Portland Observer, February 4 , 1962 Page 5
Racism by any other nam e
Our Street Beat question is, ’ How
would you appraise the p e rfo rm
ance o f Oov. Victor Atiyeh?
by Rep. Ron Wyden
Since newt leaked out weeks ago
that the Treasury Departm ent had
decided to allow tax-exempt status
to schools guilty o f b latan t racial
discrimination, the Reagan A dm in
istration has taken a lot o f heat for
being “ racist.’ ’ Administration o ffi
cials say the criticism is unjustified.
But the record shows otherwise.
In the year since assuming office,
the Administration has:
•A c tive ly opposed continuatioi.
o f affirmative action programs;
•Refused to endorsed a strength
ened Voting Rights Act;
•Effectively liquidated the Equal
Employment Opportunity Commis
sion.
nize the validity o f the IR S ruling,
and allow it to continue as before. I
have co-signed a Sense-of-the-
House resolution which would do
just that.
But we must not stop here. Whe
ther Administration officials care to
admit it or not, they have embarked
on a dangerously racist and bigoted
course.
C ivil rights activists have fought
long and hard to try to wipe out ra
cial injustice in this cou n try. W e
cannot sit idly by hwile this Admin
istration undoes all that has been
accomplished— and returns us to an
era that was nothing short o f a na
tional disgrace.
The capper was the move to allow
tax-exempt status to avowedly racist
schools.
Faced with an uproar from civil
rights activists and many other
Americans, the Administration pur
ported it only meant to see that the
decision-making power was placed
in the hands o f Congress— not the
IRS. And they have submitted a bill
to Congress which alleges to take
care o f the matter.
In re a lity , the b ill may create
more havoc than it resolves. Be
cause it is based on the assumption
that the IRS never had the authority
to deny tax-exempt status to racist
schools, it may actu ally allow
schools previously denied such sta
tus to sue the governm ent for re
covery o f taxes.
In other words, this bill could re
sult in a w indfall to racist schools
previously denied tax-exempt status.
The very thought is outrageous.
A better a pp ro ach — and one
which I endorse— is to simply recog
Q. W hat Is y o u r general assess
ment o f the President's State o f the
Union Address Tuesday night?
A . I was more struck by what he
d id n 't say, than what he did say.
Oregonians and most other A m eri
cans were waiting to hear what the
President planned to do to reduce
soaring interest rates and put Amer
icans back to work. U nfortunately,
the President didn’t really have any
thing to say about these issues. In
stead, he seemed to expect us to take
com fort in his announcement that
the federal deficit is not expected to
exceed $100 b illio n during fiscal
1982— and the fact that he has a
plan to shift responsibility for most
social programs fro m the federal
government to the states.
Q. You mentioned the President's
plan to have the states p ick up re
sponsibility f o r social programs. Is
this really a workable idea— and i f it
is. what will it mean f o r the states,
and fo r the people who 've come to
Street Beat
depend on these program s?
A . Although I have long advocat
ed alllowing the states more control
over their own affairs, I must admit
I have some real concerns about this
particular proposal.
For one, although the President
claim ed these program s w ould be
accompanied with the money to pay
fo r them , that is not necessarily
true. A dm inistration officials have
since adm itted that the trust fund
turned back to the states along with
the programs may actually be sever
al b illio n dollars short o f the
am ount needed to sustain the p ro
grams at their current levels. Since
states such as Oregon are in no posi
tion to shoulder additional financial
burdens, the clear losers in all this
w ill be the people who depend on
those programs for the necessities o f
life.
Omega Beasley, unem ployed—
“ H e’s not doing a good job. People
all around are out o f work. People
need things and he is not proving
himself to us. H e ’ s not doing any
thing to please poor people. I t ’s the
rich who are getting all the bene
fits.”
1 am also concerned that the Pres-
id en t’ s proposal does not call fo r
economics in some o f the areas in
which cuts would be most appropri
a te -s u c h as w asteful defense ex
penditures and other sacred cow
programs.
I said at the outset I support the
ideal behind the New Federalism .
But the type o f N ew Federalism I
support is one which promotes a
true partnership between local gov
ernments, the states and the federal
government— a partnership built on
trust and mutual reliability— a part
nership which promotes government
efficiency and common sense. The
President’s New Federalism— which
would hand the states increased re
sponsibilities, but without adequate
money to pay for them— is no part
nership at all.
From the oardroom
Nancy Cook, fo o d stamp worker
— “ I ’m not real happy with Atiyeh.
I ’ m a state employee and I may lose
my job. A lot o f people I know have
lost th e ir jobs. It is really hard to
function in the state office.”
-
rently, four health plans are partici
pating in Project H ealth: Kaiser-
Perm anente, Providence Fam ily
Health Center, Oregon Health Sci
ences U niversity F am ily Practices
C linic, and the Multnom ah Prefer
ence Plan through the Providence
Medical Center.
