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Show "The worst disease in the world is the plague of vengeance. " Dr. Karl Menninger, American psychiatrist (1893-1990). The Daily Herald Thursday, October 3. 1998 balance d budget, tax cuts not exclusive rates and slowing the economy. By DANIEL J. MITCHELL The prevailing wisdom in Washington Reality: Not only is this incredibly elitist as if the federal government knows how says you can't cut taxes and balance the budget at the same time. This is not true, of to spend your money better than you do it has no basis in fact. The tax cuts of the course, for the same reason that a household can take a pay cut and 1980s did not ignite inflation or drive up still make ends meet by practicing a littie interest rates. On the contrary, between frugality. Performing this feat requires no 1980 and 1990 inflation dropped from 12.4 magic, only simple math. percent to 4.4 percent (in 1986 it was a Start with the Clinton administration's mere 1.1 percent), and interest rates fell levels of the late own figures showing that the budget can be from the double-dig- it lows. balanced by 2002 if spending growth is 1970s to limited to 3 percent a year. Now, if spendMyth No. 3: We can't afford to cut taxes ing grows instead by the still significant sum of 2. percent a year, the federal government would realize more than enough savings to make up for any revenue lost ' d tax through a 15 percent cut. In dollar terms, this means lawmakers before eliminating the deficit. could btKist spending by $35 billion a year Reality: Sounds reasonable, but by ' and still d tax keeping tax rates punitively high, lawmakprovide some relief to households that now spend more ers are actually making deficit reduction on taxes than they do on food, clothing and harder. Tax cuts spur economic growth, and i . shelter combined. (Of course, special inter-- I a growing economy translates into a larger ests call any spending increase that is less tax base and higher tax revenues. This is not to say tax cuts fully pay for than what they want a "cut.") So relief The point is simply that the tax themselves. doesn't why , happen? ' Because the pro-ta- x club has been very suceconomy must grow faster than the current cessful at popularizing a host of myths to anemic rate of 2 percent (compared to nearexplain why letting Americans keep more ly 4 percent during the Reagan boom) if the of what they earn is a bad idea. Here are the federal government is to have any hope of foiir most popular, and why they don't hold erasing the deficit. President Kennedy made this point all the way back in 1962: water: Myth No. I : We tried tax cuts during the "An economy hampered by restrictive tax rates will never produce enough revenues Keagan years, and the deficit exploded. Reality: When Ronald Reagan cut taxes, to balance our budget," he said. "Tax rates the economy did exactly what he said it are too high today and tax revenues are too would: It bKmed. This nearly doubled the low, and the soundest way to raise revenues in the long run is to cut the rates now." revenues coming in to the federal government, a 99.4 percent increase. Then why, Myth No. 4: The deficit is already coming down, so don't fix what isn't broken. you ask, did the deficit rise? Because ConReality: It's true the deficit has begun to gress increased spending by 112 percent, outpacing the new revenues. In other subside, in no small part because of spend"words, the deficit rose not because taxes ing controls put in place by the 104th Conwere too low, but because spending was too gress. But this progress won't last. The number-cruncheat the Congressional high. It is also interesting to note that after Budget Office already are forecasting a Reagan's hx cuts took full effect beginning return to higher deficits unless the economy in late '""2, the deficit began heading picks up speed. In fact, they project the downward in spite of Congress' spending deficit will rise to $171 billion as early as increases. But this is another instance in next year, or about $30 billion higher than the 1996 deficit. which the public was deceived by the numThe answer, of course, is to cut taxes so bers. Most Americans were presented with which the economy can grow. But the opponents the straight deficit dollar figure whose real agenda isn't seemed high because the economy was of tax cuts deficit reduction an rate. at all, but bigger governWhat at incredible they expanding ment didn't know was that the deficit was steadisimply refuse to believe that. They ly decreasing as a percentage of gross truly believe big government is what's best domestic product (GDP). At the height of for America, and in the deficit they've 2 the recession, the deficit found the most powerful rhetorical weapon equaled 6.3 percent of GDP, but by 1989 it yet for keeping tax rates high. This essay by Daniel J. Mitchell, was down to 2.9 percent and was projected to continue falling had Presidents Bush and McKenna senior fellow in political econoClinton adhered to Reagan's policies. my at The Heritage Foundation, WashingMyth No. 2: If taxpayers are allowed to ton, D.C.. is adapted from "Why America keep more of their own money, they'll just Needs a Tax Cut, "a new book published by spend it, driving up inflation and interest Heritage. " &mwm pt OJ LIKE ME d 20-ye- ar 1 GoiEiiEieiitaiy across-the-boar- much-neede- rs 1981-198- ' Despite known dangers, doctor's own son chooses to take up smoking habit By RICHARD HEYMAN Kids pick up their first cigarette for a variety of different reasons. Some do it for kicks, some to see how it