Portland Observer, February 11,1982 Page 5
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—
Street Beat
The Reagan budget
by Rep. Ron Wyden
Q. On Saturday, the Administra
tion released Ils budget proposals
f o r 1983. W hat do you th in k o f
those proposals? A re they really a
prescription f o r economic recovery?
A. The A d m in is tra tio n ’ s 1983
budget plan is remarkable for what
it doesn't do as much as for what it
does do.
Wha, it doesn't do is address the
pressing problems o f high interest
rates, rising unemployment and fa l
tering industries such as housing
and wood products.
There is no mention o f a plan to
bring the interest rates down, to cre
ate jobs or to stimulate investment
in housing.
What the budget does propose to
di» is more than remarkable, it is dis
turbing.
The budget shrugs o f f its p ro
jected $91 billion budget deficit as
unimportant, even though it would
be an item for the Guincss Book of
World Records. (In fact, the budget
deficit could be as high as $150 bil
lion— and if that’s not significant, I
don’t know what is.)
It calls for an unprecedented 17.9
per cent increase in defense spend
ing.
And it rips the so-called social
safety net to tatters by cutting fund
ing for Medicare, for child nutrition
and student aid.
This budget is not a blueprint for
economic recovery in America. It is
a blueprint for fiscal disaster.
•The deficit it merely shrugs o ff is
too big.
• Defense spending is out o f con
trol.
•Cuts in safety net programs are
beyond all reason.
America won’t recover under this
budget— it will grow sicker.
And the Pacific Northwest and
Oregon will especially grow sicker
because this budget contains no
housing policy, damages our water
way system and undercuts our
ability to create new jobs through
exports and wood products.
Q. Last week, you Initiated a peti
tion drive among House M em bers
asking President Reagan to submit
the names o f his recent appointees
to the Legal Services Corporation to
the Senate f o r confirm ation. Why
did you Initiate the drive— and what
do you really hope to accomplish?
A . I initiated the drive because I
firmly believe that to have a good le
gal services program that really en
sures equal justice for all, we have
to have tru ly q u a lifie d and com
mitted persons serving on the Legal
Services Board. Unless appointees
are subjected to the public scrutiny
afforded by the Senate confirmation
process, there is no way to deter
mine whether the appointees fill this
bill or not.
O ur S t r e e t B e e t question this
week is, " H o w would you react to
in stitu tin g a State L o tte ry as a
means o f raising revenue?”
■ \
.
• & T
L4 ' »
Cookie Willingham, secretary—
“ W e ll, I would gamble. W ith the
State doing it I have mixed feelings
about it. I don’t think people have
money to waste. W hen I get to
thinking about it I don’t think they
should.”
Ty Rosenberg, Housespouse— " I f
it w ould keep my p ro p erty taxes
dow n, I agree. I thin k maybe the
reason for the opposition in parts o f
Oregon is conservatism.”
M rs. Parker, in stru cto r— " I ’ m
against it because I ’m from the mid
west and they started a lottery. The
money was supposed to go into the
schools and when the schools went
broke everybody wondered where
the money went. The school system
laid o f 650 teachers and that’s how I
got to Portland.”
Dick Bogle
By now most everyone knows that
the liny town of Morton Grove, Illi
nois, has outlawed the posession of
handguns. Passage o f that law has
certainly buoyed the hopes o f gun
control advocates for passage o f the
K ennedy-R odino b ill in the U .S .
Senate.
But one doesn’t necessarily follow
the other.
i
There arc two "g u n ” bills facing
Congress. The first bill is sponsored
by Senator James McClure o f Idaho
and REp. Harold Volkmer o f M is
souri. It would weaken existing gun
laws. As one can imagine, the N a
tional Rifle Associatin is supporting
the McClure-Volkmer bill.
Its critics say it will nearly wipe
out all existing gun control legisla-
tio. But despite those charges, it lists
about 58 Congressional co-sponsors
in the Senate alone.
One o f the b ill’ s m ajor critics is
Michael Beard, president o f the N a
tional C oalition to Ban Handguns.
He says the bill would allow felons
to possess and obtain firearms more
easily, but turning current law inside
out and placing the burden o f proof
on the federal government; provide
a procedural advantage to those
charged with violating current fire
arm law; permit a return to out o f
stale, mail order gun purchases so
common before passage o f the 1968
firearm s laws; prevent routine
searches o f licensed gun dealers by
enforcement agancies allowed under
current law.
news.
