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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Nov. 16, 1994)
Majority might not be enough for GOP Amid the euphoria of thoir dramatic takeover in last week's election, Republicans in Congress — particular ly those in the House of Representatives — are making dramatic promises to the nation. The question is, will they be able to deliver ? Rep. Newt Gingrich of Georgia, the inside favorite for Speaker of the House, has led the COP in making those promises as one of the principal architects of the so* called "Contract with America " The contract, signed by more than 300 House candidates before the election last week pledges those < andidates to support « variety of causes now that they are in Congress. Among these promises are a balanced budget amendment, tax cuts, welfare reform, a tougher < rime hill and a debate on term limits But thu newest promise is not about what the new Republican majority will do. now that it is in place. It's about when it will do it. Both Gingrich and Rep Richard Armey of Texas, the new majority loader, have said they will push for a vote on the contract's provisions within 100 days of taking control of the House, even if it means working as long as 20 hours a day. seven days a woek. it is highly doubtful Republican leaders will make good on the 20-hours-a-day promise — lot's hope they can got more sloop then that — but the message is nonetheless i lear They will waste no time pursuing their agenda. In their enthusiasm, they seem to have forgotten a les son that they, very reeently, were adept at teaching. That a minority in Congress t an still be a powerful adversary. During the Democrats' reign in Congress — 40 years long in the House of Representatives — Republicans were often very effective in derailing the Democratic agenda During the first half of the Clinton administra tion. Republicans, aided by occasional divisiveness within the Democratic Party, were instrumental in defeating a number of Democratic proposals, including Clinton’s flagship, health < are reform. No one should argue with the Republicans' desire to set ambitious goals, even if the goals themselves may not seem entirely palatable Bui the GOP is setting itself up for a major league fall if it thinks its slim majority, no matter how emphatically obtained, will bo enough to push its agenda through Congress, or past President Clinton's veto power, espec tally considering that the GOP's majority is slimmer than any majority enjoyed by the Democrats in rocent years. By bringing about this change In leadership, the vot ers have sent a mandate of sorts to Capitol Hill. But the Democrats who survived last week's electoral assault, as well as the handful who were newly elected, cannot be expected to abide by that mandate. Perhaps the Republicans should listen to the advice of retiring Rep. Bob Michel, who is leaving the House after 38 years: "Boy, 1 hope you guys aren't over-promising what you can't deliver." If the new Republicans don't do all they say they will, they may find themselves in a tough situation. After all, the next elec tion is only two years away. 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Dayton Yat Ntwoom lk» omc* >46-5511 546-SSI 2 Ditptay AffwIJWog )»)m ClHtlllM A d»«K tiling **-043 f 1W1 ■ LETTERS Why, Womack This letter addresses Brian VVornai k's column in the Nov 11 I mere id explaining why t he tiQP picked up so many House and Senate seats in the last elec tion His main explanation We (Americans) love Republicans We love Republic aits We love Republicans I have another explanation We live in denial We iive m denial We live in denial The Republic an?. have promised hr a balanced budget, increased defense spending and more fas cuts (for the rich of course). Hello Wore these not the same inane policies emu led dur ing the Reagan and Hush years? The same polii ies that brought us a S t trillion deficit? And for the love of God. why would wo want to increase defense spending Brian? Is it so we can keep more dictators like Noriega and Saddam Hussein in chi* k that our own QA and mil itary created, nurtured and finani ed before we invaded them? Maybe it is the nostalgia of defense spending st atus like the $0,000 pliers. S'),000 Allen wrenches. $<>00 toilet seats, or the $J billion |>er plane B-t Bomber that doesn't men work I remem ber the giKxl old days, too Anyway, the next few years should he interesting now that the Republicans have to produce concrete policies to stay eiet ted instead of just obstructing, fili bustering and blathering idiotic (atch phrases like "get big gov ernment off our tracks ” Gerry Rem pel Eugene EWEB freebies One of th** Ironies of life is that those who benefit most from the sacrifices of others ant those who appreciate them the least Thus I was not surprised to learn that, unlike every other public entity in the community. EWEB does not honor veterans on Veteran's Day. In the world of EWEB such people are not considered polit ically correct. However, that does not mean that EWEB employees have sacrificed an opportunity to obtain a day off w ith pay at pub lic expense. The utility has sim ply decided that it would be more appropriate under the KWEB ruligion if its employees were paid instead to stay home the day after Thanksgiving While KWEB is a political sub division of the City of Eugene, its management's primary concern is entitling itself to the l«*st that the private and puhlii se< tors have to offer Thus. EWKB employees get both relatively higher private set tor pay and more generous public sector l*n efits concurrent with exemptions from both the stress of private sector corporate downsizing and the strains of public: sector rev enue limitations i fnder its current management, EWEB has evolved into what is essentially a sheltered workshop for the economically over-privi leged And. while it is debatable as to whether EWKH’s Veteran's Day policy is representative of a management that is extremely arrogant, extremely naive, or just plain dumb, it is evidence that this private party at public expense has gone on long enough It is time that we rate payers/owners took the punch bowl away Nicholas J. Urhausen Eugene Party is off To iht< over 350 pledges of the greek system who were invited to the 16-way pledge party at the Fiji house on Wednesday. Nov. lt> We regret to inform you that it has been < ante led Apparently a few overzealous members of the Fiji pledge t luss dt* ided to invite, and keep invit ing, pledges from almost every fraternity and sorority on cam pus Most of the the inviting was done behind our becks and the membership had no idea of how big the party was getting Having a party of this magni tude would put our chapter at great risk, a risk we do not wish to take Had the party taken plai.iv we would have broken the University's Student Conduct Code and the Interfraternity Council's risk management pol icy as well as the law Wo realize the extensive effort put forth by some of you and wo re sorry about canceling on such short notice. We would have canceled earlier had we known what was truly going on. if you're that upset about it. feel free to ask the members of your chapter if they would con sider having a pledge party of this size at their house. I can guaran tee their answers would all he quite simply "no." Tim Thoren Phi Gamma Delta Paid petition On June :t(), 1994, Wal-Mart obtain ml an injunction through the courts to prevent me from circulating petitions in front of their store. Circulating peti tions has been protected by the U S Supreme Court many times ns freedom of speech, as petitions and civil war have historically been the peoples' only course of action when the government ceases to represent the people One of the petitions 1 was cir- 4 dilating failed to make it on the ballot. I believe 1 can prove that it would have qualified had 1 been permitted to circulate it at the store during the time of the injunction. My attorney filed a counter suit for $8,000 in financial damages, $50,000 in damages to my busi ness reputation and 5500.000 in punitive damages (which is to discourage the same action on others not informed of their rights) My attorney agreed to help start a ( lass action lawsuit to rep resent thi> voters of Oregon, for each to receive $2,500 in dam ages for their losses since they could not vote on the petition that didn't make the ballot. Since contact with Wal-Mart s attorneys, my lawyer has been refusing to take action on the class action suits, and has been tr \ mg to fort* me to settle out of court cheap As far as I know, he hasn't even mentioned the class action suit to Wal-Mart Some times I wonder whose side he's on! I believe he thinks 1 cannot afford his fees (which at present I cannot | and has used this to dis courage me. With a little financial help, a motivated attorney and a lot of concerned citizens. We the Peo ple can protect our civil rights Anyone interested in participat ing please contact me. Eric Ormsby PO Box 213&5 Keizer, OR. 97303
