For the Record

■ Gathering force, from sea to shining sea, a rolling tide of anti-tax, anti-government sentiment. Who are the most unpopular governors in the nation? It’s close, but the top three are a Democrat, a Republican, an Independent, alike in that they are all big spenders. New Jersey’s James Florio, who rammed through a $2.8-billion tax increase last year, is the most unpopular. Florio’s approval rate is just 22 per cent. Connecticut’s independent Gov. Lowell Weicker, who rammed through a loathed income tax, has approval rating of just 27 per cent. (Last week 1 per cent of the state’s 3.3 million people turned out for an anti-income-tax rally in Hartford where Republican state Sen. Louis DeLuca commented: “If we could tax arrogance, we could balance the budget on [Weicker] alone.”) And a recent California Mervin Field poll shows 33 per cent of Californians think Republican Gov. Pete Wilson is doing a poor job, largely because he signed into law a $7-billion tax increase. . . . New York Times/CBS News poll indicates 83 per cent of Americans think congressmen who bounced checks in the House Bank did so knowingly, and because they thought they could get away with it. Among the bouncers are leaders of both parties: Speaker Tom Foley and Majority Leader Richard Gephardt, among Democrats, and Minority Whip Newt Gingrich among Republicans. . . . A poll a year ago on limiting congressmen and senators to 12 years in office was approved by 56 per cent of voters. That was before the House banking scandal, the House restaurant and fixed-parking-ticket scandal, and the Roman-circus handling of Clarence Thomas nomination. . . . This could sting. Two freshmen GOP congressmen, Scott Klug (Wisc.) and John Boehner (Ohio), have introduced a bill to bring the House and Senate under the 1966 Freedom of Information Act which applies now only to the Executive branch. . . . The New York Times, in story on congressional corruption, got this comment from retired Louisiana barber: “They [congressmen] are so crooked you’re going to have to screw them in the ground when they die.”

■ Cleft Stick Dept. First George Bush became the successful War President. Now with his disarmament proposals he’s become the Peace President, a feat, says Christian Science Monitor Washington correspondent Godfrey Sperling, that makes him “a formidable if not unbeatable candidate.” . . . For Democrats the woeful news mounts. For first time since WWII more Americans (69 per cent) approve of the Republican Party than the Democratic Party (63 per cent). . . . Recent poll of Democrats shows only 43 per cent think the Dems can win the Presidency in 1992, down seven points from August. . . . Former Democratic National Chairman John White says rules governing Democratic presidential selection preclude nomination of a centrist candidate who could run well. After Democrats are “smashed” by Bush next year, White says, they may come to their senses and change their electoral ground rules. . . . U. of South Carolina political analyst Earl Black says GOP has lock on 11 states of the old Confederacy. . . . And it will stay that way, adds Southern pollster Claibourne Darden Jr. until the Democrats win back the “Bubba” vote. “Bubba,” he says, “is a high-school graduate, blue-collar or lower white collar. He rides around in a pickup truck with a gun in the back window. He’s in construction, farming, factory, forestry or he’s an electrician, plumber, mechanic. And right now Bubba loves George Bush.” . . . Desperation of Democrats is reflected in this year’s just-announced 1992 candidacy of former Sen. Eugene McCarthy and in efforts to draft Ralph Nader. Mario Cuomo, who could turn a rout into a race, held another “yes—I might, no—I won’t” talk with press last week.

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■ Gathering force, from sea to shining sea, a rolling tide of anti-tax, anti-government sentiment. Who are the most unpopular governors in the nation? It’s close, but the top three are a Democrat, a Republican, an Independent, alike in that they are all big spenders. New Jersey’s James Florio, who rammed through a $2.8-billion tax increase last year, is the most unpopular. Florio’s approval rate is just 22 per cent. Connecticut’s independent Gov. Lowell Weicker, who rammed through a loathed income tax, has approval rating of just 27 per cent. (Last week 1 per cent of the state’s 3.3 million people turned out for an anti-income-tax rally in Hartford where Republican state Sen. Louis DeLuca commented: “If we could tax arrogance, we could balance the budget on [Weicker] alone.”) And a recent California Mervin Field poll shows 33 per cent of Californians think Republican Gov. Pete Wilson is doing a poor job, largely because he signed into law a $7-billion tax increase. . . . New York Times/CBS News poll indicates 83 per cent of Americans think congressmen who bounced checks in the House Bank did so knowingly, and because they thought they could get away with it. Among the bouncers are leaders of both parties: Speaker Tom Foley and Majority Leader Richard Gephardt, among Democrats, and Minority Whip Newt Gingrich among Republicans. . . . A poll a year ago on limiting congressmen and senators to 12 years in office was approved by 56 per cent of voters. That was before the House banking scandal, the House restaurant and fixed-parking-ticket scandal, and the Roman-circus handling of Clarence Thomas nomination. . . . This could sting. Two freshmen GOP congressmen, Scott Klug (Wisc.) and John Boehner (Ohio), have introduced a bill to bring the House and Senate under the 1966 Freedom of Information Act which applies now only to the Executive branch. . . . The New York Times, in story on congressional corruption, got this comment from retired Louisiana barber: “They [congressmen] are so crooked you’re going to have to screw them in the ground when they die.”

■ Cleft Stick Dept. First George Bush became the successful War President. Now with his disarmament proposals he’s become the Peace President, a feat, says Christian Science Monitor Washington correspondent Godfrey Sperling, that makes him “a formidable if not unbeatable candidate.” . . . For Democrats the woeful news mounts. For first time since WWII more Americans (69 per cent) approve of the Republican Party than the Democratic Party (63 per cent). . . . Recent poll of Democrats shows only 43 per cent think the Dems can win the Presidency in 1992, down seven points from August. . . . Former Democratic National Chairman John White says rules governing Democratic presidential selection preclude nomination of a centrist candidate who could run well. After Democrats are “smashed” by Bush next year, White says, they may come to their senses and change their electoral ground rules. . . . U. of South Carolina political analyst Earl Black says GOP has lock on 11 states of the old Confederacy. . . . And it will stay that way, adds Southern pollster Claibourne Darden Jr. until the Democrats win back the “Bubba” vote. “Bubba,” he says, “is a high-school graduate, blue-collar or lower white collar. He rides around in a pickup truck with a gun in the back window. He’s in construction, farming, factory, forestry or he’s an electrician, plumber, mechanic. And right now Bubba loves George Bush.” . . . Desperation of Democrats is reflected in this year’s just-announced 1992 candidacy of former Sen. Eugene McCarthy and in efforts to draft Ralph Nader. Mario Cuomo, who could turn a rout into a race, held another “yes—I might, no—I won’t” talk with press last week.