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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (July 29, 1976)
Page 2 Portland Obe$rver Th lay. July 29. 1976 Woman on the movo W e see the world Copley News Service through B lack eyes Reagan spoils bid Ronald Reogan's firontic last-ditch effort to earn the Republican Party's nomination by announcing his running mate may end any hope he had for success. Those Republicans who were drown to Reagan by his ultra-conservative politics were amazed to learn that he hod selected an admitted liberal, especially in light of his continuous promise to name a person with political views similar to his own. With the prospect of a conservative ticket gone, there is no reason for many of these citizens to prefer Reagan over the incumbent president. Senator Richard Schweiber of Pennsylvania is con sidered to be one of the most liberal Republicans in Congress. The choice was obviously an effort to grab un committed votes in Schweiberi home state and that effort seems to have been successful — at least Schweiber, who until he received the call from Reagan was a Ford delegate, claims to have garner ed twenty votes for Pennsylvania — some of which had been leaning toward Ford. But the reaction throughout the country has been one of shock and disbelief. AAany of Reagan's strongest supporters are beginning to wonder about their choice. The announcement might bright the needed sup port from middle-of-the-road Republicans who see little difference between Reagan and Ford — but it might also lost the solid conservative vote which now has reason to question his political integrity. J Don’t teach cheating Little League Baseball has provided an outlet for young boys - teaching them sportsmanship, compe tition, and providing a healthy attitude. Thousands of men across the country can look back with pleasure to their Little League days with the belief that their participation made them better men. Little League has its obvious problems - over- zealous parents, broken hearted children, and on lookers who don't have the skill to excell. But overall, if a rational equilibrium can be held, the sport has more positives than negatives. For this reason, and because of the respect given to Little League and its participants, the organization must guard its credibility. When a coach tells young boys that he has the umpire "in my pocket", when he has an umpire change a call and tells the opposing coach, "I knew it was wrong, but I hod to win ", that is going too far. If Little Leogue has a purpose it is to teach young people to try their hardest, but to be fair and to respect the other fellow's rights. In 1925, the biggest year in our history for women in polities, Florence Kahn of San Francisco and Ella Mae Nolan served in the California delegation to tha U.8. House of Representatives. Only once since that time have wo had two women from California concurrently serving in Congress. Today, Representative Shirley Pettis and 1 are members of the Califor nia delegation in tha House. The year 192S was also the year when the United States had two women gover nor», Nellie Roes of Wyoming and Ma Ferguson of Texas. Today we have only one woman governor, Ella Grasso of Con necticut. I t was the victory of the earlier women's suffrage movement that made women more involved and more aggres sive in their participation in government in the 1920s. Unfortunately, due to several factors, among them the depree sion, momentum for the women's move ment was lost Today, women are on the march again. Our impact is being felt in all segments of society. I believe that this time our parti cipation in government will be per manent. It will be permanent because our strength as women in the future will rest on economic power. History bears testi mony to the lesson women are currently learning, that economic and political power go hand in hand. In 1920. only 20 per cent of those in the work force were women. In 1974, the percentage was 46 per cent. We know that most women work out side their homes because of economic need. Of the 36.5 million women who work, 43 per cent of these have never been married, are unmarried or are widowed. In other words, they support themselves. Also, today greater numbers of women are entering the labor force early and are staying there even though they are mothers of small children. However, the limited income of women and the limited job opportunities open for them are very discouraging. Women who work full time earn only $3 for every $5 earned by men. The gap is greater today than it was 20 years ago. In 1966, women earned 64 per cent of what men earned: today it has dropped to 60 per cent. The reason is that women are entering in increasing num bers but are not moving up in the work force. It is no surprise to find that in May. 1974, 94 per cent of those earning more than $300 per week were male. To illustrate this discrepancy further, women make up 1 per