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Show OpPElDOini Sun Advocate 4A Wednesday, December 22, 1982 82 Davtona teach 5unday USSfflffiF Christmas spirit make it last How much does Christmas cost? These words, spoken by a youngster to a parent not long ago, seem innocent enough. The thrill of shining, presents would naturally prompt the young mind to wonder just what all the splendor and celebration is worth. But when we ask ourselves the same question, we should seek a deeper answer one that goes beyond the price of the new toys and video games. Just what are we willing to give, how much love and understanding can we afford to make Christmas a true reflection of the years events and ribbon-bedeck- ed efforts? Too often we wait for this time and season to pay our debt, saving our kindness and compassion like misers, hoping that in the few days of celebration we can dole out enough to make all the wrongs right. Have we spoken poorly of someone without knowing the truth ourselves? Then, perhaps a donation to a charity will make up for it. Have we forgotten an old friend, someone dear to us but for whom we just could not find the time? Maybe a new shirt and necktie can smooth things over. Been too busy to play with the kids like we should have? Buy them a new stereo, and they will forgive you, right? Wrong. If we wait so long to cover our debts, then we will find the account overdrawn, and no amount of physical wealth will be able to pay for the damage done. The spirit of life and giving that we celebrate at Christmas must be kept inside year round. So during this yule season, as we make out our list of gifts and add up the cost of that new bike and the tennis racket and all the store-bouggoodies, remember to of to note set aside enough the Christmas spirit to make a last all year. If we will pay our debts of kindness and compassion to our brothers and sisters as we go, we will find the cost of Christmas is very small indeed. ci982 Copiev iNew Youre right, Boss .. . its time for a diet. srice ht Steel industry needs a boost The American steel industry is every bit as sick as its automobile counterpart. The difference is that steelworkers seem far less inclined than autoworkers to accept wage and benefit cuts as the cost of saving their jobs. Chrysler workers, for example, faced reality.last year when they accepted a concessionary contract rather than see their employer go bankrupt. Whither that same spirit will prevail in the current negotiations is uncertan, but at least the United Auto Workers leadership has demonstrated a willingness to consider an employers financial condition. Sadly, that is more than can be said for most presidents of United Steelworkers locals. In November, USW local package that presidents voted to reject a would have reduced labor cost by 11 percent. If that proposed cut seems draconian, it should be remembered that steelworkers have long been the highest paid production workers in America and that their industry is now facing financial ruin. Unemployment among workers for the nations eight largest steel makers currently stands at 37 percent. Losses for these companies through the first nine months of this year totaled a staggering $1.57 billion. The blunt truth is that the domestic steel industry is simply not competitive. Its aging plants and over-pai- d workers cannot produce steel at prices that can command a sufficient share of the American market, let alone that so-call- ed wage-concessi- on available abroad. That will not change so long as local USW presidents g continue to reject proposals. In light of the recent action by the union, more layoffs and plant closings seem inevitable. And unless the industrys financial hemorrhage can somehow be staunched, some steel makers may not survive at all. cost-savin- HUMFTY DUMPTY ? jack andersonespear Social Security left hanging - Politics is prevailing over the public good in the effort to overhaul the tottering Social Security system that millions of Americans rely on for their retirement. Unless solutions are found soon, the system could go broke. A special bipartisan commission, which was supposed to recommend ways of making the system solvent, wound up squabbling behind closed doors. Republican members generally want to raise much of the $200 billion needed by 1990 by reducing future benefits. The Democrats have argued in favor of raising payroll taxes. staff The commissions members and its executive director, Robert J. Meyers, WASHINGTON were by the that bickering disgusted backstage produced a mishmash of options instead of acceptable solutions. One commissioner privately confided that the result of the panels work would be a big, fat zero. The blame cant be laid totally at the commissions doorstep. Private and public appeals were made to President Reagan and Speaker Thomas Tip ONeill, to put aside their political feuding and provide some guidance. Neither Reagan, who was burned on Social Security when he tentatively considered cutting benefits, nor ONeill, who saw Democratic colleagues make political hay on the issue in the November elections, complied with the request. Left in the lurch are Americas elderly and handicapped who are worried about their present benefits, and the nations workers who are fearful the system may collapse by the time they retire. The monumental issue will be debated in the new session of Congress next year. There is a danger that the legislation will bog down in confrontation instead of compromise. The losers would be the aged and poor who need security, not political oratory. PRESIDENTIAL STRAWS: Political insiders anticipate that President Reagan may encounter more and more outright opposition from Sen. Bob Dole, the influential Kansas Republican, who in the past has sided with the Presidents conservative publicly positions. This is because Dole, the chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, has presidential ambitions of his own, if Reagan decides against a second term. The senator will be in a position to make his mark on Social Security legislation, tax matters bills. and foreign-trad- e has read last Dole Novem- bers election results and the mail from his Midwestern constituents who are disillusioned with Reagonomics. He has thus been emboldened to criticize the president, most recently for failing to consult with Republican members of the special Social Security commission or with GOP members of Congress. He is expected to defy the White House on a number of other key measures in the coming session. On the other side of the aisle, Sen. John Glenn, a Democratic presidential aspirant from Ohio, pulled out a plum by becoming the top minority member of the Senate Special Committee on Aging. This choice assignment will bring him to the attention of older voters, who are becoming increasingly active on the national political scene. It would, not incidentally, give Glenn increasing appeal in key primary states such as New Hampshire, Iowa, Florida and California, where senior citizens comprise an important voting bloc. Capitol Hill sources told us that most Republican senators knew in advance of the public disclosure that three of the five members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff opposed the administrations dense-pac- k plan for the MX missile system. They kept the information secret, however, to try to salvage a compromise for Reagan after the House voted down dense-pac- k in an unusual rebuff to the president. Reagan, in turn, agreed to make some concessions in the dispute by freezing further spending on the MX until next April. Now the GOP senators have quietly instructed the Pentagon planners to come up with another basing system for the nuclear weapons by that deadline. But before accepting defeat on the issue, the White House g waged a heavy on Hill. the campaign of Wes Watkins Congressman Oklahoma was heavily targeted for persuasion. Watkins had voted against the MX earlier in the year, but his vote was essential to get the funding proposal out of the House Appropriations Committee. He received a personal call from Reagan during the P: half-a-lo- arm-twistin- af Presidents Latin American trip and Vice President Bush tracked him down on the racketball court for some additional personal lobbying. In the committee showdown, Watkins voted with the administration, but denies that a Bush promise to support one of his special projects helped change his mind. MINORITY MESS - The federal agency that is supposed businesses to help minority-ru- n with is plagued and cronyism. mismanagement The Minority Business Development Agency has long been a dumping ground for various administrations to pay off political favors. Lately, it has turned into a battlefield, with blacks and Hispanics fighting for the crumbs tossed out by the federal government. Now, according to our sources, agency officials may be in even hotter water. The Commerce Departments inspector general, Sherman Funk, is looking into allegations that nine of the agencys contracts may have been illegaly awarded. Victor Rivera, the agencys director, has been implicated in one of the investigations. Funk, however, used to work for the Minority Business Development Agency, and some insiders are wondering whether he can objectively investigate. WHATS NEXT?: Despite soaring unemployment, theres one field with a severe labor shortage: the industry. Experts say it is 50 percent understaffed. By the end of the decade, the experts believe, a computer technician may command a salary. data-processi- six-figu- re G3)SBir castle country Christmas greetings By ART LEEMARTINES Mayor, Price City Probably at no time of the year centration are we and our families drawn closer together than in the month of December. This is the season of the year when Christians celebrate the birth of Christ. As we closed the month of November, we celebrated not Thanksgiving, only the but the ourselves, take away the conon our own aggrandizement, our own enjoyment, our own comfort and satisfaction, and think, even in the giving of small gifts, think of someone else. It is a time of bringing a little joy and pleasure to someone else, of taking a little recognition of friends, maybe long, almost forgotten, and perhaps, bringing into their lives a little joy, a little comfort simply in the opening of an envelope which contains a simple greeting of good will and of thoughtfulness. We have been so bounteously blessed in everything that we have, in both this country and in our city, that we should at this Yule Season join with all men everywhere in a wish of happiness and joy and well being in all of this great world of from holiday of spirit of Thanksgiving . Our nation and our city have been especially blessed with many good things. We should pause to count these blessings and offer a prayer of thanks to God for his continued protection and guidance. At this time of the year, when we approach the Yule Season, we should dwell upon the time when we frequently depart ours. Despite all Americans have suffered at the hands of inflation and unemployment, we still enjoy one of the worlds highest standards of living. Few nations on this globe dont envy the way Americans live. It is easy to complain about all the things that may not be right with out nation today. But the people who will change that situation are the ones who are looking for whats right about our nation and setting goals to make it better. To you and all of yours, I would like to extend a most Merry Christmas and the wish for a happy, healthy and joyous New Year, and a year filled with rewarding service to all of you. And by working together we can help each other to make this a better place in which to live. |