Project H ealth is seeking add i
tional grant funds from the Federal
government to facilitate the research
o f a new approach to health care de
livery, a program called M U L T I
C A R E . This program was initiated
by the County a few months ago to
assist in the control o f health care
costs. M U L T IC A R E uses County-
employed doctors and nurses in the
role o f " fa m ily physician.” The cli
ent selects a physician to be respon
sible for h is/h er medical needs.
Should the physician find a health
problem that requires special atten
tion or hospitalization, he/she re
fers the patient to a specialist or
hospital in the com m unity for fu r
ther care. The intent o f this ap
proach deletes the use o f more ex
pensive levels o f medical care except
when such care is deemed necessary,
while assuring the patient receives
whatever medical treatment he/she
needs.
A ll new enrollees o f Project
Health spend a brief period o f time
in the M U L T IC A R E program prior
to entering the health plan o f their
choice. The concept o f the M U L T I
C A R E program is to continue pro
viding a full range o f quality medi
cal services for individuals in our
com m unity, without adding to the
spiraling costs o f health care for
everyone.
The big question now is how Pro
ject Health and other human service
programs will fare with the current
budget planning process. D uring
this period o f economic crisis, there
is an increasing need for health and
social services in the com m unity,
and a shrinking supply o f govern
ment funds to assist in their provi
sion. W e continue to seek ways to
make the best possible use o f scarce
dollars in all our programs and to
locate sources o f money to bolster
the funds available in the County.
Should you need additional infor
m ation, please call my o ffice, 248-
5219, or Project Health at 248-3056.
Car! Lidei, security chief— ' “ I ’ve
heard about what he’ s doing. 1
don’t see the governor in touch with
the economy o f the state. He sounds
a lot like Reagan. There are cuts but
nothing to replace it w ith . I t ’ s a
complete disregard for the people.”
L ila Leppart, retired— " I would
hate to see a surtax or a salex tax. I
just hope he manages the budget a
little better.”
Kermit Brooks— “ .What I ’ve been
hearing doesn’t sound like he has
been taking care o f business. H e ’ s
making it rough. Reagan is making
it tough and they both seem to be in
the same comer.”
Andy Brown, teacher—
would
appraise him like I would Reagan,
E verything he does points away
from people with no money towards
those who have money.”
by Lonita Duka
and Richard Brown
by Gladys McCoy, County Commissioner
P O R T L A N D , O R — I am pleased
to provide you with an update on
Project Health. I know that a num
ber o f you are fam iliar with Project
H ealth on a first-hand basis and
would be interested in knowing how
it is progressing. Others who have
not enrolled in one o f the available
health plans may find this to be
helpful information for meeting on
going health care needs.
Project H ealth was designed to
make available a single standard o f
health care for the citizens o f M u lt
nomah C o un ty. It has provided
health care services for low income
M ultnom ah County residents since
1973. Clients are allowed to choose
from among several health plans
which provide a comprehensive
benefit package for the whole
fam ily. The am ount you pay as a
member is based on your individual
income, fam ily size, and the plan
you select. The average monthly en
rollment fee has, historically, aver
aged about six dollars. Clients re
ceive an id en tificatio n card from
their selected health plan which is
presented at the doctor's o ffice or
hospital to obtain services. C u r-
Jackie F ix , waitress— ‘ ‘ I d o n ’ t
thin k the man is doing a ll that
much. When his budget was passed
it was kind o f hush-hush. I think he
had better put people to work in
stead o f making cuts.”
---------- ---
E2SUPERB Q
VALUES AT
CO
C‘A,. *
"v„
Police brutality
:
■
■
PRO STYLE
SHOP
■
■
Proline now offers a
917 S.W. Alder
224-8401
across from the Galleria
1
J
1
SUPER CUT
Under these conditions ONLY
♦No appointment
♦First available
operator only
L
(present this coupon with visit!
S
5 s
B
■
■
{Continued fro m page 2 column 6)
mentioned.
Bambi H arp e r and her 11-year-
old son were stopped for a shoplift
ing charge at N E 11th and Alberta.
She was arrested and both she and
her son handcuffed. She was trans
ported to P am ir’s clothing store at
121 SW Salmon where she allegedly
had stolen some goods.
M s. H a rp e r denied any w rong
doing. The police searched her car
to locate stolen property. None was
found. Harper was released.
The P ortland Police report said
that no stolen property was found in
the suspect's car.
W h y are so m any people com
p lain in g o f police harrassment?
W hat is being done about it? Next
week: the Po rtlan d Observer inter-
viwes P o rtla n d Po lice C h ie f Ron
Still.
“ Thar« it nothing makat a
man suspect more than to
know little.”
Francis Bacon
ty>e
We have a large selection of reconditioned TVs.
"Service is our specialty”
Trade in your old T.V. for
a reconditioned beauty!
8139 N. Denver • 285-1626
W e are open from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. each day except Sunday.