cent of all engin eers. 7 per cent of all lawyers and judges, 10 per cent of all physicians and 14 per cent of all chemists. In 1870, women held one-third of the faculty positions in high er education. Today they hold only one- fourth of these positions. A t the same time on these faculties, women make up 40 per cent of the instructorn and lectur ers and only 10 per cent of the full profes sors. In our national best interests, these inequities must be the basis of action in the near future. We need to press for advancement but also we need to enlarge the types of jobs open to women. Women's participation in labor unions is long overdue for expinsion. Total union membership for women in unions has increased from 18.1 per cent in 1952 to 21.7 per cent in 1972. I t is hardly an increase of which to be proud. It is of interest that there are virtually no union officials at the governing and high appointee levels that are women. There to. however, some hope to be gleaned from the California apprentice ship program. In January, the total state- approved apprentices numbered 30,000. Of thia number, 322 were women, just over 1 per cent. Over a nine-month period, thia number has increased by 90 women. Women carpenters, women auto mechanics, women meat cutters - clearly we need them. For we are now recognising that these fields should have been open to women long ago. And, by the way, let's add to that list electricians, truck drivers, paperhangers and plumbers.' In California, committees that manage apprenticeship programs now are responsible for bringing women into their programs. A t least, they are responsible for setting up goals and timetables for participation of women. It to a slow be ginning and one that to mere challenge than it to cause for rejoicing. Breaking into the apprentice program Lakes a mettle that some of us didn't know we had. The same might be said for standing for election to the state legisla ture. In January. 1976, 611 women hod been elected across the country. Out of a total of 7.500, that to lees than 8 per cent women. But it to double the number serv ing in 1999. Somehow, the determination and tena city required to be a carpenter and a state legislature are alike. These are reports of slim but hopeful progress. Women can get discouraged but they can't q u it They must remember that women outnumber and outlive men. It is essential that women assume their full share of the political and economic responsibility. It to our pc. sonal challenge. We must accept this challenge with enthusiasm and a perseverance geared to accomplishment. Prosidont’s budgot unfair by Csngrssmnss Aogastae Hawkins B L A C K C O M M U N IT Y ÄELF HELP -M U TU A L A IP - SELF IHPftOVFMFNT - COUPEPATION f If you were President, and had bud get problems, where would you go to get most of your revenues for running the country? Well if you were interest ed in equally spreading the pain around, you'd probably opt for making everyone pay their fair share. Businessman and worker alike; poor, not so poor, comfortably off, and the wealthy would be taxed according to their ability to pay. Unfortunately the tax laws are w rit ten so that essentially the poorer you are. the more taxes you pay (directly and indirectly). The President does have some real options, however. For example, in his annual budget presentation to the Con gress, he can recommend ways of low ering and/or raising payroll taxes, per sonal income taxes and Corporate taxes, in order to more equitably distribute the manner government must pay for itself. Mr. Ford in his 1977 budget, how ever. has chosen to continue the pres sure on the nation's low income groups by proposing that in tax matters, low income families will continue to pay more taxes than all other groups. So in the regressive social security tax situation, the President wants to increase the em ployer-em ployee tax rate another .6 percent beginning Jan uary 1, 1977. Curiously, you're exempt from this increase if you make more than $16,500 annually; I call this - turning the screws another notch on those least able to pay. Even more ridiculous to the fact that a person making under $3,000 a year, will see a rise in his tax to 5.8 percent of adjusted gross income. If you are in the lucky category of a $25,000 $50,000 earner, your social security tax will only be 3.9 percent of your income. Overall, the Federal tax burden has increasingly shifted to the lower and middle income groups. This to in part due to higher social security tax rates, decreasing corporate taxes and elephant sized tax loophole factors. And nothing in the President's new 1977 budget will change this picture. Now the President's budget to not all bad news. He wants to lower personal income taxes - that's the good news! It's good news especially if you earn $7,500 or more. It's bad news if you earn lees, because as the Congressional Budget office sees it, "cuts proposed by the President, would grant nearly all