OCR Text |
Show yr l)iHf piryayriyayHnyia nwriein.itpnnjj y y.'..y.yrny,-MyTlyTyr- i.y, .n,, yiti, ny r y yityy iy yyy.yy f f yra 'yiyn yi n fin y m iy--yi fy William Safi re nyrym y r'Tf''1 i II .p yy, ,y.y-.-y(..- If yn y.'ynyn y. The Salt Lake Tribune. Sunday. March yppfiyi' yi. 14. 1982 y.iymy, - I i 1 J 4 I U.S. Fee on Oil Imports Can Energize Economy New York Tunes Service WASHINGTON Here's a fairly simple way to cut next years deficit in half, thereby construed as a gasoline tax, since the cost ot gas in this buyers market might rise over a dime a gallon. We can explain to drivers that this one-shjump takes pricing out of Arab hands, which have jacked up prices of oil fourteenfold in a decade, and places it in our own hands: it is an insurance premium against blackmail. '.lushing interest rates and starting a rapid return tononinflationary prosperity, without raising taxes or touching delense spending or a freeze on increases in human services. An impossible dream? No, not pie in the sky. The answer was put forward in this space a year ago and makes even more sense in todays urgent straits: The president should More important, a crude oil import fee taxes the overseas producer, not the American consumer. We could not do this while they had the drop on us; now we have the drop on them, and the fee will keep our pistol loaded. A straight tax on gasoline would help with conservation, but would not give the cartel a crippling kick now that it is down : and imitort fee would deliver that blow. Mr. Safire turn to Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act ol 19t!2. which gives him the authority to adjust imports in the interest of national security, and fee on imported oil. impose a Everyone knows we are in an oil glut; Saudi .Arabia, cutting its production drastically, is unable to maintain the OPEC cartels $34 per barrel price. That moment of vulnerability will not last forever. If we act now, we can smash the the cartel once and for all, next price rise and transferring that money fnn the oil producers to the U.S. Treasury. Right now, we import about 2 billion barrels ot crude oil a year. With a stroke of his pen, the president could put a $10 import fee on each barrel, generating about $20 billion in revenues. Since the price of oil is slipping each day down below $30 per barrel, that would mke the effective price in the U.S. about $40. Of course, oil producers in the United States woidd raise prices to that level. The windfall profits tax would skim off most ot the difference, reducing our budget deficit by another $28 billion. It doesn't take a blow-driebudgetary whiz kid to add it up: the $28 billion in windfall revenues plus the $20 billion in import fees deficit in half, more than cuts the much-feare- d and then some. Interest rates would plunge, the stock market would soar, and we would have nothing to fear but overconfidence itself. Just as important, the price of crude oil would continue the drive toward conservation that helped bring about the oil glut in the first place. On top of that, the price will make it president's profitable to continue to develop other sources of energy coal, gas, water, nuclear, solar, squirrels on treadmills. This would protect the fledgling competitive enterprises from the prediations of the oil monopoly, guaranteeing stable prices for energy in decades ahead. But isn't there a catch? If this is such g hot idea, why aren't we doing it? The first objection is that the fee may be The other objection would come from our embassy in Riyadh, which does not want us to be nasty to the Saudis. But if anybody has must not taught us that economic be interpreted as lack of friendship, it is Sheik Yamani: after the 1979 sale he doubled oil prices, and after the AWACS victory he cut oil production. The message has always been Sorry, Uncle Sam, but business is business. He can now accompany our crude attack on crude with protestations of undying friendship. Even Secretary Weinberger would understand that we are better able to protect them by not having to cut our defense budget. The State Department would complain, too. about the effect in Mexico and Canada. OK, lets be sports: assuming Mexico will be stalwart in the defense of El Salvador and Canada would support any grain embargoes to the Russians, we could exempt our hemispheric neighbors from the import fee. Such exemption gives us a great economic lever. We could even use it in Iran. st 5 pre-empti- J j The Public Forum non-OPE- C When 1 tried this proposal on a person President Reagan respects, he replied: $10 a barrel? Forget