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Show The Paper That Dares To Take A Stand Page 10 The Utah Independent January 29, 1976 WOULD SOMEONE PLEASE TURN ON THE LIGHT? Continued from page 3 by Jack Pemberton Why is it that after many years of hard work, the efforts of dedicated conservatives have not with greater been rewarded success? Why do the liberals continue to rack up their score while the conservatives lose ground? There are several reasons. Perhaps these are some of the most basic: ) Conservatives, by their very nature, like to be left alone to pursue their own desires and goals in life; and they think others should be allowed to do the same. They form their own op inions and would like others to have the same That means that privilege. conservatives are anything but aggressive. They dont want to be sold, nor do they want to sell They are not anyone else. promoters of their personal beliefs. 2) Because they do not like to interfere in the affairs and beliefs of others, they tend to let things take their course until things become unbearable. Then finally, they feel duty-bouto endure the situation no longer, and they begin to speak out in protest. In protest; and whatever they say in protest seems to come out negative: stop deficit spending, stop revenue sharing, stop regional government, etc. It would be wonderful to do all those things, but the approach has failed. As the political and social 1 nd situation has people with the correct principles, and trust that that effort will bear fruit. We must have the faith that as we build good government, bad government will be pushed aside. e we need. Thats the mind-chanwe need is to The learn what it is we really want so we can raise it as a standard to the people. We want exactly what they heart-chang- ge wanted at that convention in They wanted to Philadelphia. build the Constitution; we want to restore it to its former effectiveness. But do we really know what we want? Lets ask ourselves a few questions. Can I explain the origin of human rights? Can 1 explain the basic principles of the Constitution? the horizontal and vertical separation of powers? the proper roles of the executive, legislative, and judicial branches? Can I describe the fundamental nature and function of law? Do I know the principles of stable currency? Can I explain how free enterprise automatically optimizes the allocation of the nations resources, including property, equipment, capital and labor? prices and wages? stimulates productivity? Do I minimizes unemployment? know the correct principles of foreign trade and alliances? How it self-regulat- es worsened, have conservatives generally and thus gotten more defensive more negative. Thats how they got the reactionary label. Nearly two hundred years ago. our Founding Fathers met in convention in Philadelphia. They met in the midst of an inflation much worse than ours, and with other domestic and international crises every bit as alarming to them as ours are to us today. Some of the delegates felt they should spend their efforts in attempting to alleviate those conditions by repairing their current laws and making other changes. They were greatly concerned about their problems and were hoping to find ways to put a stop to them. They, like us, had their minds on their problems. In the midst of this feeling, the Father of our nation, George Washington, arose and declared that it would be wiser to seek permanent solutions by which a building government would prevent those problems from arising in the first place. He concluded by saying. Let us raise a standard to which the wise and the honest can repair; the event is in the Thus he turned hand of God. their attention from their troubles to the goals of good government, from negative to positive, from turmoil to triumph. Perhaps wc need to take a similar lesson from that wise statesman. Where do we begin? In our own hearts and minds. First we need the faith that the government God gave us in the Constitution is right, that freedom and free enterprise are true principles. Wc must not only believe that we are right in those principles, we must have sufficient faith to know that we can turn a good share of our attention away from the problems (as the Founders did), and educate, promote, sell, and inspire the That should suffice to show us that we perhaps know more about our problems than we do about their permanent solutions. We have had a sort of morbid fascination with the horrors of our political troubles; a fascination which has kept our attention on the problems. We have gone about for a long time saying that things were getting darker and darker (and they really were), but we have failed to realize that the only permanent cure for darkness is light. Fighting darkness is a losing cause; that ought to be obvious to us by now we havfe fought long and hard. Fighting darkness will never turn on the light, but that is the only lasting cure for it. That is our challenge and our opportunity: to rediscover and turn on the lights of liberty. To take up the sparks from the dwindling fires of freedom, kindled by the Founding Fathers, and to blow them back into full flame. We must rediscover the Constitution, and hold it up for a standard. Lets talk about the virtues of the Constitution, not the errors of Lets talk about regionalism. stable money, not inflation. Lets promote free enterprise, not just Lets talk decry regulation. not solutions, problems. Lets not ignore the problems, lets solve them. Lets get off the defensive side of the political game, and get on the offensive. Lets defend our rights when we have to. but lets use our best efforts promoting rights. Lets defend free enterprise when we have to. but lets spend most of our effort in learning and selling it to Lets defend the the nation. Constitution when wc have to; but more important, lets learn it. praise it. promote it. and sell it. and hold it up - - a standard and a light to a darkened world! Free men can vote themselves into slavery, but slaves cannot vote themselves free. .1. Kccsc Hunter THE SCOTT REPORT BICENTENNIAL person who now lives or who has ever lived on the face of the earth. That individual differentiation in personality, ability and ambition is a God-give- n insurance policy for the survival of the human race. of Independence must be the The Declaration theme of the 1976 There has sole Bicentennial. never such been an document important written by ordinary men in all of history. This was perhaps most eloquently testified to by Abraham Lincoln who stopped in Philadelphia in 1861 on his way to Washington to be inaugurated as President. Speaking Independence Hall Washingtons in on birthday. I President Lincoln said: a have never had feeling did that not politically spring from the sentiments