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Show 'Bigotry has no head, and cannot think; no heart, and cannot feel. " Daniel O'Connell, Irish politician Opinions (1775-184- 7) August Friday 10, 1990 B 8 Change deposit rules A $100 billion bill for next year's payment by taxpayers toward the savings and loan bailout underscores the need to see that such a debacle never happens again. L. William Seidman, chairman of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., told Congress that the government needs $100 billion for next fiscal year for the bailout, which will eventually cost taxpayers half a trillion. Treasury Secretary Nicholas Brady suggested changes in federal deposit insurance rules that are at the crux of the S&L scandal. Brady said the Treasury Department may limit the amount of federal deposit insurance to $100,000 per person, instead of the present $100,000 per account. The Treasury Department also may charge more for deposit insurance to banks and S&Ls that have risky investments. And Brady suggested requiring bank and S&L owners to invest more of their own money in the institutions through higher capital requirements. Such measures are needed to reduce taxpayers' liability for bailing depositors out of failed thrifts and banks. Limiting federal deposit insurance would limit S&Ls' ability to attract large depositors by promising high interest rates. That would reduce deposits, since depositors likely won't put more money in an account than can't be insured. That, in h turn, would cut down the that characterized many failed thrifts of the 1980s, when deposits ballooned and loans flowed freely. When risky loans turned bad, the S&Ls didn't have the capital base to cover losses. Unfortunately, the Treasury Department is moving too slowly on deposit insurance reform, promising an exhaustive study to be completed next spring. hyper-growt- Herald comment Congress should move ahead smartly on such reforms, instead of proposing an unnecessary commission to study the problem. Federal deposit insurance began during the Depression to protect people from losing their savings when banks failed, and to protect banks against disastrous runs by depositors. The Banking Act of 1933 originally set coverage at $5,000 per account. That amount was increased over the years to adjust for inflation, most recently from $40,000 to $100,000 early in the 1980s, but there never has been a limit on the number of accounts an individual could have at different banks or thrifts. of S&Ls early in the Deregulation Reagan administration allowed the thrifts to offer high interest rates and gave them a free hand in investing. But federal deposit insurance was left intact, thus indemnifying depositors against S&L failures. A train of gunpowder thus was laid that eventually razed the S&L industry in this country. Deposit insurance originally was intended to protect the life savings of the g little guy, but in the 1980s, it protected millionaires wnb deposited $100,000 in each of many thrifts and benefited from federal protection for huge sums on which they collected the S&Ls' high interest rates. The taxpayer will have to pay. But limiting federal insurance to one account per person is one way to keep from running up another billion dollar tab in years to come. high-flyin- Letters Winnie has a secret Atlanta not a threat Editor: Editor: Lately there are off the cuff remarks expressed over Utah's "odds" getting greatly diminished to host the 1998 Winter Olympiad if Atlanta is awarded the bid to host the 1996 Summer Olympiad. In the early 1970's, a grass roots voter referendum recall heavily endorsed by then Colorado Governor Richard Lamm, killed the chance of Denver hosting the Winter Olympiad that decade. This political venture evolved even after Denver was awarded the bid by the International Olympic Committee. Prophets of doom vehemently warned the U.S. Olympic Committee that possibly America would never host any Olympiads on the nation's soil ever again! Within 11 years, America hosted both a Summer and Winter Olympiad! Now, once again opponents to the U.S. Olympiad effort are taking shots at Organizing Games Chairman Thomas Welch and Governor Bangerter via citing that the Atlanta bid to host the Summer Games will greatly tarnish Utah's hopes. In 1980, the Winter Olympiad was hosted by Lake Placid in upstate New York. In 1984, the Summer Olympiad was hosted by Los Angeles. Hence, this time frame serves as a "precedent setter" by International Olympiad Govwhich if highlighted by erning Powers Utah Olympiad leaders will serve to further the bid! The part here is that there really is not that much time frame differentiation! Tony Marren Provo On Phil Donahue's show last month, Nelson Mandela's wife, Winnie, denied having endorsed "necklacing." Accuracy in Media (AIM has produced Lshort videotape, "Winnie Mandela's Secret." This shows her telling a cheering crowd, "With our necklaces, we will liberate this country." It also shows what "necklacing" is: lynching moderate blacks by burning them to death by draping a tire filled with gasoline around their necks and igniting it. This is a powerful video, and everyone should see it. It should be aired on TV, and AIM has started a fund to buy the time. Contributors of $10 or more to this fund can get a copy of this powerful, important video free. Write AIM, 1275 K Street, N.W., Washington, DC 20005, or call (202) 37H710. Harold E. Larsen Provo Beyond call of duty Editor: Allow me to use this means of adding my voice to the clamor acknowledging the patriotism, above and beyond the call of duty, of the national and international petroleum industry. The speed of their actions and