Record voter turnout
will stop OCA agenda
The Oregon Citizens Alliance Is an ullra-conservatlve
Christian Right organization implementing a "political
moral" strategy that could change the terms of political
debate in Oregon. While the group is best known for its stri
dent opposition to reproductive choice and civil rights pro
tections for lesbians and gays, the CX:A agenda extends to
most social and political issues.
Although the OCA’s current focus of activity Is local, Its
opinions on global issues are equally important to the organi
zation. What many Oregonians do not remember is that in
the mid-1980s, when the citizens demanded that Oregon di
vest from South Afrtca, the Oregon Alliance (the CX'A's
nowspapor) boldly announced that Nelson Mandela "is strik
ing foar in the hearts of whites with his fiery one-man, one
vote, Marxist rhetoric."
Since when has one-person, one-vote become a dangerous
demand? Dangerous for whom? The (X)A's continued inter
est in international affairs is among the reasons the (X:A has
strengthened its ties with Put Robertson's Christian Coalition.
in 1989. roiiowing non
orison's campaign for tho
Republican presidential
nomination, Kobortson,
who was not touched by
sox scandals during tho
1980s, used his Christian
Broadcasting Network to
draw Christian Rights ac
livlsts together under the umbrella organization called 1 he
C'hrislian Coalition This coalition flaunts that It has enrolled
more than 175.000 members and organized in 45 stales At
the present there are at least 20 states that have chapters in
every county.
In Oregon, the (XIA has beeomo the Oregon Chapter of the
Christian Coalition. The OCA's executive director. Lon
Mahon, has been named the Oregon chapter head The Chris
tian Coalition is able to provide Christian Rights activists and
leaders with technical and political advice on how l*<st to
push their political ideology into society's mainstream
One strategy is to encourage only certain segments of |><>
tential voters who would back the ideology of the sec ular and
Christian Right to turn out on Election Day. This voting drive
operates on the belief that because only small percentages of
Americans vote, it only takes a small percentage of voters to
determine the outcome of any electoral decision One Chris
tian Right leader explained it this way at a 1UU2 Christian Co
alition conference: "We don't have to worry about convinc
ing the majority of Americans to agree with us Most of them
are staying home and watching Falcon Crest They're not in
volved, they're not voting, so who cares?"
Nov. 3 is election day. and as the: OCA strives to shore up
its support huso. Oregonians must turn out in record numbers
to state clearly and without doubt their opinion on organized
bigotry in Oregon under the guise of Ballot Measure d If not.
who will bo next to lako their plac e alongside gays, lesbians,
feminists and welfare-rights advocates in the: (XIA pantheon
of demons?_
Eric Ward writes a monthly column for the Emerald.
Politicians should lead ... or leave
By Peter Schwartz
A national campaign, 'l-nad
... or Leave," ha* chal
lenged 1992 Congrossion
al and Presidential candidates
to pledge to cut tho annual
budget deficit In half by 1990,
or not .seek ro-oloctlon when
their terms expire.
Dy having Congressional can
didates sign tho pledge to cut
the deficit, "Lead ... or Leave"
hopes to form a substantial vot
ing block committed to creating
arul effectively supporting defi
cit control legislation.
The deficit, dismissed In the
19A0* us a consequence of
growth, has becomo the focus
of an effort to reinforce political
accountability
At a time when few in Wash
ington want to accept responsi
bility for years of unchecked
spending, preparation for the
problems of tomorrow de
mands the economic flexibility
of a controlled deficit.
So far, about 70 Congression
al candidates and Presidential
candidate Koss Perot have
signed the pledge to cut the
deficit. Locally, neither Bob
Puckwood nor Les AuCotn
have aimed
On the K.AVL radio show,
"Town Meeting," 1 had an op
portunity to ask AuCoin a ques
tion about signing pledges to
cut the deficit Ho had tills
comment.
"Lot me just put it tills way I
sign no pledges to any group "
I called Packwood's schedul
ing director, Liable Franklin, to
sib u|i an interview with the
senator. In recent attempts to
contact her, she bus no! re
turned my calls
Ol the H2 Congressional can
didates who have signed the
pledge, "Lead or Leave" pre
dicts 25 candidates are likely to
win seats
Although a small group, the
pledge-signers must produce a
deficit reduction plan that is at
tractive to the rest of Congress
The political careers of the
pledge-signers hinge on pre
senting the uncontrolled deficit
as a significant, solvable prob
lem
Kedrin# Senator Warren Kud
man, R-N H., said cutting the
deficit "is an eminently doable
proposition The plans exist to
do it today. The political will
doesn't."