it; inflationary. But a $5 fee in this sinking oil market probably wouldnt increase the price of gas at the pump. . . ." Think about that, no increase to the motorist. The $5 import fee is recommended in an study by a New York investment banker, Arthur Gray Jr., and his associates, which stresses supply-sid- e productivity gains. d 4 Scnor Castro eX)rts his revolution, and Senor Reagan export hi eeonomie theories . . . Why is everybody intent on detrovinir u? anti-taxe- rs g OK, ye of little faith, nibble away at this idea until it offends no motorist or North American politician; even at five bucks a barrel with diplomatic exemptions, the result would chop $20 billion out of the deficit next year, and save our country half a trillion by the millennium. In its day, OPEC showed us no mercy; let us now lean sympathetically toward its hospital bed as we step on its oxygen pipe. (Copyright) Lmictial DelVtiise iNml Tribune Readers Opinions Not Their Fault very harsh letter of complaint was printed the March 10 Public Forum of this newspaper. Betty J. Dahlin accused Lewis Bros. Stages of "gross and inexcusable negligence" and suggested that the company's franchise to operate between Park City and Salt Lake City be lifted by the Public Service Commission because of an alleged customer service problem. I am involved in the management of Lewis Bros. Stages. I was not only very concerned but completely surprised by the complaint. Before her letter appeared neither Ms. Dahlin nor her friends who were supposedly stranded by my company had logged any kind of complaint with our office. We have since contacted Ms. Dahlin, and through her, Priscilla Frame, the supposed victim, by phone at her residence (now in New Jersey). The incident described hi the letter took place Feb. 27 (not Feb. 25 as Ms. Dahlin alleged). Mrs. Frame called in advance a phone number in Park City she thought belonged to Lewis Bros, to arrange for transportation to the airport. She called that number again when she and her friend were not picked up to go to the airport. That number was 7 which belongs to Park City Transportation, a competing van service. Lewis Bros. Stages was in no way involved in the incident described by Ms. Dahlin. Ms. Dahlin stated in her letter that she could understand human error or mechanical failure but not such gross and inexcusable negligence as she alleged we were guilty of. Die fact is that we were not guilty of anything but mistaken identity. cannot help but take this matter somewhat personally. My grandfather founded this company. I am proud of it and I am proud of the people who work here. I am also very proud of the job we all do for our customers. Pardon my lack of sense of humor in this matter but we have spent years establishing a reputation for good service. We are not immune to occasional mechanical failures or A in 549-850- Nation With U.S. as Enemy Could Overreact a Little The Los Angeles Times NEW YORK Frustrated by its inability to capabilities offensively. Although the United States has not yet presented convincing public evidence that Nicaragua is arming the Salvadoran rebels, for example, it would make sense for the Sandinistas to be acting precisely as the United States has charged. A leftist victory in El Salvador would be in the interests of Nicaragua for the same reason that it would be against the interests of the United States: The Sandinistas would gain an ally while we public support for its Central American policies, the Reagan administration last week released aerial photographs purported to show Nicaraguan military installations built on the Cuban model, airfields with runways able to handle MIGs, and Soviet tanks and artillery. Administration spokesmen argue that the photographs show Nicaragua is engaged in a massive military buildup that will threaten its neighbors and upset the military balance in the region. Perhaps the administrations conclusions are correct, but they do not necessarily follow from the evidence thus far presented. Nor are they the only possible conclusions that can be drawn. Most of the charges against Nicaragua involve future intentions rather than current realities. The runways were lengthened for MIGs that have not yet arrived. The standing army of 25.000 to 30.000 and militia of 100,000 to generate 3 The best way to ensure that Nicaragua does not change from a defensive to a blatantly aggressive power is for the United States to stop threatening it. Empty threats reinforce hostilities without producing desired changes in Nicaraguas behavior. Threats followed by action could produce even worse