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Show Page 24—THEHERALD, Provo, Utah, Friday, July 31, 1961 Opinions The Herald, its readers, syndicated columnists and cartoonists discuss vital issues ee || The Herald Comments Sound Reclamation Programs a Wise Investment Since the 1902 Reclamation Act was approved by Congress, western water and power users on reclamation projects have paid back about 85 percent of all the costs to the federal government. In addition, investments in the projects have returned ‘‘tremendous amounts to the U.S. Treasury in the form of taxes.” From 1940 to 1978, for example, western water projects generated about$25.6 billion in federal tax revenues. In 1978 alone, $8.6 billion was generated in personal income. These figures — presented in Congress by Rep. Tony Coelho, D-Calif. — should help to silence critics who assert that federal water projects are wasteful and economically unsound. Farfrom federal “‘handout,”’ governmentinvestments in reclamation projects largely are paid back by the water and power users. The 15 to 20 percent of the cost not returned to the Treasury is allocated to pay for project assets whichaccrueto the benefit of all the people — recreation, power revenues for the national pool, ete point. Quoting a report by J. Gorden Milliken, senior Hoover Dam in Nevada, the Glen Canyon and Flaming Gorge Dams of the Colorado River Storage Project, the Central Valley Project in California, the old Strawberry Project in Utah — these are examples of reclamation units which have provided economic stability and tax revenues The Central Utah Project is among the major programs currently under construction. It is nearly 20 percent completed at this Denver Research Institute at University of Denver, Coelho said that nationally, federal reclamation activities brought about $2.75 billion in federal revenues during 1979 and another $1.24 billion in state and local revenues. “Jobs were generated for 815,000 full-time equivalent workers,” the congressman said. “Valued agricultural crops, hydroelectric power, municipal water supplies, research economist for the Social Security Cuts Costly Ry DON PHILLIPS WASHINGTON(UPI) — It’s now Ronald Reagan's economy No matter what happens prior to the 1982 congressionalelections, and perhaps even the 1984 presidential election, Reagan will be hardpressed to blame the Democrats for can also predict an increase in complaints to congressmen.” This could create anothercloud on the horizon. ‘Beneficiaries in large numbers across the nation,” the memonotes, ‘‘will be faced with reductions or eliminations in benefits, overpayment notices and poor services.’’ So the question is posed: ‘Will due process be required before adjusting benefits, and if so, with what assistance and in what time frame?” In laymen’s language, the question might better be phrased this way: Will the people whose benefits are cut havethe right to be notified beforehand andto file objections? Concludes the report: ‘‘The reaction and service deterioration will persist for at least one year.’ Footnote: An administration spokesman suggested the alarms were so muchialderal. Theinternal report, he assured my associate Tony Capaccio, ‘doesn't carry much weight.” ALL THAT GLITTERS — In a society accustomed to instant, intensive media coverage of public scandals, people might think all is well on the gold exchange because there has been no uproar about some impurities discovered in gold ingots. that the standards “are notinstruments to prevent fraud,’ but are designed,rather, ‘‘to facilitate commerce.” Or to put it more bluntly, the standards are calciilated to permit the insiders to run the gold exchange with a minimum of outside interference. The internal minutes of a recent ASTM meeting make it clear that the executives have no interest in improving the gold-testing stan- Butall is not well. [he gold people were feverishly buying up was loosely regulated. Essentially, the gold traders take one another's word that their product is the real McCoy. With gold selling for more than $400 an ounce, meanwhile,the standards for testing its purity are strictly voluntary unenforceable. dards. They wereindifferent even to the warning from a reputable scientist, one of their own committee members, that he could easily manufacture gold bars loaded with 40 different impurities which, nevertheless, could pass the ASTM tests and be certified as pure gold ingots The testing standards are set by the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) whose technicl committees are populated with the samecorporate executives who buy and sell gold. They admit Feature Syndicate, Inc Jamie Wellham 623 W. 1975 N. Provo O'Connor Not A Good Choice but whether we get someone with the wisdomto beable to see the difference betweenright or wrong and the goodor badeffects if has on this country Editor, Herald: Those who say Supreme Court nominee Sandra O'Connor's record is not pro-abortion are wrong. While the ERA, wewould not wanttotrust her judgment on other majorissues, There are manybadeffects thatwill cometo this country becauseofthe ERA. If she doesn’t have the