If political will is the main
problem, remember that ideally
our elected officials are paid to
run the national government —
not serve their parties Putting
this in perspective, how long
would It he before you wore
fired from a hurtending job If
you sold boor only to your per
sonal friends?
If Congrosspoople arn only
expected to cater to tholr con
stituencies und parties, who is
held accountable for the eco
nomic well being of the United
States?
Maintaining the collective
health of the United Status Is a
responsibility of Congress
With a commitment in Con
gress to cut the deficit, the goul
of a 50-percent reduction is re
alistic.
both the Congressional Budg
et Office and the General Ac
counting Office of the United
States said a 50-portent reduc
tion over four years is econom
ically sound.
Cutting the deficit in half is a
goal all three presidential can
didates havt! outlined in their
platforms
In his bid for the presidency,
Perot's focus is cutting the defi
cit Ho has signed the ‘‘Lead
or Leave” pledge. Neither Bush
nor Clinton have signed
Whv has Perot devoted a
presidential campaign solely to
the deficit-reduction Issue? The
question of deficit control
needs to be addressed today. If
this issue is not confronted, it
will force itself on millions of
young Americans In the next
few years
Today, the annual budget
deficit is uboul $350 billion a
year in the time it took to read
the lust sentence, the deficit in
creased $55,(KM)
The accumulated deficit
amounts to $4 trillion. S3 tril
lion of which lias accumulated
over thii lust 12 years. (S4 tril
lion is enough money lo attend
the University at Measure 5 tui
tion rates for 1.3 billion years )
Kvory year, American taxpay
ers make $200 billion in Inter
est payments on the accumulat
ed deficit. Payments of this
magnitude limit the govern
ment's ability to turn around a
recession and spur the econo
my to grow.
Interest payments of $200
billion pay for the investments
of banks and bondholders. This
money does little for the major
ity of Americans As long as In
terest rates on government
bonds are high, they are a more
attractive Investment than pri
vate businesses For a large
number of Americans, a slump
in private Investment spells fi
nancial instability and possibly
unemployment
(’.rowing out of a recession
r(X|uires Investment in the pri
vate sector When the govern
ment is offering high returns on
Investment in bonds, private
business suffers For example,
if a shoe store promised you no
cents for every dollar you in
vest in their business, and the
government promised SI 10 for
your dollar, the shoe store is
left in the cold It conies to the
question of whether you would
rather have no cents or SI 10
Although this example is sim
plified. it is easy to see why
small businesses have trouble
making ends meet.
Young people today are pick
ing up the lat> lor yesterday's
excesses The lOHlk was a peri
od of economic growth IJnfor
Innately, this growth was not
controlled and did not prepare
for the future recessions A re
cession forces the government
to spend.
The future is worth planning.
T o in a k e sure we have
the resources lo deal with long
term problems, we need action
in Congress Demand that your
Congressman be a national
leader in planning your future.
Tell him to lead or leave
Peter Schwartz, is an unite
i larrd junior at the University.
GENTLEMAN'S
ENCORE
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E»piro* 12/20/V2
AN EVENING IN SOLIDARITY
with
CLAUDIA EVELYN GONZALEZ BELTRENENA
a student organizer from our sister university,
the National University of El Salvador
M* (kwi/alet »» a 21 year old h*«Ih»I tludrnl
who hat been involved in (hr following
(V|<muiiom
A(<Kl'S: A Of, US i* the official undent
government a< (he Urtiverttly ul l.l Salvador
flOMliS: formed in November IWI.
PftOMUS contnmit tttoet of miwi. wtual
KaiomrM and abute. and workt for women t
health and educational need*
ff.: TV Siudrnt Profeetmn hat involved
tiudrnu in tV overall pnJtiM at life of (he
n'trnu'y H- paitKipairv m national marthrv
• «gam/rt votunirei w«*fc brigade* and healih
care learnt •« lepopalated t nmmiMMfir*. and
struggle t for hrilef rdnt at ton and affordable
tuition on t antfHit
THURSDAY, OCT. 22
7:00pm
BEN LINDER ROOM, EMU
FREE
Sponsored by
Umv. of Oregon/Univ. of El Salvador
Sister University Project
THK FAR SIDE By GARY LARSON
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