results: a serious deterioration of relations between the United States and its Latin American neighbors, a domestic political crisis in the United States and increased polarization and instability in Central America. Instead of threats, the United States should adopt a lower profile and let the Latin Americans work out a solution to the Central American problem. Countries that originally aided the Sandinistas fight against Somoza. such as Costa Rica, Venezuela, Panama and Mexico, are becoming increasingly disenchanted with the Nicaraguan governments behavior. And the Latin American members of the Socialist International recently refused to allow the Sandinistas to attend the organizations Caracas meeting, on the grounds that the Sandinistas were no longer Social Democrats. A combined Latin American effort to end the fighting and perhaps disarm the region provides better insurance than unilateral U.S. actions that Nicaragua will not use its bases, men and weapons aggressively. The quid pro quos proposed by Mexican President Jose Lopez Portillo, including a reduction of Nicaraguas armed forces in exchange for an end to the U.S. training camps, pacts between Nicaragua and its neighbors and Nicaragua and the United States, as well as a negotiated settlement in El Salvador, could form the basis for such a combined Latin American effort. Should this strategy fail to prevent Nicaragua from aggressively destabilizing neighboring governments, cooperative action under the Rio Treaty remains an option. Officially called the Treaty of Reciprocal Assistance, the treaty, drafted in 1947, requires signatory states to unite against aggression in the Western Hemisphere, in which event the foreign ministers of the Organization of American States would meet and decide what action to take. This option, however, is viable only if the United States does not try to force it upon reluctant Latin American governments that have not been given an opportunity to work out a peaceful solution to the problems of a hemisphere that is theirs as much as it is ours. (Copyright) 150,000 men and material supposedly I ? i i r Forum Kules Public Forum letters must be submitted exclusively to The Tribune and bear writers full name, signature andftddress. Names must be printed on political letters but may be withheld for good reasons on others. Writers are limited to one letter every 10 days. Preference will be given to short, typewritten (double spaced) letters permitting use of the writer's true name. All letters are subject to condensation. Mail to the Public Forum. The Salt Lake Tribune. Box 807. Salt Lake City, Utah. 811 10. those who read Ms. Dahlin's letter will also read this response. There will be many who will not however. We appreciate the response offered by The Tribune to keep that adverse impact to a minimum. STEVE LEWIS Vice President Lewis Bros. Stages of Hon ToV Tlu Problem have just finished watching, in the last few' days. "Meet The Press. MacNeil. Lehrer Report." and Louis Ruykysers "Wall Street I Week " There is a lot ol talk about small businesses, big business, "the investing community" and others of more or less power and" standing There is very little said about Jane Doe and-,John Bull who are out of work for mouths while ,, waiting for Reaganomics to produce that lovely boom in business in the spring. We need to hear more about how to survive; how to meet tlu mortgage payment; how to keep gas in the carpi to hunt for nonexistent jobs. Along that line, I have a brief suggestion.. Instead of Jane Doe getting unemployment ' help for a time and sitting idle, why not apply the unemployment benefit toward Jane's business salary or wages and let the have Janes services for paying the other half of her pay? Jane pays taxes, the business is helped, and it hasnt cost the government more than the traditional way. Perhaps someone has suggested that setup but think it's and I havent heard about it worth a try. Specifically Id like to see the so people could, paper publish these how-to'- s save them. E. J. HALL 1 Curiou I'Ve The lead editorial in The Tribune (March t'1 regarding the woes Senator Hatch and Garn are having in regard to their speaking fees was precise and exact. The writer said: "Most of these troubles could be eliminated it elected officials ever mustered the courage In' identify speaking fees for what they ore and refuse them. Personally, I've been appullecf at the size of such fees, curious about the reasons for the offer and wondering alnnit the ' reasons for the acceptance. Our local writer finished this excellent piece by writing: "The