RUST COMMENTARY: LADY MARGARET THATCHER: DELIGHTFUL, ARTICULATE AND PRINCIPLED

Wendy and I spent an enjoyable Friday evening in St. Louis at an event where the former prime minister of England, Lady MARGARET THATCHER, was the featured speaker.

David Barklage of Cape Girardeau was involved in the arrangements, and we ended up sitting at the dinner table with Lady Thatcher prior to her address to the 400-plus in attendance.

What a delightful, articulate, brilliant and principled lady. If I hadn't noticed her birth date in her biography, I would not have guessed her age of 72.

She spoke without notes or a lectern and related her principles and beliefs to speak honestly on issues established at an early age in her house (her father was a grocer, and she was trained as a chemist before becoming a lawyer).

She praised Ronald Reagan and observed that investment taxes in England were 98 percent and income taxes 89 percent when she was elected.

She said she and Reagan stood together against Russia and the growth of government while establishing the free-enterprise system. While implementing her plan, she took two and a half years of major criticism before her convictions ultimately won out over other opinions.

After her remarks, she continued with 25 minutes of answering questions.

Lady Thatcher was elected and receives such praise because of her actions ... not her gender ... and from men as well as women. A true leader is acknowledged by all.

The May 4 issue of Forbes magazine in an article entitled "The Real Revolution" stated, "As the world turned, Marx, Lenin and Mao weren't the successful revolutionaries. Milton Friedman, Ronald Reagan, and Margaret Thatcher were.

In a thumbnail sketch of Thatcher, they said, "Margaret Thatcher: Became British prime minister in 1979 after `winter of discontent' of labor strife and decade of national decline. Determined to dismantle the government's commanding heights of the mixed economy. She invented privatization, selling of state-owned companies. Known as the Iron Lady after British victory over Argentina in 1982 Falklands War. Scored major victory at home in defeating militant coal miners, introducing new flexibility into British labor relations. Inspired by free-market economists Fredrich von Hayek and Milton Friedman and by her mentor, Tory politician Keith Joseph, known as the Mad Monk. Her programs became the free-market script for countries around the world. Resigned in 1990. Her economics policies, once regarded as radical, are now embraced by New Labour. Perhaps above all, she sought to replace consensus politics with conviction politics. `You must start with beliefs,' she says. `Yes, always with beliefs.'"

At the time, her many critics considered her the spearhead of the radical right. Now the program she promoted is embraced by the very politician who ousted her Tory party from power: Tony Blair -- no doubt to the distress of many in his own party -- has been consolidating most of Thatcher's economic revolution, not dismantling it. As Baroness Thatcher of Kesteven (her current title) says, "New Labour has an understanding of what socialism was and how it doesn't work, that somehow you have to create wealth before redistribution."

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Iraq continues to give the U.S. the runaround on inspections for missiles, chemical-biological weapons and nuclear-arms development. So trade sanctions that were put in place after the Gulf War will remain, although Iraq will be allowed to sell more oil to buy food and medicine. U.S. officials seek better relations with Iran as a way to contain Iraq.

Back to Congress and Clinton, who's eager to reclaim momentum with Social Security, health care, schools, drug abuse and other issues. Important to appear "on the job," too busy to be bothered with scandals.

The president will trumpet popular policies, whipping up support to "save" Social Security, curb smoking by teens, improve the schools.

But he won't offer legislation or details on the costs involved.

It's an old trick used by some of our most canny presidents: Shift responsibility for difficult calls to the other party in Congress. Issue dozens of well-publicized proposals, then complain about inaction by a "do-nothing" Congress in the final weeks of congressional campaigns. Republicans know it's coming and fear it will cost them votes this fall. -- Private newsletter

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Tax Freedom Day will arrive May 8 this year in Missouri and May 13 in Illinois. That's the day many of us stop working for the tax collector and start working for ourselves.

This year, the average Missourian works 127 days to pay his state, federal and local taxes, Illinoisans have to toil 132 days. The national average is 129 days.

That's roughly 40 percent of your income.

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One last time I will state the obvious. All of the teachers and technology in the world will do little to improve education until there is a thirst for knowledge that begins in the home. If the home environment does not promote attendance, study, responsibility and accountability, then virtually any program is doomed from the beginning.

More teachers may be a good starting point. But until the liberals understand that education begins in the home, more is not necessarily better. -- Mike Jensen, Sikeston Standard Democrat

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Credit Check: During the first two Clinton budgets, the Democrat-controlled Congress spent $54 billion less than Clinton requested. Even his own supporters criticized his first budget proposal for being too lean in spending cuts. In the next two years, Clinton requested $58 billion more than the new Republican-controlled Congress was willing to spend. Ironically, Clinton now takes credit for the reductions in deficit spending caused by budgets he earlier said were "wrong for America." -- Stephen Moore

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More need to know stories of the courage and boldness displayed by the 56 men who signed our Declaration of Independence. A speaker (late Rush Limbaugh Jr. used to do it) recently cited their biographies and shared the testament of their faith.

Contrary to what is so often claimed by those who wish to distort history in support of their liberal views, most of our country's founders were openly religious men. More than half had been divinity students. Prayer was integral to their sessions, with a number of recorded periods of devotion lasting several hours or more as they read the Psalms and sought the Lord's guidance. Students today rarely hear these things. In fact, the popular culture twists the truth, claiming that the majority of our Founding Fathers were atheists or deists. The more we understand about the spiritual underpinnings of America's birth, the easier it becomes to understand and appreciate the precious gift of liberty under God, which our Founding Fathers established for future generations. -- Family Research Council

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As RONALD REAGAN once said: "The question is not whether GOD is on our side, but whether we are on his."

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