Page 4 Portland Observer, February 23, 1963
EDITORIAL/OPINION
Fight sales tax now
The Oregon Legislature’s Democratic Party
leadership— led by the so-called liberal wing o f
the Party— is caving in to the sales tax proposal
offered by a group of Portland businessmen.
Rather than fight the sales tax with all their
might they are passing the buck, abdicating their
responsibility. ’ ’Put it on the ballot,” they say.
"Let the people decide.” Fine in theory, but un
just when they know that the corporations will
pour millions o f dollars into the election cam
paign, using confusion and half-truths to buy
the vote. The citizens who will have to pay the
tax do not have (he resources to fight such a
media blitz.
The Democratic leadership seems to forget the
philosophy on which their Party is founded—
that government should serve the needs o f the
people, that the cost o f government should be
born by those with the ability to pay. They elo
quently say in public speeches that a sales tax
falls most heavily on the backs o f the poor, o f
the working class. Yet they are willing to put an
unfair tax on the ballot.
Perhaps they forget that the State Democratic
Party platform opposes a sales tax. Perhaps they
forget why we elected them and not their Repub
lican opponents.
W hy attack Libya?
President Reagan's intrusion into the territor
ial waters and the airspace o f Libya last weekend
might have a more devious reason than meets
the eye.
It might be an attempt to ju stify a massive
U.S. arms build-up in the Middle East.
The largest new U.S. military command since
Vietnam was born on January 1— the Rapid De
ployment Force. Originally conceived by Presi
dent Carter as a small expeditionary force, the
Command has grown into a massive unit that
will include a half-million troops. Tw o army di
visions, one Marine division, five A ir Force tac
tical fighter wings and three aircraft carriers will
be added with a $20 billion start-up cost.
Originally planned to "protect Persian G u lf
oil and trade,” the R D F has turned into a mas
sive m ilitary wing that will guard " U .S . inter
ests” in an area encompassing at least 20 nations
of the Middle East and Southeast Asia.
The R D F will be a threatening U.S. presence
— reminding such "frien d ly” nations as Egypt,
Saudi Arabia, Oman, and Pakistan that it would
be foolish fo r them to consider a more non-
aligned approach that would preclude the U .S.
government from using them as military bases.
C IA reports of rumors that Quadafi planned to
assassinate the president o f Sudan and take con
trol o f that country sound too much like the
highly publicized C IA rumor that Q uadifi was
sending assassins to dispose o f Reagan and other
U .S. officials. The quick m ilitary response by
the U.S. was a good cover story for the deploy
ment o f thousands o f men and machines to the
desserts o f the Middle East and it will provide a
good response if any U .S . taxpayer bothers to
ask why.
Letters to the Editor
Unemployment brings stress
To thr tditor:
Not tong ago, an article in Psy
chology Today Magazine said that
people living near an unsafe nuclear
plant— the Three Mile Island plant
in Pennsylvania to be specific— were
under more mental stress than
people who lived far away from
such a plant.
A later study in the same maga
zine said that unemployment was
the cause o f considerably more
stress and worry than living near an
unsafe nuclear plant.
With the worst unemployment in
this country since the 1930 Depres
sion, it might be worthwhile to look
into one cause of it.
U .S . corporations are taking
p rofits made in this nation and
building factories in foreign coun
tries. When the factories go over
seas, so do the jobs.
Why are U.S. companies moving
their factories overseas? Mostly, to
take advantage o f the low wages.
For example, the head o f the Irish
Development Association, who was
in this country recently trying to
persuade American businessmen to
move to or build factories in Ir e
land, said, "T h e Irish worker does
two-thirds as much work as the Ger
man worker, but we pay him only
half as much.”
In Ireland alone, three hundred
U.S. companies have factories there
with Westinghouse, by itself, having
seven. Many other nations are brag
ging about their low wages and low
taxes in an e ffo rt to attract U .S .
companies
During his campaign for the Pre
sidency, Ronald Reagan promised
to put people back to work. Instead,
he has put millions of people out of
w ork. He has perm itted the con
tinued movement o f U .S . industry
to low-wage foreign countries so it
seems to me that he did not take his
own promise very seriously.