looks and feels, some to be cool. Sadly, of those who do it. many will continue and n'pidly become addicted to nicotine. And young people addicted to nicotine have just as much trouble quitting as adults do. As chair of the American Academy of Pediatrics Committee on Substance Abuse and a specialist in adolescent medicine, I understand the terrible and growing prob-- ; lem of youth smoking. I not only see the problem in my practice, but also in my son home. You see. my smokes. When I tell young people that cigarettes can kill them, they look at me like I'm from another planet. They believe that smoking is the quickest way to become an adult, and no earthly force is going to make them quit. . To their way of thinking, a cigarette is part of an adult uniform that they can put on w ithout having to wait to grow up. It s as much a uniform to them as the shirt and tie that I wore at the White House Rose Garden ceremony last month when President Clinton announced the federal government s war on children's access and use of tobacco. This war can be won. It must be won. When the Kathie Lee Gifford child labor scandal erupted, American authorities moved quickly to protect foreign kids. How can we do any less for our own children? Make no mistakes: Just as foreign kids are enslaved to their jobs by evil bosses, American kids are enslaved to smoking by tobacco companies with nicotine that turns healthy kids into addicts. Each day. 3,000 young Americans begin to smoke. About 1.000 of them will evendiseases. tually die of tobacco-relate- d Approximately I billion packs of cigarettes will be consumed every year in the United States by minors, and every puff will be illegal since the sale of cigarettes to anyone younger than age 18 is against the ; law in every state. Worldwide, the World Health Organization has predicted that between 200 to 300 million children and adolescents alive today will eventually be killed by tobacco. Most Americans are familiar with teen- - ObGOfuattons agers who smoke, but don t realize just how successful the tobacco companies have been in targeting very young kids with their advertising and promotion. Here's an astonishing case in point: According to a study reported in the Journal of Marketing in 1995, more than half of all children aged 3 to 6 correctly matched the cartoon character Joe Camel with cigarettes. Our kids are hip to cigarette advertising even before they start kindergarten! Another study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, reported that Joe is more familiar to than Mickey Mouse. With this kind of recognition, it s n ' 'onder that a recent A BC News poll found that the average smoker begins to smoke by age 12 12. Joe Camel started hawking cigaivues in 1988 with a massive advertising campaign in magazines, in billboards, and on those promotional items that kids love, like gym The results: Between bags and 1991 and 1994, underage smoking went through the roof. It soared by a whooping 30 percent among eighth graders, 22 percent among 10th graders, and 10 percent among 2th graders. Camel profits soared as well. Its market share among underage smokers soared from 0.5 percent to 32.8 percent. Salesman Joe had made his quota and then some. Let's give the FDA proposals a chance. old. They may be loo late for my But maybe we can save some of those Joe Camel fans from starting down that slippery slope to addiction. Richard Hey man, M.D., is chair of the American Academy of Pediatrics Committee on Substance Abuse. 1 Lsttoic Founders not studs This letter is long overdue, the subject Of which has haunted me since Independence Day of this year. On the morning of July 4, Congressman Bill Orton and his lovely wife, Jackie, attended our annual stake sunrise service as guests of honor and keynote speakers. Mrs. Orton shared with us her conversion to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-da- y Saints. We enjoyed getting to know her better. Next, Mr. Orton spoke of the need for the American people to understand that the Lord does not need clean vessels to do his work in this great nation and that if we did not overcome this propensity, we might lose our great form of government. He also referred to the moral indiscretions of our Founding Fathers. My heart was heavy as I listened. Let me share my perspective. In the Doctrine and Covenants, a book recognized as scripture in the predominant Utah religion of which Congressman Orton is a member, it states in Section 101 , verse 80, "And for this purpose have I established the Constitution of this land, by the hands of wise men whom I raised up unto this very purpose..." It is my belief that our Founding Fathers were men of virtue and of God. The name of Benjamin Franklin comes up often as one of the Founders in question. Carl Van Doren's Pulitzer biography of Franklin states that "there is no support for the tradition which insists that the philosopher was a lively lecher in France." To this aspersion, another historian states, "There is no shred of evidence. In that age of diaries and memoirs not a single Parisienne ever boasted that she had captured the famous " 'philosoophe.' in The Benjamin Franklin Donovan, that the idea that Franklin states Papers, was a reprobate "started many years after his death and (has) grown during recent there is no reference to it in early years writings about him...There is not one iota of evidence in history to justify this image...There is nothing to indicate that his relations with (women) were other than gallant and intellectual." And how did the Founders feel about public morality? From the writings