P ige 2, Portland Observer, December 24, 1986 Along the Color Line Healthwatch by Ot M.innifU) M.irjtM«.* \ by Steven Bailey. N O O» The recent state conference on legislative development by Oregon Fair Share shows just how far Fair Share has come in the last de cade. This consumer-oriented group concen­ trated heavily on the utility issues during the /0's, and, while helping guarantee that elec­ tricity will not be shut off in winter months due to delinquent payment (so seniors and others don't freeze) and helping establish bet­ ter representation in utility board decisions, they (Fair Share) have really not done much in other areas of consumer affairs. The times are changing, and Fair Share is involving it­ self in a wide variety of consumer issues. At the recent state conference (Dec. 13th, 1986), members of Fair Share came up with the following concerns and endorsements: Major areas of concern were: 1) health issues, 2) taxes and schools, 3) insurance re­ form. Of concern also were: 4) jobs and quality employment, 5) toxic waste and job exposure, and 6) South African divestiture and world peace. The specific endorsements in the area of health care were: 1) Support of a bill to require all doctors to accept Medicare assignments (meaning that doctors will only charge fees consistant with Medicare rates and only require the patient to pay the 20% not covered by the federal government). Currently, Oregon is in the lower half of U S ratings for percent of doc­ tors accepting Medicare. Even though the Oregon Medical Association has lobbied hard to prevent manditory assignment changes, I air Share has pledged to join other Senior organizations to challenge the OMA in Salem and to attempt to get a law introduced similar to the Massachusetts law that ties licensure of doctors to Medicare assignments. 2) Freedom of Choice: Orogon Fair Share has endorsed LC draft $56 which would gua rantee Oregonians the freedom to choose any licensed health provider and know that their insurance policy cannot arbitrarily exclude these practitioners from coverage. This is a draft (soon to become a bill) that will bring Oregon into a group of 44 other states that pium uit insurance discrimination. We, as Ore gonians, deserve to have freedom of choice in an area as personal and important as health care. Write the Oregon Health Care Coalition at P.0 Box 10943, Portland, OR, 97210, for more information on this issue. 3, Price labeling on prescriptions: Fair Share joins other Senior organizations is sup­ porting legislative change that would require that all prescriptions be labeled for actual cost, so that consumers can make an educated choice of which form of prescription to use (i.e., generic substitutes) and which pharma­ cies have the best prices. This label change would be similar to the price information that we now require on food in Oregon. 4) Care for the needy: Fair Share realizes that there are thousands of Oregonians who do not have adequate health care. This penny wise, pound foolish attitude is counter productive to a strong and vital society. We need to continue to improve the quality and access to health services for our needy and indigent populations. 5) Quality long term care: Concern for the debilitating costs of long term care, as well as the variable quality of care, for our seniors in nursing homes was mentioned frequently. Fair Share looks toward changes that would help allevaite both of the major problems. Fair Share will research what work is being done in this and other areas of long term care and as­ sist other groups as their resources permit. It is encouraging to see Fair Share become more of a broad based consumer group. While we still need improvement in areas of traditional concerns to Fair Share, the coali tion's expansion into other areas now makes this one of the most constructive and produc tive groups open to the general public. The next time one of Fair Share's recruiters comes to your door or the next time Fair Share holds a meeting close to your home, get involved! Maybe you'll find that change is possible with enough good people working for the same issue. Happy New Year to all friends of the Port land Observer May 1987 be a year in which we all prosper. EDITORIAL/OPINION persons were executed in the United States. Of these, 2,066, or 54 percent, were Black. For the crime of murder, 3,337 were executed; 1,630, or 49 percent, were Black. For rape, 455 men were executed, 405, or 90 percent were Black. During this period, Blacks made up only 10 percent of the total U S. popula tion. The above statistics show a clear pattern of systematic bias against Blacks in the applica tion of the death penalty. However, Blacks aren't the only group who disproportionately receive the death sentence. The poor of all races have been the chief victims of the death penalty. Given the fact that capital punishment is inhumane, immoral, anti God, incompatible with an enlightened society, and discrimina­ tory, it should be abolished once and for all. Letters to the Editor Freedom and Social Justice by A lexander R Jones "Black America's Biggest Challenge" The challenge facing Black America as we head into the 21st century is the development of the capability to routinely educate our children so they will be able to compete with the best in an increasingly competitive society. We must find teachers who care and who believe Black youth can excel, and we must use teaching methods that will produce not only mastery of the basics of reading, writing and arithmetic, but real world expertise in a marketable skill, whether it be in the perfor­ ming arts, computer programming, carpentry, or business management. For the latter, we should adopt the power­ ful educational technology developed by philo­ sopher and writer, L. Ron Hubbard. i N r n