Choice gleanings from 45-plus years of Unregistered Bull.

"Whether he's right or wrong about taxes," said John, "President Eisenhower must be sincere as well as courageous to appear before the American people on March 15 and argue against a tax cut.

"I know some ordinarily calm citizens who get plumb violent when anybody mentions taxes around the middle of March. One of my neighbors is sort of explosive on the subject, and he was a little late getting his return mailed Monday. He was feverishly working on it about 4 p.m. when his wife came along and asked if he'd seen the carpet tacks. He wasted about an hour throwing furniture, bank statements and forms 1040 around the house.

"Personally, I believe the Eisenhower administration has actually tried to economize. At the same time, it has had to put up with threat of a national economic setback, fear of foreign enemies, and a terrific national debt. The Republicans promised to do something about all these things and promote economy in government at the same time, which is quite a chore.

"I notice the Democrats making a lot of noise about easier income taxes. However, this doesn't sound too good in view of the way Roosevelt and Truman broke all records for spending tax money. It sounds more like plain politics than anything else.

"As for politics, the Republicans seem to keep having plenty of trouble along that line. Their remaining hopes still lie in a few non-professional but honest officeholders who retain the confidence of the people. Otherwise, they're mighty weak in places and are liable to be back on the outside looking in unless they get together and straighten up.

"It looks to me like recent history has shown that most of the American people aren't so interested in party lines as straight lines. Campaign managers of both parties might keep that in mind. However, there's a place for political strategy even in an honest race.

"For example, if I were a campaign manager for the Democrats, I'd try to keep this McCarthy wrangle going full blast. And if I were being paid to help the Republicans, I'd try to quote Harry Truman as often as possible.

"Outside of Ike himself, the best friend the Republicans have is Harry. And when it comes to whipping the Republicans, the Democrats don't have a man in their outfit to compare with Joe McCarthy." — (S.F. 03/18/54)