| Show ccri -- liet ‘41 40046110044444— COMMENTARY The Salt Lake Tribune Wednesday September 1 A7 1993 Democrats' Division Over NAFTA Nlay Be as Serious as '68 Vietnam Rift WASMNGTOM trade unionists who are at the heart of the Democratic coalition — echoed with denunciations of the free trade agreement One speaker after another charged that the pact Clinton is pressing Congress to approve will kill American jobs — an indictment almost as serious in these unsettled times as the charge made against Johnson 25 years ago Economists can persuade disinterested observers like me that on balance the pact is likely over time to expand the economies of both Mexico and the United States But their econometric models do little to counter the powerful emotional appeals of those denouncing the White House policy The fear that drives the opposition is real — and so is the sense of betrayal Listen to Lynn Williams the head of the steelworkers talk about millworkers whose bosses give them a choice of cutting their wages from $1050 an hour to $450 or seeing their jobs moved to Blexico and you can measure the anger and frustration that fuel the fight against NAFTA Rationally one knows that the flight of e unskilled and jobs to countries will continue NAFTA or POST — A quarter-centurafter the Democratic Party blew up over the Vietnam War decisions of Lyndon B Johnson Democrats find themselves facing another internal rupture over a presidential foreign policy President Clinton's attempt to secure congressional approval of a free trade agreement with Mexico confronts the Democrats with the same kind of divisive issue that wrecked them in 1958 On the surface the emotions generated by the North American Free Trade Agreement with Mexico and Canada (NAFTA) are mild compared to those which tore apart the Democratic National Convention in Chicago 25 years ago last week But party insiders are belatedly recognizing that the potential damage could be as great Because Americans are not dealing with weekly casualty lists and the horrors of history's first televised war the streets of Washington are not filled with protestors chanting "Hey hey LBJ how many kids did you kill today?" But last weekend's civil rights march on Washington — s and organized by the WASHINGTON y semi-skille- African-American- low-wag- d rr r -- 711 - 't—tommwssimminsmniffmmi 1 David (Art t:f7 - - t-- t- 1 a A ' 5 '- Broder i While Speaker of the House Thomas S supports NAFTA MaFoley has jority Leader Dick Gephardt criticized the proposed agreement and may join Bonior in outright opposition To the best of my recollection there has been no such rebellion in the House Democratic leadership against a major policy of a Democratic president since Thomas P (Tip) O'Neill Jr of Massachusetts who was climbing the rungs toward the speakers chair broke publicly with Lyndon Johnson on the Vietnam War O'Neill's break which was soon joined by Senate Majority Leader Mike Mansfield gave cover to other less outspoken legislators to consider defying the president Their credentials as loyal Democrats were simply too strong for the White House to challenge So it is today with Bonior's outright opposition and Gephardt's strong criticisms of NAFTA The White House does not challenge Bonior's claim that a clear mas or jority — maybe as many as s of the House Democrats — are either opposed to NAFTA or leaning against it no For the long term American prosperity depends on promoting an open liberal trading system But to those steelworkers who have grown up as Democrats Clinton is promoting the "boss's antiunion policy" something they expect from a Republican president not a Democrat The dangers to the Democrats in this situation have been dramatized in the past week by the emergence of House Maas an jority Whip David Bonior active passionate opponent of NAFTA When Bonior announced that he would use the full power of his office as the No 3 man in the House Democratic hierarchy in an attempt to kill NAFTA it signaled a civil war within the Democratic Party Tribune Readers' Opinions mind-alterin- g profit-drive- MARIE GALE Commission on Human Rights Utah Chapter Salt Lake City Price of Growth The developers are quick to express their skewed vision of a happy valley where blissful consumers shop amid green lawns safe from all sorts of impending crises while the need for housing energy and water conservation mass transit etc go unmet All these growing problems — gangs homelesss polltaion and rising crime — are factors seldom listed on the cost side of ledgers Ahh of that think expanding tax just base More consumers means more jobs! Yeah just think of the tax base of Los Angeles and all those jobs created as Southern California goes to hell in a dump low-inco- truck PETE KOLBENSCHLAG Sandy Anti-Gu- n Where to Write Public Forum please include your full name signature address and daytime telephone numbers Information other than your name will be kept confidential Preference Is given to original letters of 300 words or less that are typewritten and permit publication of the writer's true name (Names may be withheld for good reason) All letters are subject to editing Mail to Public Forum The Salt Lake Tribune PO Box 867 Salt Lake City Utah 84110 double-- spaced Health Care Problems Thank you for printing my ter "Health Poll Flawed" let(Fo- rum Aug 16) I am concerned however that one point could be misinterpreted due to some editing on The Tribune's part The letter as printed read that the Canadian Health Care system did not have to deal with drug alcohol and AIDS problems They certainly do but not to the extent that we do Nor do they deal with the urban violence that fills emergency rooms on any given night that so severely impacts US health care costs 11111 HAIG Sandy Beware of the Glob The Salt Lake Tribune editorial Aug 17 and others in favor of NAFTA are blind to the fact that this treaty is just another European Economic Community in disguise which will be followed — as with them — with a continental currency etc Due to the size