Henry Korman
Opposes sending teenagers to adult prisons
Sending teenagers into adult pri
sons would only breed more rape,
related and perverted young people,
insanity and syphilis. Can you see
the moral decay in Prophetic Sym-
bilical Babylon (Amerikkka) similar
to the Roman Empire? Crime will
not be stopped until the "w h y” of
crime is answered. As long as unem
ployment continues, the high rate of
crime will remain.
The problem o f unemployment,
induces the socio-pathic personality
resulting in anti-social behavior.
Yet. no human is predestined to be a
crim inal. To deny any person the
right to work is in itself a criminal
act. It's dangerous for the unem
ployed to start doubting their own
abilities.
The toughest part o f crime pre
vention is making him or her believe
in himself as a person. Building
more jails will not solve crime in our
community. Within those walls, ju
veniles would have to fight like ani
mals to protect their manhood. The
thrust or e ffo rt to combat crime
should be to demand employment
for the unemployed.
Think o f the breakdown o f our
public schools, and the non-teach
ing atmosphere that produces alien
children, creating boredom, leading
to delinquency, the outcome o f
which results in crime.
I don't believe the proliferation of
drugs within our community could
exist without the law enforcement
agencies having knowledge o f it.
Who would want to put a teen-ager
in prison, warehouses o f human
degradation. In this nation, prisons
manufacture crime rather than dis
courage it. Ninety-five percent of all
the expenditures in the entire field
of correction in this nation goes for
custody— iron bars, stone walls,
guards.
Forced homosexuality is openly
tolerated. It would be d ifficu lt to
devise a better method o f draining
the last drop of compassion from a
human being than confinement of
teen-agers in adult prisons as they
exist today. Rape and homosexual
culture invilves most of the inmates
by choice or force.
Studies have shown that most
teen-agers suffer from some mental
disturbances at the time they com
mit their crime, but treatment for
mental illness in prisons is virtually
nonexistent.
Human dignity lost, drug usage is
common in prison and many
inmates become addicted. Most au
thorities agree that sexually segre
gated adult penal institutions are
breeding grounds for homosexual
ity; and homosexual practices are so
commonplace in many prisons that
o fficials adm it at least privately,
their inability to adequately cope
with the problem. Sending teenagers
to adult so-called correctional insti
tutions would be a travesty of jus-
‘ tice.
Enforced sexual segregation and
the inevitable homosexuality, would
prove itself thoroughly detrimental
to the rehabilitation of teenagers in
adult Sodomy factories.
I ’ m inclined to believe, most
crime is a manifestation o f psycho
logical aberration. Disease o f the
central nervous system can cause de
viant behavior have been discovered
and they can be recognized and
handled by internists, neurologists
and neurosurgeons using standard
methodolody.
Dr. Jamil Cherovee
Field Director for CORE
Portland Observer
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peh
Association ■ foondad 7M6
A l McGtlhtrry, Editor/Pubhshtr
H
»SarveOS
by M anning M a n b it
" F n a T b t Grassroots “
I first learned about the Congress
o f Racial Equality (C O R E ) in the
spring o f 1961, during the civil
rights movement. In December,
I9 6 0 , the Supreme C ou rt ruled in
Boynton v. Virginia that racial seg-
regaton was illegal on all interstate
buses and trains, and in all transpor
tation terminals. On M ay 4, 1961,
thirteen members of CORE, includ
ing national director James Fanner,
traveled into the Deep South.
Predictably, the biracial group
encountered violent resistance. John
Lewis and another "Freedom R id
e r” were assaulted in Rock H ill,
South C aro lin a on M ay 9. W h ite
mobs in A nniston, A lab am a,
attacked and burned one bus. In
Montgom ery, A labam a, white ra
cists pulled Freedom Riders o ff the
bus and gave them a brutal beating.
In Jackson, Mississippi, Farmer and
a group of 26 Freedom Riders were
given 67 day jail sentences for sitting
in the “ whites-only" sections of the
city's bus depot. Farmer's jail term
served to m obilize every C O R E
chapter. Hundreds made the jo u r
ney south to jo in the Freedom
Rides.
