à—SANDY (O rt.) POST Thur»., Jan W, ,«•) (Sec 1)
The Sandy Post
Editorial & Opinion
Von Bratchlor, Publisher
Carolin« Duft Office Manager
Mark Floyd. Editor
Dan Dillon. New» Editor
Reapportionment could help here
The state legislature must deal
with m uch-needed reap p o r
tionm ent
this
session
in
advance of the 1982 election cycle,
and changes almost certainly will
benefit Sandy and Hoodland.
In fact, Sandy, Hoodland,
Boring, E stacad a and east
Multnomah Co. might constitute a
new house district. At least that’s
how local sta te Rep Wayne
Faubush sees it. He's quick to add,
however, that he’s grown used to
his present district and would hate
to lose local constituents.
Moreover, if the Republican do
the redistricting, this Dist. 56
Democrat might lose Sandy in
favor of boundaries farther east
where his reelection would be
jeapardized
Local state Sen. Ken Jernstedt,
R-Hood River, also fears loss of the
Sandy area with reapportionment.
He figures the four primarily
eastern senate districts could be
rebordered to represent strictly
the eastern half of the state. Such
has been the growth in parts of
e aste rn
Oregon.
Je rn ste d t
currently represents Hood River,
G illiam , Jefferson, Morrow.
Sherman, Wasco and portions of
C lackam as, Linn and Marion
Counties
Since his Dist. 28 has seen less
growth than Districts 27, 29 and 30,
however, a more likely eastern
reapportionment might carve a
new senate seat out of Deschutes
and Crook Counties.
“ I ’m com fortable with my
district as it is,” Jernstedt said ‘‘I
hope they don’t mess with it too
much. My district has not grown
enough to where I would expect
any shifts.”
Clackamas County's population
is up 43.9 percent from the 1970
Census, however, and that’s higher
than all counties except Josephine
(57.7 percent I, Washington (55.5
percent) and Deschutes (103.5
p ercen t.) Statew ide, population
av erag ed only 25.14 percent
increase with the 1980 Census.
Portland and Multnomah Co.
figure to be the big losers in
reapportionment, due to relative
declines in population. Multnomah
Co. increased less than 1 percent
since 1970, while the Rose City
actually declined4 percent.
Consequently, P o rtlan d could
lose as many as four house seats
and possibly two senate seats,
while
C lackam as
County,
Hermiston and Bend could gain
seats. One house d istric t in
P o rtlan d contains only 10,000
constituents, while the average
state
constituency
for
representatives is 40.000-45,000.
T here
a re
snags
to
reapportionment, of course. First,
census tracks will not be available
until as late as April. The state
may sue to get them. Then political
battles over clout gained or lost
with redistricting could render the
state leg islatu re incapable of
agreement. So insiders like Sen.
Jernstedt warn that Sec. of State
Norma Paulus may have to step in
and handle the job this year
One thing in favor of Sandy and
Hoodland come reapportionment
tim e:
A 1979 independent
leg islativ e com m ittee reco m
m ended
new
d istric ts
of
equal population and contigious
boundaries.
It
favored
geographically compact districts
formed by natural geographic
barriers.
Mount Hood provides such a
natural boundary
It’s not the local Sen. Jernstedt
and local Rep. Fawbush have done
less than ad m irab le jobs of
attempting to represent this area.
Both Hood River men represent
sprawling districts, however, and
we think the time has come when
Sandy and Hoodland deserve more
localized attention. (VB)
New magazine offers week’s TV
There’s something new in your
Post this week
We’ve redesigned our television
d irecto ry . The directo ry now
comes in magazine size for easier
lift-out and retention
Also, The Post television
m agazine contains com plete
daytime and evening listings for all
12 channels unique to our area.
The local listings for the next
seven days are located in Section II
of this issue.
Please let us know how you like
it.
Salem scene:
Econ
ay squeezes legislature
by JACK Z IM M E R M A N
Associated Oregon Industries
Circumstances surrounding the beginning
of this year s biennial regular session
contrasted sharply with the scene in Salem
two years ago. As the 60th Assembly began
its deliberations, the weather outside the
capitol consisted of ice and snow 111 winds
were blowing inside the building, also, as
m ajority House Democrats spent that
session s first week just determining who
would serve as speaker.
