The "tax revolt
Page 2 Portland Observer Thursday. July 27. H"1**
We see the world
through Black eyes
The right to protest
Since before the U.S. became a nation the
process of non-violent civil disobedience has
been a method for the people to seek changes in
laws or policies they consider wrong.
During the 1960s thousands of people were
jailed and persecuted because they used non
violent protest as a m ethod to bring public
a tte n tio n ra cia lly d is c rim in a to ry law s and
practices. The Vietnam war brought peaceful
protest from all segments of society until finally
that immoral and illegal war was ended.
Although governmental and law enforcement
o ffic ia ls w ere n o t k in d ly d isposed to w a rd
protesters -- and many sacrificed their lives or
their reputations -- the right to free speech, to
public assembly and to petition for change were
more or less accepted.
Now PGE asks the court to prevent the Trojan
D ecom m issioning A lliance and others from
holding a non-violent demonstration in protest of
the Trojan plant. Few would deny that PGE has
the ultimate right to eventually have tresspassers
removed from its property, but it is far more
serious to attempt to prevent a protest before it
happens - before any laws are broken.
The protesters expect to be arrested and
possibly jailed. Those who break the law in civil
disobedienced in order to change the law expect
to suffer the consequences, and PGE can use the
courts to attempt to impose those penalties.
The goal of TDA is to close down Trojan
through peaceful and legal means. Though PGE
might have legitimate fears that this goal might
someday be reached if the protests and other
actions continue, this is hardly an excuse for PGE
to attempt to deny the constitutional rights of
bv Vernon E. Jordan, Jr.
The so-called “ tax re v o lt”
spearheaded by the action o f
California voters in voting for the in
famous Proposition 13, a massive
reduction in local property taxes,
supported the decision to remove prayer from the represents the triumph o f the politics
public schools and we opposed those w h o o f selfishness.
because of their own religious beliefs w ould deny
It reflects the growing tendency of
middle
class voters to favor personal
the right to abortion to other women.
gain
over
the public good. I f this
But this is going a bit far. A fter all, religious
trend continues, effective govern
broadcasts bring great com fort to many elderly ment could be severely hampered
and handicapped persons who otherwise w ould
and the fragile ties that bind a
have no access to religious services. Even those
pluralistic nation weakened.
Stripped to its essentials, the tax
w h o c o n s id e r th e m se lve s to o b usy or
revolt represents a shell game, in
disinterested to attend church can get a little
which middle class voters fall for
inspiration via the airwaves.
meat-axe slashes in taxes that benefit
Those w ho w ant no religion have no right to
the rich while saving a few pennies
deprive those w ho do.
for themselves, if that, and reducing
the public services that benefit the
poor.
In California, for example, the
bulk
o f tax savings w ill go to
Governor Straub, Vern Cook and other public
businesses, large agricultural enter
officials w ho have had the courage to take a
prises. and rich homeowners. Middle
stand against Ballot Measure #6, the 1 % percent class property owners w ill soon find
tax lim itation, deserve our com m endation. No that their savings on the property tax
public official or political candidate should favor w ill be offset by substitute taxes in
this measure, w hich w ill wreak havoc on state the form o f user fees for public ser
and local programs w ith o u t bringing real tax relief vices. They’ ll pay more in federal
taxes since their property tax deduc
to those w ho need it most.
tions w ill be lower.
Measure #6 w ill bring benefits to the owners of
They’ ll also find themselves hurt
business and industrial property. Those elderly
by a reduction in public services.
citizens on fixed incomes whom we hear so much Their kids’ schools w ill lose teachers
about w ill lose most if not all of the tax refunds and books, their garbage w ill be
picked up less often, and there w ill
th e y n o w re ce ive .
be fewer firemen to respond to
A few state officials and candidates have been emergencies.
Time to take a stand
brave enough to announce their opposition to the
measure. Last week State Senator Vern Cook
(candidate fo r U.S. Senate) appeared on a talk
show and since then he has been regularly
smeared and castigated on the air. Apparently
few listened to w hat he said. Governor Straub
has strongly opposed the measure in spite of the
fact that he faces a tough race against Victor
Atiyeh.
Now the question is whether these m en's op
concerned citizens.
ponents w ill be brave enough to take a similar
stand — or w ill they remain silent and give im
plied support. There is no doubt that the measure
As unbelievable as it m ight seem, there is has great popular support, at least at this tim e,
and that some candidates may try to ride into o f
actually a move afoot to introduce legislation to
bar religious programming from radio. Supported fice on its coat tail.
