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"Charley Thone: A Man You Can Trust,"
herald posters from the building at 12th and
0 Streets.
Diagonally across the street, the
Congressman from the first district was
working In his office. After a day's
campaigning in Fremont, e,,wasnparjp(g
ior a dinner, jp Reafrjce, ,hat evening. y:t,,r. . ,
Congress recessed late this, year, allowing
him two weeks to finish his campaign. Now,
Thone said, sitting at his desk, he is
sandwiching official duties between
campaign stops throughout the First
District.
After Watergate, Thone detected "a
concession toward more open government.
President Gerald Ford is part of that trend,"
he said.
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"I know Jerry Ford pretty well," he said,
"and I think, even though mistakes will be
made, he Is sincere in his philosophy toward
more open government."
Mistakes covered
Thone sat munching a popcorn ball,
drinking a Thermos-sized glass of milk. For
the past 25 years, he has preferred milk over
coffee, he said.
"Graft and corruption will prosper," he
continued, "whenever there's secrecy.
There's no question of that. Elected officials,
of course, want to make themselves look
good by covering up thier mistakes, ' '
Frustration
Thone said the legislative process
"compromise on top of compromise" can
be "frustrating."
"Anyone with strong feelings is going to
be frustrated," he said. "No one can set
everything on fire when they are first sent to
Congress. There's no way. You're a junior
member, only one of 435 people. You just do
the best you can."
"It's inefficient, it's cumbersome, but
in (ghat's what democracy is all ?bout,"he said; -;!
-!- The first concern of ! Nebftfskahs' in the1
' first' 'district, he said, is infldtibn;' the'
"cruelest,' most insidious tax of all." Thone
said he has opposed raising taxes. What is
needed, he explained, is 'reduced federal
spending. .
"Proposals to impose higher gasoline
taxes or a surcharge on middle income
people simply makes the job of making ends
meet more difficult," he said.
Tax reform
Tax reform, he said, is easy to talk about,
hard to achieve. The last major tax reform
bill, he said, came out of the House Ways
and Means Committee in 1963. Since that
time thousands of bills have been
introduced, more than 3,000 this year, but
never advanced out of committee, he said.
Thone opposes wage and price controls,
claiming that "we need less government, not
more."
Thone said he has voted for cutbacks in
military spending, pointing out the waste in
the defense department. He also said he
voted against the bombing of Cambodia in
1971.
"I felt strongly about that," he said.
Amnesty
, Although he described Vietnam as a
"rotten" war, he said he did not approve of
blanket amnesty for draft resisters. "I think
these cases should be taken up on a case by
case basis," he said.
The next day in Thone's campaign
headquarters in the Cornhusker Hotel,
peopie were working to insure Charley Thnn
had the opportunity to become a good
Congressman.
Hectic day
Stevens sat at a corner desk, answering
phone ca.'ls. Things were hectic in Charley
Thone's office last Thursday: that morning
the Lincoln Star had endorsed Hess Dyas for
Congress.
The Star's stand 'was expected, Stevens
said, but didn't tell both sides of the story,
The Star Criticized Thone for being
wishy-washy about impeaching former
President Nixon and about President Ford's
pardon of Richard Nixon.
Thone wouldn't commit himself for
impeachment, Stevens said, until beyond-a-shadow-of-a-doubt
evidence was produced.
But after Nixon's admission on Aug. 6 that
ho had hedged about Watergate, Thone then
said he had no choice but to vote for
impeachment, Stevens said.
Apathy issue
Apathy, Stevens said, is an issue in the
campaign. After one-and-a-half years of
Watcrgates headlines and a concensus that
politicians are "wheeler-dealers," people
have no time to canvass or study the issues,
he said.
"It's terrible. If everyone voted, we would
win this election with 58 per cent of the vote.
With a poor voter turnout, it's anybody's ball
game." said Stevens.
... . ."But I'!! tell you one thing, ifve lose this
eteclion, bV1Use weVeihrdWn' it-away.'"
1 'Stevens wimpltmetited Werorgafiiiatioh of-
the Dyas campaign; which has closed the
margin between the candidates to within 17
points.
"They're professionals," he said. "Dyas'
strategy is to attack. They've been working to
make Charley Thone look like he can't be
trusted. Their idea is to get Dyas into the
paper and make him a household word, and
they've been doing a good job."
'Misrepresented facts'
But in some cases, Stevens said, they
have misrepresented facts. "Take the point
about closing tax loopholes," he said.
"Everyone says they want to do that. It's' an
old campaign gimmick."
Dyas charged in a position paper
discussing tax reform, that on June 27, 1972,
and June 12, 1973, Thone voted against tax
reform. According to the Congressional
Record, Congress did not discuss or vote tax
reform on either date.
Dyas' campaign, Stevens said, has
received "thousands of dollars from outside
sources." Some of these contributors are
special interest groups representing labor,
he said.
Contributions
, Dyas' contributions from non-Democratic
Party groups outside Nebraska amount to
$1 1 ,800 according to the Dyas for Cpngress
Committee financial report to Oct. 14. Some
of these contributors were: the Transporta
tion Political Education League of Cleveland,
unio, ii.iOO; iiitj Machinists NcrvParilsan
Political League of Washington, D.C., $500;
and the Railway Clerks Political League of -Hosemont,
111., $1,000.
The t i y ... , campaign has raised a total of
$93,045.31 , according to the report.
Thone has limited campaign contributions
to $100 a person, Stevens said, refusing
money from special interest groups.
"We've had groups like the American
Medical Association (AMA) offer to
contribute, but we've had to say, 'No, we're
sorry.'
"Charley's his own campaign manager,"
Stevens said. "He wants to keep a close tab
on everything that goes on. Everything has to
be cleared through him."
Which, Stevens said, causes hassles and
sometimes bogs things down. I he office
would run smoother, he said, if the office
would hire a full-time campaign manager,
giving Thone veto power over his decisions.
&&&& tmiiuwiz Jifw
daily nebraskan
election special
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