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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (May 21, 1981)
Portland Observar M ay 21, 1961 Paga 3 From Multnomah County By Donald E. Clark Multnomah County Executive P oliticians everywhere are holding their fingers to the air trying to get an accurate gauge on the mood o f the voter. While the public mood about government is changing, I believe that most politicians have misjudged it. The Observer has kindly allowed me to write a column from time to time to discuss current themes in County government. I think it is ap propriate in this first column to look at the fundam ental values o f our citizens and whether they are changing. L e t’ s face it: we do have a problem in Am erica. We have a problem o f how the burden is to be distributed, how the wealth o f our country is to be distributed, and who is responsible fo those in our society who cannot carry their own load without help. Recent elections have brought home the fact that Americans no longer feel that we have unlimited resources, and want governments at all levels to trim their sails and operate programs more efficiently. But the question remains: Are politicians reading the values o f the American people correctly? I think they are not. I do not believe that our values as a society have changed. What has changed is the in te r pretation o f politicians about the mood o f the people. And I d on’ t think that mood is to whip inflation on the backs o f the poor. In a recent meeting in Portland fo r the C oalition fo r Human Ser vices, Doug McDaniel, chairman of the Coalition, observed that we are not experiencing a systematic cam paign against social programs, but instead a concern about in fla tio n , higher prices and taxes. This is an apt distinction. We as Americans remain a good and generous people who want to share and to assist our less fortunate neighbors. Our analysis o f the proposed Federal and State budgets show a substantial reduction - perhaps in excess o f $2 m illio n -- in funds coming to M ultnom ah County for health and other human service programs. Loss o f that money w ill have a d e bilitatin g impact on our ability to serve citizens whom I call the “ invisible poor.’ ’ The “ invisible poor’ ’ don’ t have clout. They aren’ t organized and aren’ t effective at lobbying govern ment. They’ re the little old ladies living alone, the handicapped, the poor and uneducated. Too often, no one stands up fo r them unless it is government itself. We share the re sp o n sib ility fo r helping these citizens -- for helping them receive health care, proper nutrition, opportunities for upward m obility, education, jobs. In times o f economic distress, the problem shouldn't be solved by taking more from those who can afford it least. I think the general public is not saying that we should eliminate or defund human service efforts, but that we should revamp the systems to make them w ork. The public wants our programs to be more ef fective and more efficient. Take for example Medicaid and Medicare, which are programs designedly the Federal government to provide health care to our elderly and our poor. Both systems are costly and complicated. They em ploy the costly fee-for-scrvice system — providing few incentives fo r c o n tro llin g medical care ex penses -- and are d iffic u lt fo r rec ip ie n ts to understand. In contrast, Multnomah County has created Project Health to provide comprehensive health care for the poor and near-poor. But we do it in a prepaid, com petition model which encourages the health industry to keep costs to a minimum. I t ’ s the same objective, but done more cheaply than the fee- for-service system. And our clients have the dignity o f being treated in the same convenient system used by other citizens. The challenge o f governments and private social service agencies is to promote such basic reform . We must make our human service programs in to w orkable, cost- effective systems. Having done that, we can be assured that the average citizen will continue to see human services as a public responsibility and important fo r the well-being o f our com munity. r r . From the Capitol Q. Congressman Wyden, the ad m inistration has defended its proposals fo r cuts in social security benefits as being necessary to keep the system afloat, lio n do you feel ubout the proposed cuts? A. I ’ m very disappointed - and I ’ m not alone. The Adm inistration is breaking an often repeated promise not to touch those benefits and it ’ s doing so at the expense o f one o f the most vulnerable segments o f our society. I'm especially concerned about the abrupt nature in which the cuts would be implemented. Delaying a scheduled co st-of-living increase from July 1982 to September 1982 and drastically reducing benefits for those who retire at age 62 effective January 1982, is too much, too last. We simply cannot ask these people who have relied on the government’ s promises to change horses in mid-stream. Senioi citizens have a contractual commit ment that entitles them to this money - and many o f them w ill be placed in severe straits if they don’ t get it. There is one aspect o f the Ad- Congressman Ron Wyden nnnist ration's proposal, however, that pleases me. The proposal to phase out the outside earnings lim ita tio n which prevents Social Security Security recipients from earning more than $5,500 in outside earnings each year without having their benefits reduced is a good idea that has been a long time coming. I have long said it is unfair to penalize seniors who prefer or need to continue w orking. In addition, with birth rates on the decline, in the next 30 40 years industry will badly need older workers just to keep plants and factories open. (? On the subject o