Portland observer., July 25, 1984, Page 4, Image 4

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Pago 4 Portland Observer, July 25, 1984
EDITORIAL/OPINION
Williams' loss, Penthouse's gain
W ith a voyeur’ s c u rio s ity , A m erica is exper­
ie n c in g Vanessa W illia m s * p e rso n a l m ista ke
and em barrassment w hile Penthouse magazine
laughs a ll (he way to the bank at her expense.
Penthouse's callousness is the "p o rn o g ra p h ic
rape” o f Miss W illiam s who shared the trium ph
o f being the first Black Miss Am erica. N ow she
shares the disgrace o f being the first to resign her
cro w n a fte r the p u b lic a tio n o f nude, sexually
explicit photographs.
Penthouse showed e xtrem ely p o o r taste by
p rin tin g the pornogra phic photos o f tw o years
ago next to photos o f her cu rre n t accom plish­
m ents, b e littlin g her in a very s ig n ific a n t way.
T hey p u t salt in an open w o u n d by in fe c tin g
M iss W illia m s w ith p o rn o g ra p h ic V .D . in the
pursuit o f m aking a buck.
H indsight is always 20/20, and Miss W illiam s
will be m ore the wiser to m o rro w because o f a
poor decision she made yesterday. A n overview
o f this th o u g h t has a lesson fo r us a ll. Those
w h o have goals m ust be c o n siste n t and
irreproachable as they stride tow ard success.
T h e re is a r e s p o n s ib ility to o n e s e lf th a t
should be over and above am bition. As you step
tow ard each goal, there w ill be people w ho w ill
n o t have y o u r best in te re sts at h e a rt. M iss
W illia m s ran in to tw o — the magazine and the
photographer.
M a ke sure the career d ecisions you m ake
today w ill not pop up to m o rro w to embarrass,
hinder or destroy what you w orked hard to a t­
tain.
As the p u b lic feathers Penthouse's nest, let
w isdom guide your ju d g m e n t. Rem em ber, the
one fin g e r you p o in t at M iss W illia m s leaves
three pointing back at you.
skyro cke tin g , and Fadeley saw a chance to do
som ething about it.
U n ita ry tax foes, m e anw hile, saw a can o f
worms opening and moved to close it. The last
th in g they w anted was to take up a d d itio n a l
agenda items at a special session and cloud their
issue. T o the rescue came P u b lic U tility C o m ­
missioner Gene M a u d lin and L arry W olfard. o f
Pacific Northwest Bell.
M audlin has sole a u thority to grant u tility rate
hikes in O re g o n . He had a lre a d y po stp o n e d
P N B ’ s measured business rates once so the PU C
s ta ff c o u ld h o ld a series o f in fo r m a tio n a l
meetings to explain the complicated changes. He
and W o lfa rd , c o in cid e n ta lly also chairm an o f
the state’ s Economic Development Com m ission,
saw th e ir o p p o rtu n ity to be o f service and the
measured business rates met a fate s im ila r to
the sales tax. P N B agreed to postpone its rate
change request fo r one year.
A ll concerned have denied any c o m p lic ity in
this series o f events. N ow the coast is clear fo r
the u n ita ry m ethod o f taxation to be repealed,
and p re s u m a b ly , d o m e s tic and fo re ig n c o r ­
po ra tio n s w ill be jo s tlin g in line to get a plant
located in Oregon.
It isn’ t clear where the state w ill make up the
estim ated $22 m illio n it receives th ro u g h the
u n ita ry tax. It is clear that businesses w o n ’ t be
w o rry in g about that. T h a t’ s the gove rn m e n t’ s
problem.
said this drawing exemplified the Republican ten­
dency to follow along and the Democrats to fuss
and fight with each other. Eagan la now working
on drawing vice-presidential candidate Geraldine
Ferraro, who ha said has the "Kennedy w ind­
swept hair" look.
Tax giveaways fuel deficit
E d ito rs note:
The fo llo w in g analysis originally
appeared in Economic Notes, a pu­
tt p u b lic a tio n o f L a b o r Research
Association.
Complicity underlies session
Oregonians were treated to a graphic display
recently o f the cozy relationship in the state be­
tween business and governm ent. It makes one
w onder where all the talk about O regon’ s " a n ­
ti-business’ ’ clim ate comes fro m .
G o v e rn o r A tiy e h and business leaders have
been badm outhing the state’s unitary method o f
com puting corporate taxes fo r some time. In o r­
der to present a unitary tax-less image to Pacific
Rim nations when he visits there in September,
Atiyeh wants to have the troublesome regulation
o ff the books by then. The answer was to call a
special session o f the L e g is la tu re , w h ic h w ill
meet M onday, July 30th, in Salem.
