpace<http://www.myspace.com/Modules/PostTo/Pages/?t=Slate+Magazine+-+The+H...>[image: > Mixx] > Mixx<http://www.mixx.com/submit/story/?page_url=http://www.slate.com/id/21...>[image: > Digg] > Digg<http://digg.com/submit?phase=2&url=http://www.slate.com/id/2170481/&t...>[image: > Reddit] > Reddit<http://reddit.com/submit?url=http://www.slate.com/id/2170481/&title=S...>[image: > Del.icio.us] > del.icio.us<http://del.icio.us/post?url=http://www.slate.com/id/2170481/&title=Sl...>[image: > Furl] > Furl<http://furl.net/storeIt.jsp?t=Slate+Magazine+-+The+Honest+Graft+of+La...>[image: > Ma.gnolia.com] > Ma.gnolia<http://ma.gnolia.com/bookmarklet/add?url=http://www.slate.com/id/2170...>[image: > Sphere] > Sphere<http://www.sphere.com/search?q=http://www.slate.com/id/2170481/>[image: > Stumble > Upon]StumbleUpon<http://www.stumbleupon.com/submit?url=http://www.slate.comhttp://www....> > CLOSE <javascript:void(0);> > > Robert A. Caro examines the roots of the Johnson broadcasting fortune in the > second volume of his biography of LBJ, *The Years of Lyndon Johnson: Means > of > Ascent*<http://www.amazon.com/Means-Ascent-Years-Lyndon-Johnson/dp/067973371X...>. > Although Lyndon Johnson always protested that Lady Bird bought the station > on her own and that he applied no political pressure to help her, Caro > easily proves him a liar. > ------------------------------ > Related in *Slate* > Jack Shafer advocated <http://www.slate.com/id/2157734/> the abolishment of > the FCC. Earlier, he essayed <http://www.slate.com/id/2157554/> on low-power > FM to explain how the "media reform" movement gets it half right, and > defended <http://www.slate.com/id/2157395/?nav/navoa/> the Clear Channel > radio chain against charges of negligence in Minot, N.D., the media > reformers' central organizing myth. Last year, he was > blinded<http://www.slate.com/id/2136418/?nav/navoa/>by all the blond > broadcasters on TV news. > > In 1943, the year Lady Bird Johnson purchased KTBC, the Federal > Communications Commission, which reviewed all broadcast-license transfers, > was close to being abolished, Caro writes. Lyndon Johnson used his political > influence in both Congress and the White House to prevent that from > happening. The FCC was among the most politicized agencies in the > government, Caro asserts, and it knew who its friends were. > > Johnson socialized with FCC Commissioner Clifford Durr at the time, > "sometimes at Durr's home, sometimes at his own," although Durr says Johnson > never mentioned Lady Bird's application for KTBC's license. Lady Bird, > however, directly approached Durr about the station, and Lyndon phoned James > Barr of the FCC's Standard Broadcast Division. "He wanted to get a radio > station, and what I remember is, he wouldn't take no for an answer," Caro > quotes Barr. > > Legendary Democratic fixer Tommy "The Cork" Corcoran also helped with the > KTBC application—"all up and down the line," is how Corcoran put it. Asked > in an interview whether Johnson's status as a member of Congress helped his > wife's application, Corcoran said, "How do you think these things work? > These guys [FCC staffers] have been around. You don't have to spell things > out for them." > > The *Los Angeles Times *and *USA Today *obituaries make it sound as if KTBC > were a congenitally unprofitable station at the time of Lady Bird's bid and > give the impression that she was the lone suitor for the property. That was > not the case, as Caro documents the identities of the other interested > bidders. > > Once Lady Bird completed her purchase of KTBC, the "five years of delays and > red tape, or delays and unfavorable rules" from the FCC that had stymied the > previous owners "vanished … and slowness was replaced by speed," according > to Caro. In short order she got permission to broadcast 24 hours a day (KTBC > had been a sunrise-to-sunset station) and move it to 590 on the dial—"an > uncluttered, end of the dial" where it could be heard in 38 surrounding > Texas counties. It was no coincidence. Lyndon and Lady Bird recruited a new > station manager, promising 10 percent of the profits, and Lyndon told him > that the changes in the license restrictions that would make KTBC a > moneymaker were "all set." In 1945, the FCC OK'd KTBC's request to quintuple > its power, which cast its signal over 63 counties.* * > > When Lyndon visited William S. Paley, president of CBS radio, and asked if > KTBC could become a CBS affiliate and carry its lucrative programming, he > didn't have to spell out why the request should be granted. The radio > networks feared the regulators in Washington as well as the members of > Congress who regulated the regulators. KNOW in Austin had been repeatedly > denied the affiliation because a San Antonio "affiliate could be heard in > Austin." CBS Director of Research Frank Stanton approved Johnson's request. > > Johnson shook down powerful companies to advertise on the station. Local > businesses that wanted Army camps to remain located in Austin knew one way > to secure Lyndon's help was to advertise on KTBC. Caro writes: > > … Mrs. Johnson's ability as a business woman was not the crucial factor in > the acquisition of the station or, once it was acquired, in its early > growth. ... Lyndon Johnson had worked at politics for years to achieve > power; now he was working at politics to make money. > > Under Texas law, the station belonged solely to Lady Bird because she > purchased it with her inheritance. But as her spouse, Lyndon owned half of > all the profits. He was ultra-active in recruiting staff and running the > operation, and by 1948, Caro writes, he was telling his friends that he was > a millionaire. > > The Johnsons earned thousands from their radio station but millions from > their TV stations, writes former FCC official William B. Ray in his book, > *FCC: > The Ups and Downs of Radio > Regulation*<http://www.amazon.com/Fcc-Ups-Downs-Radio-TV-Regulation/dp/081380227X...>. > The commission allocated one commercial station to Austin in the early > 1950s, and the Johnsons were its sole applicant. "Filing a competing > application would have been a waste of money," Ray writes, because of the > Johnsons' political clout. "Whenever there was a business matter to be > discussed between CBS and the LBJ stations, Johnson would summon the > appropriate CBS personnel to the White House to discuss it," he continues. > > Was it graft? The crooks of Tammany > Hall<http://www.panarchy.org/plunkitt/graft.1905.html>distinguished > between honest graft—which they considered respectable—and > dishonest graft. Honest grafters used political connections, such as tips as > to where a new bridge was going to be built, to make surefire investments. > Dishonest grafters stole directly from the treasury. > > You can rest in peace now, Lady Bird. Your honest-grafting days are over. > > ****** > > The Johnsons' hometown newspaper, the *Austin American-Statesman*, acquits > itself on the subject of the family fortune in its Lady Bird > obit<http://www.statesman.com/news/content/shared/news/stories/ladybird/07...>. > Send your spare millions via PayPal to [email protected] . (E-mail > may be quoted by name in "The Fray," *Slate*'s readers' forum, in a future > article, or elsewhere unless the writer stipulates otherwise. Permanent > disclosure: *Slate* is owned by the Washington Post Co.) --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ Thanks for being part of "PoliticalForum" at Google Groups. For options & help see http://groups.google.com/group/PoliticalForum * Visit our other community at http://www.PoliticalForum.com/ * It's active and moderated. Register and vote in our polls. * Read the latest breaking news, and more. -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