So it is tim e fo r Vic Atiyeh to get o ff the fence
by prominent athiests, the legislation is sought
and
say where he stands. And Mark Hatfield
under the guise of religious freedom.
W e have s u p p o rte d e ffo rts in b e h a lf o f m ight just as well make his statement, too. It
freedom of religion - or freedom from religion. would be too bad if im portant political decisions
We believe that the U.S. Constitution guarantees were made on one issue — especially an issue
every person the freedom to choose his own that is as little understood and as misrepresented
religion or to refrain from religious belief. We as Measure #6.
Religion in the air
AS '(OU CAN SEE MR- AFFIRMATIVE ACpON O F F IC E R
4AV£ A NUHORVTX ON THIS Ô06 ! ! I CAN T
\U H 0 E R S T A N 0
THOSE
- VUE DO
tBLACKS ARE COMPLAINIHGJ
negative movement. For the tax
revolt amounts to a major escalation
o f the war between the classes.
A m erica’ s d irty little secret,
carefully hidden from view and
denied by almost all, is that we have
a class system. There are people on
top who call the shots, there are
people in the middle who identify
their own interest with the powerful,
and there are people on the bottom,
effectively excluded from America’s
riches.
That bottom p o rtio n o f our
society includes disproportionate
numbers o f Blacks and other
m inorities. T w enty-five m illio n
people are poor, almost double that
if you use more realistic figures than
the o ffic ia l government statistics.
They need services only government
can provide — public service jobs,
training and education programs,
and, yes, welfare programs to allow
them to barely survive.
And those are the programs that
are the targets o f those who so en
thusiastically preach lower taxes and
balanced budgets. The same people
who protest high taxes w ill back a
billion-dollar-plus B-l bomber, but
they’ll fight public housing tooth and
nail. The same people who complain
about higher taxes on their SKO.OOO
homes w ill bitterly oppose modest at
tempts to house the homeless.
So it all comes down to an attitude
that can be summed up as: ‘ T v e got
mine and 1 w on’ t help you get
yours.” Make no mistake about it,
the issue is not rationalizing an often
inequitable tax system; the issue is
the war on the poor.
W hy then, did they vote fo r
something so potentially destructive?
Part o f the reason lies in the
peculiarities o f the C a lifo rn ia
situation — a real estate boom that
has sent housing prices skyrocketing
and an assessment policy that put
property taxes on the same escalator.
That legitimate gripe doesn’ t exist
everywhere else, so there is hope the
excessive California reaction won’ t
be duplicated elsewhere. Bui in fact
there is a nationwide trend. Some
states have similar tax lim itation
drives. Twenty-three state legisla
tures have passed a call fo r a
constitutional amendment to ban
federal budget deficits.
And spineless political leaders are
scrambling to get aboard the anti-tax
bandwagon. They arc abdicating the
responsibility of leadership, which is
to govern effectively and to educate the
public to the fact that taxes pay for
the services the public demands. Poll
after poll shows public expectations
o f government is high. People want
better schools, a strong defense force,
better roads and transit, and even
health insurance programs.
I f the tax revolt gathers strength
those things w ill be out o f reach o f
governm ent’ s a b ility to provide
them. But you can bet that the tax
breaks and hidden and overt sub
sidies that benefit rich people or
favored special interests will remain
intact.
But talking of the tax revolt in
terms of its impact on government
revenues and services only obscures
what may be the real meaning o f this
prisoners at OSP
To the Editor:
Andy Young said there are
political prisoners in the U.S., and it
caused a com m otion among the
politicians. Prisons, federal and statt
are some o f the biggest political
plums that exist in this society,
playing on the fears of the public
about crime and criminals is one of
the oldest and surest roads to success
for aspiring politicians, and yet some
are outraged that anyone would im
ply that Am erica has p o litic a l
prisoners.
What is a prisoner doing three
years for driving with a suspended
license called? Street crim inal?
Dangerous felon? Twenty to thirty
thousand dollars in taxes is used to
apprehend, convict, and imprison
this desperado. Twenty to th irty
thousand is taken out of the tax
payers pockets and put into the
pockets o f the state bureaucracy,
(minus the two or three thousand
necessary for the prisoner’s food and
two sets of used blue jeans), and the
politicians yell “ Foul!” when their
motives are questioned.
Prisons are slave labor camps. The
conditions are better than the slave
camps portrayed by Hollywood and
television land: prisoners live in
brightly painted cells, are allowed to
buy radios, magazines, potato chips.
