In a time when President Clinton is considered a liberal, but does his best to pose as a Republican, it is refreshing to see that there are still some true radicals around.

Mark Zepezauer is the author of the Tucson Comic News, as well as the author of a number of books in The Real Story series by Odonian Press.

Zepezauer said he has described himself as a radical since he was 13.

The force that keeps him going is the music of the Pixies, who he gives thanks to in his new book.

He spoke last night with the book's co-author, Arthur Naiman, at the Student Union to a crowd of about 25 people on issues covered in their new book, Take the Rich Off Welfare.

In the introduction to the new book Zepezauer shows his left-leanings with statements like, "We also think that as long as anyone in the world is starving, there should be an upper limit on how much money any one person can have."

The idea of the book is explained in the introduction, "All this book says is that it is not fair for people to get rich-and stay rich-by defrauding people who are poorer than they are."

Naiman said that a generous estimate on the amount of money that went towards welfare for the poor last year, would be $130 billion. Welfare for the rich cost $448 billion, more than three times as much.

Zepezauer explained welfare for the rich, which he calls "wealthfare," as a number of different expensive handouts.

Subsidies are the first "wealthfare" item, with the U.S. government giving millions to giant companies like McDonald's to help them promote their patties overseas. The idea here is that McDonald's does not really need monetary help, especially if the mone y comes out of tax-payers' pockets.

Tax breaks for the rich are another way "wealthfare" is perpetuated. "Ninety-seven percent of the benefit from the 1993 capital gains tax cut went to the richest 1percent of the population," according to the new book.

Some other forms of "wealthfare"that Zepezauer mentioned last night were the government paying above market value for goods, giving away public holdings below market value and the lax enforcement of white collar crime.

According to the book, between 1980 and 1992 every single one of the pentagon's top 10 weapons contractors was convicted of, or admitted to, defrauding the government. Here is a list of some of the things the pentagon paid top dollar for:

• a plain metal bolt for $898
• a pair of duckbill pliers for $748
• $469 for a box wrench
• $437 tape measure
• $435 for a hammer
• a toilet seat that cost $640
• a plastic cap that goes over the end of a stool leg - $1,118 each

This waste of taxpayer money is almost as bad as how the government wastes publicly-owned resources.

The book also points out that all the burglaries, robberies, and muggings in the United States cost taxpayers about $4 billion in 1995. The same year white collar crime cost taxpayers $200 billion-50 times as much.

One reason the government can get away with so much is because the mainstream media fails to investigate.

In an earlier book, The CIA's Greatest Hits , Zepezauer describes the national mass media as "The Great Wurlitzer" to be played and manipulated by the CIA and big-money interests.

"The corporate media, mass media, are part of the same system. The revolving door. The mass media are underwritten by the same people who contribute to political campaigns," he said.

His solution to the media problem is simple -"We're always going to have mass media, but we will always have alternative media also."

The CIA, according to Zepezauer, is also responsible for the assassinations of John F. Kennedy, Robert F. Kennedy, Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X among others.

He also said he believes that the Reagan administration and the CIA were behind the assassination of John Lennon.

"If you look at the facts you see a similar pattern: the lone nut, previous military experience, a large source of funding from no clear source, and other similarities," he said. "The thing they fear most is charismatic leaders."

He wroteThe CIA's Greatest Hits when Naiman suggested the title to him. He has been studying the CIA for 15-20 years, and the ideas in the book that some would see as "conspiracy theory" he calls "conspiracy fact."

Zepezauer is not going to vote for Clinton, because he feels in some ways Clinton is worse than Reagan and Bush were. He will vote instead for Green Party candidate Ralph Nader.

"Instead of relying on Nader as a man on a white horse we need to organize ourselves," he said.

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