f sm all business, you told a group o f P ort land businessmen this weekend that small business has been getting the short end o f the s tick fro m the federal government. In what way? -I. Small businessmen and women provide more than 80 per cent ol the jobs in Oregon and in America. In addition, studies show that small business was responsible for creating 90 percent o f the new jobs as many innovations per research dollar as large firms. J et despite these significant con trib u tio n s to our economy, small business gets little more than grief from the federal government. It is overburdened w ith paperwork, besieged by regulation, tormented with financial problems. It is high time we press for a new e conomic agenda that not only gives small business room to breathe - but actually encourages its growth. At the federal level, this agenda shuld include (among other things): - Im plem entation o f the Paper work Reduction Act to reduce the m ountain o f paperwork business people face. - Tax relief so small business has more after-tax p ro fit to reinvest, modernize, expand and stay com petitive. - E lim ination or reduction o f fderal estate and g ift taxes that jeopardize the continuation o f small family operations. Oregon is a small business state - as the T hird D istrict is a small business district. It is essential that the federal government institute programs that will help - rather than hurl - the small business com munity. To a great extent, the good health o f our country depends on the good health o f small business. ALL BANKS ARE NOT CREATED EQUAL (=). Dick Bogle Two very im portant issues a f fecting Black people are pending, one in the courts and the other in Congress. The firs t and perhaps the most im portant is the battle shaping up on whether to extend a key provision o f the 1965 Voting Rights Act for ten years . Some say the law is the most im portant c iv il rights legislation ever passed. It provided voting rights for hundreds o f thousands of Blacks in the Southern United States. For example before the Voting Rights Act was passed, only a relative few Blacks in the South were registered to vote. In M ississippi, only 6.7 percent o f eligible Blacks were registered. By the mid 70’ s, 67 percent were registered. Those who wish to weaken the law say the law has done its job and is no longer needed. But, apparently a new threat to equal representation has come on the horizon in place o f intimidation, literacy tests, and poll taxes. I hat threat is that some cities and counties are changing election rules. The C hristian Science M o n ito r says the two most common methods are annexing a mostly white area to a city or switching to an “ At Large” voting scheme fo r councilors. At large elections require a m ajority from the entire city or county for each councilor, making it nearly im possible fo r a Black or any other m inority to win. Minorities have a better chance in smaller districts. ’ The present voting act targets those states which used the old fashioned methods o f intimidation, plus Alaska and parts o f about a dozen other states. The part o f the act which rankles its opponents the most is the section "One man with courage m akes a m a jo r ity ." Andrew Jackson In te re ste d in cu rre n t books about Civil Rights? Visit: JOHN REED BOOKSTORE In the Dekum Building 519 S .W 3rd Avenue Sixth Floor Or celt: 227 2902 *«*.». f- which requires that each tim e a government from one o f those areas wants to change its voting p ro cedures, it must clear the change with the U.S. Justice Department. They must present evidence that the proposed change w ill not weaken minority voting. Since the law was enacted, the Justice Department has reviewed more than 30,000 proposed election changes and objected to only 815. Opponents say the small number o f com plaints is evidence the law has outlived its usefulness while its backers say the law is s till a deterrent. The U.S. House Judiciary com mittee will be hearing testimony on extension of the act until the end o f June. The other significant issue, the ultimate outcome o f which w ill ef fect Blacks, is in the courts ap parently headed for the U.S. Sixth Circuit Court o f Appeals and could eventually end up in the U.S. Supreme Court. U.S. District Court Judge Frank Battisti last June ruled that the City o f Parma, Ohio through a series o f intenionally passed laws and con sistent opposition to low income housing, had practiced deliberate racial exclusion. He felt the degree o f that wrong was so heavy that it required a broader than usual remedy, he ordered the city to begin b u ilding low income subsidized housing units at the rate o f 133 a year. He also ordered Parma to establish an education program for its o ffic ia ls , set up a la ir housing committee, and begin advertising it self as an open community in Black newspapers. U n til the Judge’ s decision, the c ity ’ s voters only had the right to approve any changes in Parma's 35 foot limit on building heights and to give consent before any public- housing projects are built. The case began in 1973 when the Justice Department sued the largely white surburb south o f Cleveland. Parma was accused o f a series o f ac tions designed to keep Blacks from renting or buying property amount ing to a v io la tio n o f the 1968 Federal Fair Housing Act. Watch for a decision on this one, it should be in the hands o f the Ap peals Court within the next several weeks. And regardless o f that court’s decision, it will likely end up in the Supreme Court. -.. *r » • 5 ’/4% Checkbook Interest. AH banks have NOW Accounts that pay 5 ’/4% annual interest on the money in your checking account Checkbook Interest is not your ordinary NOW Account. 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