But painted cells and the privilege of
being able to buy radios, magazines,
and potato chips, (which include a
healthy profit for the state), does not
negate the fact that forced prison
labor makes hundreds of thousands
o f dollars each year for the state. The
money goes to the state bureaucracy.
Politics anyone?
For each prisoner the state draws
so much per head from the taxpayer.
Plus millions in federal aid is poured
in. The money goes for more and
higher paid s ta ff, more fringe
benefits, higher retirement a llo
wances. Some trickles through for out-
of-date textbooks, a h a lf dozen
basketballs, three new softballs.
Some o f the money goes for fat con
tracts such as a ten thousand dollar
rennovation of showers that could
have been done with one hundred
dollars and satisfied everyone con
cerned. Everyone, that is, except the
people playing politics with prisoners
and appropriations.
Recently a prisoner detailed the
sta ffs continual abuses in the S&I
building to a lawyer in this prison’ s
public security visiting cubicle. The
prisoner is a diabetic and takes
medicine each night. The staff lorgot
his medicine that night, and he went
into a seizure. The staff carried him
out in a blanket twenty minutes after
the seizure began. H e’ s not a
political prisoner any more than the
suspended driver is, but such in
cidents and waste o f life can be
m ultiplied a thousand times. I t ’ s
called rehabilitation.
But it’ s politics. Pure and simple.
Zaire
l i t Place
Community Servie»
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E ditor/P u bli»h»r
M tM M K
I Publishers
‘ Association
in T r i- C o u n t y A re a
Congratulations
To the Editor:
Congratulations for your recent
recognition
by
the
Oregon
Newspaper Publishers Association.
Democracy cannot survive on
ignorance. For that reason, the press
constitutes one o f the most impor
tant elements o f a free society.
The
dedication
of
your
management and staff to the prin
ciple o f a w ell-inform ed and,
thereby, free society, deserves the
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Your paper stands as one o f the
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dard o f service that earned your
award.
Sincerely,
Bob Straub
Governor
the O AU and is intended to
safeguard A fric a ’ s hard won in
dependence and not to keep some
unpopular dictator in power. 1 would
support it if it were intended to ex
pand A frican’ s individual liberties
and not merely to ensure the con
tinued outflow o f profits to some
foreign capital.
When questioned about the objec
tives o f the National Front for the
Liberation o f the Congo (FNLC), its
leader, General Nathaniel M ’ Bumba
said the aim of the FNLC was “ to
chase M obutu from power and
create a government o f national
u n ity .” No, a word about com
munism or the expulsion of foreign
workers! It is also interesting to note
here just how few jo u rn a lists
bothered to hear the “ views from the
other side” — how many even knew
the name General M ’ Bumba. So
much for fair coverage!
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corruption, the waste and the endless
repression, Britain, France, West
Germany, the U.S. and Belgium
scramble to the rescue, once more
underscoring the West’s callous in
difference to the wishes and
aspirations o f the Africans.
Together, the Western powers
concoct a plan to create a Pan Africa
Force "designed to protect govern
ments that arc friendly to the West.”
Not one word in the statement says
anything at all about the rights of
the people! Which means that, all
any dictator threatened with internal
revolt simply has to do is be pro-
West and he is assured of support.
That way, we w ill have dictators
staying in power for decades regard
less o f how hard their people may
try to topple them.
Like Tanzania’ s President Julius
Nyerere, I have no objection to the
creation o f a Pan Africa Force as
long as it is credited at the behest o f
Sincerely,
Donald Danford #32323
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(Continued from Page 1 Column 6)
difference to the wishes and
Assist in Halting The Invasion.”
“ S ta b ility o f Zaire C ould Be
Perilled, Vance Tells H ill,” “ Egyp
tian Soldiers Arrive In Zaire,” “ France
A irlifting Morrocan Troops To Help
Out In Zaire” and so forth and so
on. Pretty much the same scenario
was repeated this year except this
time, the catch phrase was: “ whites
massacred in Zaire.”
Because of all this deliberate con
fusion, the public failed to under
stand the reasons behind the in
vasion. Everybody became overly
concerned about whites being
massacred and the charges and count
er charges flung back and forth be
tween Carter and Castro.
Mobutu is a dictator. O f that there
is no doubt. But, he is a pro-West
dictator, so he’ s ‘okay’ . The moment
his corrupt regime is threatened by
his own people, fed up with the
Political prisoners in the United
States? The politicians, from the
aspiring district attorneys to the up
set Congressmen in Washington,
know there are political prisoners:
that’s why they are so upset.
p ER
City
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