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.
DJortlanh (JDhscruer
(USPS 959-680)
OREGON’S OLDEST AFRICAN AMERICAN Pl BI R ATION
Established in 1970 by Alfred L. Henderson
Joyce Washington—Publisher
The, PORTLAND OBSERVER is located at
4747 NE Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd.
Portland, Oregon 97211
503-288-0033 * Fax 503-288-0015
D eadlin e f o r a ll su b m itted m aterials:
A rticles:F riday. 5 :0 0 p m Ads: M onday Noon
POSTMASTER: Send Address Changes to: Portland Observer,
P.O. Box 3137, Portland, OR 97208.
Second Class postage paid at Portland. Oregon
The Portland Observer welcomes freelance submissions Manuscripts
and photographs should be clearly labeled and will be returned If
accompanied by a self addressed envelope. All created design display
ads become the sole property ofthe newspaper and can not be used in
other publications or personal usage, without the written consent ofthe
general manager unless the client has purchased the composition of
such ad. © 1994 THE PORTLAND OBSERVER ALL RIGHTS
RESERVED. REPRODUCTION IN WHOLE OR IN PART WITH
OUT PERMISSION IS PROHIBITED
Subscriptions $30.00per year
The Portland Observer-Oregon’s Oldest African-American Publica-
tion-is a member of the National Newspaper Association-Founded in
'88 - and The National Advertising Representative Amalgamated
Publishers, Inc, New York. NY. and The West Coast Black Publishers
Association • Serving Portland and Vancouver
.
-
A «