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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 10, 1981)
Page 4 Portland Observer, December 10. 1981 EDITORIAL/OPINION Restrict tax refunds Oregon’s economy, along with that o f the na tion, is heading for its worst winter since 1975. Economic indicators point to a deepening reces sion. Oregon’ s unemployment rate reached 10.6 per cent in October, one o f the highest in the na tion. During October an estimated 126,000 peo ple were out o f work and actively seeking jobs— 9.5 per cent o f the labor force. M inority unem ployment is at least double the official rate if not more. Inflation continues, with the Portland area Consumer Price Index gaining at an annual rate of over 22 per cent. With winter upon us many families have al ready experienced utility shut-offs, the necessity to buy oil instead o f food, and the discomforts and dangers o f inadequate heat. In spite o f greater need, federal energy aid for low-income persons has been cut; Oregon has lost $4 m il lion. The Oregon Legislature w ill meet January 11th to seek ways to cut the budget to avoid a $50 billion deficit. Governor Atiyeh has asked for across-the-board cuts o f 20 per cent from all agencies. For m any, especially human services and education, the effectiveness o f much needed programs would be destroyed. In order to avoid property tax lim itatio ns such as that adopted in C a lifo rn ia , Oregon in itia te d a p ro p e rty tax re fund program . Money from the general fund -- income taxes - is used to refund approximately 30 per cent o f each home owner’ s property tax. During the last legislative session this refund was tied to the expected tax revenue, so now revenue shortfall a u to m a tica lly lowers the funds available for refund payments. W hen enacted, the Legislature allowed a refund o f up to $800, which meant that no matter how valuable the home or how rich the owner the owner w ould receive the $800. refund. During the last session the Legislature reduced the m axim um refund to $375, but im m ediately a fte r the session closed the Emergency Board again increased the maximum - this time to $425. Changing the maximum from $375 to $425 gave the extra money o n ly to those at the upper tax brackets - those with homes valued over $70,000. ,t was a direct subsidy to those w ho have less need. In its special session the Legislature should reduce the am ount o f money availa ble fo r refunds for the second year o f the biennium and use that money to meet human needs. O nly those w ith expensive homes would feel the decrease in maximum refund. As a longer range solution the Legislature should raise the percentage o f the re fu n d , thereby increasing the refund at the lower end ot the w ealth scale. Since o n ly a specified amount o f money is available for the refund, depending on income taxes anticipated, a high per cent refund, say 75 per cent, would insure that the those who are truly needy (or at leas, those with lower value homes) would pay little property tax. The use o f the refund money for these homeowners w ould make less money available for refund to the rich, lowering the maximum payment. Those who are assessed only $565 in property taxes would receive 75 per cent or $425 back, w hile those who are living in homes valued such that they must pay $10,000 in property taxes also would receive the maximum $425 refund. To do otherwise is taking income taxes from the low and middle income workers to pay a p rope rty tax refund to the w ealthy. Tax rebates, refunds and benefits should go to the poor; those who have sizeable incomes and resources should pay their share o f the State’ s costs. Letters to the Editor Human Rights far from universally secure To the editor: The recession of '82 by Manning Marable There is relatively little Christmas cheer w ithin the Black community this December. Government statis tics indicate that Black unemploy ment will exceed 18 per cent by New Year's Day. One out o f two Black youths under the age o f 22 who are seeking em ploym ent cannot find work Reagan’ s “ tric k le d o w n " theory o f budget and tax cuts has simply reduced social services for the poor in favor o f millions o f dol lars in p ro fits to the corporate fat cats. Public services—transporta tion systems, sewage, schools—are going broke, while the a fflu e n t upper classes ate laughing all the way io the bank. There are two basic problems with the Reagan economic program that affect nearly every American, the first fallacy o f Reagan is the no tion that business growth will occur simply by reducing federal spending for social services and cutting cor porate taxes drastically. Economic- expansion can only occur where there is an economic and social in fra -stru cture that exists which encourages growth. Any business cannot grow or even remain in a community without adequate water, mass transportation svstem s, sew age, decent schools and necessary social services. Today, more than M.lXMl miles o f the U.S. interstate highway system and 13 per cent ol its bridges must be rebuilt. Over the next It) years, lust to maintain highwavs outside o f urban areas that are nm part o f the interstate system, w ill icquire $700 billion. It will cost S31 billion in fed eral and state expenditures just to m aintain the present sewage sys tems. It will cost $41 billion to repair and/or replace the 200,000 deficient bridges in the U.S. Major U.S. cities w ill have to spend SI 10 m illion just to maintain water systems. And the metropolitan transit systems are at the state