Despite its stormy beginning however, the
1979 session turned absolutely balmy —
particularly as far as the state’s taxpayers
were concerned
No such forecast is being offered for the
future of this year's session In fact, just
about everybody
agrees there’s foul
weather ahead and things will get worse —
even for taxpayers — before they get better
The c irre n t session managed to organize
with relative dispatch, and as its first week
drew to a close nearly 500 pre-filed bills
were introduced and committee hearings
for the most part were underway. But while
the session is off to a comparatively smooth
start, the going is expected to get nothing
but rougher in the months ahead
Biggest reason for the gloomy outlook of
course, is a faltering economy, plagued by
rising unemployment, steadily advancing
inflation, shrinking federal assistance and
high interest rates
The Atiyeh budget does leave last
session s property tax relief program in
place But income earners — both personal
and corporate — will be able to more fully
comprehend that particular relief is being
fueled by larger portions of their paychecks
and profits
The taketh and giveth process lawmakers
are scrutinizing involves revenues and
expenditures during fiscal 1961-82 of $12.1
I
billion — up $1.6 billion from the last bien
nium
Divided into its three m ajor components,
the new budget calls for general fund ex
penditures of $3.2 billion That compares
with $3.1 billion budgeted last session but cut
to $2.9-plus billion during the special session
last August. Federal funds in the coming
two years are expected to be $1.4 billion, up
only slightly from the last biennium’s $1.3
billion
The biggest revenue producer again will
be the other funds portion of the budget —
projected to soar from $6.3 billion to $7.5
billion And while much of that fund consists
of revenue to operate expensive workers'
compensation and unemployment insurance
programs, other funds revenue also will
increase at the expense of those who buy
everything from liquor and cigarettes to
fishing licenses and tuition to state-operated
institutions of higher learning
M ajor revenue sources sought by the
Atiyeh budget are six in number Two are
aimed at income taxpayers and consist of a
two-year delay of indexing the $1,000 per
sonal exemption under personal income tax
and a reduction of the allowable deduction of
the state personal income tax for federal
income tax from $7,000 to $5,000 Those tax
increases are expected to produce ad
ditional revenue of $85 million and $41
million respectively.
Two other proposals seek more tax
revenue from business An increase in
premium taxes on foreign ( out-of-state)
insurance companies and creation of a new
premium tax on domestic insurers would
raise $32.8 million And a boost in the cor
porate income and excise tax from 7.5 to 8
percent would net $22 million
Smokers will pungle up an additiorwl$26 8
million if the cigarette tax rises from 9 cents
to 14 cents a pack and drinkers will provide
another $4.6 million when the markup on
booze jumps from $4 to 99 percent
The Innocent Bystander:
Mr. Reagan goes to Washington
Shooting is actually ahead of
schedule
on that
monumental
Hollywood epic, “ M r Reagan Goes
to Washington.”
As fans of the silver screen know,
the multi-billion-dollar movie will
tell the simple story of how a simple
man, Ronald Reagan (played by
Ronald Reagan ), comes to the
nation’s capital and saves the
country by vanquishing the cynical
politicians and wasteful bureaucrats
with just plain goodness
One of the most dram atic of the
early scenes, “The Battle of the
Budget,” is already in the can.
Producer Cedi B. de Meese, who
saw the first rushes, emerged with
tears in his eyes, to say only: “ This
day we have made theatrical
history'”
The scene opens on a dark and
stormy night. Inside a neat but
wretched hovel, Tom Trueheart,
president of a poor, starving oil
conglomerate, is seated on a rickety
stool, wrapped in a threadbare
blanket and feeding pieces of his
kitchen table into a tiny fire. He
scrapes the last flecks of sustenance
from the bottom of an Alpo can and
shares them with his pet mouse,
Pinkerton, who is near death from
malnutrition
Outside, the winds howl with such
intensity that it is difficult to hear
Tom ’s old. rusty oil rigs creakily
a tte m p tin g to suck the few
remaining drops of precious oil from
the unforgiving ground There is a
knock on the door
“ Have faith, Pinkerton," cries
Tom “ Help has arrived in the nick
of tim e!”
He joyously throws open the
portal But there before him stands
the ominous figure of a dark-visaged
woman wearing a top hat, black
cape, gold chain and diamond stick
pin.
“ Alas.” says Tom, falling to his
knees, “ it is Simone Legree, the
w icked w e lfa re
widow
M ay
heaven protect the poor oil
conglomerate president.”
“ Not even heaven can help you
now, Tom Trueheart,” she says
c ru e lly ,
tw irlin g
her
waxed
moustache " I am throwing you out
in the snow for non-payment of your
windfall profits tax.”
“ All is lost,’’ says Tom, wringing
his hands “ Allow me at least to
fetch the lock of my sainted
m other’s hair, which is all that I
have not eaten."
He goes to the kitchen and raises a
bottle of rat poison to his lips.
“ Farew ell, cruel w orld," he says
“ But, hark, what is that sound?
Could it be hoofbeats?”
