OCR Text |
Show "The strongest are those who renounce their own times and become a living part of those yet to come. The strongest, and the rarest." Milovan Djilas, Yugoslav author and politician. A 6 Friday, October 14, 19941 The Daily Herald Peirott gale byffefe Andrews In Maine Republican Rep. Olympia Snowe recently paid an unintended tribute to her Democratic opponent in Maine's bitter Senate race: "When Maine jobs are at stake, Tom Andrews just doesn't fa get it." Andrews is a congressman who wears those kinds of attacks like a g badge of honor. With his own job at stake, Andrews opposed a pork-lade- n spending bill last month that included $800,000 to study the expansion of Interstate 95 in Maine, and $500,000 for the Maine College of Art even though some election-yea- r bacon could help a man who's down by as. much as 20 points in the polls. Andrews has always believed that austerity starts at home. As a member of the Armed Services Committee, he has been like a guided missile targeting two-ter- m pork-bustin- even unnecessary defense bases when Maine has been at ground zero. Andrews and Snowe are still sparring over Andrews' support of the closing of Loring Air Force Base in his congressional district. Snowe sued the Defense Department over the closing, even though the independent base clo- sure commission declared that Loring should be shut down. Nevertheless, Andrews has flunked the test that could prove pivotal in this election: A "report card" being distributed by Ross Perot's United We Stand America. A sterling example of political gimmickry, the report card has become an effective weapon for Snowe in a state where Perot finished second in his 1992 presidential bid. Andrews received an "F," while Snowe drew a "B," along with an d fervent endorsement from the billionaire. Perot claims that UWSA members will side with candidates of either party who are fiscally responsible. As Andrews has learned, Perot's report card includes no bonus points for taking on jug-eare- the tough issues with the independence that voters claim to want. Eight dubious votes make up Perot's report card. President Clinton's budget, which slashed the deficit by $500 billion, is one of the votes. Andrews supported it; Snowe and UWSA didn't. Then there's NAFTA and term limits as well as the balanced-budga gimmick that allows amendment politicians to talk tough but duck the et which Snowe supports and Andrews opposes. ' 'Campaign consultants will tell you 'Look, can't you just stand up and say 'you support the balanced-budgamendment?"' Andrews told us. "'It's an easy, painless thing to do. You don't have to make any (budget) tough decision-makin- g Syndicated Columnist Snowe campaign spokeswoman. "It's a state of independent thinkers and it's a fiscally responsible state in a tough economy. Her message of the balanced-budget amendment, line-iteveto and getting the deficit under control has been. . . Perot's too. " A closer look at the record suggests Perot may be shading the facts in his endorsement of Snowe. A recent scorecard mailed across the country by UWSA erroneously claims that "Representative Andrews is not working for the voters. He gave $1.2 billion for defense to the Pentagon, m state-by-sta- when the Pentagon did not even quest the money." te re- Andrews actually led the fight against spending that money in July 1993. The House Appropriations Committee had voted to spend an extra $1.2 billion to pay for unexpected Pentagon priorities like the U.S. mission in Somalia even though the Pentagon said it could pay for the items with other spending cuts. Andrews forced $973 million of the total to came from spending cuts. To get the job done, Andrews had to take on the powerful chairman of the Defense Appropriations SubcommitThat's tee, Rep. John Murtha, the type of political courage that Perot clamors for. Murtha quickly threatened defense programs in Andrews' district, and made his pique clear in a phone conversation to the young legisD-P- a. lator. "(Murtha) was not pleased, and let's just say he was very direct with how displeased he was," Andrews told our associate Ed Henry. "He was angered by what I was doing, and he said in no uncertain terms that there would be consequences for me and the district if I were to pursue this." Andrews' audacity is his last trump card for winning over Perot voters. "They don't subscribe to this or that "The strong presence of UWSA is a reflection of Maine's culture," says a To paraphrase Snowe, that's something she and Perot just don't get. Orange County Register Most Americans are turning whatever 'attention they can muster for overseas crises on the Persian Gulf and in their spare moments wondering how a president who promised to focus like a laser beam on the .domestic economy and had a history of and disapproval when it came to ; doubt has managed ; foreign military adventures in involved two us military entangle-ment- s ;to get simultaneously. But there's a dan-gin the Haitian intervention that few ihave yet discussed. '. The House and Senate have urged the president to end the Haitian entanglement ;as soon as possible, but haven't put a date ;for a pullout into any resolution. (Gee, ;doesn't the Constitution give Congress the ;power to declare war rather than the simple authority to beg the president to stop it? Oh, never