Nightline (ABC) - 1992-03-09 - 2 of 2

Channel: malgent

Transcript

Language: English (original, YouTube automatic captions)

[0:00] He is an army. You've met the invaders,

[0:03] ants. Now meet the exterminator, the

[0:07] orcan man. Armed with one of the most

[0:09] sophisticated pest control systems in

[0:11] the world, he wipes out ants, destroys

[0:14] the nest, and prevents their return,

[0:16] guaranteed.

[0:19] The Orcan man.

[0:21] One call destroys them all.

[0:25] >> What do you say?

[0:27] It was my usual day at Burger King. Or

[0:29] so I THOUGHT.

[0:32] SUDDENLY, I was swept into a wild

[0:34] Mexican menu. Chicken burritos, beef

[0:36] tacos, chicken nachos, cheese nachos,

[0:39] and chicken fajita salad. Was this

[0:41] aapocco? With food this good, it could

[0:44] only be Burger King. The new menu at

[0:47] Burger King.

[0:49] What else?

[0:57] >> He said, "Die, daughter. Die." And then

[1:00] he killed her. An ancient custom comes

[1:02] home to America. A chilling prime time

[1:05] Thursday.

[1:09] >> Continuing our discussion now. Senator

[1:11] Proxm. Uh, what is it that makes things

[1:14] like this bad check scandal happen? Is

[1:16] there something in the air on Capitol

[1:18] Hill that makes the politicians forget

[1:20] where they came from?

[1:21] >> Well, the astonishing thing to me is we

[1:23] we've had this kind of an arrangement

[1:24] for the House of Representatives for a

[1:26] hundred years. We don't have it in the

[1:28] United States Senate. We don't have it

[1:29] in any state legislature. It's a very

[1:31] very peculiar kind of an arrangement.

[1:34] But but I think that what happens in in

[1:36] Washington when you come down here is

[1:37] after all you you you do what the other

[1:40] fellas do and they've gotten a pretty

[1:43] cushy deal. As I say, you've got the

[1:45] newsletters. You've got a wonderful

[1:47] staff that would do anything you want or

[1:49] want. They'll do whatever you tell them

[1:51] to do. Uh you can have that staff back

[1:54] in your home district working to get you

[1:55] reelected. It's I think it's a we what

[1:59] we should do recognizing the enormous

[2:01] difficulty this country is in with the

[2:03] colossal unbalanced budget we have, the

[2:05] deficits we're running, we ought to

[2:07] start with the Congress. After all,

[2:08] they're the ones who spend the money and

[2:10] cut the salaries to $50,000 a year.

[2:14] say that members of Congress could not

[2:16] uh be allowed to to travel except by uh

[2:20] coach in in commercial. They couldn't

[2:22] travel with the the jet planes they do

[2:24] now in first class and and let them make

[2:27] them live like everybody else until we

[2:29] balance the budget.

[2:30] >> Mike Barnacle, I uh I see a big smile

[2:32] from you up there in Boston. You agree

[2:34] with the senator's ideas?

[2:35] >> Well, to some extent, if they lived like

[2:37] everybody else, they'd be unemployed

[2:38] because a lot of other people are

[2:40] unemployed. Yeah. The problem is they go

[2:42] to Washington DC and they like a lot of

[2:44] other people who go to Washington DC

[2:46] begin to fool around in their spouses.

[2:48] They think they're invisible. They're

[2:50] surrounded by people who call them by

[2:51] their titles. The ego takes over. They

[2:54] constantly think in terms of I I I me

[2:57] me. They're always running for

[2:59] reelection no matter what they do. When

[3:01] something like this comes along, it the

[3:04] public I think becomes very prone to

[3:06] lapsing towards amateur hour. they will

[3:08] go for anyone this September and this

[3:10] November rather than the incumbent. No

[3:12] matter that the incumbent might be

[3:13] terrific, might do a terrific job. They

[3:16] see something like this going on and

[3:17] they say, "Hey, there's a double

[3:18] standard here. I can't go into the

[3:20] supermarket and write checks for a year

[3:21] and a half and say, "Check you later."