the foresight in conditioning their major customers (Americans) to paying sharply higher prices for gasoline was highly commendable. Above all was the ultra-quic- k action by gasoline retailers to boost prices (about 10 percent) for whatever the source of crude. Motorists only had to wait a few hours for the astonishing speed for the oil this nation won't buy not to get here so its price could be posted at convenience stations. That allowed consumers to become conditioned to the prices which may or may not be reasonable if supertankers from the Mideast arrive on the East Coast with empty holds weeks or months from now. Clark Bigler Payson One thing missing pijiM ftl The shooting hasn't started yet, and we can hope that it doesn't. But in the ongoing war of words, I have to admit being impressed by Saddam Hussein. While our spokesmen are talking about keeping our options open, or exploring new options, or sending a decisive message, or making clear our resolve, Saddam Hussein is ominously saying: "We will pluck out the eyes of those who attack the Arab nation." Although he is known to have a mean streak, I don't know if Saddam is sincere about plucking out eyes. Or if he intends to do so himself. I would doubt it. As the leader of his nation, he would probably chores. Probably delegate any to enlisted men. They always get the grungy jobs. And in the age of modern warfare, I'm not even sure that during the heat of battle it would be practical to waste time wrestling around with some squirming adversary just to pluck out his eyes. But in today's high-tecmissile-launchiradar-guideworld of n warfare, Saddam's words have an old-timenacing ring to them. And if his army includes any specially trained which would not be surprising, his threat probably has their adrenalin flowing. So it seems to me that if Saddam is going to threaten to pluck our eyes, which is pretty rough talk, we should issue an appropriate response. I don't think it's enough for us to discuss keeping our options open, which always sounds like a commercial for a drugstore regularity product, or to say that the situation is unsatisfactory or even intolerable. I would like to see a White House press conference in which someone raises the question: "Mr. Fitzwater, Saddam Hussein has flatly stated that he will pluck out the eyes of those who attack the Arab nation. This threat was obviously directed at the eyes of this country's citizens. Will the adminis- h, heat-seekin- g, ng push-butto- :3 :c: his officer corps?" "It is the administration's position that those who issue the orders are as guilty as those who carry out those Mike Royko ) orders." h TRIBUNE MEDIA JJJSERVICES tration respond to that?" "Yes. It is our position that under no circumstances will we tolerate anyone plucking out our eyes. Any attempt to do so will be met with prompt and severe retaliation." "What form of retaliation?" "We will tear off their fingers." "Are you talking about their forefingers, which would normally be used for eye plucking?" "No, we would not limit it to forefingers. We will take them all off." "Including thumbs?" "Yes, definitely thumbs." "Both hands?" "Absolutely." "What about toes?" "Toes are among the options being considered, although that would depend on the cleanliness of their socks and feet. We see no need to expose our men to athlete's foot." "Can you tell us what some of the other options are?" "We will not hesitate to tear off their ears, pull off their hps, and pluck out their teeth." "Upper and lower?" "I'm not sure I understand your question. Their ears are on both sides." "I meant their lips and teeth." "Yes, definitely upper and lower." 'Now, do these retaliatory measures or will apply only to Hussein's they be expanded to include members of rs "Are you saying that these measures could be brought to bear against Saddam Hussein himself?" "Definitely. He made the threat and must bear the responsibility. And in Mr. Hussein's case, we are prepared to take even stronger measures." "Stronger than tearing off his ears, lips and removing his teeth?" "Yes." "Are you authorized to say what these measures will involve?" "His mustache." "It will be shaved?" "No, it wiU be plucked." "His entire mustache?" "Yes. One hair at a time." "Can you give us some idea how many of Hussein's mustache hairs this involves?" "At this time, no. But the CIA has very clear satellite photos of his mustache and they are being analyzed at this moment." "Would you venture a round figure?" "I believe the mustache hairs would run into the thousands, based on intelligence reports we have received from the White House barber, but I'll have something more precise than that later." "Has there been any estimate of how long it will take to pluck out his mustache one hair at a time?" "Several hours, I would think, or until he says he's sorry." "Has any thought been given to the possibility of a hostile reaction from other Arab countries if Mr. Hussein's mustache is plucked out?'