M a r c h 14, 2 0 0 1 P age A 4 Federal Compassion Equals Common Sense ^ a r tla n h (©bscrüer USPS 959-680 Established 1 9 7 0 STA FF E d it o r P C in h ie f , u b l is h e r C h a rle s H . W a sh in g to n E d i T o a L a r r y J . J a c k s o n , S r. B u s in e s s M anager G a ry A n n T a y lo r A sst . P ublisher M ichael L eighton C o py E d it o r Joy Ramos C r e a t iv e D ir e c t o r R o b e rt P a r k e r 4 7 4 7 NE M a r t in L u th e r K in g , Jr. Blvd. B y H ugh B, P r ic e , P resident N ational U rban p a rtm e n t d e v ise p o lic e re ­ form s w ill continue. But P resident B u sh ’s co n ­ servatism shone through as w ell and that quality is even m ore apparent in his budget plan. L eague Seeking to reshape the fed ­ eral governm ent acco rd in g to the d ictates o f his “com pas­ sionate c o n se rv a tism ,” P resi­ dent B ush p resen ted his first budget to the A m erican people during his u n o fficial State o f the U nion address. He sought to convince the public th at federal com pas­ sion can be achieved through his p lans for fiscal c o n serv a ­ tism . B ut the num bers d o n ’t add up. T he P re sid e n t’s dem eanor and tone w as soothing, som e­ tim es even jo c u la r, and not strident. That in its e lf is a w el­ com e re lie f from the virulent partisan sh ip and “ gotcha p o li­ tic s ” o f the 1990s. I w as encouraged w hen he reiterated his determ ination to im prove the achievem ent lev­ els o f ch ild ren w ho have been lagging behind academ ically. I w as glad that he recog­ nized the need to extend health coverage to fam ilies that lack it. A nd I look forw ard to con­ sidering the plans he instructed A tto r n e y G e n e ral John A shcroft to d evise to com bat the racial p ro filin g o f A frican A m ericans, H ispanic A m eri­ cans, and A sian A m ericans by police. I trust that m eans th at the tw o -y e a r-lo n g e ffo rts o f a board coalition including civil right and civil lib e rties group, and law enforcem ent o rg an i­ zations to help the Ju stice D e­ Hugh B. Price F o r one th in g , he h a s n ’t backed o f f proposing school vouchers, w hich w ould exac­ erbate, not resolve, the prob­ lem s o f the m illions o f school ch ild ren m ost in need o f edu­ c a tio n al help; and his budget pro p o ses a sm aller increase for ed u catio n than even C on­ gress envisioned. F or another, the P re sid e n t’s h ealth plan relies on private in su rers to serve low -incom e fam ilies. That reliance gives it a v ery low chance o f su c ­ ceeding since private insurers have never show n any ea g er­ n e s s to s e rv e lo w -in c o m e fam ilies. T here are several other a r­ eas o f M r. B u sh ’s budget that are problem atic. The m ost dra­ m atic is his proposed $ 1.6 tril­ lion tax cut. This is a conser­ vative idea th a t’s not going to work, and to try to m ake it work w ould be paten tly un fair at an individual and at a board scale; its m am m oth size would sabotage efforts to improve con­ ditions in impoverished comm u­ nities for years to come. The president’ plan would benefit the w ealthiest one per­ cent o f Am ericans who would snag 45 percent o f the tax cut. Their average reduction would amount to $50,000 annually, according to the C enter for Tax Justice, a liberal research group. The m ajority o f Am ericans, that is, taxpayers in the low est 60 p e rc e n t o f th e in co m e scale, w ould get betw een 12 and 13 percent o f tax cuts and average an annual reduction o f $256, the organization said. The C enter on B udget and Policy P rio rities, an o th er lib ­ eral think tank, says that, c o n ­ trary to the A d m in istra tio n ’s claim th at p e o p le w ith the sm allest incom es w ill get the highest p ercentage o f the re ­ ductions, 12 m illio n fam ilies w ith 24 m illion ch ildren, one o f every three ch ild ren in the U nited States, w ould receive no tax reduction. A bout 75 percent o f these are w orking fam ilies. Not surpassingly, this u n ­ f a ir n e s s w o u ld fa ll m o