The path to calling the special session was not
free o f obstacles, however. One m ajor one was
State S enator Ed F adeley, D -E ugene , w h o is
best kn o w n (and loved o r hated) by observers
fo r his vehem ent o p p o s itio n to the sales tax
proposal passed by last year’s legislature and je t­
tiso n e d by the c o u rts a fte r the b a llo t access
process was deemed u n co n s titu tio n a l. Fadeley
decided il a special session were called, it presented
an excellent opportun ity to discuss the measured
business telephone rates then due fo r im plem en­
ta tio n O ctober I at the request o f P acific N o r­
thwest Bell. The new rate system, w hich w ould
charge fo r each o u tg o in g call fro m a business
p h o n e , was g a in in g o p p o s itio n d a ily fr o m
c u s to m e rs w h o e n v is io n e d th e ir p hone b ills
The Observer was provided thia cartoon by the
artist. Tim Eagan, who works with the Santa Cruz.
CA, Express. Eagan was at the Democratic
National Convention In San Francisco last weak
and also had soma of his work at a political car­
toon exhibit at the Braunstaln Gallery there. Ha
T h e fed eral d e fic it is on every­
one's m ind this election year.
Republicans and Democrats spend
hours in Congressional chambers
seeking ways to trim ihe deficit. Yet
no serious proposals have emerged.
M e a n w h ile , noi a w ord is heard
about ihe $200 billion that is handed
over to big business each year in the
form o f tax subsidies. R ather, ad ­
vocates o f Ind u strial Policy argue
that corporations require more sub­
sidies as "incentives" to invest.
Since 1983, the corporate share of
the fed eral taxes has fa lle n from
30% to 8 % . T h e Congressional
Budget O ffice predicts that the cor­
porate share will fall well below that
figu re in the next tw o years. The
Reagan tax cuts of 1981 fed billions
into the coffers of the corporations
and d rain ed the fed eral treasury.
T his was p rim a rily due to in ­
creasingly generous tax w rite-o ffs
for plants and equipment.
As older plants and equipm ent
become obsolete, they fall under the
provisions o f the new tax laws. The
result is that most equipment can be
w ritte n o f f in three to fiv e years.
This has accelerated plant shut­
downs. As old equipment is thrown
out and new equipm ent installed,
the tax rales on incom e derived
fro m co rp o rate investm ent move
towards zero.
In 1983, co rp o ratio n s received
over $200 b illio n in tax subsidies.
These subsidies take the form o f tax
credits, accelerated d ep reciation ,
exemptions o f certain forms o f in­
come from taxation, and depletion
allowances.
In 1983, the U .S . governm ent
p ro vided $66 b illio n in direct tax
subsidies to corporations. Across-
th e-b o a rd subsidies to all c o r­
porations accounted for 73% o f the
direct subsidies, or $4 7 .7 b illio n .
These include deductions fo r loan
losses, capital gains tax exemptions
on securities held by corporations,
accelerated
d ep rec iatio n
on
m achinery and rental p ro p e rties ,
safe h arb o r leasing rules, and in ­
vestment tax credits.
Subsidies to the energy industry in
the form of oil depletion allowances
and other mechanisms amounted to
$2.4 billion. Credits for foreign in­
vestments and income derived from
exports yielded $2.3 billion for the
corporations. Tax credits for scien­
tific and m ilita ry -re la te d research
came to $2.5 billion. Credits for job
training and education amounted to
$3.8 billion. Tax credits on loans to
state and local governmental bodies
came to $4.6 billion. Credits for in­
vestments in n a tu ra l resource in ­
dustries came to $ 1 .1 billion.
C o rp o ra tio n s also came aw ay
with billions in the form o f credits
on benefit payments to employees.
For exam ple, in 1983, em ployers
received $67 billion in tax exclusions
due to pension contributions. They
received another $25 b illion in ex­
clusions from contributions to em ­
ployee insurance plans. They
received more b illio n s fro m e m ­
p lo ye r-p ro vid e d c h ild care, e m ­
ployee meals and lodging, and other
payments.
I f we include tax deductions for
the rich in the form o f capital gains
exclusions and deductions for a per­
centage o f mortgages and property
taxes, among other things, we find
that in 1983, the w ealth y received
over $50 b illio n in tax giveaways
from the federal government.
The tax giveaways to c o r­
porations and the rich, who own the
large corporations, total well over
$200 billion a year, or more than the
size o f the annual fed eral budget
d eficits under the Reagan a d ­
ministration. If these subsidies were
ended and the m ilita ry budget
reduced by one-half, or about $100
billion, the budget deficit would be
erased and there would be a sizable
budget surplus to finance social
programs.
I f the d e fic it and the related
econom ic problem s are to be
eliminated, a challenge to corporate
profits must occur. The only other
options are for increased taxes on
w o rkin g people, or an in te n ­
sifica tio n o f the in s tab ility o f the
U.S. economy.
Letters to the E ditor
Keep unitary tax
taxes By creating a "lev el playing
fie ld " for all sizes o f companies, it
is fair to Oregon-only businesses as
well. Finally, it allows us to avoid a
disastrous tax-cut competition with
other states, a battle Oregon cannot
win.