o f collapse. About one out o f four public transportation sys tems will halt operations by 1986 be cause o f the Reagan A d m in is tra tion's elimination o f federal funds. These factors threaten to destroy any possibility o f economic develop ment. Bad roads and bridges alone keep 25 per cent o f U.S. towns out o f growth business. For example, the typical street has about a 25-year life. Cleveland is only replacing or resurfacing all their streets at a rate o f 49 years. New York C ity’s rate is 700 years. The breakdown o f public transportation means workers can not gel to work on time, or at all; the breakdown o f the sewer systems lim its business expansion; the co l lapse o f public education and the call fo r a voucher system means poorly-trained, half-educated indi viduals who are u n fit fo r employ mcnl w ithin the new technological age State and city governments can- tioi afford to pay for these necessary economic expenses. I he second problem involves the relationship between government spending lor m ilitary hardware and inflation Reagan intends to spend $1.5 tr illio n fo r defense over the next five years. In human terms, that would equal a stack o f one thousand dollar bills 4 J miles high. I sen a study released by Congres sional Republicans adm its that Pentagon waste totals $15 b illion per year. This wasteful and unneces sary "w elfare program " to wealthy m ilita ry contractors w ill not only mean higher in fla tio n and soaring interest rates in 1982, but will create a federal deficit of between $70 to $80 billion next year alone. Black people and workers are the key victims o f Reagan's inflationary policies, because this administration is doing nothing to check price in creases in the things that everyone must buy— food, gasoline and pe troleum products, health care, and housing. The recession o f 1982 will be a depression for the m ajority o f families earning less than $20,000 per year. What is needed now is a new ap proach to economic problems. This strategy should be based on three principles: •We must provide massive federal support for the economic and social infrastructure, a national jobs ad ministration to rebuild bridges, sew age systems, highways and create jo b -tra in in g and placement p ro grams. We must elim inate unem ployment. •We must set price controls on food, energy, housing and health care, nationalizing huge monopolies (such as large oil companies) while creating lax incentives to stimulate the growth o f small and Black- owned businesses. •We must reduce federal expendi tures for defense drastically, placing all m ilitary outlays at a rate under five per cent o f the gross national product —not Reagan's projected figure o f 8 .1 per cent o f the GNP by 1986. Neither C a rte r’ s nor Reagan's current economic proposals would lead to full employment and an im proved qua lity o f life for Blacks, Latinos and working class whites. The way out o f the recession o f 1982 must be a fundam ental departure from tra d itio n a l Republican and Democratic thinking. Commissioner explains Headstart position To the editor: As A cting Commissioner o f the Administration for Children, Youth and Families, I am writing to object Id allegations in an Observer edi to ria l "M asters Wields the A x " (Oct. 22) that I was "less than hon est with parents and workers in Head Start programs” in Portland, "attem pted to snow th e m " about the budget outlook for Head Start, and am doing "a hatchet job rather than advocate for the needs o f poor families and children.” I consider these characterizations to be misrepresentations both o f what I am attempting to do and o f what I said to the people assembled at the Portland meeting and would like to lake this opportunity to reit erate some facts regarding Head Start’s budget. sideration is to reduce (he duration o f services in Head Start programs that o ffe r full-d ay care from ap proximately eight hours to six hours a day and from 12 months to eight months a year. O nly about 20 per cent o f Head Start programs would be affected—those currently oper ating on a full-day, full-year basis. Given a tight budget, we believe that it is preferable to reduce hours and days o f operation than to lower na tional enrollment. all peoples.” Indeed, we arc pain mission on Civil Rights, signals that fully aware o f a regression h i our retreat. December 10, 1981 marks ihc own nation regarding the human Indeed, Flemming said, in protest 33rd anniversary o f the adoption o f rights o f our citizens as well as those o f his rem oval, that the United the Universal Declaration o f H u who seek refuge here: in both in States is "headed in the wrong di- man Rights by the General Assem stances, p a rtic u la rly people o f rectiopn" by eliminating and weak bly o f the United Nations. color. ening measures to "take the rhetoric Member states o f the United Na The past year has chronicled a o f the Constitution and translate n tions pledged themselves to achieve drastic increase in racial harassment into reality as far as the lives o f peo the promotion o f universal respect and violence across the nation; fed This policy gives primacy to Head ple are concerned.” for such human rights and funda cral mandates aimed at enforcing S tart’ s role as a child development In the wake o f diminishing com mental freedoms as: the right o f life, human rights, civil rights and con program versus a day care service mittments to equity and justice, the liberty, and security o f person; the stitutional guarantees o f equal pro for working parents—as desirable