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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 28, 1994)
P age A 2 D ecember 28, 1994 • T he P ortland O bserv ER 1 In IN IB oW VTIC )N C O A L IT IO N l Jesus Was Not Middle Class-Missed Tax Cuts n a nationally televised address. President Bill Clinton argued for a Bill of Rights for the Middle Class. The middle class should have e c o n o m ic s e c u rity , jo b s e c u rity , a d e ce n t house, universal and comprehensive health care, and their children educated. In fact, however, those are goals shared by all Americans, not just the middle class. ^»J The political operatives in both parties in Washington today are ar guing against a "big tent" inclusive strategy, and for courting the middle class as the way to maintain or gain the White House in 1906. Thus, the Republicans propose $197 billion in middle class tax cuts, and maybe more in budget cuts to pay for them. Mr. Clinton proposes $60 billion in middle class tax cuts-a sort of "Re publican Light” proposal—to be paid for with $76 billion in budget cuts. The consensus among economic ex perts is that all these tax cut propos als: (a) will result in higher deficits; (b) will result in higher interest rates; (c) come at the wrong time; and (d) encourage people to spend and con sume at a time when we need more savings and investment for future development. It is ironic that on the very day that the U.S. Conference of Mayors was making public its annual report on the plight of the poor in their cities-which indicates that the prob lems o f hunger and homelessness are getting worse—President Clinton was announcing cuts in government pro grams for the poor in order to pay for a middle class tax cut. Mr. Clinton postponed announcing how many middle class jobs would be cut until after Christmas. President Clinton cut food subsidies for the poor from $80 million in fiscal 1994 to $25 million in fiscal 1995. CBS News reported that corporate contributions to help the needy are significantly down, and it Republicans have their way the budget cuts they propose will virtually remove any national safety net from beneath the poor. The middle class deserves tax relief. All Americans deserve to be taxed fairly. Inherent in fair taxes for all, however, is a tax cut for the middle class. Inherent in a mere mid dle class tax cut is more of the same- more debt and deficit, higher interest rates, more of our taxes going to pay the national debt, slower growth, more inequality, fewer jobs, and more hunger, homelessness and poverty. During this Christmas season we would do well to remember that neither MaryJoseph nor Jesus would have qualified for any of the tax cuts proposed by either the Republicans or the Democrats. The President’s Bill of Rights for the Middle Class would have passed them by. They were not middle class. Mary was an unwed mother engaged to Joseph, an unemployed carpenter. Both o f them lived under occupation, without the right to vote or economic justice. In the current climate, Mary'would have been degraded and humiliated; Jo seph would have been marginalized; and Jesus threatened with an orphan age. The way out of our dilemma is not the exclusivity of the political center of the middle class, but the moral center, which is inclusive o f all Americans and speaks to the very soul and character of our nation. THIS WAY FOR BLACK EMPOWERMENT For A Unified Independent Party by D r . L enora Ft lam C ji have spent the weeks since the November 8 < election studing results from around the coutnry and I am struck by a number of factors. The Republicans picked up a substantial congressional advantage by c ampaigning against a spawling, debt-ridden and tax-hungry govern ment. that they themselves partici pated in creating; the Democrats, forced to defend that government in all its gridlock and ineptitude, lost their congresssional edge in doing so. In contrast, the independents (and by independents here I mean the board spectrum o f m ulti- partyists who lead and vote from the variety o f third parties in A m erica) provided much o p f the substantive dem ocracy and fis cal reform agenda that the Re publicans successfully coopted and rode to victory. The inde pendents gained political ground, and succceeded in m aking a dent * . • «• «* >. ' •* N» *• J*, * * . ■: -O ‘ 7 „ «* . /A - • V • . ■ •’ 5 > i - / r - vT in the “tw o-party c onsciousness” o f the co u n try ’s m ajor media. The independent success stories ofthe 1994 election season ar, for the most part, known to all o f us. the Libertarian Party, while describing its own results as mixed..-.•but gener ally upbeat,” elected seven Libertar ians to public office, re-elected three and picked up ballot status in five states, bringing the total number of their ballot lines to 23. The national Pasriot Party , with which I am affilate won ballot status in Minnesota and held ballot sttus in Pennsylvania. The Independence Fusion Party of New York - which grew out o f the com bined efforts of Patriot Party activist, political scientist Dr. Gordon Black, and myself won ballot status through a highly publicized campaign which saw Ross Perot endoring the IFP gubernatorial c andidate, Tom Golisano, and making one of Perot’s strongest pro-third party statements to dat. (Several other attempt at ballot status in New York did not succeed. The Pro-Choice Party, an effort by a network of NOW-associ- ated activitsts. did not submit the requiste number o f petition signa tures. The Black-oriented Freedom Party , and effort inspired by the Rev erend A1 Sharpton fell short of signa tures as well. But while Freedom’s basllot status bid failed, it remains a force for independent policitis ig the African American community. An Reverent Sharpton, together with his close c olleague the Reverenend Jesse Jackson, have been putting forth the idea o f an independent “rainb ow" party with some vigor.) The Patriot Party' of Alabama won the party’s first elected public official. The Green Party also had a strong year, picking up major party b allot status in New Mexico and Maine. Maine, of