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President walking tightrope
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Th Christian Scnc Monitor
Try to understand. . . I'm the cowboy, you're the horse.
President Ford's "strong, tough,
forward-looking economic program, as
announced Monday and as embellished in
Wednesday's State of the Union message, tails to
look forward to one thing-the stepped-up
inflation that could come from putting tax
money back into circulation.
The prospect, then, is that Nebraskans will
find more money in their pockets Without
careful planning by Congress, they will also find
that it still doesn't buy anything.
Ford is faced with walking tightrope between
recession and inflation that stretches from here
to the 1976 election booths. White House
economists seem befuddled by an economy that
manages to have both unemployment and
inflation hovering around seven per cent.
The solution Ford offered this week
represents a turnabout from only a few months
ago when he seemed willing to accept recession
as the admission price to dealing effectively with
inflation.
The switch can be explained in terms of
numbers. The number representing
unemployment climbed too high. The number
representing Ford's popularity dropped too low
(46 per cent, according to a recent Harris Poll.)
Ford's announcement Monday of a $16
billion, 12 per cent rebate in 1974 personal
income tax followed Democratic proposals for a
$10 billion to $20 billion rebate. It seems that
only the size of a cut remains to be decided.
the trial balloon successfully aloft, Ford
announced Tuesday Ids hopes for a permanent
i r.r rpni rut. Rut two things must be done lest
the balloon burst under the renewed pressure of
rising costs.
Congress should make an attempt to hold
down federal spending as requested by Ford. The
five per cent limitation on federal pay raises and
a suggested five per cent ceiling on Social
Security increases are bitter pills to swallow now
but should make sense in the long run.
The government has seldom been reluctant to
spend money it doesn't have and there is no
reason to expect otherwise now. But next year's
budget deficits, inevitably larger with a tax cut
this size, should be kept to a minimum if a swing
of the scales toward inflation is to be prevented.
A real effort should also be made to see that
those little green Internal Revenue Service rebate
checks go to the people who need them
most-the lower- and middle-income Americans.
Such a move will receive more favorable
consideration from Congress than from the
President, who presumably is getting advice from
Nelson Rockefeller.
At any rate, the $1,000 ceiling on tax rebates
to an individual should be given close scrutiny
and lowered if necessary. Any legislation passed
should close loopholes that would allow upper
income couples to file his-and-hers returns and
claim hefty refunds.
One thing is certain. The 30 to 90 days Ford's
associates appear willing to give him to set the
economy aright will be too short to solve a
problem that has been years in the making.
Wes Albers
Education, not football, needs Big Red support
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Now that the last football has been kicked and the last pass has
been thrown (for awhile anyway) perhaps it is time to take a long,
hard look at the high priority accorded football on this campus and
in this state.
While it is plain that the fans arc not forced to take an interest
in Big Red, and that football in this state acts as a unifying force, it
is reasonable to wonder if those 25 hours are worth it in terms of
the money spent. Can't that money be put to a better use?
What started as an innocent and amateurish affair at the turn of
the century has sprung into a multimillion dollar monster which
feeds on the desire for excitement exhibited by Cornhusker fans,
and on their wish to say "We're No. 1", which evidently fulfills
some need in these people' lives.
It is neither drugs nor religion witicii acts a the "opiate of the
people" in Nebraska, but rather Big Red football.
No matter where one goes or what one reads or listens to in this
state, chances are he or she will undoubtedly encounter the
presence of "Big Red", for we are constantly faced with a deluge
of football-related material. Bumper stickers, sweatshirts, pennants,
pregame shows, postgame shows, newspaper accounts-just about
every possible means of making money from Nebraska football has
been exploited and the fans seem willing to suck it all in. There
certainly is no indication of a recession when it comes to foothal!
in this state.
On an average game day in Lincoln, $1 million is probably spent
in those two hours at Memorial Stadium. If one considers travel
expenses, tickets, booze and food, $1 million is likely a
conservative estimate. Throw in the money spent by the 15,000
fans who generally make it to the away games, and you have an
exceedingly large sum of cash being squandered during the actual
25 hours or so of football that make up a season.
Watching 76,000 rabid fans on a Saturday afternoon in
Memorial Stadium, one wonders if there is anything else in this
state which interests people besides football-such as education, for
example. Why can't we be drawn t cither through pride in a
superior university in terms of academes, rather than football?
joe dreesen
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If the people of Nebraska were as loose with their money for
education as they are for the Cornhuskers, we could have a Harvard
instead of just a good football team.
But, alas, the excitement is still running high from last season
and already there is talk of the upcoming season. The talk
undoubtedly will grow stronger over the year, climaxing in some
bowl game next January, just as it has done for the last 10 years.
And in the meantime, because of a lack of funds, the quality of
our education will remain at a virtual standstill taking second place
to football in the minds of most Nebraskans.
Let 'shear it for Big Red.
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page 4
daily nebraskan
thrusday, january 16, 1975