RUST COMMENTARY: HAPPY NEW YEAR: UNUSUAL 1998 DRAWS TO A CLOSE

HAPPY 1999 -- A significant year is coming up -- for everyone. I long ago noted that successful people set GOALS.

I've always operated with a continually changing five-year plan...the business part which I recently outlined to our company employees.

"There are those who travel and those who are going somewhere. They are different and yet they are the same. The success has this over his rivals: he knows where he is going."

Mark Caine

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"Those who cannot tell what they desire or expect still sigh and struggle with indefinite thoughts and vast wishes."

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"Strength and growth come only through continuous effort and struggle..."

Napoleon Hill

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Flagrant foul

First it was teething toys. Now it's baby basketball. The Consumer Product Safety Commission has announced the recall of more than 10 million toy basketball sets. The CPSU -- oops, we mean CPSC -- declared the toys a hazard because one child strangled in the netting since the kiddie play sets' introduction in 1976. That's a mortality rate of less than a thousandth of that the average American faces every time he gets into an auto. What's next -- shoe laces?

Wall Street Journal

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How well do you know Teen Challenge of Cape Girardeau?

Did you know that:

-- 103 students completed our program in the last year?

-- 104 students on average were in the program each month?

-- 262 students total participated in the program in the last year?

-- 114 students are currently in the program?

-- $27.15 is the daily cost for each student?

-- Our men are escaping the web of drug and alcohol addiction?

-- They are not charged for their time with us?

-- We are currently expanding our capacity from 108 to 138?

-- We receive no government funds?

We are extremely grateful for the support of the people of Southeast Missouri and Southern Illinois.

We could not help men turn their lives around without your help!

Teen Challenge: "Creating a New Life...not just a New Year."

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Vouchers help

Some good news about education. Public school children in New York City who received vouchers to attend private or religious schools are scoring higher than those who didn't, according to the first scientific study of the outcomes of vouchers which was conducted by Harvard. The scores of fourth and fifth graders on the Iowa Test of Basic Skills rose four percentiles in reading and six percentiles in math. Younger students saw milder gains. The New York City voucher program, School Choice Scholarships Foundation, was privately funded, proving that citizens don't have to wait on government to make a good idea become reality.

Washington Update

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Note how NAFTA has curbed U.S. dependence on Asian imports. Our two-way trade deficit with Asia is 33 percent, but with NAFTA, it's only six percent.

Textiles are a good example. Mexico is now our biggest supplier of clothing, surpassing China and all other Asian textile exporters. And two-thirds of the fabric used in Mexican apparel is made in the U.S. That compares with virtually none for China and other Asian producers.

In autos, the North American market has become nearly seamless. That boosts competitiveness and lowers prices...an all-around advantage. U.S. vehicle exports south of the border have soared by 750 percent since '93.

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I have some thoughts about Nixon and Clinton -- in no particular order:

1. Politicians in Washington were more angry and hostile during Watergate than today. There are several reasons for this. First, Watergate went for a number of months, building up tensions. Second, the press was inflammatory and highly anti-Nixon. Third, Nixon had created numerous enemies over the years, including many in the Democratic party. Nixon was deeply disliked by many, but Clinton only by some.

2. The vote to impeach Clinton has been called a partisan vote. I don't believe it was. It is true that during Watergate, many Republicans came out for Nixon's impeachment. But the reason was the tapes that the Supreme Court made Nixon produce, contained clear and convincing evidence of his guilt. It is a closer question as to whether Clinton committed an impeachable offense. It should not be surprising that decent people can (and did) differ on this issue. Most voted as a matter of conscience, not politics.

3. The argument that the trial in the Senate will tie up the country is weak. Congress, especially a newly-elected Congress, does little during the months of January and February except travel and work in the district or state. Most committees only hold perfunctory meetings. Furthermore, the Senate can go on a two-track basis, taking care of regular business, and spending part of the day on the trial.

4. President Nixon did not want to resign. He resigned because the leadership of the Republican party told him he could not win in the Senate and should resign. President Nixon and his lawyers could have stretched out the trial for many months. However, President Nixon did the honorable thing by resigning. Bob Livingston could have been elected Speaker and survived the political storm, just as Henry Hyde did earlier this year. However, Bob Livingston did the honorable thing and gave up the speakership and will leave the Congress. Bill Clinton may or may not survive the trial in the Senate. However, it is hard to see any circumstance under which Bill Clinton would resign.

5. Watergate cast a long shadow over this country for years. Its impact still hurts our political system. Whether Clinton stays or goes, there will be little long-term impact. The economy is good and will remain so. As far as the political system goes, the American public has lowered the bar expecting little from their political leaders. I have a hard time understanding the change in the moral climate of our country. We have moved from a concept of right and wrong, to what is relatively right and relatively wrong. At least during Watergate, the public was angry about Nixon's failures.

6. Both Clinton and Nixon had great upsides. They could have gone down as outstanding presidents. Both, through their own actions, hurt their place in history, but, more importantly, hurt our nation. Neither should be forgiven.

Lou Frey Jr., member of Congress (FL '69-'79),

president of Former Members of Congress

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Failure in China

The daily stories out of China in the last two weeks show the complete failure of Clinton's China policy. The Chinese Communist government is on a rampage, arresting underground church leaders and sentencing "dissidents" to long prison terms. Just a few months ago, the media pronounced that China had changed. They showed us pictures of bustling economic activity and assured us that "capitalism" was beginning to take hold on the mainland. China's government signed the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which calls for political liberty. Things were changing. Clinton's trip was pronounced a success.

But now, the reality reasserts itself. The dissidents sentenced in recent weeks were guilty of nothing except trying to establish a political party! For this, they have been given sentences up to 15 years. In widely publicized speeches in recent weeks, Jiang Zemin, president and Communist Party chief, said any threats to the supremacy of the Communist Party would be "annihilated in the early stages." Meanwhile, China's military build-up continues while Washington politicians continue to wear blinders. The greatest leverage we have -- our open markets for China's products -- is no leverage at all since both parties have made it clear there is virtually nothing China could do that would lead us to rethink giving them Most Favored Nation status every year.

Washington Update

~Gary Rust is president of Rust Communications, which owns the Southeast Missourian and other newspapers.