opinion_
Taxes and ‘bail-out’:
ways to save state
The financial "bail-out" of a bankrupt New York City
some years ago by Pres Gerald Ford established a federal
precedent Gov. Vic Atiyeh ought to seriously address for the
economy of Oregon The state was on the rocks before, but
this latest revenue shortfall makes sages of the pessimists
who said it would get worse before it gets better Oregon
faces a potential 1981-83 deficit of nearly $250
million—which may inflict the terminal blow to an already
crippled economy. That terminal blow will come January 11
when the Oregon Legislature meets in special session
Atiyeh has told state agencies to prepare their share of a total
20 percent budget cut for the session.
Students in the state of Oregon will again be dealt a
losing hand of cancelled curriculum and increased educa
tional costs Chancellor Ray Lieuallen has strongly recom
mended a $20 tuition surcharge effective winter term The
University’s share of the cuts would be nearly $11.6
million—and it's impossible to conceive of anything other
than elimination of significant programs and entire schools
meeting that cut
If you'll recall. New York City appealed to the federal
government when banks were barking more like wolves than
lenders on the city hall steps. At first federal assistance was
denied This prompted the New York Daily News' memorable
headline Ford to NY: Drop Dead. Though eventually a loan
was approved and New York City survived
Atiyeh has already been telling the federal government
the state s timber industry is in need of disaster relief Atiyeh
might remind the government of its aid to New York City and
that Oregon is in much the same predicament
Oregon shouldn't have to appeal to the federal govern
ment for aid—but it has been so limited in revenues and
resources and so short-sighted through this recessionary
period that it must seek aid or go belly-up
There is stili an opportunity, if not to turn around the
Oregon economy, at least to maintain it at present levels
Much of the problem lies in Atiyeh's acting as a politician
rather than a far-sighted leader of the state Bold resolutions
have to be made now—even though many would be con
sidered political suicide But any leader who plays politician
instead of leader doesn’t deserve to hold office
Income taxes account for 85 percent of the state s
general fund budget Atiyeh has said over and over again he
does not intend to increase taxes With this attitude Atiyeh
assuages those that would vote him out if he did increase
taxes—but he is being a politician keeping his job as gover
nor instead of facing the harsh reality that taxes must be
increased Oregonians are not naive, they will in the long run
understand a tax increase is for the future survival of the
state And there is no law stating a tax increase is not
irrevocable
The property tax relief program should be halved, if not
suspended That program was born in prosperous
times—which we are no longer in It's politically motived to
maintain the program despite its injury to the state budget As
with a tax increase, there is no reason to assume the property
tax relief program cannot be returned when the economy of
the state and the nation improves At present that property
tax money is in a useless cycle, generating little if any
revenue for the state
Oregon is one of a number of states that does not
charge a sales tax—perhaps it is time to institute a sales tax of
minimal percentage to increase the state's revenue poten
tial Again, this is political suicide for Atiyeh but the people of
Oregon might also view this as a step toward strengthening
the dismal Oregon economy
The base problem with the Oregon economy is its past
and present dependency on timber as its primary asset or
liability Presently, the timber industry is depressed beyond
anyone's expectations. Oregon is not unlike Indiana's eco
nomic dependency on the steel industry, and Michigan's
economic dependency on the auto industry—as goes steel
and autos—so goes the economies of Indiana and Michigan
Timber just may be this state's downfall
A financial “bail-out” of Oregon by the federal govern
ment is no doubt the last thing a Republican governor and
Republican government in Washington would look kindly
upon But, until Reaganomics realize the "turnaround” at the
end of the tunnel, the “bail-out” option should be viewed as a
viable recourse for this state’s survival
State revenues must be increased, and the common
sense alternative is to raise taxes and eliminate the property
tax relief program This state, by cutting and cutting from
within, is dying a death of a thousand cuts
(jlWAEI&i
Oil)'TIME
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sally hodgkinson
editor’s note
The small wooden building does not look
like a domino
The store front windows are painted a
bright yellow that accents the black letters
Adult World II Movies 25c A small fluores
cent green sign beckons passersby on
Springfield's Mam Street to browse through
a variety of pornographic material
Opponents of the pornography shop want
it closed To keep it open, they argue, starts a
string of falling dominoes that ends at Moral
Decay But to close it, proponents argue, tips
off another domino chain that ends at Re
strictive Speech.