In later years, C O R E became a
"Black Power" formation, aligning
itself with the more radical Student
Non-violent Coordinating Commit
tee. C O R E leader Floyd McKissick
stood second only to Stokely Carmi-
chael as a natio n ally-kn o w n pro
ponent o f black nationalism .
McKissick and C O R E attacked the
Johnson A dm in istratio n ’s illegal
and immoral war in Vietnam. One
might disagree with CORE'S contro
versial political stands, but not even
its worst critics could claim that the
organization did not identify with
the goals and ideals of the oppressed
black community.
Today, this statement is no longer
true. Inch by inch, C O R E has re
treated from the vanguard o f pro
gressive struggle into the open arms
o f the forces o f Reaganism, racism
and economic reaction. From
"Black Power” o f the 1960s, CORE
and its leader Roy Innis have aban
doned their militant history for ac
ceptance into the posh corridors of
the ruling m ilitary-industrial com
plex.
In 1976, C O R E pushed the plan
to recruit Afro-Americans to fight
as mercenaries against the new pro
gressive government of Angola. In
nis advocated support for U N IT A ,
a black puppet organization which
is backed by the Republic of South
Africa and the United States. Objec
tively, C O R E was placing its name
and prestige in the service o f inter
national terrorism and white su
premacy.
F in a lly , last m onth, C O R E
reached an all-time low in the annals
of the civil rights movement. At the
fortieth anniversary convention of
the organization. C O R E gave a spe
cial award to a rightwing reaction
ary, Gen. W illiam Westmoreland,
who commanded U .S . troops in
Vietnam. Inis declared that any cri
ticisms o f Westmoreland were un
fa ir because " th e man was (just)
carrying out o rders.” C O R E also
presented a special award to a black
vicepresident o f Anheuser Busch
brewery. The firm is currently en
gaged in a struggle with Jesse Jack-
son, Operation P U S H , and other
civil rights leaders over the lack of
adequate affirmative action and cri
tical black economic support. Thus
Innis and C O R E , by applauding
Anheuser Busch at this time, have
undermined efforts o f civil rights
activists.
A t tome point, we must begin to
hold our so-called black leadership
accountable when they objectively
and pathetically serve the interests
of multinational corporations and
international racism. For unlike (he
Jesse Jacksons, whose em otional
grandstanding and florid rhetoric
may simply irritate, Innis has moved
behond the boundaries of political
opprotunism into the camp o f the
enemy. The rich history o f C O R E
and its vision o f equality has been
uprooted by a group of self-serving
black elites who reinforce the pro
cesses of racist exploitation and eco
nomic oppression.
Salem Watch
Hazing o f freshmen state legisla
tors is a longstanding Salem tradi
tion. They did it this year to Larry
Hill (D-Springfield) when he carried
the first b ill o f the season. By
shifting votes prior to the final tally,
bills which will eventually pass tem
porarily appear defeated. H ill ap
preciated the joke, and his Arbor
Week bill finally passed.
It wasn’t hazing, however, when
support started peeling away from a
later b ill supported by another
freshman, Rep. Ed Leek (D -P o rt-
land). Before HB 2373 could even
come up fo r a vote on the House
floor. Associated Oregon Industries
(A O I) was out to scuttle a proposal
to allow out-of-work Oregonians to
receive both unemployment insur
ance benefits and vocational retrain
ing. Currently, Oregonians have to
choose between receving unemploy
ment compensation or seeking re
training. To the original 34 sponsors
of H B 2373, this choice constituted
cruel and unusual punishment for
those experiencing the worst effects
of Oregon’s stalled economy.
H B 2373, however, ran into a
formidable obstacle in the form of
A O I, one of Oregon's most influen
tial lobby groups. Suddenly, the
State Employment Division began
working against the b ill they had
helped to write. Governor Vic A ti-
yeh paid a visit to House Speaker
Gratten Kerans (D-Eugenc), trying
to persuade Kerans to let the bill die.
When Kerans went ahead and o r
ganized a floor fight in the House of
Representatives on February 8, ru
mors circulated that the governor
might veto the bill i f the Senate
didn't kill it for him.
