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One year after Clinton’s election
to the White House, a clear political
orientation has developed within the
leadership o f his adm inistration.
Clinton’s core electoral base, the m il­
lions of African-Americans, Latinos,
trade unionists, feminists, environ­
mentalists, and liberals, expected the
Arkansas Democrat to adhere to many
progressive policies. Instead,on issue
after issue, from Lani Guinier to
NAFTA, Clinton has repudiated, in­
sulted and alienated the people most
responsible for h is victory over George
Bush.
The latest retreat appears to be on
health care. For months, Clinton has
preached that his strategy for health
care reform had to embrace universal
coverage, giving all consumers the
freedom to choose their own doctors.
Instead of the more comprehensive
“single-payer” health care system used
in Canada, Clinton called for an ap­
proach described as “managed com ­
petition”, which attempts to incorpo­
rate market forces into a government-
supervised system, with the objec­
tives of reducing overall costs and
maintaining general quality. The
Republicans are divided on their re­
sponse to the Clinton program. Some
favor a much more modest managed
competition approach proposed by
moderate Republican Senator John
Chafee of Rhode Island; others desire
little to no change in the nation’s
health care system at all.
Now on the horizon comes the
health plan of conservative Demo­
cratic Congressman Jim Cooper of
Tennessee. Cooper ’s plan differs from
Clinton’s in that it would require
businesses to pay 80 percent of all
health insurance premiums, while
employees would have to cover the
other 20 percent. Cooper would con­
trol medical costs by promoting mar­
ket competition between large corpo­
rate health care providers. Cooper’s
plan would also still leave 25 million
Americans uncovered.
Cooper’s “alternative” is being
aggressively promoted by a motley
crew of neolibcrals and corporate in­
terests. The editors of The New Re­
public have made Cooper their politi­
cal pin-up boy, warning thatClinton’s
approach has too much federal bu­
reaucracy. Leaders of the conserva­
tive Democratic LeadershipCouncil-
-which Clinton once hcaded-support
Cooper’s initiative. And behind the
scenes, as Cooper aggressively raises
money to run for the U.S. Senate in
Tennessee next year, the health care
industry is financing his efforts. As
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A New Year’s Resolution For Us All
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D r . M anning M arable
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Civil Rights Journal
jA I n g ' l l ,
o r Lune
“Tho Perils Of Centrist
Government”
by
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reported by the consumer organiza­
tion Citizen Action, Cooper led all
435 members of the House in receiv­
ing large financial contributions from
the health industry, with $153,000
through June 301993. A compromise
is probably in the works. And the odds
are good, unfortunately, that the
administration’s final plan will em­
brace many of Cooper’s ideas.
There is also speculation that the
Clinton administration may refuse to
include abortion coverage in his “re­
vised” health care plan, as a conces­
sion to conservatives. Although it is
many times more costly in tax dollars
to pay for prenatal care, delivery, and
social service support than for abor­
tion, Clinton may sacrifice the inter­
ests of low income women who can­
not afford abortions, in order to please
his conservative critics.
On the environment a similar
picture emerges. Huge corporations
which pollute the environment and
their insurance companies are lobby­
ing to rewrite the Superfund law,
which has forced them to spend bil­
lions of dollars to clean up hazardous
waste site. Clinton’s Environmental
Protection Agency is advocating the
position of environmental organiza­
tions. But his Treasury Department
under conservative Democrat Lloyd
B entsen favors ch an g es in the
Superfund favoring the corporations.
Clinton will probably split the differ­
ence.
What we have in power in Wash­
ington today is neither fish nor
fowl,neither liberal nor conservative.
It is the frustrating maneuverings of
“pragmatic centrism ”. Clinton is
clearly devoid of any deep convic­
tions beyond his own dedication to­
ward reelection. He is contemptuous
of h is most loyal supporters, and lacks
any capacity for strategic planning.
