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Show THE VOICE OF BUSINESS The wisdom ov Big Brovher j By Richard L. Lesher, Pres., Chamberof Commerce of the United States "Cap the Knife" Weinberger, where are you? ; The U.S. Air Force maintains two teses in Greenland at an annual cost of at least $65 million. These facilities once served a clear purpose: To refuel American military planes crossing the Atlantic. What current need do they serve now that those refueling stops are no longer necessary? The Air Force claims that Son-dersterom Son-dersterom Air Base, for a cost of $20 million a year, stands ready to detect potential enemy aircraft. Thule Air Base spends $45 million annually to detect ballistic missiles. Yet, in an age of satellite detection and with early warning systems blanketing Canada and Western Europe, the new rationale for these bases is less than convincing. I don't imagine too many of the 306 military personnel stationed in Greenland would be heartbroken at the closing of one or both of these facilities. And Greenland has no Congressmen or Senators to howl in protest, as is invariably in-variably the case when closings of unnecessary bases are attempted in the United States. Most Americans want our defense capability increased, but we have no more patience for the waste of our tax dollars by the Pentagon than we do by any other department or agency of government. Toilets for the Handicapped At a Ski Resort? To demonstrate that the wisdom of big brother is willingly shared with 50 little brothers at the state level, Thomas Love of Washington Report, the U.S. Chamber's national weekly newspaper, uncovered this item recently: Despite its protests, the Sierra Sky Ranch ski resort was ordered or-dered by the State of California to provide wheelchair-accessible toilets for the handicapped, in keeping with a state law that such facilities must be provided at all privately owned public areas. The state bureaucracy was not convinced by the arguments of the resort's operators who rested their case by pointing out: The resort can only be reached by skis! A Billion Here, A Billion There What's a billion dollars now that the national debt has reached and exceeded ex-ceeded a trillion dollars? Apparently not much to the Washington Post. In a recent article concerning the Reagan Administration's proposal to dismantle the Department of Energy, Budget Director David Stockman is quoted as saying that abolition of the department would save taxpayers "upward of $1.5 billion." The article appeared under j the headline "Plan to Abolish DOE Offers Little Savings." Award the "Golden Fleece" to Proxmire's "Sacred Cow'V .,, Senator William Proxmire has ' earned a reputation as one of the mdsf vocal opponents of government's wasteful spending habits. Each month he presents a "Golden Fleece" award to the federal program or agency that is responsible for the most flagrant abuse of the taxpayers' dollars. But even Senator Proxmire has his sacred cows to protect at our expense. In fact, this Senator's sacred cows are just that cows! The Reagan administration ad-ministration has been trying all year to h. convince Congress to reduce subsidies for dairy farmers, but when Congress failed to act by Oct. 1, a previously f scheduled increase in dairy price supports took effect. ,; Administration backers in both the ; House and Senate tried to push through j; a measure to roll back the increase, but this effort was thwarted single- handedly in the Senate by Sen. Pro- j; mire. His delaying tactics succeeded r for 13 days, at a cost to the taxpayers of f some $400,000 per day. As such, no ore would accuse Sen. Proxmire of being s self-serving if he were to serve himsetf ,' this month's "Golden Fleece" award! i; L' |