s t heavily on people o f color: about 55 percent o f A frican- A m erican children and 56 p er­ cent o f H ispanic children live in fam ilies that w ould receive nothing from the proposed tax cut. in fam ilies that w ould receive n othing from the proposed tax cut. A program that would pro ­ duce those consequences m ust be c h a rg e d . T he P re sid e n t should revise his tax plans to ensure that low-incom e w ork­ ing families benefit significantly. JEabnc Depcn THE LARGEST, MOST COMPLETE RETAIL FABRIC STORE IN THE WEST M a rc h 13 th r o u g h M a rc h 2 7 , 2 0 0 1 MAILER SALE! * Everything in the store SPECIAL SALE 2 DAYS ONLY - MAR. 2.3rd & 2 4 th 40 %OFF ALL F A B R IC LAtvntlvtl hours s.iturd.it - liM p in L im ite d to sto ck on hand ! FABRIC D E P O T C O U PO N $1 0 0 ¡Simplicity ■ Patterns L e t t e r to t h e E d it o r : o , k i i JU y y . • L im it 6 p e r c o u p o n • V alid 3 /2 2 /0 1 - 3 /2 5 /0 1 • 4 d ay* o n ly P o rtla n d , O R 9 7 2 1 1 Black President Doubtful 5 0 3 -2 8 8 -0 0 3 3 Fax 5 0 3 -2 8 8 -0 0 1 5 » m a il n e w s e p o rtla n d o b s e rv e r.c o m sribecitotion@portlandotoervw.cam Y ou r recent article on a book by L.C. O ddie that claim s that John H anson, the first President o f the U.S. A ssem bled w as o f Sw edish and black descent! It w ould be w onderful ifthat w ere true, b ut a b rie f am ount o f re- search on the Internet casts serious doubt to the claim . This claim has been m ade before. There are no pho­ tographs or daguerreotypes o f Presi­ dent John Hanson: the process had not been invented by the tim e o f his death! The photo you show in your paper is from a painting. I ’m v ery anxious to read M r. O d d ie’s book to see on w hat basis he constructs his argum ent. Thank-you for your good w ork at the Portland Observer! K evin K indschuh N o rth east P o rtlan d j BE SURE TO CHECK OUR STORE FOR “MANAGER’S SPECIALS” •Discounts do nut apply to previously discounted or marked doan items 3/133)1 dim 3/273)1 1 84 RETAIL H O I RS: U O \ -IRl '» lUUiii.'i tMipni 1 1 J Ì N WHOLESALE HOI RS. W / / \ M l Rl>0 (Ihpm ' I M » AA HFim.im-" iltlprti STA R K STREET - ★ M 0 \ -IKI '» wi.nn-9 oopiM NAH RD AA 40O.iin “ OH,»» M \DAA IlHM lji» “ imi ,»» RETAIL-WHOLESALE •700 S.E. 122nd Ave. Portland, OR ( 5 0 3 ) 2 5 2 -9 5 3 0 Visit o u r w e b site a t w w w .fa b ricd e p o t.co m 1-8OO-392-3376 ad s@ p o rtlan d o b se rv er.co m P ostmaster : Send a ddress changes to P o rtla n d O b se rve r PO Box 3 1 3 7 P o rtla n d , OR 9 7 2 0 8 Periodical Postage paid in Portland, OR SAFEWAY F O O D & DRUG Subscriptions are $60.00 per year D E A D L I N F O R A L L S U B M IT T E D E S M E T E R IA L S : Attention SENIORS NEW FOR SENIORS ONLY.. A R T IC L E S : Safeway Senior Shuttle Service! M o n d a y by 5 p . m . 5) ADS: F rid a y by n oon The Portland Observer welcomes freelance submissions. Manuscripts and photographs should be clearly labeled and w illbe retum edifaccom - panied by a se lf addressed envelope. All created design display ads be­ com e die sole property o f the new s­ paper and cannot be used in other publications or personal usage w ith­ out the written consent o f the general manager, unless the client has pur­ chased the com position o f such ad. © 1996 TH E PO R T LA N D O B ­ SERV ER. A L L R I G H T S R E ­ S E R V E D , R E P R O D U C T IO N I N W H O L E O R IN P A R T W IT H O L T P E R M IS S IO N IS P R O H IB IT E D . ThePoitlandO bserver-Oregon’s Oldest Multicultural Publication-is a member o f the National Newspaper Association—Founded in 1885, and The National Advertising Represen­ tative Amalgamated Publishers, Inc, New York. NY, and The W est Coast Black Publishers Association • Serv­ ing Portland and Vancouver. a Introducing a great n ew service for o u r n eighborhood senior citizens FREE grocery shopping shuttle A service to your nearby Ain sw orth M L K Blvd Safeway Food & D ru g f and Renaissance M ark e t. T W IC E a f M o n th ! 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