W e can therefore anticipate in 1994
continued concessions both to the left
and right. For his labor union con­
stituency, the President will probably
increase the minimum wage and sup­
port a job retraining proposal favored
by House Majority Leader Richard
Gephardt and his Labor Secretary
R obert Reich. For conservatives,
Clinton will call for a major overhaul
in the welfare system, and may en­
dorse the line-item veto on congres­
sional legislation.
The chief perils of centrist gov­
ernment arc that by appealing to nearly
everyone, no one is fully satisfied.
Clinton doesn’t understand that the
primary principle of successful poli­
tics is leadership: people must always
know where you stand.
by
B ernice I’ ow ell J ackson
A frican A m ericans face the
possibility that we will become
the next endangered species on
earth. Like the bold eagle and
o th ers on the g o v ernm en t’s list,
we, too , face extinction. It is the
m ost frightening nightm are o f any
people — the annihilatio n o f a
race.
Y et, to d ay , at a tim e when our
country is at “p ea ce,” young A fri­
can A m erican men living in our
cities are m ore likely to die of
g u n sh o t w ounds than a U.S. so l­
d ier was to be killed on a tour of
duty during the V ietnam W ar,
according to E ssence M agazine.
Every six hours a young A frican
A m erican male is killed. Every
six hours. In 1990 alone 45 c h il­
dren under 10 w ere killed — the
num bers in the years since are
probably higher.
The Surgeon G eneral o f the
U .S. estim ates that som e 135,000
ch ild ren carry guns to school e v ­
ery day. A nother estim ate is that
one in every five high school stu ­
dents carries a gun to school.
Tw o m onths ago the W ash­
ington Post reported on eleven
and tw elve year olds who were
plan n in g their funerals instead of
th eir prom s. These young people
have seen so m uch random v io ­
lence in their b rief lives that they
had no ex p ectatio n o f living into
ad u lthood. I t’s not ju st W ashing­
ton, D.C. where our ch ildren are
dying — it’s every city and even in
sm all tow ns and rural areas. We
are becom ing an endangered sp e­
cies.
As A frican A m erican people
we have a rich legacy o f our m oth­
ers and fathers who did not let
fear stop them . They did not let
racism or sexism or the KKK stop
them . H arriet Tubm an and Nat
T u rn er did not w ait for the E m an­
cipation Proclam ation to do som e­
thing about slavery. Ida W ells-
B arn e tt did not w ait for a n ti­
lynching laws to do something about
the lynching of thousands of black
men in the south.
O ur ch ildren — our future --
are dying. We are an endangered
species and we m ust not wait for
o th ers to do som ething about the
v io len ce in our com m unities, to
do som ething about the death o f
our future. We can take control o f
o ur ow n d estiny. T h a t’s got to be
each o f ours New Y e ar’s re so lu ­
tion if it is to succeed.
C hurches can do som ething.
O ur ch u rches histo rically have
been the centers o f our com m uni­
ties and they m ust becom e that
once again. They m ust be safe
havens for our children, they m ust
o ffer tu to rin g and recreatio n and
a place for a supportive co m m u ­
nity to nurtu re our ch ild ren . They
m ust once again o ffer o u r c h il­
dren hope and a future.
F raternities and so rorities can
do som ething. O ur G reek letter
org an izatio n s were all founded
on the prem ise o f helping oth ers.
M any o f th em a lr e a d y h a v e
p ro g ram s fo r youth and th ese
ca n be e x p a n d e d to p ro v id e
young p eople with role m odels
and m entors - real, live perso n s
who look like them who are su c­
ceeding and care if our young
people succeed.
S chools can do som ething.
M ore schools need to find w ays to
stay open in the ev en in g s to p ro ­
vide recre atio n a l a c tiv ities for
children. Too often our youth have
no w here to go and nothing p o s i­
tive to do. And schools m ust find
way s o f helping parents learn how
to be p aren ts, through ad u lt e d u ­
cation program s which are d e s­
perately needed.
O ur celeb rities — the e n te r­
tain ers and sports fig u res can do
som ething. For many o f our young
people celeb rities are the only
p ositive role m odels they have.