danger in charging for speechmaking is that the lawmaker may not be. fulfilling his job obligations." A most import taut observation. They are senators of the United States, arent they? CHRISTINE W. CAPENER would lose one. Susan Kaufman Purcell is a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations and a former member of the policy planning staff at the State Department. members are alleged goals. And the are to be used to attack Nicaragua's neighbors, because the troops and weapons exceed in number those normally required purely for defensive purposes. The key word here is "normally." There is nothing normal about Nicaraguas defense needs. Its government counts among its declared enemies the most powerful country in the hemisphere. The last time the United States was laced with a Marxist revolutionary regime in its traditional sphere of influence, it tried to overthrow it by arming and supporting an in asion by a band of Cuban exiles. It now begins to look as though we are up to our old tricks. The U.S. government has not exiles from operating stopped training camps in Florida and California. Nor has it asked the Honduran government to disband the groups operating along that countrys border with Nicaragua. In fact, according to recent leaks from Washington. there may be a covert CIA plan to build and fund a paramilitary group of Latin Americans dedicated to destabilizing the Nicaraguan government. It was alleged that a secret commando force was training in Honduras for operations in Nicaragua, with as many as 500 Latin American commandos. The White House responded that it was not U.S. government but policy "to topple other governments, would not fonfirm or deny the published reports on the Nicaragua plan. When Nicaraguas leaders defend the military buildup that has occurred since the July 1079 revolution by citing factors like these, their arguments are often dismissed by U.S. officials as examples of paranoia. In the early ltiiKis. however. Cuba's paranoia" produced a Cuban military buildup that enabled the Castro government to survive the Bay of Pigs invasion The lesson has not Ihhoi lost on the Sandinixtas. To argue that there is a defensive rationale to developments in Nicaragua is not to guarantee that Nicaragua will never use its military 1 human error, we also must cope with the unavoidable difficulties of operating transportation on mountain roads during winter weather year after year. We have, nevertheless, kept customer complaints to an absolute minimum. When they come up we respond promptly and accept full financial responsibility for any problems we create. One unjustified letter like Ms. Dahlins, does more damage than many, many actual customer problems responsibly solved. A full apology by Ms. Dahlin, if tendered immediately through the same public forums used in her complaint, will only minimize the damage suffered by Lewis Bros. Stages. It is sufficiently difficult to resolve legitimate customer complaints without this type of unjustified harrasment. It is my hope that most H Inter-America- n CIA-direct- last-reso- rt Twenty-fivwriters once got together and and wrote the worst book they could write got it published. But they spoiled all tlu fun by lolling which one it was. e , Ulc would be easier if bad habits were as easy to give up as they are to acquire Michael kilian California Senate Race Media Circus Chicago Tribune Gore Vidal, author of the transsexual novel Myra Breckenridge, has joined the crowded list of candidates running for the California U.S. Senate seat of S.I. Hayakawa. ANNOUNCER: And now. the Campaign '82 Senatorial Debate. Heres your moderator for tonights debate, the Lone Ranger. RANGER: Thank you. Good evening and hi ho Silver. Tonights debate will follow the same rules as the 1980 presidential debate. Each candidate will be asked a question from one of our panel of newsmen. The first question will be from columnist George Will for Gov. Jerry Brown. WILL: Governor Brown, Thucydides once said: "We are lovers of beauty without extravagance and lovers of wisdom without unmanliness. Why did he say that? And please hurry up with your answer, I have three other shows to do tonight. BROWN Thucydides is a man whose time has gone. I much prefer Leonidas of Tarentum. who said: Now is the season of sailing; for already the chattering swallow is come and the pleasant west wind. In the cosmic consciousness, the new liberalism of fiscal retraint, smaller government, and no nukes, is extinct. I have found it!" Or as Archimedes said: : What I offer you is the pleasant west wind. RANGER.Thank you. big