Ronald Reagan bursts through the
window wearing a charcoal gray
club coat, dove gray vest and striped
trousers. “ Fear not, Tom ,” he says,
“ I am abolishing the windfall profits
tax and deregulating oil prices so
that you can make a poor but honest
living.”
“ How can I ever repay you9” sobs
Tom.
“ Give me fo ir years and I ’U think
of something,” says Ronnie. “ And
as for you, you wicked welfare
w idow , I am scuttling your
scurrilous scheme by cutting your
social security benefits, stiffening
your unemployment compensation
re q u ire m en ts and e lim in a tin g
forever your urban community
block grants.”
“ Curses,” sighs Simone Legree,
covering her chin in her cape,
“ foiled again!”
Wall Street report:
Treasury pick signals shift
One of Ronald Reagan’s least-
publicized appointments may turn
out to be his most significant in
dealing with the all-consuming
problems of the U.S. economy.
The choice of Beryl Sprinkel as
T re a s u ry
U n d ers ec reta ry
for
Monetary Affairs is likely, at
minim um , to signal a momentous
shift in economic policymaking and
governmental power relationships.
And Sprinkel. a crack bank
economist, has made it clear to this
columnist in a series of con
versations over the months that he
would not waffle or alter his tune in
Washington There is every reason
to expect fireworks — and possibly
historic change — ahead
What makes Sprinkel (whose first
name rhymes with “ H u rl") so
different from other well-meaning
newcomers who have been thrown
into Washington policymaking in the
past’’
Well, for starters, his economic
position is every bit as clearcut as
those of his bosses — President
Reagan and Treasury Secretary
Donald Regan — are occasionally
artfully fuzzed Moreover, he’ll be in
a position of sufficient power to do
something meaningful about IL
Sprinkel w ill be. for example, the
first Undersecretary for Monetary
A ffa irs
a c tu a lly
to
be
a
"m onetarist” — which means,
simply, that he knows that if you
print too much money now, you’ll
have too much inflation later
While that might seem by now a
reasonable self-evident assumption
i independent studies have detected
a near-perfect correlation between
those events) it traditionally — and
recently — has been ignored by
T re a s u ry
D e p a rtm e n ts , W hite
House and Federal Reserve Boards
The conventional position of most
Presidential administrations has
been to hector the Federal Reserve
Board into an easier monetary
posture, in the belief that this pumps
up sagging economies and lowers
interest rates. As we have seen,
however, there is a point beyond
which the Fed is merely * pushing on
a string
in terms of economic
growth — and is sending interest
rates higher rather than lower, as
lenders demand more protection
from all that inflation the Fed is
“ generously" causing.
We are, of course, well passed that
point now, and so the Fed since 1979
has given lip service to the
inescapable
re a litie s
of
“ m onetarism” even while it was
managing, most of the tim e, to
fiursue
inflationary
business-as
usual.
What looms, then, is an absolutely
fascinating relationship between
Sprinkel, as Reagan's key man on
monetary affairs, and Paul Volcker,
the Fed chairman (who once held
Sprinkel's Treasury job him self).
Though Jim m y Carter, who ap
pointed Volcker as Fed chairman,
later castigated him for taking a
“ purely monetarist approach,” in
fact this was nonsense — and
Sprinkel knows it. Under Volcker the
U.S. money supply has bounced
around with its customary lack of
discipline' as passing preoccupations
with interest rates and credit con
trols interfered periodically with
any theoretical change of heart.
Now. for the first time, a modern
Federal Reserve Board chairman
w ill have a Treasury Department
that not only is not urging him to
misbehave, but is genuinely ready to
wrap him on the knuckles if he does
vary from a steady, moderate,
nonmflationary policy. The result
should be either better news on
inflation — or a blazing con
frontation
But it will not just be in en
couraging the Fed toward greater
sense that Sprinkel is likely to be
important His job will make him the
m ajor U.S. representative to foreign
treasuries and central banks: The
“ Ambassador of the D ollar,” if you
w ill As such, he can be expected to
lay far less emphasis on clever in
ternational arrangements and far
m ore
on
dom estic
fin a n c ia l
discipline — an approach that, if
successful, could be truly bullish for
the dollar
F inally. Sprinkel becomes the key
point man on the Chrysler and New
York City loans — and on decisions
regarding any future supplicants
While it may not upset existing
applecarts, Sprinkels strong free-
m arket views suggest a tighter hold
on taxpayer money from now on
In short, Sprinkel. who has been
executive vice president and chief
economist at Chicago’s Harris Trust
& Savings Bank, is a tough-minded,
highly intelligent thinker with a
clear sense of where Washington
style economics has gone wrong