of the relief to corporations and individuals having in comes of more than $7,600 through such proposals as an increase in the personal exemption from $750 to $1,000, elimina tion of the earned income credit or 'work bonus' (which refunds ton percent of their incomes to low-income workers with children), reduction of the cor porate tax rate (from 49) to 46 percent, new stock ownership incentives, acce lerated depreciation (on investments) in areas of high unemployment, and inte gration of the corporate and individual income taxes." The President keeps saying that he wants to be fsir, but his actions againet low income people are horrendous. Under the President's new tax propo sals. income taxes for those earning $3,000 to $6,000 a year, would increase about forty percent. If he were fair, he'd push for taxes that would bo progressive: the more income you earned, the more taxes you'd pay. That's really fair, brotherl LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Officer says law explained Too late to classify SECRETABV A STENOGRAPHER Far Office ef Public Rein- tiooe. Experience pi iifeucd ExceOeat typist. Hearty wage, health leeuranrs, va- cetlen, rick leave. AppUea- tioas accepted aetfl July 30th at Office ef the Coatrei- le r; L ia fie ld Cellege; McMfauvflk, OR 971». 472-4121, est. 239. Aa Afflr- mative Actiea/Eqaal Oppor tunity Earieyer. The Oshimili of Alor Nigerian Ruler speaks on chieftancy role in Nigerian local government at a formal luncheon sponsored by the African American Committee of Portland. Time: 1:00 p.m. Date: July 31st, 1976 at the Quay Inn, Vancouver, Washington. Portland O b server Published every Thursday by Exie Publishing Company, 2201 North Killingsworth, Portland, Oregon 97217. Mailing address: P.O. Box 3137, Portland, Oregon 97208. Telephone: 283-2486. Subscriptions: $7.50 per year in the Tri-County area, $8.00 per year outside Portland. Second Class Postage Paid at Portland, Oregon A L F R E D L. HENDERSON Editor/PubUsher The Portland Observer's official position is expressed only in its Publisher’s column (We See The World Through Black Eyes). Any other material throughout the paper is the opinion of the individual w riter or submitter and does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the Portland Observer. / 1st Place toauauaity Service ONPA 1973 To The Editor: On July 1st, 1976, you published an editorial about the Eugene McCarthy nominating convention. You indicated that this office provided conflicting inter pretations of the procedure for placing an Independent on the Oregon general elec tion ballot. A t no time did this office provide such conflicting information. Rather, the McCarthy campaign, as well as every other campaign or individual seeking the Im plication incorrect To the Editor: As a member of the Salem Branch of NAACP, I resent the implication in the recent Portland Observer story that our Branch to not doing anything about pro blems in Salem. Although I do not speak for the Branch, I do know that the Branch President was consulted immediately by 1st Place Best Ad Results ONPA 1973 5th Place Best Editorial NN PA 1973 Honorable Mention Herrick Editorial Award NN A 1973 2nd Place Best Editorial 3rd Place Community Leadership ONPA 197$ local officials concerning the causes of the disturbance in Bush Pasture Park, 8alem, and that many members of the Branch individually are satisfied that, although there may be some racial overtones being supplied by media coverage, race was not the causal factor in the disturbance. convention, but are satisfied that we pro vided adequate printed information relat ing to the nominating process. Use of this same information by other Independent candidates this year resulted in the suc cessful nomination of candidates. We, therefore, are assured that the printed material to, in itself, sufficient guidance. Sincerely, Kim F. Skerritt Assistant Secretary of State We think locally that our Branch to having impact on local problems and will continue to do so, not by chasing the limelight but by standing ready to assist whenever we are needed -- in matters of housing, employment, and other civil rights matters. Need more be said? Sincerely, Norma Goodrich $2.50 of your new subscription to The Portland Observer will go to the Oregon Black History Project Tri-County aroa $ 7 .5 0 other areas $ 8 .0 0 Nomo MEMStB same information, to provided the appro priate manual describing the nominating process under Oregon tow. The Admini strative Rules printed therein explain the need to identify the participants at any third party nominating convention. In addition, this office provided the McCarthy campaign with a copy of mater ial previously filed on behalf of an Inde pendent candidate as a model for the nominating process. We regret the need of the McCarthy campaign to hold another nominating M tM B fR Address AfociUion - Founded 7999 City Mail to: Por'land Observer P.O. Box 3137 Portland, Oregon 97206