of the draft of this agreement there is hardly a person on the continent who really understands just what it is all about including The Tribune It is quite obvious that none of the details of the agreement were ever intended to be exposed to the eyes of any of the people of the United States Canada and now Mexico A recent Associated Press article noted "The trade pact ex- pected to take effect Jan 1 if ratified by Congress would phase out barriers to the movement of goods services and investment between the three nations over a period It would create e the world's largest zone with 360 million consumers and an annual production of $64 trillion" Once barriers to "investment" between the three countries have been removed this continent will become just one big homogenous glob There will be no national borders That will solve the Mexican refugee problem for they will become "your new neighbor" literally GRANT N MILDENHALL American Fork 15-ye- free-trad- Al Robb's plea to kill more cougars (Foram Aug 16) which he euphemistically calls management is not based on science Mr Robb is apparently unaware that large predators like the cougar have populations — a fact taught to r wildlife ecology students Calls to reduce cougar numbers to save deer presumably so humans can kill more deer are not on sound biological footing Predator-prey relationships are complex There is a considerable body of research which shows that large mammalian predators (except humans) rarely have a major influence on their prey numbers Dr Maurice Honrocker the preeminent cougar researcher concluded in a 1970 study that deer and elk populations are not limited by cougar numbers It is ironic that predator killers wrap themselves in a cloak of science to defend their position which is in reality emotional sell-regulati- first-yea- GARY IdACFARLANE In any eveut further restrictions on either would be senseless Criminals already ignore all laws including those relating to guns and cars Then Phillips says that gun deaths and car deaths are roughly equal in Utah but admits that the majority of gun deaths are suicides If more people used cars than guns for suicide would tighter restrictions on cars make sense? Of course not because the vast majority of people use cars legally and responsibly So why crusade against legitimate gun owners the vast majority of whom also act legally and responsibly? Plalips states that legislators are taking a tough stance with drunken drivers but are reluctant add to the expected large majority of Republicans and push NAFTA over the top And then like other Democratic politicians he will cross his fingers and hope the political damage is not as great as they fear ORLANDO — This riddle brought to you by Vice President Al Gore: What do ashtrays mohair and fruitcake have in common? If you said government waste you're on to something So is Gore For the past six months Gore has headed the National Performance Review which intends to streamline the way the federal government does business On Sept 7 Gore will release the findings Using those recommendations President Clinton is expected to send to Congress by October a bill that would do away with programs that are no longer needed and nix picayune government purchasing regulations for everything from ashtrays to fruitcake Clinton also may propose making operations leaner by merging some federal agencies and giving states cities and federal government workers now boxed in by rigid rules more leeway in running programs Where does mohair fit into all this? The mohair subsidy worth re-vie- about $50 million a year to owners of Angora goats is one of those wasteful programs that ought to get the ax The subsidy began during the Korean War when the military needed to buy lots of mohair for gloves to keep our soldiers warm during Korea's frigid winters Forty years later our government is still subsidizing mohair Voting to cut government waste is certainly not a Clinton phenomenon There have been two dozen committees set up by presidents in the past 20 years to find waste Most got nowhere in Congress Gore's effort may get further simply because the economic and political climate is such that Americans are more concerned about the bottom line — the mounting red ink in the budget — than they were 10 years ago But even if Congress makes every proposed cut and strips away every burdensome rule (while maintaining those that protect the environment and people's health and safety) we still aren't likely to see a huge savings The most important issue that Congress must address is entitlements which make up more than half the $1 trillion budget Social Security and Medicare — those are the biggies Their costs are growing beyond projections and what is taken out of our paychecks to finance those entitlements isn't enough to cover the difference Clinton's efforts to "reinvent" government and cut waste are welcome but for every proposed cut you can expect there will be a member of Congress fighting to protect what the folks back home have grown accustomed to — whether it's the mohair subsidy or underfinanced Social Security During the budget battle Clinton showed that he is open to compromise But the budget he deliv- ered was not the "shared sacrifice" he had promoted in the spring nor will it end the annual deficits The issue then is no longer cutting government waste for we all can agree on that The real issue is whether Clinton is now willing to stand up to Congress — stand up to his own party not just the Republicans — and show the nation that he means business and not business as usual Conservation Director Utah Wilderness Association Moving Target - I have followed with interest the exchange including your recent editorial and the Forum letter by Alison Martin concerning the time it takes for the average student to complete an undergraduate degree at the University of Utah May I suggest yet another explanation for this phenomenon It has been my observation that the university (indeed most institutions of higher learning) are