EDITORIAL
Balanced budget
amendment wrong
Most everyone knows that, for some time, the federal
government has racked up n sizable deficit by spending
millions of dollars it doesn't have.
Congress wants to solve the problem by passing a bal
anced budget amendment to trie Constitution Howev
er, the amendment is a short sighted idea that will have
massive and unnecessary implh at ions for the country.
Everyone would agree it ss necessary to reduce the
deficit It isn’t right that the federal government is liv
ing beyond its means year after year for several decades.
But a balanced budget amendment goes too far By legal
ly ~ constitutionally —
requiring the government
to balance its budget, tho
hands of the government
will effm lively U* finan
cially tied If this hap
pens, how will America
ever las able to afford cost
ly programs like Medicare
arid Social Security, or be
able to cope with <>mor
goneies such as natural
disasters?
//
Americans should
lake the pressure
off of Congress to /w s s
a IhuJ hill and lei them
look for the right
answers, not the easy
ones.
Although huge deficits are outrageous, a balanced
budget amendment Is equally unacceptable. Supporters
are depicting the deficit as an urgent problem that will
destroy the country if it is not dealt with in the next few
months. However, no one is imminently trying to fore
close on the United States, so what's the hurry ;'
A better approach to reconciling the nation's books
would be to take a more gradual approach. There is no
need to go from large deficits to a balanced budget in a
year or two. If the transition was spread over many years,
il would bo more palatable and acceptable to the econo
my and would give Congress the necessary time to piece
together solutions for funding programs that might oth
erwise be cut in a knee-jerk slashing of budgets with the
balanced budget amendment.
it looks likely thal Congress will pass the balanced
budget amendment at any cost because it is a political
ly popular idea. Constituents and members of Congress
alike, looking for answers to the problem of a ballooning
deficit, favor the idea of a seemingly quick and simple
answer to a perplexing problem. On the other hand,
members of Congress who don't support the amendment
feel they will be in trouble back homo for their opposi
tion, and might support the idea despite their convic
tions. Americans should take the pressure off of Con
gress to pass a bad bill and let them look for the right
answers, not the easy ones.
The federal government must take stops to ensure that
no more money is spent than is taken in. The way to do
this is through logical, gradual cuts in spending. This
process will not be easy or quick, nor will it give the dra
matic effect of an instantaneously balanced budget
1 lowevor, it will give Congress the flexibility it needs to
solve the budget problem the balanced budget amend
ment will not.
Oregon Daily
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■ COMMENTARY
Clinic violence committed by radicals
Fr Jose Pimentel
Ft Fred Luca
Bro Jordan Vajda
The Jan. 23 editorial in the
Oregon Daily Emerald
announced that the ques
tion on legalized atxcruon in the
United States has already Iceen
decided. l or the editors it was
no longer worthy of discussion
Rather, violence at abortion clin
ic s is the only remaining issue
Yet such dismissals of the anti
abortion position as irrelevant
are in fac t the true cause of the
clinic violence the editorial
deplores
Americans consistently fail to
understand the roots of terrorist
acts such as the murder of abor
tionists Refusing to understand
the causes of terrorism, we
dehumanize the terrorist and
fail to ac knowledge that we our
selves ore implicated in the ter
rorist act. Terrorism is not a First
resort In the case of abortion
this should he obvious Anti
abortion sentiment and [cohticat
action Icegan well before Roe \ ■,
Wade when several states legal
ized abortion in the early 107l)'s
Two decades passed Ice fore Dr
Gunn was shot In spite of the
Iceating and jailing of anti abor
tion protesters, their protests
remained peaceful for nearly
twenty years
Why has violence now
appeared? Violent protest has
appeared for the same reason it
always appears a growing per
ception by a radicalized group
of dissenters that their legitimate
voice has been silenced and that
peaceful change is impossible
because of its adversaries'
monopoly on power. In the tase
of anti-abortion protest, this
dynamic should be obvious to
the impartial observer When
the Supreme Court ruled on
Wade and effectively legalized
abortion on demand up to the
day of birth, this decision was
opposed by the vast majority of
Americans
Statistics have remained con
slant for two drtcades about
one-fourth of Americans sup
port abortion on demand at any
point in pregnancy; about one
fourth reject abortion under
nearly all circumstances; over
half would allow abortion only
under certain circumstances,
especially for danger to the life
of the mother or during the first
months of pregnancy.
a
Clinic violence, like
terrorism general
ly. is the product of a
sense of powerlessness
and exclusion
- ww
r r
Yet, of the more than one mil
lion abortions performed in the
United States each year, less
than one in a hundred is per
formed to save the mother's life.
When the actual effect of Roe is
spelled out to those being
polled, they reject it by a large
margin
The Pro-Abortion Movement
has much to fear from people
hearing such statistics about Roe
and currant practice. Those who
oppose abortion also know these
figures very well. They also
know that prestige media
ignores them, and the courts and
Congress have proved unwilling
or unable to modify the current
practice of abortion on demand.
I hey also know their support of
“pro-life"candidates — e g Rea
gan, Bush and countless mem
bers of Congress — has been
rewarded with no reform legis
lation at all and by judicial
appointments unsympathetic to
changing Roe.
They also correctly sense that
the informat ion managers of our
society are hostile to the anti
abortion message. This hostility
is symbolized hy the media's
near universal use of the Pro
Abortion Movement's jargon of
“pro-choice" and "anti-abortion
rights" and by the regular pre
sentation of opposition to abor
tion as the "ideology" of the
"celibate Catholic clergy" or of
yahoo fundamentalists.
The violence at the clinics did
not come from labeling abortion
murder: the anti-abortion move
ment made that connection for
more than 20 years without an)
violence. Clinic violence, like
terrorism generally, is the prod
uct of a sense of powerlessness
and exclusion The linking of
clinic violence to the labeling of
abortion as murder is plainly
another attempt to silence the
voice of anti-abortion dissent
Some would even suggest laws
to forbid those who oppose
abortion from speaking their
convictions publicly “bet ause it
will incite violence.”
That such attempts at repres
sion are reported without i ri
tique by journalists implicates
them in a subtle by pervasive
silencing of the real voices of
those who oppose abortion. The
Pro-Abortion attempt to forbid
dissent will only prove to others
who oppose abortion that they
are being silenced and that
peaceful means of dissent have
become futile.
Unless this is recognized, the
future bloodshed at abortion
clinics will be on the hands of
the Pro-Abortion Movement,
whose tactics of exclusion have
created the very terrorism it now
hypocritically denounces.
Fr lost- Pimentel, Fr Fred Imcci,
and Bro Iordan Vajda. are
ordained priests with the Sew
man Center
■ CORRECTION
I he ( tregon Daily Emerald regrets etc. The Oregon Daily
t.merald regrets etc 1 he Oregon Daily Emerald regrets etc
! he Oregon Daily t.merald regrets etc. Etc.