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Show Sun Advocate no Thursday, March 5, 1987 A higher road to the White House Richard Gephardts boyish mien and Jack Kemps distinctive hairstyle may be clues to the nature of the men, but they offer little if any substance to help us determine which man would make the better as president. We rely on such clues, nevertheless well know. Were candidates and their image-makeincreasingly at the mercy of their manipulations., The Roosevelt Center for American Policy Studies, a public policy institute based in Washington, D.C., believes there is a better way. The group has launched an ambitious experiment called U.S. 88 aimed at encouraging the discussion of issues in the 1988 campaign. If the yearlong campaign works, candidates in the Iowa caucuses and the New Hampshire primary will be confronted with tougher, d citizens. more direct questions from And voters across the country will have a better sense of who the individuals behind the made-for-Timages really are. In each state, local sponsors will help recruit 300 to 600 voters they hope will be representative of their communities. They will be asked to participate in issues forums covering basic information about four critical policy issues: federal budget deficits, agriculture, the global spread of nuclear weapons and comCentral America. A fifth policy area in be added. international trade may petitiveness free to the public strictly nonPolicy forums will take place in partisan and town halls and union halls, at schools, colleges, homes and churches. Once the voters are familiar with the issues, the candidates will be asked to join them and answer a set of. Their responses will be gauntlet questions. nationwide. and distributed published The Roosevelt Center, which has committed more than $600,000 to the project, got things started recently with a conference in New Hampshire for Republican and Democratic activists, journalists and community leaders. A similar conference is planned for Iowa in late March. The climiate is right for such an effort. Voters are fed up with the negative, campaigns candidates conducted last year. More recently, the Iran-Contaffair has reminded them of the danger of relying on image rather than substance when we rs non-partis- an better-informe- V chucks waggirV ve issue-evasi- More on 'us' and 'them' By CHUCK ZEHNDER Managing editor Well, its back to us and them. I just cant help it, but when its tax time, legislative ve ra make our choices. The Roosevelt Centers U.S. 88 is a worthwile effort to help redeem the political decision-makin- g s : process. Henry would be pleased The champagne corks must have been popping at corporate headquarters in Dearborn, Mich., the other day when it was disclosed that Ford Motor Co. is now the nations most profitiable automobile manufac- time, etc. I can see the lines clearly drawn and its not the citizens who are drawing the lines its government. The tax hikes are a fact here in Utah and they are the largest hikes in the history of the state and already government is saying it isnt enough, that there are going to be more revenue shortfalls. I predict that there are going to be much bigger revenue shortfalls in the future due to businesses leaving the state to fairer economic pastures where government doesnt attempt to bleed them dry. That means people who want to work for a living instead of living off the state will follow the businesses and will leave fewer people here to continue to pay more and more taxes. Government has failed to respond to the vast majority of its constituents and reduce spending instead of increasing already too high taxes. I dont understand how these guys and gals in the Legislature can be such Jekylls and Hydes. They are citizens and friends at home, but when they get inside that domed building in Salt Lake City, they become different people and dont seem to care about us at home anymore. . Government agencies exist to aid the common citizen in this country. Govern- ments job is to provide for the public welfare and that doesnt mean a welfare state. But often government agencies seem to pit themselves against their citizens. However, there are some times when, because its a government agency, public, citizens seem to get their back up and just figure the government is doing something wrong Im one of those people. Doc Dorman and I have been the Carbon County anarchists for quite some time now because we dont like government intervention in our lives. I dont know about Doc, but I know I have unfairly jumped on some government agencies in the past and probably will do so again. I called the BLM concerning the letter from Mel Stevenson in todays paper and asked some pretty pointed questions about the situation because I was sure they were unfair. And maybe they didnt try hard enough. Dennis Willis, a BLM range conservationist, told me that the horses in question were running loose for a period of about three weeks before they were finally able, after a couple of tries, to round them up and corral them at the Icelander Wash corral. He did say they had attempted to find out whose horses they were through another rancher in the area, but were unable to do so. He said there were actually four horses and that two didnt have brands, one was not readable and the other: brand was just determined a week ago to be registered and that was why they couldnt contact Mel to have him come and get his horses. Anyway, Mels letter portrays a fairly accurate picture of the situation and according to Willis, the horses will be sold at state auction on Friday to satisfy a lien now held by Emery County Animal Control. Willis said the BLM didnt expect to get any money from the sale of the horses and that they were not intending to press trespass laws which they have a right to