mind.) But administration plans to "internationalize" the crusade in Haiti could make even a deadline irrelevant. er The administration has assured us that American troops are there only for peace- at some keeping, with "nation-buildinifuture date to be the responsibility of a tmultinational force under the auspices of :the! United Nations. Plans call for the or so U.S. troops now in Haiti to be g" 20,-."0- replaced by about 6,000 U.N. troops, ;about half of whom would be from the United States. But U.S. troops are already deeply involved in activities that look more like than " U.S. troops now have primary responsibility for maintaining civil order, a job normally performed by a domestic police force. U.S. forces have intervened several times to stop violence and civil "unrest. U.S. forces have guarded the Hai "nation-building- "peace-keeping- ." bumper-sticke- r not discussed in Haiti By The " Vn cuts.'" Danger ; L Jack Anderson solution to the challenges we have in front of us," says Andrews. "They're looking for independence, they're looking for frankness and they're looking for recognifamilies tion that working middle-clas- s have been cut out of the wheeling and ' dealing that goes on in Washington. ' et ; i jfL? .3 tian Parliament while it deliberated. In U.S. forces cities outside distribute food and water to Haitian villagers. If U.S. troops continue with such functions, they are almost certain to be dragged more deeply into Haiti's political and economic turmoil. It is difficult to imagine that U.S. casualties will not follow eventually. If anything, however, the danger to U.S. troops will be even greater once the U.N. takes over. Developing countries are likely to send poorly trained and troops. Haitian resistance forces are likely who haven't been disarmed to threaten these troops to discredit the as in U.N. operation. American troops Somalia will then have to come to their aid and find themselves in more danger. In addition, a U.N. command structure is sure to be confused and poorly organized. Efforts to improve it through more direct control by the United States will deepen U.S. involvement and the potential for tragedy. The goal, in a tradidemocratic with no genuine country tion and almost no semblance of a civil society, might well be impossible. Reasons could be found to prolong the U.N. role and the involvement of U.S. military Port-au-Princ- e, nation-buildi- Better quality needed After years away from this valley, we have returned. We have now been back the past three years. During this time, I have subscribed to The Daily Herald. I don't like to be a troublemaker so I don't respond to talk shows, etc. I do however believe in good quality. The Daily Herald has no competition; and hence, I feel it has fallen from a state of quality. I have not desired to respond to the lack of quality until I tried to read the subscript for a recent picture. The last few words were cut off. This brought me to the point where I had to respond. No one can believe a quality newspaper could ever make such a gross error. Each day I see countless printing errors in your paper. I have considered sitting down and highlighting them and sending them to you. However, I don't feel I want to be that small. In a city where we have such a distinguished university, how can you expect your readers to be satisfied with such mediocrity? Now I understand you wish to raise the prices. Well I, for one, would be willing to pay a higher price only if that will help to produce a better quality. We lived in Portland. The paper there challenged readers to find typo errors. They made a game of it. Maybe you could do the same. I do wish to express my concerns for your task. I know it isn't easy. I do hope we can have a quality newspaper for the readers in this community. Gordon McEwen Orem criwelcome We Amen. Note: Editor's would send readers wish more and tiques us their observations. We post all such items on our newsroom bulletin board to help us become more aware of errors. Thanks for your response. 30-pl- Platform explained We Libertarians do not advocate immorality or drug abuse. We do not oppose government. We advocate the government defined by the Constitution. The Constitution protects our liberties in both behavior and property. Liberals favor freedom of behavior, but control over property. Conservatives preach freedom of property with control over behavior. Libertarians stand for freedom of both behavior and property. Had Jesus been a libera!. he would have asked the government to feed the 5,000. A conservative would have condemned the adulteress, or called the police on the Samaritan prostitute at the well. Like a Libertarian, Jesus used his own resources and refused to condemn sinners. He admonished them to sin no more. Then in true libertarian fashion, he respected their free agency. The Book of Mormon is libertarian. Chief Judge Alma was a Libertarian when he chose to use the power of testimony instead of the power of law to fight wickedness. He made no attempt to close the house of prostitution where his own son had sinned. King Mosiah was a Libertarian when he said, "I command you to do these things and that ye have no king; that if these people commit sins and iniquities they shall be answered upon their own heads. ... I desire that this land be a land of liberty, and