[3:23] And yet you can go into the House of

[3:25] Representatives and they carry you for

[3:26] two years. Uh-uh.

[3:28] >> Congresswoman Mchugh, how do you explain

[3:30] it? politicians in Washington wrapping

[3:32] themselves in perks and privileges that

[3:35] you've got to know drive the voters back

[3:37] home absolutely crazy.

[3:38] >> Well, you know, Chris, I spend a lot of

[3:40] time back home with my constituents. I

[3:42] think I have some feel for what people

[3:44] are thinking and what they're concerned

[3:45] about. Uh, frankly, they're a lot more

[3:47] concerned about being out of work.

[3:49] They're a lot more concerned about 35

[3:50] million people without health insurance.

[3:53] >> They may they may well be, Congressman.

[3:54] And in fact, they largely blame Congress

[3:56] for that as well. Well, I think that's

[3:57] >> one of the things that they also I mean,

[3:59] and if we can stick to the subject, one

[4:00] of the things that they're also upset

[4:02] about though are the congressional

[4:03] payraises, fixing tickets, uh this check

[4:06] bouncing scandal. I mean, why do

[4:08] congressmen do those things?

[4:10] >> Listen, Chris, uh you really you really

[4:12] lack a sense of proportion on this show,

[4:14] if I may say so. People are concerned

[4:16] about Congress. People are concerned

[4:18] about government. Uh but this is a

[4:20] situation which cost the taxpayers

[4:22] nothing. It's a situation where the

[4:24] members of Congress money was at stake

[4:25] and no one else's. It was a situation

[4:27] where all the overdrafts were finally

[4:29] covered. I don't defend that system.

[4:31] I've criticized it. But I think it's

[4:33] important to keep uh the issues of

[4:35] government and the concern of people in

[4:37] some proportion. Uh this show has

[4:38] engaged in a great deal of demagoguery

[4:40] if I may say so. Congress certainly can

[4:43] be criticized and I'm one of the most uh

[4:44] viferous critics. Uh but but really

[4:47] you've lost a total sense of balance and

[4:49] proportion on this show. And if you

[4:52] wonder why people uh think that

[4:53] government is in low esteem, uh you

[4:55] sometimes have to look at the press and

[4:57] journalism in terms of how it covers

[4:59] issues and how it covers these problems.

[5:01] I don't think this show has presented a

[5:03] very balanced or proportionate picture,

[5:05] if I may say so.

[5:06] >> Well, I I disagree with that. I think

[5:08] with with Matt Mchu on it, it it has a

[5:11] very good balance. He he he gives about

[5:13] the best case I've ever heard for this

[5:15] kind of activity. Uh, and it seems to me

[5:17] you couldn't you couldn't very well uh

[5:20] have a better spokesman.

[5:22] >> I'm not defending this activity.

[5:24] >> Of course you're not defending it, but

[5:25] you're you're making the best case that

[5:27] can be made for it, but you're doing it

[5:28] very honestly. You're a terrific

[5:30] congressman, Matt. Thank you. And you

[5:32] haven't you haven't bounced a check. No,

[5:34] I haven't.

[5:35] >> Matt, you're probably a terrific guy,

[5:36] and I bet your constituents love you.

[5:38] You know, the problem is that

[5:39] constituents always love their

[5:41] particular member of Congress and hate

[5:42] Congress as a whole. You say this cost

[5:45] Congress or cost the taxpayers nothing.