of Samuel Adams, we find: "But neither the wisest constitution nor the wisest laws will secure the liberty and happiness of a people whose manners are universally corrupt. He therefore is the truest friend to the liberty of his country who tries most to promote its virtue, and who, so far as his .power and influence extend, will not suffer a man to be chosen into any office of power and trust who is not a wise and virtuous man." I hope the good people in attendance at that gathering of the Fourth of July, which was devoted to the ideals of liberty, understand that our Founders were clean vessels and that virtue in private and public life are essential and inseparable to the strength and preservation of this chosen land. Our noble Founders deserve to be defended, not defamed. And we have the right and the duty as citizens to expect decency from our elected representatives. V. Lauri Updike Provo Hatch's homeworld Someday I would like to visit the planet where Sen. Hatch resides. You must get a rather unique view of our world from there. Sen. Hatch is arguably the most partisan politician in the state and never misses an opportunity to criticize the president, both personally and politically. Then, when the president doesn't consult him about political decisions that affect Utah, he acts as if he is surprised, indignant and outraged. I wonder when was the last time that the good senator consulted the president before casting a vote. I'm inclined to give Sen. Hatch the benefit of the doubt that he is neither naive or stupid. I would prefer that he not treat the people of this state as if we were by making such inane statements. Al Smith Pleasant Grove including our young people, are aware Of it. We must realize that if Bill Clinton is just his being in the office of the most important position in president will be sufficient to the United States increase the moral decline and criminal "",' activities of our young people. Our youth will think, "If the president of the United States can do all the things he has done and get away with it and still be accepted and supported by the people of the United States, we should be able to do whatever we want to do and not worry about the consequences." Bill Clinton, if elected president, will present an example that will actually encourage our youth to be immoral and deceitful and cause and increase in the rate of juvenile crime. Z Jess R. Bushman ProVo Representing Utah I would like to invite the voters of Utah to join me in supporting Chris Cannon this year for Congress. We need a congressman who truly represents us and our views. ', I have followed this campaign closely. Chris Cannon is a true conservative. He js e a man who has created literally thousands of jobs in Utah. He is a man of high character who has served the local community for years. He is a hard worker with a commitment to family values and conservative ideals. He understands true constitutional principles and will fight for them in Washington. Unfortunately, we have suffered from an extreme lack of effective representation in the last six years. That will all change with Chris Cannon. Let's elect a man who will work with the rest of the Utah delegation and be an effective voice for Utah. Let's elect Chris Cannon. Rebecca Albiston American Fork self-mad- Prize-winni- Cannon appealing I have been evaluating the candidates for U.S. Congress this year. I have decided to support Chris Cannon. I believe that Mr. Cannon is much more in tune with the people of Utah than our present congressman. Mr. Cannon believes in protecting our flag, strengthening our military and giving control of our schools back to parents. He favors a balanced budget amendment and supports a 5 percent tax cut for all of us, as well as helping families with a tax credit. He is pro-lif- e and favors protecting our children by teaching sexual abstinence in our public schools. He is an intelligent, thinking conservative w ho will be loyal to us instead of to interests outside the state of Utah. I encourage the voters of Utah to support Chris Cannon. He will represent us the way we want to be represented. Adriane Alt Payson 1 $500-per-chi- ld Clinton bad example The president of the United States has two major responsibilities when he serves our nation. First, he must have the skills and ability to lead and guide the nation. Second, he should serve as an example of moral strength and integrity to uplift and strengthen our society. There have been so many publications and news articles about the moral depravity of Bill Clinton that practically everyone, Far-fetch- EVERYTHING IMMEPtATZ claim ed I just heard a quote from Bill Orton that truly amazed me. It goes as follows: "All the principles of the gospel are embodied in the Democratic platform." (The Hill, Feb. 21, 1996.) Is he referring to the plank or the plank? Maybe he's referring to big taxes, big government programs and bureaucratic control of our lives. I'm sure he particularly wants to welfare entitlepoint out cradle-to-graments that enslave the poor, destroy incentive and encourage illegitimacy. As a member of the LDS Church, I find this remark tasteless and absurd. If Bill Orton really believes this, heaven help us! Dean Thomas Nelson Provo gay-righ- ts BY GARRY TRUDEAUI Doonesbury MAN,fTSOUNPsf YEAH, BUT UKE PROP 21$ I ITP0&N7 COULD CHANGEi S0UEOJZ. ; I KNOW YCU'RB NOT PART OF THE RETAIL ANYMORE, PUTCAN YOU 1HINKGF ANYONE MHO COM? GET US AH EMERGENCY SHIPMENT? LUIS. HEVANOW 5T0NER. FR1ENP OF MINE WHO eOTKICKEP UIWS & POT N0ONEKN0H6. BUTHEHA9 PECOMEA MILLIONAIRE. YEAH, TRY UIIS. 0VT0FH6H$CHOOL 1 POOR |