course, elected an independent governor, Angus King. All that said, it seems to me that this is an opportune moment for all independents - with all our ideolog ical and tactical differences - to sit down and disc uss our respective prospects and review the possiblities for joint strategies up to and includ ing fielding a single presedential can didate in 1996. Right now the Re publicans are assessing their victory. But thre are substantial internal divi sions with the party that must, and will, be overcome in the interest of a unified bid to defeat a vulnerable Bill Clinton in 1996. On their part, the Democrasts are furiouly debating how to interpret the message o f No vember 8 - whether to move right, left, ot stay where they are and pro mote themselves more effectely. Competing elements from Jesse Jack- son to A1 From (of the Democratic Leadership Council) are trying to assert ideological and political lead ership in the party this is in serious - some whould say terminal - disarray. The independents, taken as a whole, are analogously situated. We em brace diverse view points, constituencies and levels o f o r g an iza tio n a l d ev e lo p m e n t. 1 think it is fair to say that w hich ever o f these three forces co n so l idates itself and sets its course most swiftly, (and most in sync with the anti-tw o party sentim ent grow ing am ong the A m erican people - here we have the ad v an tage), will win the W hite House in 1996. N othing less is at stake. - ■ . - Miracles happen. Work one today. Donate blood this holiday season when the need is great but donations are down, it's a gift only you can give. MPXv'U •» t *-V - I . 1-800-GIVE LIFE + .>2$ W F f *-, ï ‘Uî'OMAt we»Ti’iV< «H raur» I I W A O f *4«AI TU A N t . American Red Cross p e r s p e c tiv e s Newt Gets The Loot Ethics Gets The Boot op Republican cashes in before he’s sworn in ! S e nator Newt Gingrich, the next Speaker of the House of Representatives, replacing Tom Foley (D), has been paid three million dollars in "advance” royalties for three book’s which he has not yet written. The benefactor? R u pert M urd ock, the Australian b illiona ire who, among other empires, owns the particular book publisher, magazines and newspapers. O f course, it just so happens that Mr. M urdoch also owns the Fox T.V. network, and it is the case that NBC and others are strenuously objecting, since federal law states that no for eigner may own an American Tele vision Network. And it, also, just happens that these complex matters and their solution will be among the first orders o f business before Mr. Gingrich’s new congress and the Federal Communications Commis sion (Murdock denies knowing about the payments). O nly a co n firm e d cynic would suppose that there is a connection betw een the m ag nanim ous royalty paym ent and the m ost certain congressional e a r in g s , r ig h t? S e n a to r G ingrich probably intends to take that three m illion dollars and donate it to one o f those food program s for poor ch il dren he and his cohorts have co n tacted ” to elim inate. We would note that in Oregon, the Food Stam p P rogram serves 37, 388 low -incom e children a month; 50 p ercen t o f school lunches in O regon are served free or at reduced price; and that 63,756 wom en, infants and children are served each month by the Supplem ental N utrition Program for wom en, infants and children. I wonder if the correct spell ing o f the s e n a to r’s name is GRINCH? And, in addition, just ho do these fatcat m illionaires e a d in g th e s a v a g e c h a rg e against the poor think they are fo o lin g ? (S en a to rs G ingrich, Dole, Gramm and Helm s). A c cording to respected w riter for the W ashington Post, David S. B roder, the current expenditure for the ‘big th re e ’ w elfare p ro gram s that the inhum ane ‘big fo u r’ plan to cut is $43 billion. This sum is absolutely insignif- icant when com pared with the hundreds o f billions in subsi dies granted to industry and agricultural com bines — Iv ’e listed many the past few weeks. Along with Senator G ram m ’s $.15, billion Texas hole in the ground. Add the grain com panies (ethanol), firm s trying to enter fo re ig n m a rk e ts lik e M cDonalds, M otorola, etc (sub sidized advertising). Dairy and Tobacco farm ers and sim ilar specialty producers o f agricu tu ral p ro d u cts ( d o n ’t fo rg e t s u g a r ), hug Oy m u lti-b illio n Professor d ollar projects Mskinley lik e th o s e o f Burt W est V irginia S e n a to r B yrd who is shifting entire units o f W ashington federal agencies like the FBI to his state for no other purpose than to create jo b s , d u p lic a tin g the co stly bu ild in g s and in frastru ctu re. Yet d o n ’t hear a single word out o f the “big four” about this budget b re ak in g ra scal. We d o n ’t hear them uttering one word o f sympathy for thousands o f w orkers who have years o f seniority and who will be un em p lo y ed . M arry C h ristm a s dears. Now that nonsense about “Transferring funds to the states for a more sensible and economical distribution" is a planned disaster. Karen McCarthy (D), a veteran of the Missouri Legislature and the head of the National Conference of State Legislatures until herelection to the House of Representatives, says that her experience showed “the poor are the weakest constitu ency. when it comes to fighting for some funds in state budgets” . Sounds about right, can we poor in Northeast Portland compete with the big industries that just treated’ a bunch o f our Republican Sena tors to that seminar in Hawaii? Sev eral had nerve enough to charge us for the transportation. Now that Mr. G ingrich, the senator with the q uestionable I.Q. and a dom estic experience to match, also wants to cut the budget o f the U.S. O ffice o f Travel and Tourism , a tiny $15 m illion office which produce a billion dollar econom ic input, and this with the O lym pics com ing up in 1996. M ore next week on these ugly charades. With Senator Sam E rv in ’s help we may get back sharecropping and plantations for black and white. 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