as M e tro po lita n Human Relations right o f everyone, everywhere, to tection are in danger o f either repeal it may be to pursue both objectives. C ommission urges all people, par recognition as a person before the or discmbowelment which Kenyon Our plans also contemplate con ticularly those "m overs and shak law and to equality before the law; Burke, associate general secretary verting 37 Parent and Child Centers ers” whose activities mold our polit the right fo be free o f arbitrary in for the N ational C ouncil o f (PCC’ s) which now serve pregnant ical and economic reality, ,o make a terference w ith privacy, fa m ily, Churches’ Division o f Church and women and mothers w ith infants firm , unwavering personal commit home and correspondence; the right Society, calls “ evidence that demon ment to equity, equality and justice and toddlers, to regular Head Start to freedom o f movement and resi strates this (n a tion a l) adm inistra on December 10. 1981, Human programs serving the target popula The Reagan A dm inistration has dence; the right to freedom o f tion's retreat from a commitment to tion o f 3- to 5-year-old children. Rights Day. We have regressed proposed an increase o f $ 13 million thought, conscience, and religion; civil rights and justice for the vu l enough; we must now move fo r Again, given budget constraints, it fo r Head Start from an FY 1981 and the right to freedom o f peaceful nerable, unprotected and Ihc poor is d iffic u lt, in our view, to ju s tify ward. funding level o f $819 m illion to an assembly and association. o f our society.” Attacks on the Vot continuation o f PCC’ s when so FY 1982 level o f $832 million. ing Rights Act, Legal Services, and many children in Head S tart’ s p ri II is true that the Adm inistration Presently, the Metropolitan H u A ffirm a tive A ction; the treatment mary target group are denied enroll had to forego its original request (in Armando Laguardia man Relations Commission believes o f Black Haitian refugees, as well as ment opportunities. PCC’ s, by the March o f this year) for an $130 m il Chairperson, that these human rights are still far the recent " f i r i n g " o f A rth u r way, serve only 37 communities, lion increase due to the crisis o f the Metropolitan Human Relations from being "universally secure for Flemming as chair o f the U.S. Com whereas the basic Head Start pro m ounting federal d e fic it. But it is Commission gram operates in approxim ately also true that Head Start is one o f T£t*.t».iaue ! nothing - a u x vtoLewee- THAT'S RIGHT- W H Y D O N 'T YOG C O M « W IT H M < TO 2,000 communities across the the few social programs that not A.ND CRIME eW«il.YWHt.R«. OUR NCI&n30XH0O D ASSOCIATION MEETING- T O N IG H T -» country. only has escaped a reduction in S O M t a o O V O U G H T T O DO S0MCTH/WG1. WE'P.E GOING- T O T f l t X ABOUT C R IM E x ^ P R E V E N T IO N / Ç funding but also is slated by the In a dd itio n , funding would be A dm in istratio n for a modest in I discontinued for 10 Child and Fam crease. ily Resource Programs serving chil In the face o f inflation, however, ( dren up to the age o f eight, since the an increase o f $13 m illion will need demonstration period for these pro to be supplemented by a redirection jects will be over in 1982. o f funds in order for Head Start to These are the budget realities and maintain both a high quality o f pro necessary economies that I attempt gram services and its current nation ed to explain to Head Start parents al enrollment level. NAW.' I D o n ' t w a n t t o m is s t h e football ... ANO THAT'S and workers in Portland on October C- a m e . 6<S ' o £S i ’ ’m n o P o l ic e m a m . PORTLAND i MEWS One action currently under con 15. From my vantage point, this is V X s . T o n ig h t . 32 X t - what a responsible public o fficial is obliged to d o —even i f the news is not altogether good or exactly what people affected by these actions want to hear. I also want to emphasize that, contrary to the intim a tion in your editorial, there is no intention o f al tering the comprehensive nature o f Head Start services—health ser vices, education, social and n u tri tion services and parent involvement in the program. It is the com bina tion o f these services that has been so instrum ental in enabling Head Start graduates to sustain academic and social gains in their later school years. And just a final, (»ersonal word or two about the manner o f your re porting. No one from the Observer interviewed me or even attempted to verify inform ation with me before you went to press. In fact, I am re ferred to throughout as W illiam Masters. You did not even get my name straight. The next time you seek to in form your readers on m ajor public policy issues, please try to examine all sides o f the story and make sure your facts are co r rect. Warren Master Acting C oinmissioner Administration for Children. Youth and Families [E d ito r s note: Our writer was pre sent at the meeting in which M r. Master denied rumored cuts in the Headstart program , then an nounced those same cuts. Although the proposed reduction o f hours and months o f care might affect only 20 per cent o f the programs, it would substantially eliminate the function o l the A M A Headstart program . Other changes would close Parent- Child.) c MEMBER MWZt™ Association - Foundad TM5 Oregon Newspaper Publishers Association £ 1 1 Portland Observer The P o rtla n d Observer (U S P S 969 6801 is published every Thursday by Exie Publishing Company. 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