RUST COMMENTARY: PLENTY TO DO DURING BUSY DECEMBER

December has no shortage of activities. The major sports of football, basketball and hockey are in their overlapping seasons. Golf, tennis and bowling are now year-round sports ... and for those who participate, it's snow skiing time.

The Christmas LIGHT PARADE Sunday evening was again a delight with its local touches and participation. The cold weather didn't reduce the crowds or enthusiasm.

School and church musicals, theater, and holiday events have us all over-committed...with trying to fit in our work during the busiest season of all for most retailers.

The traffic and filled parking lots are signs this will be a good material Christmas. The spiritual side and reason for Christmas seems to be understood, with a number of churches going to extra services.

* * * * *

Congratulations to JUDY WILFERTH on being selected the Vandiver Show Me State Award recipient. Well deserved for her continued, constructive, positive commitment to SOUTHEAST MISSOURI STATE UNIVERSITY and its programs.

The SEMO INDIANS basketball team is off to a strong start and has shown it could play with anyone on the schedule ... to date. An interesting test will be with the upcoming Saturday game with the MISSOURI TIGERS in Columbia and then the UNIVERSITY OF LOUISVILLE CARDINALS at Kentucky on Dec. 29.

The SEMO OTAHKIANS women's team registered a conference victory Saturday evening to the delight of its many followers.

The SEMO SUNDOWNERS precision dancers performance during the halftime break at last weekend's hoops was possibly one of the finest coordinated flashdance-type routines ever.

* * * * *

In Iraq, there's no quick fix despite continued calls to "do something." Saddam is a brutal, wily dictator who can't be overthrown by outsiders, so don't count on a quick demise. The U.S. is realistic about this. Clinton's plan is to focus on containing Saddam, with the help of allies, making it as hard as possible for him to keep weapons and cause grief. But we will let Iraq sell more oil, upping the quota from $2 billion to $3 billion every six months, if it cooperates with U.N. inspectors. (Who said Saddam didn't get anything for his action?) -- Private newsletter

* * * * *

My complaint about JANET RENO and the campaign spending violations is not about the independent counsel ... but rather the unbelievably inept investigation the Justice Department has conducted into the violations.

Her initial call that no violations have taken place in the telephone solicitations and White House events (let alone President Clinton's hands-on planning with the soft money advertising) has opened up a ruling on the law that basically voids it.

* * * * *

The state has overtaxed us and continues to do so. A current refund of over $1 BILLION continues to grow at over $100 million per year and with NO penalty for slow refunds.

The proposed settlement on the legal sale of cigarettes (which will have its taxes increased) will upon conclusion feed $117 MILLION into the state treasury the first year and over $125 MILLION each year for an additional 15 years. That's the settlement the tobacco lobbyists are calling to say the industry has agreed to. All of this because of a runaway liability system with the threat of unknown litigation costs.

What does the industry get for the settlement?

1. No more class-action lawsuits.

2. Individual suits can go forward.

3. No cap on lawyer fees.

4. Restrictions on billboard and other advertising.

MISSOURI, with its recent reassessment on real property and mushrooming tax revenue growth, is one of the most overtaxed states in America.

* * * * *

Additional Congressional News: Congress will tighten up bankruptcy laws in the next year or two. Lawmakers will make it more difficult for debtors to file Chapter 7, which allows them to get off scot-free. They'll make more people file under Chapter 13, forcing them to repay at least some of their debts.

A limited product-liability bill will pass next year, capping punitive damages for small businesses, those with 25 employees or fewer, banning product-liability suits after 18 years on tools used at work and limiting lawsuits against retailers and wholesalers in certain cases.

Scores of nonprofits are setting up web sites to save on postage and other costs stemming from a new IRS regulation taking effect in '98. Will require them to mail a financial report to anyone who request one. But it's OK with IRS to put the data on Internet and refer callers to it.

* * * * *

Arlington Cemetery Again: This story won't die. "Nightline" and the Associated Press have raised serious new questions about the odd waiver granted to Larry Lawrence to be buried at Arlington National Cemetery. The White House originally said Lawrence was buried there because he served as ambassador to Switzerland and because he was in the Merchant Marine during World War II where he suffered an injury. But now it appears there are no records of his ever having been in the Merchant Marine, and the suspicion is growing that his hundreds of thousands of dollars in donations to Bill Clinton "bought" him hallowed ground. This is enough to call for a complete congressional investigation, even if that investigation hits some Republicans who also may have used political pressure to get supporters into the cemetery. The whole episode is also another reminder that White House first denials can never be taken as the last word. -- Washington Update

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