p ro fe ta *)* o f w x x jio y v e n d p o i i l x j i v e n t e A lo n g th e C o for l * W e p p e e *« m ove» 140 n t w ^ M p r s •oti-tn.ilMXWrtlv Emperor Reagan's New Clothes The Iran-Contra arms scandal may mark the final chapter of Reaganism, a political m ove­ ment of the far Right based on militarianism, economic greed, pseudopatriotism, and racial bigotry. Its prinicipal spokesperson. President Ronald Reagan, no longer manipulates the public's confidence Back in September, an ABC News Washington Post Poll stated that series of investigative reports. In both instan­ ces, the administrations tried to deny their in­ volvement in crimes, and/or refused to con firm that illegalities existed Both Watergate and the current crisis are logical outcomes of Republican public policies and administrative styles. For Nixon, there was an utter con­ tempt for the democratic processes, a desire to bend and break the law to obtain power. For Reagan, there is a hatred of Congressional checks and balances, and a belief that the ends justify the means. Reagan has been called the "Teflon Presi­ dent", a politician so widely popular that vir­ tually nothing he did alienated the majority of Americans Between late 1983 and late 1986, Reagan's popularity ratings ranged between 57 to 68 percent But Reagan has never been popular among Black Americans. Nine out of ten Blacks voted against him in both 1980 and 1984, More than other Americans, we saw through the old actor's verbal tech­ niques and phony folksy style. Essentially, white America is gradually moving to a per spective which Black America has held of Rea­ gan since 1981. What did w e know that whites did not know? We knew, firstly, that the real legacy of Rea­ ganism was high unemployment, factory clo­ sings and deteriorating innercities. The laissez faire policies of Reaganomics have destroyed millions of families, and shut down thousands of businesses. Reagan frequently attacked the "tax and spend” Democrats, but offered no real alternatives in fiscal policy. He promised to balance the budget with an amendment to the Constitution, but in practice, he never sub mitted to Congress any balanced budget. Reagan vowed to use tough rhetoric to get the Soviets to negotiate arms treaties, yet in practice, he has not eliminated one single bal listic missile through negotiations in six years. Reagan's charm and good public relations gimmicks fooled many people, but now a majority see that the "em peror" is vulnerable and immoral. No suit of "new clothes," no new rhetoric, is likely to reverse Reagan's fall from grace. Reagan's personal approval rating was 67 per cent. After news was released that the Presi dent had, in effect, traded guns for hostages with the Iranian regime, his approval rating slumped to 53 percent. By early December, his overall public approval rating slid down to 46 percent, the sharpest one month decline ever recorded by any public opinion polls which measure presidential popularity Reagan was quick to blame all of his troubles on the media, the convenient "whip ping boy" of all politicians, but any analysis of recent opinion polls disputes the interpretation that "Reagan bashers" are the cause of the President's problems. A majority of Ameri cans believe that Reagan is lying about the scandal. Fifty three percent state that Reagan himself must have been aware "that money from the Iranian arms sales was going to help the contras” ; 65 percent believe that Reagan's top aide Donald Regan also knew; only 36 per cent believe that Reagan has the ability to deal with "d ifficu lt international crises” , and only 27 percent of all Americans would choose Reagan over the U S Congress to "make the right decisions on foreign policy." Many have drawn parallels between the Watergate scandal and the Iran Contra arms disaster Indeed, 47 percent of all Americans now believe that the crisis is "as serious for the country as Watergate was,” and 10 per cent more believe it is "even more serious." In both cases, the scandals were initiated by illegal actions committed by presidential em ployees and lieutenants inside the White House basement the "plum bers” and the National Security Council. In both cases, the press was forced to extract the truth from con servative Republican administrations in a Letters to the Editor Capital Punishment Should Be Abolished Toney Anaya, the outgoing governor of New Mexico, was criticized by proponents of the death penalty in New Mexico and across the nation recently when he commuted the death sentences of five convicted killers to life imprisonment. Gov Anaya said the reason he commuted the condemned men's death sentences was because capital punishment is "inhumane, immoral, anti God, and is incom ­ patible with an enlightened society." Gov Anaya's assessments of the death penalty are accurate. However, there is an other reason capital punishment should be abolished The death penalty should be out lawed because it is discriminatory. There is substantial evidence showing that courts have been arbitrary, racially biased, and unfair in the way in which they have sentenced some persons to prison and others to death. For example, between 1930 and 1980, 3,862 M. • f Pu»ote»%hed every kx 1483 N t P o tt O Hw e Bo« 1137 KrfhrtQS Portland SUM Oregon 972OB Ser.ond elevi p o tta g e pe«d ei Portland Oregon Th^ M >"/«/**in. I tlilor/l^tfhliyhcr .4/ Williams, (ir n r r a l Manager S now Bunny Lodge Community Center. 6400 Snow Bunny Lodge near Transportation and inner Fee is $14 N a tio n a l A d v e r tis in g A a p r a * a m » ii v » A m a lg a m a t e d P u b lis h « ! • N a w Vorfc Trip, Dec 29. 8 30 AM 5 PM Peninsula Park N Albina Enjoy inner tubing down the slopes of Mt Hood Bring lunch and a change of clothes tubes are included Pre registration is essential I,,,