fella. Our next question for Miss Maureen Reagan will be from columnists Evans and Novak. EVANS AND NOVAK: Miss Reagan, who around are the treacherous your father who are poisoning his mind and s sticking knives in the backs of supply-siderite- and MISS REAGAN: What's wrong with having curly hair and a chubby face? So what if I look like a middle-age- d Shirley Temple and have a younger husband? Who says my Daddy doesnt support me? I love my Daddy. And its not true that I think Im Snow White and Nancy is the winked stepmother. I like my stepmother a lot, sort of. The Senate needs me. RANGER: Thank you, sweetums. The next question is for Congressman Barry Goldwater Jr., from Anthony Lewis of the New York Times. LEWIS: Mr. Goldwater, can America moralafford to go on blithefully forgetting the moral cataclysm that was the Christmas bombing of Hanoi? GOLDWATER: I think youre confusing me with my father, who was an Air Force general and knows all about bombing. Though Im just ly as ruggedly handsome as he, I was no bomber I was a stockbroker during the Vietnam War. '(' HAYAKAWA: Zzzzzzzzzzzz. RANGER: Excuse me. Senator Hayakawa cant be in this debate. You withdrew from the race. Youre not a candidate. HAYAKAWA: Sorry. I was just looking for a place to sleep. It must be a pretty good place.' because half the audience is asleep. Anyway. I' stole this chair fair and square. , You RANGER: Well, go and sit in Mr. Wills7 chair. He had to leave for his appearance oii Celebrity Bowling. The next question will be for candidate Gore Vidal from Andy Warhol from the Village Voice. WARHOL: Gore! Gore! Gore! Gore! Gore'-GoreGore! VIDAL: Oh. go suck a tomato soup can. you moppet. How has superannuated white-haire- d it befallen me that I must not only debase" myself with an immersion into the American political swim to help overthrow the global, macho tyranny, but must compete with chubby arrivistes, imbeciles and cryptos? Oh. where is William Buckley now that I need him? (Sneer, sneer) RANGER: Thank you. strange fella. The next question will be for Congressman Paul "Pete" McCloskey from Lisa Meyers of NBC News. The Way It Was March 14. 1882 CITY JOTTINGS: There is an epidemic prevailing in the city among all classes, old and young, resembling in its symptoms, malarial fever. The storm was reported terrible in the mountains yesterday, the snow blinding those who ventured out. The peanut social at the Methodist Church last evening drew a big crowd. March 14. 1932 Four police "prowl" cars, equipped with various types of receiving sets, will begin a series of tests Monday night to determine the nature of equipment that will be used in the police radio station, it was proposed Salt announced Saturday night by Chief of Police W.L. Payne. An experimental short wave broadcasting lias lieen installed at (police headquar- - ters. and various problems concerning the installations of the police radio station will be worked out, Chief Payne stated. March 14, 1957 steam Construction of a electric generating plant costing an estimated 20 million dollars is scheduled in the next few years by Utah Power & Light Co., it was announced Wednesday by E.M. Naughton, president and general manager. Mr. Naughton made the disclosure in a speech before members of the New York Society of Security Analysts in New York City. Officials in headquarters in Salt Lake City-saithe site for the plant had not yet been selected. But surveys are underway in that direction. They confirmed the plant would be the largest single plant ever built by Utah Power, or any other utiljfy or industry in the Intermountain area. 150,000-kilowa- tt MEYERS: Congressman, do you think they put me on this panel because I'm cute and they want good ratings for this debate show so it wont hurt the commercial show that follows? Do you think I've risen from "Washington Week in Review" to one of the highest paid jobs in journalism just because I'm cute And. Congressman McCloskey. what are your post tions on the important issues confronting California today? McCLOSKEY: Uh, speaking for Mayor Pete Wilson of San Diego and for myself as the only really rational and reasonable candidates in, this race, I would note that every intelligent thing weve had to say about the serious problems confronting this state and the nation has been ignored by a news media much more concerned with Miss Reagan's relationship with her father and Mr. Vidal's sex hie. and so we have no comment. RANGER: Well said, smart fella The next question will be for candidate Donald Duck Irum columnist Daflv Duck ol the New York Post . . 'Copy right i |