Letter: ‘Special interest’ saga continues

Sunday, Sept. 19, 1999 | 1:34 a.m.

G.P. Dix, in a letter appearing in the Sept. 12 Sun, lambastes the governor for labeling state Sen. Joe Neal and those who support an initiative petition to raise gaming taxes as "special interests." The real special interest, he says, are the "the gaming people and the lobbyists who have captured the governor and the Legislature."

Neal and people who support the initiative petition to raise gaming taxes for educational purposes (i.e., teachers union) are not special interests, Dix indignantly asserts, they are public interests, pure and unassailable. Dix has a point: How could they be not be public interests when virtually all of them are on the public payroll?

We need a definition of special interests. Here are two to choose from:

* Some people -- Dix among them -- argue, "My interest is public (i.e., good); yours is special (i.e., bad)." This has appeal in that each interest group can assert its claim to the moral high ground, but this claim will not be taken seriously by any except one's most ardent and unthinking supporters. The disadvantage is that there never is agreement as to who is special and who is public. It's all just an exercise in silliness anyhow.

* Other people candidly acknowledge, "All interests are special." Yes.

C.H. MC CREA