So the battle lines are drawn in the tug-of
war over Adult World II An emotional hear
ing is expected by the Springfield Planning
Commission when it meets Wednesday
Local ministers, politicians and downtown
businessmen are circulating petitions that
urge the commissioners to deny the store the
conditional use permit it needs to stay open
Under Springfield's conditional use permit
guidelines, a business must not be “det
rimental to the health, safety, peace, morals,
comfort, and general welfare of the city.’’
No one seems to quibble over whether the
materials the store sells are pornography
To hell with it, it's pornography,’’ said
owner Mitch Hutchinson in an Emerald in
terview earlier this year The problem with
pornography is what to do with it
To squelch the store infringes on First
Amendment rights, say proponents It's prior
restraint It blocks freedom of choice The
First Amendment wasn't written to protect
pornography, say opponents The store en
courages deviant sexual behavior It's a
shameful reflection of our morals
The Supreme Court, in a 1973 decision,
decided pornography wasn't covered by the
First Amendment if contemporary communi
ty standards find the material offensive and if
"the work, taken as a whole lacks serious
literary, artistic, political or scientific value "
It looks like the good citizens of Spring
field don't want the Adult World II in their
town Using the Supreme Court guidelines
of community standards and value criteria
the residents of Springfield could probably
justify kicking the store out of town
But how they do that is the issue before the
planning commission Denying the store a
permit under zoning laws is a sneaky way to
promote morality Zoning is a power that
shouldn't be abused by banning uncom
plimentary businesses Springfield residents
could go the legal route and prosecute the
shop under a 1973 Oregon statute that bans
the dissemination of obscene material But
the law isn't used often because community
standards and value criteria are hard—and
costly—to prove
So in the end, the good citizens of
Springfield are stuck Zoning the store out of
existence is abusive taking the store to court
is ineffective
And the planning commission, when it
faces the roomful of angry citizens, is going
to have a hard time tiptoeing around the
falling dominoes
Nazi rights
I think there are some princi
ples being blindly extended for
the advocacy for Nazi rights
which disregard more basic
democratic beliefs Traditionally
our country respects the rights
of all political groups within our
society to sound off as they will
However, groups that en
courage violence and hatred
are outside the spirit of the
democratic process They are
not usually substantiated by be
ing given a public platform The
Nazis threaten some of the cit
izens of our society - those of
us of certain political persua
sions and mostly Jewish
I think we have to ask "Is this
group only very conservative or
is it more like the violent KKK?"
Do we choose to recognize
terrorism?
Fortunately, the Nazi's are
not a powerful group today, but I
feel the ACLU has made a very
dangerous precedent for any
group of a similar nature
The philosophy and inten
tions of the National Socialists
(Nazis) which originated in this
century and incited genocide
and massive conflagration
throughout much of the world is
very distant to us Nonetheless
the American Nazis are guilty by
association with the National
Socialists One has to suspect
their intentions; otherwise, they
would hardly choose the name
Nazi I think it is quite appro
priate to ascertain if the inten
tions of a group are in the inter
est of the members of this
society9 Is it peaceful9
In Skokie, Illinois, the violent
feelings of survivors is hardly
surprising I think it is important
to note that the violence they
feel is derived from the Nazism
perpetrated on them
To you who wrote “rights for
Nazis, too9" or you who agree
with Ron Hunt's reasoning Are
you so naive to believe that an
American Nazi spokesman
wished to speak in a Jewish
neighborhood to recruit
membership?
Martin Blackman