operated not for the benefit of the students but for the benefit of the faculty and the perpetuation of the institution and its various departments Hence classes are offered not to facilitate completion of one major course of study but rather to accommodate faculty sabbatical schedules and other such "departmental" issues Moreover for similarly arcane reasons major study graduation requirements continue to change presenting a moving target for the hapless student But perhaps the most frustrating aspect of this situation is that many of the required classes for a given major have absolutely nothing to do with preparing the students with useful skills for their chosen careers Instead the curriculum is designed to keep faculty employed and teaching their specialty however obscure and irrelevant that might be Thus engineering students take six semesters of mathematics most of which they will never use again GEORGE A HUNT Salt Lake City ever-changin- g Story Misses Target While Drawing Illogical Comparisons The "newsitorial" by Michael Phillips (The Salt Lake Tribune Aug 1) is an excellent example of illogic on behalf of gun prohibition Of course if illogic and editonal propaganda were removed the article would have consisted largely of white space Phillips first states as fact that gun owners face fewer restrictions than drivers That is untrue Felons drug addicts the insane and virtually anyone else can legally buy a car That's not true of guns Nor should it be but the point is that there are tens of thousands of laws on the books which regulate who can own a gun as well as where and how they can buy it carry it use it or store it Unlike cars one cannot ship transport sell or give guns without restrictions his father's son He will go out and try to round up just enough Democratic votes in the House — starting with the Illinois delegation — to two-third- By Myriam Marquez Bad Science When submitting letters to the anti-Vietna- m three-fourth- ORLANDO SENTINEL Dennis Kostecki (Forum July 29) brings up a good point regarding dangerous but legal drugs Many of the current illegal drugs were originally introduced by the existing pharmaceutical companies Heroin methadone and LSD were originally produced and marketed by Eli Lilly the producers of Prozac Heroin methadone and LSD have long been recognized as dangerous and are now illegal Prozac Eli Lilly's latest in a long line of dangerous drugs is illegal in some countries including Sweden and Norway It is of great concern that the FDA which has been entrusted with the protection of Americans from dangerous drugs is allowing drugs such as Prozac to stay on the market (while at the same time spending their time and effort attempting to crack down on vitamin producers) In late 1991 the FDA held a hearing into the effects of Prozac and other psychiatric antidepressants at which it claimed to be unable to find any damning evidence against antidepressants However subsequent investigation of the panel revealed that five out of the 10 panel members had active financial interests with the manufacturers of antidepressants totaling more than $1 million at the time they claimed to be blind to the evidence against Prozac In fact two of the 10 had received grants from Eli Lilly during the Prozac clinical trials As individuals and as a nation we must ensure that the "war on drugs" includes not only illegal psydrugs but any chotropic drugs approved by an agency that currently serves the n interests of drug companies well-like- d el Waste Cutters End Up Gagging on Mohair The Public Forum Redirect Drug War lawyer-politicia- n D-M-o high-lev- - It is ironic under these circurnstaves that Clinton has enlisted Chicago William Daley for the thankless task of rounding up Democratic votes m Congress for NAFTA Bill Daley is of course the son of the late Chicago Mayor Richard J Daley the man Lyndon Johnson called on to stop the War demonstrators at the 1968 convention and deliver the presidential nomination to Johnson's choice Vice President Hubert H Humphrey Loyalty always has been the hallmark of the Daleys' brand of politics so it is perfectly in character for Bill Daley to respond to the call for help from a president in trouble His father stayed loyal to Johnson when the Democratic Party was breaking up over Vietnam and Daley is to regulate guns Let's give the legislators credit for this not criticism Perhaps the legislators realize that it is appropriate and effective to come down hard on the small number of people who misuse cars but it is completely inappropriate and ineffective to legislate against inanimate objects like guns What the National Rifle Association has always said is that the solution to misuse of guns is to eliminate the misusers To focus as Phillips does on the 999 percent of guns that are never used in a crime is neither logical nor effective Far better to advocate proportionately harsh penalties on those few who misuse guns 4 4 is 4 OTiCEt a a T 4 4 2' 16 ' i - 4 C4 a I '‘ 4 4 f —lat 1 1 The Murray City School District has pro- posed to increase its property tax revenue from the $7779889 generated by the certified rate to $7830192 or 06 and to in crease its total budget from $23800243 to $24835394 or 435 The proposed in- crease in property tax revenues will come from the following sources: (a) All of the proposed increase will come from an increase in the property tax rate I from the 008197 to 008250 n A home valued at $75000 in Murray City I School District which based on last year's ': property tax rate and budget paid $40632 in property taxes would pay the following: (1) $41175 if Murray City School District 'E does not budget an increase in property tax revenue exclusive of new growth and (2) $41441 if the proposed increase in property tax revenues exclusive of new growth is adopted : All concerned citizens are invited to a 1 public hearing on the tax increase to be held iI on September 8 1993 at 6:00 PM - ' I ' ii ''4'i '': : ROCKY RAAB Ogden - 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