This special session has nothing to
do w ith Japanese m anu facturers
w ho claim to be upset about the
unitary tax. The real windfall will be
fo r A m erican companies w ith
existing Oregon operations. A b an ­
donment o f ihe unitary method will
give them a no-stnngs-attached sub­
sidy. W e, the individual taxpayers,
eventually will have to make up the
$20 million or so involved.
One really must wonder about the
To the E ditor:
As the state legislature rushes o ff
to yet an o ther expensive special
session, O regon taxpayers should
ask, "Just what is the big hurry on
e lim in a tin g
the
u n ita ry
tax
m ethod?"
The unitary lax approach is really
a m atter o f com m on sense. A ll it
means is that the Oregon proportion
of a company's overall operations is
subject to taxation.
U n d er u n itary ta x a tio n , m u lti­
state or international corporations
pay their lair share, instead o f shif­
ting p ro fits to lo w -tax areas and
forcing the rest of us to pay higher
real m otive o f the G o v e rn o r, key
legislators and o pin io n-m akers in
calling fo r a special session on the
unitary tax question during this elec­
tion year.
W hy are we trying to get rid of a
system th at's w orking fine? L e t’ s
not go o f f the deep end on the
unitary tax.
Fred Heutte
End flesh peddling
To the E ditor:
As director and founder o f one of
the oldest pageants for young Afro-
A m eric an w om en , the Miss Tan
Portland Observer
O 'P i JO"
News
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Pageant and fa th e r o f three o u t­
standing w om en, I stron g ly feel
Vanessa W illiams did the right thing
by relinquishing her crown as Miss
A m erica because she vio lated the
m orals clause in the pageant con­
tract.
Miss W illiam s' actions o f posing
fo r sexually explicit photographs
does not represent the epitom e o f
the wholesome A ll-A m e ric a n girl
that our little girls aspire to emulate.
W e must set high standards for all
of our youth and her actions fall far
short. Public figures, and especially
those who are Black, have a m an­
date to re fle ct the highest m oral
standards possible. W e must raise
the stand ard that beauty is more
than s k in -d ee p , inn er beauty is
moral integrity and virtue. A good
name cannot be bought, only sold.
In (his d ay, when A m erican
women are com ing in to th eir own
based on their competence, charac­
ter, intellect, moral fiber and inner
beauty, there is no need to "peddle
nesh."
The Miss Am erica title is rightly
bestowed upon tne first runner-up,
Suzette Charles. M ay her God bless
her,
Jimm v Bang-Bang Walker
white jury.
By virtue o f the difference in up­
b ring ing th at exists between
m in orities and most whites, there
can be no fa ir trial when a verdict
rests upon facts or charges that an
a ll-w h ite ju r y is c u ltu ra lly un­
prepared to understand. Most o f us
(m in o ritie s ) have never met " O f ­
ficer Friendly” and, therefore, take
an entirely different outlook towards
dealing w ith police than those
that sit on our juries.
The concept of a fair trial is even
fu rth er abused when you place an
unsuspecting white jury in the hands
o f an assistant D .A . who has been
trained to m an ip u late the feelings
and sub-conscious prejudices the
average ju r o r may u n k n o w in g ly
possess.
It is time to let the elected officials
know that Blacks, and other
minorities are concerned about the
quality of the court system we so o f­
ten fall victim to. It is time to show
our concern for a system that covers
36 counties, and has over ISO
judges, and yet, has only 2 judges
fro m m in o rity ethnic groups. It is
tim e to stop the police dept. from
slanting th eir " in v e s tig a tio n s " in
favor of the D . A . ’s office. Become
involved b efo re you stand as Ihe
only person of color in an all-white
court room.
Robert W. Fentress
Business M anager, U H U R U
Runyan's open
To the Editor:
N o , R un yan 's 8 8 * Store is not
closed. Yes, we're open and we need
your su p po rt. Y o u are w hat has
kept the store open and you are
what has made the store. We would
like to think you need the store in
the community.
T h e store has been here fo r 25
years, and we w ould like fo r it to
stay, but w ith o u t the help o f the
n eig h b o rh o o d , we cannot do it
alone. So come look, check out the
low prices and new items.
W e ’ re open M o n d a y th ro ug h
S a tu rd a y , 9 a m . to 5:45 p .m . at
3716 N .E . Union. Thank you.
R u n yan ‘s 8 8 t Store
The Observer welcomes Letters to
the Editor. Letters should be short,
and must contain the writer's name
and address (addresses are not p rin t­
ed/ The Observer reserves the right
to edit f o r length.
No fair trial
To Ihe Editor:
A fte r having the u nfo rtu nate ex­
perience o f being Black and facing
an all white judicial system, it comes
as no surprise to me th at there is
need for changes in the court system
o f O regon. T here is also need for
Blacks and o ther m in o ritie s to
become aware o f, and take a stand
against an unfair court system prior
to the time that they must face an all
NUCLEAR W AR BALLOT
YES □ Let's have a nuclear war.
I'm sick of w aitin g /
N O Q I'd rather wait a little longer.
Too only bave one vote.
nn wwm h o v m
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