The
Federal
Bureau
of
investigation says an operation in
w ealthy Beverly H ills sections o f
Los Angeles used fraudulent means
to bring at least thirty Indonesians
to Los Angeles whereupon they
were then sold as indentured ser
vants at prices o f between $1,500
and $3,000 each.
N aturally the N .R . A . disagrees.
They believe the proposed changes
would make it m ore, not less
d iffic u lt for felons to obtain and
operate firearm s, and that the
changes are needed to provide
protection for those law abiding gun
owning citizens who have suffered
abuses o f civil liberties in the past
due to current law.
Those are the arguments and the
battle in Congress is going to be an
interesting to watch.
These 30 individuals d id n ’t just
stumble into this situation. The gov
ernment alleges they were recruited
in Indonesia by an Indonesian na
tio n a l, then flo w n to the U n ited
States. They allegedly were sold to
individuals in this country and kept
in servitude for up to two years.
•••
Maybe it’s just the darker side o f
human nature for man to exploit his
weaker brothers. Here it is the year
1982 and the issue o f slavery is in the
Some authorities are saying i t ’ s
not surprising to sec Indonesians
finding themselves in this kind o f
situation. Their country is poor poor
p o o r. It has a per capita income
which is perhaps the lowest in all o f
Southeat A sia, in some cases less
than a hundred dollars a year.
This case is expected to go to a
federal grand ju ry in Los Angeles
any day.
M rs. Patricia Ryan, p rin c ip a l—
“ M y first thought is that it would in
crease revenue and that would im
pact on the high unem ploym ent
rate. But the effects on people so
Lois O krasinski, teacher— “ I
c ially and eco n o m ically, I really
don’ t gamble but I w o u ld n ’ t have
don’t know.”
any objections if the State were to
increase its earnings from people
who want to participate.”
by Lanita Duka
and Richard Brown
<
M ag n o lia Jackson, com m unity
agent— “ They need to generate rev
enue but I d o n ’ t th in k gam bling
should be sanctioned. The reason
why some Oregonians are against it
is that they don’t want change.”
_________
✓
^Sassona
hair designs f frfr
Presents
Revlon Platform Artist
Marie Edwards
from:
Paris
London
Los Angeles
Portland Pollca Officer Knight pursues his pic-
turs taking hobby while on duty at rally protesting
U.S. military Involvment In El Salvador,
(Photo: Ron Richards)
Have your hair
styled by one o f
the b est...
The view from the left
by M . Grinen
' 'C U T D U A R TE S B U D G E T -
SEN D S TO CKM A N TO
EL. S A L V A D O R !”
" A T T IL A T H E H A IG ’’
— Best signs at the hastily called
emergency demonstration Saturday
(Feb . 6) against the A d m in istra-
FORDRY
HACKING
COUGH ANO
CONGESTION
TRY
EXPECTORANT.
c
I »«1 K iirw y
• <llvl.l..n
S .n .l.n Inc Lincoln N . b i . i l « IWMII
lio n ’s plan to give $55 million more
in military aid to the Duarte regime
in El Salvador.
T w o to three hundred people
listened to speeches and songs in
Shrunk Plaza. M ain points: the so-
called "reform ist" Duarte regime is
itself fully responsible for the fas
cist-type terro rist squads; the
Cubans are not to blame for the
popular uprising, nor for its leftist
character, as the movement there
dates back at least to the 1930s, long
before Fidel’s time.
C ity Com m issioner M arg aret
Strachan sent a telegram o f support.
Thanks M a rg a re t— too bad you
were unable to attend and have your
picture taken along with the rest o f
us.
A uniformed, on-duty police o ffi
cer, Badge No. 657 (later identified
by C en tral Precinct as O ffic e r
Knight) was on hand with his cam
era and telephoto lens, photograph
ing the crowd. "Just a hobby.” was
the way this o ffic e r described his
photo activity. When I asked him if
he thought that the uniform, camera
and lens added up to the impression
that Big Brother was Watching Us,
he said he was sorry I felt that way.
What I should worry about, he went
on, were the plain-clothes police
who were taking pictures o f all us
Am ericans freely exercising our
right to peacefully assemble. He was
unable to point out these p la in
clothes officers, o f course.
The first colony to or«"’
suffrage to woman was Naw
Jarsay. which extended the
vote in its 1776 constitution
but rescinded it in 1807.
5 2 6 S.W . P ark A v e . P o rtla n d , 241-9462 241-9463
the Morgan-Park Huilding