wisdom to choose right or wrong on this issue how can we believe she can defendthe right on the manyim portant laws shewill be having to decide on? If you look at what ERAhas done to other countries where they have it, the womenhave taken the lowest jobs, receive less pay, been forced to work as long and hard or harder than the men, and then have had to comehometo do their work at home while their children have been put in day care centers‘tun by the government. Also the womenhavelost all abortion-on-demand. She says based on her support of a neutral non-controversial conscience bill that she’s been on “both sides” of Springville WeAll Must Oppose O'Connor Since Mrs. O'Connor is not against a claim which could also be made by the seven justices who gave us 92 N. Third W get a woman on the Supreme Court, Editor, Herald The important consideration for the country's good is not whether we “leader” in the anti-life movement the rights that they had. We don’t wantthis. Therefore please vote against Mrs. O'Connor being appointed to the Supreme Court Ruth Burrows taxes. _ The resulting figures are impressive. Naturally, it is important that the Federal Government be prudent in deciding which proiect: merit support. But the records show sound reclamation programs are wise investments whose rewards can be richly beneficial. in nationally televised would bring economic recovery and hope. The trouble is that both Reagan and the Democrats made so many compromises and concessions in their bills that the fin] products were nearly the same. No one who watched Reaganin his final televised speech prior to the tax vote would know that. He made hisbill the hero, the Democrats the foe. The Democrats did exactly the samething, of course. But there's a difference: Reagan won. and now he must live with the image he has created for better or worse. In the final analysis of course. the Reagan bill does represent pure con- il government spending concen- trating on social spending. Among other things, this will reduce pressure on money markets and bring about lower interest rates. 2. Cut taxes to stimulate the economy, whichwill stimulate even more business and investment, which eventually will filter down to everyone in the form of morejobs. There are several possible pitfalls, however. One brought about by a built-in problem with the plan, and another brought about by a major concession that Reagan madeat the end of the tax fight which may comeback to haunt him Thebuilt-in problem is that many of the benefits of the philosophy do notpayoff. even in theory, for many years. In the meantime, the public maybegin to chafe on the details suchasthe fact that most of the tax breaks — in total money terms — go to the wealthy andto big business. Republicans argue those who pay the most taxes should get the biggest breaks, and that these are the people whowill invest the necessary capital to get the countryrolling again. The other major possible pitfall for Reaganis he acceptedatthelast minute tax indexing — automatically adjusting tax rates yearto year to compensate for inflation — a concept his own Treasury Department condemned earlier this year. This means that unless his overall plan succeeds spectacularly — and unless foreign oil producers continue to cooperate by keeping price increases down and supplies up — Reagan almost certainly will be faced in 1983 or 1984 with a major loss of revenue This will leave Reaganwith one of several courses, including Asking for a tax increase. Cutting social programs. including Social Security, so sharply that the public mayrebel. Or cutting into the huge defense budget. None of those prospects is designed to. make Reagan or any other Republican — president in 1984 proponents of abortion...that she finds it “personally abhorrent (Personal abhorrence to abortion like personal abhorrenceto slavery is meaningless. We musttotally op: pose it and oppose it for everyone. } And those whosay O'Connor's law school rankingand legal credentials effectively eclipse her stand on any ‘single’ issue are wrong. O'Connor's view on this vital human rights mat in the Arizona Legislature, O'Con- nor voted twice in favor of a bill legalizing all physician-performed abortions, twice against a resolution supporting the Human Life Amendment. Shealso introduced abill permitting the distribtuion of abortion information to teenagers without their parents’ knowledge. And she opposed an amendment prohibiting purely elective abortions at stateoperated schools Those who say O'Connor's position is not pro-abortion are wrong Faced with her consistentlyanti-life record, O'Connor now tries to dismiss, but by no means denounce, her actions. She s she doesn't “remember” her votes or doesn't ‘consider’ them pro-abortion. She emphasizes she's never been a Reagan speeches and appearances. made the Democrats andtheirpolicies the villian, and said his own policies days before. Basically. the Reaganplan is this 1. Cut the budget to reduce the issue. And sheargues...asdo all ter tells us far more about the kind of person she is and the kind of Justice she would become than all other factors combined. It