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.
Oregon Doily
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■ 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