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Show THE VOICC OF BUSINESS The wisdom ov Big Brother By Richard L. Lesher, . President Chamber of Commerce of the United States The government has just published a 72-page guide called "The Car Book," which was ordered by the Carter administration ad-ministration and which claims to guide you to the safest, least expensive, most comfortable and fuel thrifty new auto. But as nationally syndicated columnist Sylvia Porter notes in her column "Your Money's Worth," the book is "not what it claims. It is, in fact, a disgrace." Being touted as "a freebie," it actually ac-tually cost taxpayers $1.24 million. When first printed, it contained so many defects it had to be completely redone at great additional expense. Even now the book is totally misleading, because it does not deal with 1981 cars. Porter notes as well that the book's upkeep rating and safety grading are completely misleading and worthless. Finally, Porter notes "An eyebrow-raiser eyebrow-raiser in a class by itself is an ad in the brochure for a commercially published book, co-authored by Ralph Nader, Clarence Ditlow and Joyce Kinnard. A Government Printing Office official knows of no other federal consumer guide which ever ran such a plug of this type." OOPS! According to Philip M. Klutznick, Secretary of Commerce under President Jimmy Carter, the $1 billion spent on the 1980 census was "an exercise in futility" and a national head count could have been obtained for a fraction of the cost. Said Klutznick, "Half a dozen demographic experts using available statistics could have compiled a 95 percent accurate reading of the population for less than $1 million 1,000 times less expensive than the cost of the 1980 head count." SMOKEY THE BEAR GOES AFTER UNCLE SAM It's no secret the government has made a lot of Americans unhappy. But I didn't really appreciate just how unpopular un-popular it was until I read recently that it is being sued by the Sierra Club Legal Defense Fund on behalf of 12 Montana grizzly bears. The suit challenges the Forest Service and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for giving ASARCO Inc. approval to conduct silver and copper exploration in a grizzly habitat. ASARCO has argued no one can be certain there are any grizzlies in the exploration area. But if there are, they are not going to injured by drilline activities. SOCIAL SECURITY THE NEWS GETS WORSE AM) WORSE Could there be another reason why Social Security taxes seem to go up every time we look? An internal study by the Social Security Administration reveals nearly 20 percent of Social Security's $17 billion in disability benefits may be paid in error because of questionable claims. |