alsogives us a very good...though hardlyreas: suring...idea about how O'Connor would rule on future cases dealing with infanticide, ‘wrongful’ life rational’ or ‘assisted’ suicide redefinition of death: living wills ete Let's ask Senators Garn and Hatch to oppose O'Connor,..and re: quest a justice all of us, including the preborn, canlive with! Connie M. Pratt * someone else? any economicills. When Reagan's tax cut plan prevailed over the House Democrats’ plan 238-195 Wednesday — with 48 Democratic defections — his economic victory was complete. His budget and now his tax plan, nowareassured of implementation. If the economyreboundsandinflation eases, he can take the credit. If hard times return and unemploymentincreases, he must take the blame. Him alone Of course this is a vastly ovrsimplified statement because the governmenthasonlya partial effect on the economy. Private industry and the free enterprise system is the major determinant of economic health. along with such outside forces as foreign oil prices. But it was Reagan himself who chose to oversimplify the process during House debate over both taxes and the budget. servative GOP policy despite some of the special interest sweetenershe added to attract Democratic votes such as allowing continuation of a major tax break for commodity speculators he had condemned only Copyright, 1981, United Feedback Editor, Herald I cannot believe how some, “human beings” treat others. I had my purse locked in my car for 20 minutesata friend's house in Orem. Someone broke into my car and stole my purse The contents in that purse were priceless to me yet worthless to anyone else, except the $20. Who else but me would wanta picture of my grandparents when they werein their 20s? I might add thatit’s the only one our family had, and I wasto makecopiesofit Who else would wantthe pictures of my darling Downe's Syndrome kids I teach? And myphoneand address book of my friends? And now the only way that I can get the addresses and phone numbers is for those people to contact me. Also my temple recommend was in there, and a lot of friends of mine were counting on me to do their family file work for them. In addition to it being a total nuisance with my driver's license, ete., those other things mean so much to me. So please,if you have to steal, why not return the rest of the stuff that doesn’t mean beansto you but means the whole world to income, corporate profits, and federal, state andlocal Reagan Responsible director, David Stockman, predicts Things ‘Valuable’ And it took into con- ment, wages and personal If Wins or Loses, WASHINGTON — Millions of elderly Americans subsist on meager Social Security pensions, which leave them too poor even to afford cut-price meats. Somesatisfy their craving for meat by eating pet foods; others exist on a diet of starches and water. Now these forgotten Americans are caught up in a polical Sturm Und - Drang a movement over President Reagan’s move to eliminate the $122-a-month mandatory minimum Social Security payment. His cold-eyed budget Some Worthless The methodology utilized by Milliken included six basic project output measures: Direct agency spending, net crop output from agricultural irrigation, municipal water, industrial water, hydroelectric power, and recreation. sideration such economic yardsticks as increased business activity, employ- Tax Cut Analysis Jack Anderson this would save about$496 million by next April. It would be a saving, unfortunately, at the expense of the nation’s mostpathetic individuals who would face reductionsin their incomeof as much as $800 a year. Rep. Jake Pickle, D-Texas, claims that most of the sacrifice will be borne by women over 65, nearly half-amillion of them in their 80s. The bureaucrats who will recompute the payments, meanwhile, have another concern. This is spelled out by the staff of the House Ways and Means Committee in an internal memo.The Social Security Administration's computer system, they write, “is in such poor condition that this task cannot be done automatically and must be done through manual reprogramming.” The agency. Already has a computercrisis which, the memo warns, “will be greatly exacerbated by the massive job of finding these beneficiaries and recomputing their efits.” Muchof the money that will be taken from the elderly, therefore, will have to be spent either to upgrade the computer system or to pay for the tedious paperwork. It would takeall the available claims adjusters, working 10 hours overtime each week, at least two full months to execute the cuts An internal documentfrominside the agency's Office of Central Operations warnsthat the undertaking W ‘‘would create critical backlogs in other workloads .. resulting in both underpayments and overpayments. The district offices will be inundated with requests. We recreation, and flood control were provided ... And as usual, a substantial portion of the nation’s investment in the reclamation program wasrepaid to the treasury by water and powerusers.” 108 W. 4350 N Ogden, © 1981 by NEA, Inc re Corr, 1D “Whatif pro football players go on strik e this year, t00?-— DON'T EVEN THINK THA Ti |