every man may enjoy his rights and privileges alike." King Benjamin was a Libertarian when he said, "I myself have labored with mine own hands that I might serve you, and that ye should not be laden with taxes." King Benjamin's welfare plan was based on voluntary participation exactly as stated in the Libertarian platform. KenLarsen Salt Lake County Libertarian Party Vice-Chairm- Simple solution best The analysis of the debate over the health care reform issues and potential federal legislation leaves out some important points. Only the most naive suggest that there are no issues and no problems in the health care delivery system. However, our general method of operation is to wait for a crisis before we respond. The reason we cannot come to grips with legislation is that the problem hasn't yet come to a severe enough crisis. Until that time comes, there will be no legislation passed. Until the crisis hits andor legislation is passed, the health care industry will not respond very well to the problem. They are more interested in earning profits than providing care. What Congress should do is to define a date, say the year 2000, when the reform must be completed in the private sector or the Congress with reform to the industry. If they set the parameters of the desired health care industry to the year 2000, then the health care sector will adapt. Congress should set the requirement that all existing health insurance companies and all potential new entrants shall enroll not only the profitable masses of people for which they make profits; but they must, in proportion to their share of the total market, insure the poor and downtrodden, those with chronic diseases, those with conditions and all other expenses to pre-existi- ng insure these categories of people. The government will provide some of those funds through Medicare and Medicaid and other funds from current health care programs for the needy to subsidize their premium in the new "pooled risk" insurance industry. If all people are covered and there is access to health care by all, there will be better market controls to ensure lower costs and better services. The way the system is set up now, there is too much control of the market sources. system from non-fre- e A simple solution will solve the problem. The complex solutions that are being bandied around will only tend to weaken and " clog up the system. Don L. Peterson Mapleton Religious mix right At your invitation, I want to comment on an article that appeared in the Sunday rein : gion section of your Oct. 2 newspaper. I enjoy reading the articles regarding reji gions other than the predominant LDS relt gion of our community. And, I also appre?; ciate articles on the LDS religion. I personally feel the mix of LDS-relatarticles and those of other religions appear ing in your newspaper's religion section is ' ' about right. The anonymous writer you referred to probably does not want anything mentioned regarding the LDS religion. That is quite su' intolerant stand in my opinion. G. S. Gallacher ed Orem Wait until it's safe I just finished reading about another auto pedestrian accident in the paper. I'm not saying I know what caused it because. don't, but since I am often a pedestrian, I'd like to make a plea to all drivers. Please do not stop your vehicle and wavd for the pedestrian to cross when the pedestri; an is still on the sidewalk or median waiting for a good time to cross. One car stopping makes it "more" dan- -' gerous to cross because other cars don'f know why that one stopped, especially if it's blocking the view of the pedestrian. So pedestrians, next time someone tries to wave you to cross before it's safe, just wave right back at them to move along. Joyce Mitchell Orem Letters policy The Daily Herald welcomes letters to the editor. Address letters to Letters to the Editor, PO Box 717, Provo, Utah, 84603. Let ters must be signed and include the writer.' ana a oayume pi run name, aooress number for verification. Letters should be typed, double spa and less than 400 words in length. 34: The most common reasons for not pub; lishing letters are: too long, unsigned, illegiU ble, obscene or libelous. Sometimes letters which are too long far the letters to the editor column are chosen c ; ;J appear as guest opinion pieces. Those long submissions not chosen fo( guest opinion pieces will not be published aj letters without being shortened. j ng people. Since the goal in Haiti is still so amorphous, Congress should set an early date Dec. 31? for an end to the U.S. intervention and declare a ban on all U.S. military involvement in any subsequent U.N. force. Under the Constitution, of course, Congress should have the power of the purse the ability to cut off funding for the adventure in Haiti. president's But we're not asking for miracles. Doonesbury RtAUYT you KfW 'MICHAEL- R0YPURJNGH6 EARLY CALIFORNIA su&'.ueeo ALLTHE-IM- BY GARRY TRUDEAU BACK TO j ' in mm i i V TuPOfOMcTHJNO! 901 30U6HTAHOU55 HCAUFOmiA! W BOUGHT A CQH&S&cm. to '04 SEAT! . MOVBI- N- PERFECT IN UTMY itllFEMJEHT OUT K) ESTABLISH ABGACHH&AP! THEN AT 1HB LASTMIHUTB, IJOINEPHER I 1992! ACTUALLY mwsmjATmmsioo TEXAS -B- SO AFTERI CA5HEP OUT OF MPS COMfHNY, HAP YEARS'. Mr I VlPin "HZ HIT tT OFF mTANTLY f a MAI MM! YOU UORBLIKB SOUND LIKE A MAN WITH A 5CHEMB. APREAM! I WIFE'S IPEA. m |