.' "Yes, President Bush has given that considerable thought and made the final decision." "Can you tell us what he said?" "Yes. He said: 'To paraphrase Harry Truman: The pluck stops here.'" Libyan terrorism rose after '86 U.S. raid Libyan-sponsore- Hussein like Reagan Iibyan-sponsore- Sags two-face- d, i ' Plucky Hussein splitting no hairs WEST BERLIN Former President Editor: Ronald Reagan got plenty of mileage out I enjoyed the Sunday article about me of his 1986 bombing raid against Libya's right on the front page. There was only one Moammar Gadhafi, his "mad dog of the thing missing. My husband played a most Middle East." Reagan had blamed Gadhafi important part of saving my life. After he for the bombing of a West Berlin disco, La ran to get help from the neighbors phone he Belle, that killed two U.S. servicemen. And ran back to me and began mouth to mouth the United States retaliated with a strike resuscitation along with Rose Mary Wilson against Gadhafi's headquarters in Tripoli. pumping. But the raid, despite Reagan's boasting, The ambulance crew said they did a good to was a failure in both of its missions job. My husband rode in the ambulance vith d terrorism and to kill end me to the emergency room and didn't Gadhafi. West European and American my side until midnight when they insisted he intelligence sources confirmed that there leave. I have so many people to thank for d terrorism has been more Editor: . since the raid than before it. Just another point of view of the recent my recover)-- I'm so grateful still to be The lesson for President Bush is one that events in Kuwait. The way some of our alive. Janice Gordon that military he already privately knows American government officials are acting Provo these days, the average person on the street action against terrorists (Saddam Hussein would think there is some kind of crisis brewing over there. And our beloved president is throwing more fuel on the fire by making statements like: Saddam Hussein is doing a barbaric act, and that we cannot condone this naked aggression. It's interesting to hear American" presidents talk like this that is, when another nation invades someone else's territory. May IfrtouUIEGattfrBH'JJfAd... I remind everybody that just a few short VlHffS fa ftCKX CCUS? JlfibjJL.. 1 months ago the United States invaded Panama and captured its leader, and a few years before that, Heagan invaded Grenada and WHERE DO DU STAND stated what he thought were legitimate reasons for our "naked aggression." ON ABORTION? Well, it seems to me that Saddam Hussein hits as good a reason for invading Kuwait, as George Bush had in invading Panama, and Heagan invading Grenada. In fact, maybe he has a better reason. I hope it doesn't sound like I'm supporting Iraq's Hussein: quite the contrary; I'm merely pointing out that we again have double-talkin- g another president, like Ronald Reagan. I only hope George just Bush will have the sense to take the good advice of King Hussein of Jordan and allow Arabia to handle it their way. End of crisis. Michael R. Kclsey Provo iwor a sMfc T Jack Anderson & Dale Van Atta UNITED FEATURE SYNDICATE of Iraq being the mad dog du jour) only escalates the violence. Reagan was able to strut his victory over Gadhafi because Gadhafi covered up his tracks when he made terrorist strikes after the Tripoli raid. He simply hired foreigners to do his dirty work. d The classified history of terrorism reveals that until 1986, Gadhafi made few serious moves to harm Americans. But that changed after Reagan sent 18 warplanes to bomb Tripoli. Their mission was to bomb Gadhafi and his family. When they failed, he came out fighting. Libya has attempted to kill hundreds of Americans since the raid, beginning on the day of the raid, April 15, 1986, when Libyan agents shot a U.S. Embassy communications officer in Khartoum, Sudan. Top secret reports indicate that it was Gadhafi who paid a Lebanese group as much as $1 million to kill American hostage Peter Kilburn two days later. Three days after the raid, Turkish police caught two Libyans with hand grenades on their way to a U.S. officers club in Ankara, Turkey, where a wedding reception was going on. Ten days after the raid, Libyan agents wounded a U.S. Embassy communications officer in North Yemen. Three months later, nine people were arrested in a d plot to blow up the U.S. Embassy in Lome, Togo. Four months d after the Tripoli raid, terrorists hijacked Pan Am Flight 73 in Karachi, Pakistan, killing 21 people, two of Libyan-sponsore- Libyan-sponsore- Libyan-sponsore- them Americans. In May 1987, Egyptians with ties to Libya tried to murder three U.S. Embassy workers in Egypt. Two days before the second anniversary of the raid, a Japanese Red Army terrorist was arrested with a bomb on the New Jersey Turnpike. He was on his way to blow up the United Nations. Other anniversary attacks in 1988 included a car bomb that killed an American outside a USO club in Naples and bombings of U.S. government facilities in Colombia, Spain, Costa Rica and Peru. A Libyan-backe- d group remembered the third anniversary last year by trying to bomb the U.S. Information Service center in Peru. Gadhafi announced last October that he was weary of the terrorism business and worried that he couldn't control his hired help anymore. In an interview with a Cairo magazine, Gadhafi blamed Reagan for "muscle flexing," and said Libya was now more inclined to negotiate. "We are prepared for relations based on mutual respect and common interests," he said. "Mutual respect" is the correct term. Gadhafi has about as much respect for America as America does for him. Intelligence experts say he is really driven by changing world alliances. The warming of relations between the superpowers has left him feeling more left out than he wants to be. - The Centers for VETS BETRAYED Disease Control spent $60 million studying the Vietnam War defoliant Agent Orange, and concluded it was impossible to determine the health effects on veterans. Perhaps not coincidentally, secret White House documents show that the Office of Management and Budget panicked when the Agent Orange study was in progress. OMB concluded that the cost of compensating vets exposed to Agent Orange would run into the billions of dollars. OMB hinted broadly that the federal budget would be better off if the government didn't blame Agent Orange for death and disease. |