Now why would industry oppose
a bill allowing benefits to un
employed workers who are acquir
ing skills relevant to the industries
Oregon would like to attract? A O I
lobbyists claimed it would be " fis
cally irresponsible” to bankrupt
Oregon's unemployment insurance
fu n d — which would mean higher
unemployment insurance rates for
A O I’s member companies. Spe
cious as this argument may appear,
it — or rather A O I— was strong
enough to convince the 10 Republi
can sponsors to vote to send the bill
back to committee. When this diver
sion failed on a party line vote, all
but three representatives (two Re
publicans and one Democrat) went
ahead and voted the bill over to the
Senate. Despite the apparent una
nim ity o f the vote, the power o f
A O I remains clear: That A O I was
able to convince 10 Republican
sponsors to vote against their own
bill demonstrates industry's power
over this political party. A O I's clout
with Republican legislators becomes
that much more obvious when one
realizes that even the P ortland
Chamber o f Commerce would not
go along with A O I's efforts to kill
HB2373.
Oregon's business climate.
As unfair as A O I’s strategy may
seem, this is how the political game
is played. A O I— as do all special in
terest groups— desires to shield its
members from the fu ll costs o f
problems they generate. And, since
A O I lobbyists are skilled gamesmen
(and women), they have been rela
tively successful in convincing legis
lators that their special interests are
really in the public’s best interests.
Unlike political conservatives. A O I
has not adopted the simple-minded
approach o f "less government is
better governm ent.” Industry
profits by many state expenditures,
and A O I m aintains that these
should, indeed, be expanded. So
herein lies the brilliance of the " fis
Now that the dust has temporarily
cal responsibility” argument: that
settled on the first floor fight o f the
which benefits business and industry
season, the question remains: Why
is "responsible,” that which bene
would a powerful industry lobby ex
fits workers as "irresponsible."
pend so much political capital k ill
Thus, we have a consistent A O I
ing such a sensible bill? The answer
stance: take the credit (and tax sup
is not " fis c a l resp o nsib ility,” as
port) for creating jobs, but avoid
A O I claims, but internalizing the
the blame (or the costs) for creating
costs o f a poor economy. By allow
unemployment. The reality is that
ing certain unemployed Oregonians
most o f A O I’s members operate in
to seek retraining while receiving
an economic system which rewards
benefits, the cost is shifted fro m so
short-term activities and is impa
ciety in general and the worker in
tient with long-term investments;
particular to the employer. No new
the result is increasing capital move
costs are created; they are shifted—
ment and increasing occupational
or in economic jargon " in te rn a l-
displacement. Someone, soma
iz e 3 " — to the business sector. La
where, must pay these costs.
beling a public policy decision such
The real dilemma facing members
as this as "fiscally irresponsible" is
of
the legislature is not how to act in
technically incorrect; it is. however,
a fiscally responsible manner them
politically expedient.
selves; but rather, how to get AOFs
members to act as responsible cor-
A O I's coining of the term "fiscal
responsibility” is nothing short of * porate citizens in an economy which
penalizes such behavior. Legislators
b rillia n t. Use o f this term enables
must realize that it is neither fiscally
A O I to put liberal legislators on the
nor socially responsible to maintain
defensive, while giving A O I room to
unemployment insurance payments
maneuver behind its own pet pro
while denying Oregonians the op
gram expenditures. Thus, it be
portunity to obtain the skills neces
comes "fiscallly irresponsible” to
sary to return to productivity.
fund w orker retraining from em
Support of HB 2373 by Rep. Leak
ployer monies, social and welfare
and his colleagues seems to be an
services from the general fund, and
equitable first step in sharing the
infrastructure improvements from
burden of the costly problem of un
user fees because the monetary re
employability. Let us hope that the
serves are depleted. On the othei
last laugh, if there must be one, will
hand, it is "fiscally responsible" to
not come at the expense of those un
fund tax credits, vocational train
employed Oregonians least able to
ing, and subsidized energy genera
a ffo rd and least responsible for
tion costs from the genera* fund
creating this severe social cost.
since these expenditures im prove
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