true,” said Heather.
“The House is solid but the Senate’s flaky,” said Ray.
Joe nodded. “The Senate’s always flaky, Ray, you know that.”
“Christopher and Bales will come on board,” said Amy. “Dad’ll get ‘em on board.”
“You think so?”
Amy nodded. Joe smiled. More often than not, Amy was right.
“Greg, what do you think?”
Greg shrugged. “I don’t know anything about politics, Mr. Travis. God invented politics to keep boring people from boring the rest of us. With politics, they just bore each other.”
Joe smiled indulgently. He didn’t rise to the bait. He had learned to avoid that with Greg.
“So you think that’s right?” asked Ray. “Christopher and Bales are going to line up behind you?”
“Of the fifty-six senators we have, there are seven or eight we’ll have to treat very carefully. Are Christopher and Bales among them? Yes, I think they are. Can we handle them the right way? I hope so.”
“You’ve just got to increase funding for the Farm Reversion Program, Daddy. Christopher, Bales, right across the Midwest they’ll get behind you.”
“And what about Montera?” said Ray. “You think you’ll get him through?”
The allegation of a scandal in Hugo Montera’s past had broken two days before Christmas. Benton had spoken to Montera, who had explained it. Benton couldn’t see that he was guilty of any wrongdoing.
“We’ll get him through,” he said quietly.
Ray Travis sat forward in his seat. “Here’s the thing, Joe. The Relocation package, where’s it all going to come from? Just how high are you going to put our taxes?”
“Ray, I’ve got some of the smartest brains in the country working on that right now.”
“But you are going to put taxes up?”
“It’ll be selective. I’ve said there’ll be a cost. How can there not be?”
“The American people voted for it,” said Amy. “I don’t think Daddy hid anything.”
“Honey, politicians always hide something.”
“Amy’s right,” said Joe. “People knew. They recognize there’s a need to do something here. The Gartner Relocation package was a miserly, stingy piece of work that would have condemned millions of people to poverty for generations. And I’m not only talking about the poor souls who have to be moved, I’m also talking about the communities they’re moving into.”
“Four trillion dollars over ten years, Joe. You could hardly say that’s miserly.”
“It is. It’s not only miserly, it’s shortsighted. This movement of people can be a tremendous moment in our history. We can use it as a platform of growth. Or it can be a sinkhole of misery. Make your choice.”
“I’m not arguing with that.”
“You can’t just move them. You can’t just give them a bus ticket and put them in a trailer someplace and give them a couple of hundred thousand compensation and say get on with your lives. That’s what Gartner’s bill did. We can do better. We have to do better. You’ve got to put in the infrastructure. You’ve got to prime the pump. Put those people into communities with health care, education, jobs, and within ten years, five years, they’ll be flourishing, not languishing. That’s why it’s a package, Ray. That’s why I kept saying it and saying it and saying it. And I’ll keep on saying it. Health, education, relocation, jobs. They all come together. And it’s our role as government to make sure they do come together.”
There was silence. Amy gazed at her father. Even Greg watched him out of the corner of his eye. Emmy, Heather and June, who had started talking about something else, looked around to see what was happening.
“I was just wondering where it’s all going to come from,” murmured Ray.
“Well, we’re working on that. But we’re going to have to pay. Our generation is going to have to put in. But it’s for our
“The House is solid but the Senate’s flaky,” said Ray.
Joe nodded. “The Senate’s always flaky, Ray, you know that.”
“Christopher and Bales will come on board,” said Amy. “Dad’ll get ‘em on board.”
“You think so?”
Amy nodded. Joe smiled. More often than not, Amy was right.
“Greg, what do you think?”
Greg shrugged. “I don’t know anything about politics, Mr. Travis. God invented politics to keep boring people from boring the rest of us. With politics, they just bore each other.”
Joe smiled indulgently. He didn’t rise to the bait. He had learned to avoid that with Greg.
“So you think that’s right?” asked Ray. “Christopher and Bales are going to line up behind you?”
“Of the fifty-six senators we have, there are seven or eight we’ll have to treat very carefully. Are Christopher and Bales among them? Yes, I think they are. Can we handle them the right way? I hope so.”
“You’ve just got to increase funding for the Farm Reversion Program, Daddy. Christopher, Bales, right across the Midwest they’ll get behind you.”
“And what about Montera?” said Ray. “You think you’ll get him through?”
The allegation of a scandal in Hugo Montera’s past had broken two days before Christmas. Benton had spoken to Montera, who had explained it. Benton couldn’t see that he was guilty of any wrongdoing.
“We’ll get him through,” he said quietly.
Ray Travis sat forward in his seat. “Here’s the thing, Joe. The Relocation package, where’s it all going to come from? Just how high are you going to put our taxes?”
“Ray, I’ve got some of the smartest brains in the country working on that right now.”
“But you are going to put taxes up?”
“It’ll be selective. I’ve said there’ll be a cost. How can there not be?”
“The American people voted for it,” said Amy. “I don’t think Daddy hid anything.”
“Honey, politicians always hide something.”
“Amy’s right,” said Joe. “People knew. They recognize there’s a need to do something here. The Gartner Relocation package was a miserly, stingy piece of work that would have condemned millions of people to poverty for generations. And I’m not only talking about the poor souls who have to be moved, I’m also talking about the communities they’re moving into.”
“Four trillion dollars over ten years, Joe. You could hardly say that’s miserly.”
“It is. It’s not only miserly, it’s shortsighted. This movement of people can be a tremendous moment in our history. We can use it as a platform of growth. Or it can be a sinkhole of misery. Make your choice.”
“I’m not arguing with that.”
“You can’t just move them. You can’t just give them a bus ticket and put them in a trailer someplace and give them a couple of hundred thousand compensation and say get on with your lives. That’s what Gartner’s bill did. We can do better. We have to do better. You’ve got to put in the infrastructure. You’ve got to prime the pump. Put those people into communities with health care, education, jobs, and within ten years, five years, they’ll be flourishing, not languishing. That’s why it’s a package, Ray. That’s why I kept saying it and saying it and saying it. And I’ll keep on saying it. Health, education, relocation, jobs. They all come together. And it’s our role as government to make sure they do come together.”
There was silence. Amy gazed at her father. Even Greg watched him out of the corner of his eye. Emmy, Heather and June, who had started talking about something else, looked around to see what was happening.
“I was just wondering where it’s all going to come from,” murmured Ray.
“Well, we’re working on that. But we’re going to have to pay. Our generation is going to have to put in. But it’s for our
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