[5:47] It cost the taxpayers a great deal. It

[5:50] cost the taxpayers that that sense of

[5:52] that the fact that they have someone in

[5:54] Congress or the Congress of the United

[5:56] States operating on their behalf. They

[5:58] don't think that's the case today. And

[6:00] they don't think it's the case because

[6:01] of just like things like this. Never

[6:03] mind the parking tickets that that's

[6:05] that's cheap. But the but the house

[6:07] bank, the fact that a member of Congress

[6:09] can get carried for 2, three, four

[6:11] years, $500,000 in one case, that tells

[6:14] you there's something going on besides

[6:16] operating in the public's interest.

[6:17] Mike, those figures, those figures are

[6:19] not correct. Members of Congress were

[6:21] not carried for more than a month. Uh

[6:24] they had they had their salary deposits

[6:25] coming in the first of each month. And

[6:27] these $400, $500,000 figures are face

[6:31] amounts of checks which have nothing to

[6:32] do with the actual deficiencies. I think

[6:35] it's very I think it's very important to

[6:38] focus on what the facts are. The

[6:40] deficiencies in an account are what are

[6:42] what are important, not the face

[6:43] amounts.

[6:44] >> Senator, you don't know what the facts

[6:45] are unless you get the people's names

[6:47] out there. Let the people explain what

[6:49] the facts are.

[6:49] >> Mr. Barnacle, let me break in just for a

[6:51] moment. I want to ask Senator Proxm,

[6:52] who's now out of the Senate after a long

[6:54] and distinguished term there, to take

[6:56] the long view on this. What happens to

[6:58] our politics when the public begins to

[7:01] feel such a sense of distance, such a

[7:03] sense of alienation from the people they

[7:05] elect uh to Congress?

[7:07] >> Well, what happens, of course, is they

[7:09] get disillusioned with the with the with

[7:10] the whole process. But frankly, the real

[7:13] responsibility is theirs. They elected

[7:15] these fellas to to the the House and

[7:17] they should they should face up to that

[7:19] fact. They should face up to the fact

[7:20] that they are responsible for our

[7:22] government. That's what democracy means.

[7:25] And they forget it. And if if they if

[7:27] they do that, I think they'd be much

[7:29] less likely to elect the the the people

[7:31] who abuse their privileges this way.

[7:35] >> And Mike Barnacle, we have less than 30

[7:37] seconds left. You you put your finger on

[7:38] it. We get these scandals. People say

[7:41] that they're going to throw the rascals

[7:42] out and then 98% of the congressman

[7:44] running for reelection gets sent back.

[7:46] You make a big change this difference.

[7:48] We've got about 20 seconds left.

[7:49] >> What happens is you get a guy like Matt

[7:50] Mchugh, terrific congressman, could be

[7:52] replaced by a house painter in November.

[7:54] that happens

[7:56] >> because of the fact that people are so

[7:57] desperate and are looking for some

[7:58] change.

[7:59] >> Get him out.

[8:01] >> Well, we're going to have to leave it

[8:02] there. Senator Proxmire, Congressman

[8:04] McHugh, Mike Barnacle, thank you all

[8:06] very much. And as we noted before, the

[8:08] vote in the House on whether to accept

[8:09] the ethics committee plan and name only

[8:11] the 24 worst offenders will be held this

[8:13] week. And we'll be back in a moment.

[8:19] If you're considering some new lawn or

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[8:38] conditioning, it does take less space.

[8:40] For your lawn, there's the Maximizer

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[8:56] quality, there's the John Deere 892

[8:59] excavator. It can not only transplant

[9:01] rodends, but even move your neighbor's

[9:03] car if he parks in your driveway.

[9:07] So, whatever your lawn and garden needs,

[9:08] be sure to see your John Deere dealer.

[9:11] >> He'll get you just the right equipment

[9:12] for whatever job you need to do.

[9:15] >> That is if he can.

[9:25] >> Happy birthday

[9:27] to you.

[9:30] Happy birthday

[9:32] to you.

[9:35] Happy birthday,

[9:38] dear Lisa.

[9:41] Happy birthday

[9:44] to you.

[9:51] >> This is regular.

[9:53] This is better.