Джеффри Арчер - The Prodigal Daughter

‘Yes, Florentyna, I do—’

‘Do you also know what the figures are for people who sleep on the streets each night in America? Not India, not Africa, not Asia. I’m talking about America. And how many of those people haven’t had a job in ten years — not ten weeks or ten months but ten years, Mr. President?’

‘Florentyna, whenever you call me Mr. President I know I’m in trouble. What do you of all people expect me to do? You have always been among those Democrats who advocate a strong defense program.’

‘And I still do, but there are millions of people across America who wouldn’t give a damn if the Russians came marching down Pennsylvania Avenue right now, because they don’t believe they could be any worse off.’

‘I hear what you’re saying, but you’ve become a hawk in dove’s clothing, and statements like the one you just made may make wonderful headlines for you, but what do you expect me to do about it?’

‘Set up a Presidential commission to look into how our welfare money is spent. I already have three of my staff working on it and I intend to present some of the horrors they are unearthing about misuse of funds before a hearing at the earliest date. I can promise you, Mr. President, the figures will make your hair curl.’

‘Have you forgotten I’m nearly bald, Florentyna?’ She laughed. ‘I like the idea of a commission.’ The President paused. ‘I could even float the concept at my next press conference.’

‘Why don’t you do that, Mr. President. And tell them about the man who’s been sleeping on a bench for thirteen years little more than a stone’s throw from the White House while you slumbered in the Lincoln bedroom. A man who lost a leg in Vietnam and doesn’t even know he is entitled to sixty-three dollars a week compensation from the Veterans Administration. And if he did, he wouldn’t know how to collect it, because his local VA office is in Texas, and if in an inspired moment they decided to send a check to him where would they address it? A park bench, near the Capitol?’

‘Danny One-Leg,’ said the President.

‘So you know about Danny?’

‘Who doesn’t? He’s had more good publicity in two weeks than I’ve had in two years. I’m even considering an amputation. I fought for my country in Vietnam, you know.’

‘And you’ve managed to take care of yourself ever since.’

‘Florentyna, if I set up a Presidential commission on welfare, will you give it your support?’

‘I certainly will, Mr. President.’

‘And will you stop attacking Texas?’

‘That was unfortunate. A junior researcher of mine discovered Danny had come from Texas, but do you realize that in spite of the illegal immigrant problem, over twenty percent of the people of Texas have an annual income of less than—?’

‘I know, I know, Florentyna, but you seem to forget that my Vice President comes from Houston and he hasn’t had a day’s rest since Danny One-Leg hit the front pages.’

‘Poor old Pete,’ said Florentyna. ‘He will be the first Vice President who has had something to worry about other than where his next meal is coming from.’

‘And you mustn’t be hard on Pete, he plays his role.’

‘You mean balances the ticket so that you can stay in the White House.’

‘Florentyna, you’re a wicked lady and I warn you that I intend to open my press conference next Thursday by saying I have come up with a brilliant idea.’

‘ You ’ve come up with the idea?’

‘Yes,’ said the President. ‘There must be some compensation for taking the heat all the time. I repeat that I have come up with this brilliant idea of a Presidential commission on Waste in Welfare and’ — the President hesitated for a minute — ‘that Senator Kane has agreed to be the chairman. Now will that keep you quiet for a few days?’

‘Yes,’ said Florentyna, ‘and I’ll try to report within one year so that you have time before the election to describe to the voters your bold new plans to sweep away the cobwebs of the past and usher in the Fresh Approach.’

‘Florentyna.’

‘I’m sorry, Mr. President. I just couldn’t resist that.’

Janet didn’t know where Florentyna was going to find the time to chair such an important commission. Her appointment books already needed the staffer with the smallest handwriting to complete each page.

‘I need three hours clear every day for the next six months,’ said Florentyna.

‘Sure thing,’ said Janet. ‘How do you feel about two o’clock to five o’clock every morning?’

‘Suits me,’ said Florentyna, ‘but I’m not sure we could get anyone else to sit on a commission under those conditions.’ Florentyna smiled. ‘And we’re going to need more staffers.’

Janet had already filled all the vacancies that had been created from resignations during the past few months. She had appointed a new press secretary, a new speech writer, and four more legislative researchers from some of the outstanding young college graduates who were now banging on Florentyna’s door. ‘Let’s be thankful that the Baron Group can afford the extra cost,’ Janet added.

Once the President had made his announcement, Florentyna set to work. Her commission consisted of twenty members plus a professional support staff of eleven. She divided the commission itself so that half were professional people who had never needed welfare in their lives or given the subject much thought until asked to do so by Florentyna, while the other half were currently on welfare or unemployed.

A clean-shaven Danny, wearing his first suit, joined Florentyna’s staff as a full-time advisor. The originality of the idea took Washington by surprise. Article after article was written on Senator Kane’s ‘Park Bench Commissioners.’ Danny One-Leg told stories that made the other half of the committee realize how deep-seated the problem was and how many abuses still needed to be corrected, so that those in genuine need received fair recompense.

Among those who were questioned by the committee were Matt the Grain, who now slept on the bench Danny had vacated, and ‘Tom Guinzburg,’ an ingenious convict from Leavenworth who, for a parole deal arranged by Florentyna, told the committee how he had been able to milk a thousand dollars a week out of welfare before the police caught up with him. The man had so many aliases he was no longer sure of his own name; at one point he had supported seventeen wives, forty-one dependent children and nineteen dependent parents, all of whom were nonexistent except on the national welfare computer. Florentyna thought he might be exaggerating until he showed the commission how to get the President of the United States onto the computer as unemployed, with two dependent children, living with his aging mother at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, Washington, D.C. Guinzburg also went on to confirm something she had already feared — that he was small fry compared with the professional crime syndicates who thought nothing of raking in fifty thousand dollars a week through phony welfare recipients.

She later discovered that Danny One-Leg’s real name was on the computer and that someone else had been collecting his money for the past thirteen years. It didn’t take a lot longer to discover that Matt the Grain and several of his friends from parking lot sixteen were also on the computer although they had never received a penny themselves.

Florentyna went on to prove that there were over a million people entitled to aid who were not receiving it, while, at the same time, the money was going elsewhere. She became convinced that there was no need to ask Congress for more money, just for safeguards designed to ensure that the annual pay-out of over ten billion dollars was reaching the right people. Many of those who needed help just simply couldn’t read or write and so never returned to the government office once they had been presented with long forms to complete. Their names became an easy source of income for even a small-time crook. When Florentyna presented her report to the President ten months later, he sent a series of new safeguards to Congress for its immediate consideration. He also announced that he would be drawing up a Welfare Reform Program before the election. The press was fascinated by the way Florentyna had got the President’s name and address onto the unemployment computer; from MacNelly to Peters, the cartoonists had a field day, while the FBI made a series of welfare fraud arrests right across the country.