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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Aug. 5, 1997)
▼ EDITORIAL EDITOR-IN-CHIEF: Sarah Ktckler MANAGING EDITORS: Ryan Frank & Carl Yeh NIGHT EDITOR: Sarah Kickler EDITORIAL EDITOR: Mike Schmierbach editorials, letters, commentary and perspective NEWSROOM: (541)346-5511 DISPLAY ADVERTISING: (541) 346-3712 BUSINESS OFFICE: (541) 346-5512 CLASSIFIED ADVERTISING: (541) 346-4343 Struggling to sell out America (Wwkfi'txm CHRIS HUTCHINSON/Emerald ■ uUR OPINION: The only budget battle actually fought this year was to see which party could do more to help corporations Isn’t imagery fun? Words like “battle,” “war,” “trenches” and “attacks” have dominated dis cussion of the latest round of federal budget negotiations, both in the press and in Con gress. Our brave legislators, along with President Clinton, have been fighting the good fight, stand ing up for what they believe in and finally coming up with a wonderful compromise. It sounds a little too good to be true. In this case, it isn’t, and that is the really scary thing. Clinton and the vast majority of Congress, espe cially GOP leaders, have indeed been fighting the good fight — in their little world. This is the prob lem. Despite all the war imagery, Clinton and Re publican leaders are pretty much in agreement about where this country should be going. Unfor tunately, they all have us heading in the wrong di rection. The Congressional budget battle has been more of a Congressional budget back massage, with Clinton rubbing a few of the right spots on the Re publican agenda and GOP members returning the favor. Clinton got what he wanted — a tax break for college tuition — and Congress got their capi tal gains tax cut. Political treats for which both groups can claim credit. Both groups strove to achieve essentially the same thing: a balanced budget that helped busi ness leaders, increased military spending, ignored the needs of the poor and provided inadequate funding for needed social services. And they got it. A lot has been written about Clinton’s shift to the right and the abandonment of liberal values by most Democrats. This is certainly a concern, and it is certainly true. Equally notable, Republi cans seem to have abandoned both their staunch social conservativism and libertarian economic stances in favor of a corporate welfare approach to politics. What the great budget battle really came down to was a race by both parties to see who could lick corporate America’s boots the cleanest. Capital gains cuts benefit only those who have money to invest in the first place. Tuition credits are only useful to those who have the social and financial security to send their children to college in the first place. And very few people in America will inherit estates worth between $600,000 and $1 million, now exempt from taxes. Rhetoric about budget battles and hard-fought negotiations only served to mask the reality of the sellout taking place in Washington. Corporations paid heavily to have a share of the political process during the 1996 elections, and now they are reaping the rewards. Military spending is up at a time when the Pen tagon has enough spare time to concoct impossi ble scenarios involving fighting two separate wars at once. Spending on science, infrastructure, envi ronmental protection and welfare is being cut or left at inadequate levels. Why? Because military spending represents the single greatest source of corporate welfare in exis tence. Defense contractors regularly cheat the gov ernment out of millions, make billions more man ufacturing weapons and then make still more billions with overseas sales of weapons designed with U.S. money. The consistent pattern of spending and tax cuts established by both sides of the budget deal indi cates who the real adversaries in this battle.are: corporations and the American people. Corporations, with deeper pockets and more political savvy, clearly won this unspoken battle. While Clinton, Congress and the press were busy making a wrestling match out of an orgy, corpo rate America was quietly beating the people into submission. Until ideas that might truly benefit the average citizen are brought to the table, the budget making process will continue to be little more than a “thank you” feast held by the government to hon or their corporate sponsors. This editorial represents the opinion of the Emer ald editorial board. Responses may be sent to ode@oregon. uoregon. edu. LETTERS Abuse can be prevented During the Lane County Domestic Violence Council’s last meeting, members discussed ways of prevent ing the tragic death of Tessalyn O’Cull. When a child dies, the whole community mourns, especially if the death is due to senseless violence. The question everyone asks now is “Could this death have been prevent ed?” Sadly, the answer is yes. Research shows that in most cases of domestic violence, child abuse is also occurring. The Domestic Vio lence Council believes that earlier re porting and more thorough investiga tions could prevent tragedies like Tessalyn’s murder. There was evidence that Stella Ann Kiser, Tessalyn’s mother, had been a victim of abuse by Compton. On May 30 the police responded to a call from Kiser’s brother that he sus pected abuse of his sister due to sev eral bruises and hair pulled out. The police found no evidence of abuse. Within a week, Tessalyn was dead. A restraining order taken out by Comp ton’s previous girlfriend is further ev idence of his violence. It said that Compton threw heavy objects at the girlfriend while she was holding her child and spanked the child when he was upset with the mother. We must find a way to put these seemingly disconnected pieces of evidence to gether to form a picture of a child’s level of danger. Domestic violence is a crime which hurts the woman, her chil dren, and all members of the commu nity. The Domestic Violence Council encourages members of the commu nity to report suspected domestic vi olence to the police or to call Wom enspace’s crisis line (485-6513) for more information. That one call could save the life of the next child. Evelyn Anderson Womenspace Executive Director on behalf of the 40 members of the Lane County Domestic Violence Council Ill IMS To Governor Kitzhaber: The governor took a strong stand in favor of assisted suicide j legislation. Not only is it ad mirable to see a politician taking a j stance on a con troversial political i issue, but it’s also I nice to see Kitzhaber rejecting j the Legislative trend of sending such issues back j to the voters. We know what we voted on, and if we didn’t, we aren't going to learn. To the Rocky Mountain Colle gian: Despite a flash flood in Fort Collins, the Col orado State Uni versity paper still managed to put out a four-page is sue mere days af- j ter the flood. The paper’s entire fa cilities were de stroyed in the rushing waters, and the staff is now publishing out of a trailer. To Hyundai: Even though the agreement be tween Lane County j and Eugene to only j charge the compa- j ny $19 million de- j mands far too little l of Hyundai, the company is still suing to avoid pay- j ing. To the cigarette girls at “The Big Stink”: Not only did the 94.7 concert in Es tacada feature too j much heat and too few songs by the rare good band, but it also blatantly ) exploited several women. Dressed in bizarre, shiny, short skirts and tiny, tight dresses, j these poor wage slaves were busy pitching cigarettes at a concert domi- j nated by high school students.