W e need every single en tertain er
and sports figure to be involved -
- to be giving o f them selves and
their d o llars to help our youth.
Individuals can do som ething.
A fter Lynn Anderson C a rte r’s son
w as k ille d in th e B ro n x she
founded Fam ilies ag ain st D rugs.
B arbara Lowe founded M others
A gainst Violence. You d o n ’t have
to start an o rg an izatio n , though,
you can ju st reach out to one young
person - maybe som eone in your
chu rch , in your apartm en t b u ild ­
ing. Be th at c h ild ’s frien d and
m entor.
Our governm ent can do som e­
thing. It’s too easy ju s t to point
the finger o f blam e at the victim s
- at the A frican A m erican co m ­
m unity — for the violence that is
e n g u lfin g us. We as A fric a n
A m ericans m ust shoulder our part
o f the blam e, but the larger so ci­
ety m ust also take resp o n sib ility
and m ust do som ething as w ell.
O ur young people need jo b s. They
need adequate train in g for the
jo b s o f tom orrow . O ur children
need good, affordable housing and
the guarantee that they w ill be
treated fairly in the w orld as they
grow up.
T h a t’s got to be o u r New
Y e a r’s R esolution. In 1994 each
and every one o f us m ust do som e­
thing to save our young people.
W e m ust each find a w ay to reach
one. We m ust each say ENOUGH
and then do som ething ab out it.
W e can survive - and flo u r­
ish.
DREAM S
F O R SA LE.
/ f y o u ’v e a l w a y s h a d t h e d r e a m
o f o w n in g y o u r o w n h o m e , y o u r
d re a m
m a y h a v e ju s t c o m e tr u e .
F o r a s l i t t l e a s y o u ’r e p a y i n g in
m o n t h ly r e n t a n d a m o d e s t d o w n
p a y m e n t , y o u c o u ld b u y a H U D H o m e . T h a t s r ig h t . T h e
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U .S . D e p a r t m e n t o f H o u s in g a n d U r b a n D e v e lo p m e n t
T H E D R E A M O F O W N IN G Y O U R O W N H O M E C A N C O M E
T R U E F O R A B O U T W H A T Y O U ’R E P A Y I N G I N R E N T .
( H U D ) h a s p r o g r a m s t h a t m a k e o w n in g a h o m e e a s ie r
Low-Cost VisionCare
& Free Vision
Screenings
For
t h a n y o u th in k . P r o g r a m s t h a t
w ill e v e n h e l p y o u c o v e r m o s t if
n o t a ll o f y o u r c l o s i n g c o s t s .
If y o u 'd lik e m o r e i n f o r m a t i o n
Inner-City Residents
Residents of North/Northeast Portland have access to low-cost
vision care and free vision screenings through the Pacific
University Cascade Campus Family Vision Center.
Located across the street from the Portland Community College
Cascade Campus (600 N. Killingsworth), the Cascade Cam­
pus Family Vision Center provides complete vision examina­
tions and eyewear dispensary services according to family and
individual income. Patients can receive a thorough vision
exam and prescription eye-glasses at very affordable fees,
depending on income.
We also provide free vision screeenings for children and adults
of all ages. Screenings do not take the place of a complete
vision exam butdo provide important vision information. Screen­
ings are particularly helpful for children whose learning ability
depends on good vision. For more information about schedul-
ina. services, and fees, please call 240-5319.
Family Vision Centers
P acific
university
C ouege
of
O ptometry
Pacific University Cascade Campus Family Vision Center
600 N. Killingsworth, Portland * 240-5319
a b o u t t h e h o m e y o u ’v e a l w a y s
d r e a m e d o f, c o n t a c t y o u r r e a l
e s ta te a g e n t. O r, fo r a fr e e
b ro c h u r e o n h o w to b u y a H U D
h o m e , c a ll 1 - 8 O Q - 7 6 7 - 4 H U D .
T h e r e ’s n e v e r b e e n a b e t t e r ’
t im e t o fo llo w y o u r d r e a m , b e c a u s e n o w y o u c a n a f f o r d it
5
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