do. Maybe Mel will become the next anarchist in Carbon County and join Doc and me. turer. Not since the glorious Model-- T days of 1924 has Ford been able to beat General Motors on the bottom line. That changed last year with Fords record profit of $3.3 billion, up more than 30 percent from 1985. This dramatic turnaround is due in large part to the vision and the managerial skill of Donald Petersen, Fords chief executive officer. Since becoming president in 1980 and CEO two years ago, he has helped transofrm a bloated and complacent company into a lean and hungry competitor. During the last seven years, for example, Ford has closed 15 manufacturing plants worldwide, including seven in the United States. The company also has work force by 30 percent. All trimmed its white-collcost these told, savings have totaled more than $5 billion since 1980. Contrast these economies with GM, which has been squeezed by ballooning costs and sluggish sales, and its easy to see why the worlds largest automaker is playing second fiddle to Ford ar this year. Ford, on average, makes more than twice as much money on each car it builds than does GM. But the competitive edge doesnt end there. During the last several years, Ford has become the design leader in the domestic industry, with its sleek aerodynamic styling. More important, consumers have greater confidence in Ford cars because their frequency-of-repa- ir rate is comparable to reliable Japanese models. Industry analysts also agree that Ford is successful because it takes a balanced approach to its problems. Like the Japanese, Ford pays attention to small details. Thus, while GM has been spending billions of dollars on costly new plants, Ford has continued cutting costs even after it rebounded from its sales slump in the early 1980s. This brings us back to Donald Petersen. Compared with his highly publicized counterparts at GM and ' Chrysler, he is the invisible man. Nevertheless, this executive has reformed Fords notoriously rigid bureaucracy by decentralizing the operation. This in turn has prompted designers, plant managers and line employees to become part of the decision-makin- g process. The end result is a robust U.S. automaker, which has earned the respect of industry experts and consumers both here and abroad. soft-spok- en mike royko Reagan memory? Yours for a song The presidential press conference is now open for questions. You may begin, gentlemen. About your memory, Mr. President. How is it possible that you cant remember whether or not you approved that first shipment of arms to Iran? Uh, I remember the Alamo. Thats a different matter, sir. According to the Tower Commission report, the first time they asked you about the arms shipment, you said that you did remember approving it. So did you really remember at that time? Uh, I remember the Maine. Thats fine, sir, but about the Tower report. They said that the second time they talked to you, you said that Don Regan told you that you didnt approve the shipment. Do you remember that? Mmmm. Remember the Red River Valley, and the cowboy who loves you so well. Well try to do that, sir. But to get back to the arms shipment. Last week you changed your story still again and told the Tower Commission you just remembered that you didnt remember whether you approved the arms shipment. So there seems to be some con- fusion about what you remember. I remember you, youre the one who made my dreams come true, a few kisses ago. Im sorry, sir, you must have the wrong person. Now, it seems to a lot of people that something as important as secretly approving an arms shipment to a hostile, terrorist nation would be the kind of thing a president would surely remember. Are you positive you dont remember? Uh, try to remember the kind of September ... when life was slow and oh, so mellow. We all remember such happy times, sir. But if we can return to the Tower report. Arent there any notes, memos, something that could help you remember? We met at 9, 1 was on time ... Ah, yes, I remember it well. You do? Thats wonderful, sir. Were getting somewhere. Now, who was at the 9 oclock meeting and what was discussed? We dined with friends, a tenor sang ... Ah, yes, I remember it well. Im not sure were talking about the same thing, sir. The Iran arms shipment. There are many unanswered questions, and a growing number of Americans are concerned about your inability to remember essential details. They are genuinely concerned that you are having problems. Can you tell us if you suffer from lapses of memory? Memories, memories, dreams of love so true ... oer the sea of memory, Im drifting back to you ... Childhood days, wildwood days, among the birds and bees ... you left me alone, but still youre my own in my are not suffering such serious mental lapses. Isnt there something that you can tell the American people to restore their confidence? Concerning beautiful memories ... Those are fine sentiments, sir, but they arent the memories we are discussing. your memory, Its been in some if circles that suggested you cant remember whether you approved the arms deal, this could call into question your mental capacities. So, could you is there anything that tell us you can remember? Mmmm, yes. You must remember this, a kiss is still a kiss, a sigh is just a sigh ... the fundamental things apply as time goes by. Mr. President, it is important that people be confident that you isnt there some assurance that you want to give them about what you remem- , ber? Uh, give my regards to Broadway, remember me to Herald Square ... Thank you, Mr. President. And thank you. Thanks for the memories, of candelight and wine, castles on the Rhine, the Parthenon and moments on the Rhine ... thanks for the memories. Uh, I think that was Bob Hopes theme song, Mr. President. Ah, well. yes, I remember it |
