The Language of Argument

6 8

C H A P T E R 4 ■ T h e A r t o f C l o s e A n a l y s i s

Before we turn to the second half of Kyl’s argument, which we shall see

in a moment is much stronger, we should point out that our analysis has not

been entirely fair. Speaking before the House of Representatives, Kyl is in an

adversarial situation. He is not trying to prove things for all time; rather, he

is responding to a position held by others. Part of what he is doing is raising

objections, and a sensitive evaluation of the argument demands a detailed

understanding of the nuances of the debate. But even granting this, it should

be remembered that objections themselves must be made for good reasons.

The problem so far in Kyl’s argument is that the major reasons behind his

objections have constantly been guarded in a very strong way.

Turning now to the second part of Kyl’s argument—that the measure is

untimely—we see that he moves along in a clear and direct way with little

guarding.

This measure proposes to increase the allowance from

$17,500 base clerical allowance to $20,500 base salary allow-

ance. No member of this House can tell us what this means

in gross salary. That computation is almost impossible. Such

a completely absurd system has developed through the

years on salary computations for clerical hire that we have

under discussion a mathematical monstrosity. We are usu-

ally told that the gross allowed is approximately $35,000.

This is inaccurate. In one office the total might be less than

$35,000 and in another, in complete compliance with the

law and without any conscious padding, the amount may

be in excess of $42,000. This is possible because of a weird

set of formulae which determines that three clerks at $5,000

cost less than five clerks at $3,000. Five times three might

total the same as three times five everywhere else in the

world—but not in figuring clerk hire in the House. This is

an application of an absurdity. It is a violation of bookkeep-

ing principles, accounting principles, business principles

and a violation of common sense. Listen to the formula.

The main point of the argument is clear enough: Kyl is saying that the

present system of clerk salary allowance is utterly confusing, and this mat-

ter should be straightened out before any other measures in this area are

adopted. There is a great deal of negative evaluation in this passage. Notice

the words and phrases that Kyl uses:

a completely absurd system

weird set of formulae

violation of common sense

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