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Show No wonder Congress held in low esteem Reprinted from Box Elder News Journal One thing the U.S. Congress manages to do with consistency is make itself look bad. Senator William Proxm ire talked all night earlier this week in a symbolic effect to keep the national debt from reaching the $1 trillion mark. At the outset he conceded the futility of his marathon speech but declared 'It was well worth dramatizing.' We won't disagree with that. The fact that we have reached that astronomical plateau -and even exceeded It now is a tragic disgrace, dis-grace, a gross betrayal of what should constitute con-stitute fiscal sanity in government. The debt celling was raised from $985 billion to $1079 trillion. Proxmlre's extended rem arks reportedly cost the American taxpayers $64,000(47,433 for the Congressional Record, $6,464 in police overtime and $10,595 to run the dining din-ing room, keep maintenance men on the job and light the capital and two Senate office buildings.) The senator defended his action. "I was talking about a trillion dollars, an increase of $94 billion. Under those circumstances circum-stances I think It was right," he was quoted as saying. We say phooeyl Congress is responsible for this fiscal monster. It should have put on the budget brakes two decades ago but has refused to recognize the obvious. And here we are, so deep in red Ink it requires at last report, more than $96 billion a year in interest payments just to keep us afloat. For a long-time member of that august body to protest that we've reached this point is further insult to what should be the purpose of his office. That's not all. The Senate now has seen fit to remove the $25,000 limit imposed on outside out-side earnings for speech-making and the $3,000 members could claim in tax-exempt living expenses. Talk as they might to justify the action,the majority will have a tough time convincing the American people. The timing is poor the cry out of Washington is for the nation to tighten its belt -and the ethical implications are obvious. Little wonder that Congress is held in such low esteem, and the nation is gripped by a demoralizing sense of frustration. |