embodied in the Declaration of Independence... I have often inquired of myself what great principle or idea it was that kept this Confederacy so long together. It was not the mere matter of the separation of the Colonies from the motherland; but that sentiment in the Declaration which of gave Independence liberty not alone to the people of this country but, I hope, to the world for all future time. It was that which gave promise that in due time the weight would be lifted from the shoulders of all men. WHAT YOU CAN DO It will be up to the great believing body of patriotic Americans to take up the cudgels and fight the big Bicentennial battle for God and Country with their own hands, says Dean Manion. What can YOU do? -- Get a copy of the Declaration of Independence. Read it and get hundreds of others to do the same including every candidate for every office - now. -- As an alternative to Liberty and Justice for the All discussion guide, schools, parish organizations and clubs should prepare for the Bicentennial by studying the Declaration of Independence, the lives of those patriots who signed it and its glorious history. A magnificent, Bicentennial edition of fully-illustrat- The ed Story of the Declaration of Independence ($15) published by Oxford Press in New University York is now available. It could serve as an ideal text to be jointly purchased and By Paul Scott Washington: The exploding costs of pensions for federal employees and the military has created one of the most pressing, unsolved fiscal problems facing the returning congress. Pensions now cost the federal government an estimated $17 billion annually and are growing like topsy. There is a growing belief among veteran lawmakers that pension costs, unless limitations are placed on them, will soon be completely out of control. The immediate problem is that outlays on pensions for retired personnel military and have jumped 500 percent in the past 10 years, while the number of beneficiaries has grown only 116 percent. At this alarming rate of increase, the costs during the next 10 years will climb to a record $45 billion or almost three times the civil-servi- ce thus dumping heavy burden on rate present another American taxpayers. The scary part of the federal pension picture is the unchecked growth of a second national debt" that is being created each year by the unfunded future liabilities. The Civil Service Retirement fund, for instance, is more than $100 billion short of the sum it needs to meet its future liabilities. The military retirement fund is even worse off financially. Government records list the unfunded liability for the military retirement fund at a skyrocketing $155 billion. Together, the total government liability for both pension funds is now $255 billion or about half the amount of the current national debt. The disturbing factor to members of Congress is that mounting pension costs are beginning to squeeze the federal budget and force the cutback or elimination of programs designed to help others than federal employees. THE SOAKING COSTS In a recent report to Congress, James T. Lynn. Director of the Office of Management and Budget, pensions reported that this year will be about a billion dollars above earlier predictions because of an unexpected rash of retirements and other factors. The rising costs of military pensions is expected to be up an esbillion dollars timated over previous forecasts because of increased cost due to added cost of civil-servi- PROBLEM PENSIONS FEDERAL ce living benefits. By 1985 experts civil-servi- ce now calculate, the federal share of pensions for government civilian workers could be 32 percent of the pay and maybe even much higher. INCREASING NUMBERS There are now more than 2,500,000 persons drawing pensions either as retired civilian employees of the government or from the military services. Civil Service employees number 1,465,000 while those drawing military retirement benefits total 1,107,000. As a starter. Congressional committees have identified two features of the federal system that account for sharply rising pension costs and which would have to be changed if current pension systems are to be brought under control. These are the mechanisms that automatically increase pensions of government employees in step with inflation, and unusually liberal retirement benefits for government workers. Federal pensions are raised automatically when the consumer price index jumps 3 percent or more above its level at the time of the previous increase cost-of-livi- and ng there for three holds consecutive months. The checks to beneficiaries are altered to reflect the increase two months later. To repay them for purchasing power allegedly lost in the wait, and adfive-mont- hs ditional 1 percent incr- as a kicker is tacked on to pension. UNEARNED FUNDS Congressional studies indicate that these increases are costly and in most cases unearned. For example, the latest adjustment to military and civilian pensions boosted federal pension expenses by $800 million dollars a year. There have ease-known cost-of-livi- Inbeen 1 1 of these in the past eight years. creases The studies clearly show that the governments inflation adcost-of-livi- ng justments greatly overcompensates d retirees for inflation. increases in recent years have boosted pensions by 83 percent, while consumer prices have risen only 63 percent. In recent years, the increments to federal pensions have been so generous that they have caused individuals to retire early. The reason: their pensions rise faster than would their wages if they stayed on the job. With the Ford Administration seeking an increase in social security taxes to help finance that program. Congress is expected to look for new ways to pay for the added costs of these government pensions or ways to reduce the ben-fit- s. Price-relate- cost-of-livi- ng Under present law, the cost of military pensions is borne entirely by the government. In principle, workers and the the share pension costs, government each contributing 7 percent of In practice, workers pay. however, increases in benefits and Note. A recent government efforts to reduce the vast unfunded survey by the U.S. Civil Service liabilities have pushed the Commission found that 42.9 e of all retirees received governments share of costs closer to 17 percent of Social Security checks in addition to Government pensions. payrolls. civil-servi- ce civil-servi- ce civil-servic- Silver and Gold :: COINS shared by members of schooi classes, clubs or organizations dedicated to making the Bicentennial year 1976 a time of true celebration and thanksgiving to God for our great nation. -- The Mindszenty Report ng Any Quantity MONARCH COIN CORPORATION East 3900 South Salt Lake City, Utah 21 1 JJA -- -- Phone 262-587- 4 -- r it i |