election issue
page 7
2nd and 3rd district candidates
Inflation, taxes are candidates9 concerns
monday, October 30, 1978
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Photo by Mark Billingsley Photo by Ted Kirk
Hal Daub, Republican candidate for the 2nd District seat John Cavanaugh, Democratic candidate for the 2nd District
in the House of Representatives. seat in the House of Representatives.
Fowler aiming to block Smith
By L. Kent Wolganiott
The state of the economy and the
nation-wide tax revolt begun by the pas
sage of Proposition 1 3 in California are the
major issues in the 2nd District Congres
sional race between incumbent Rep. John
Cavanaugh and Hal Daub.
Democrat Cavanaugh stresses his record
as an indication of his attitude toward
stopping inflation.
lie says he attacked wasteful spending
in his votes on appropriations and federal
agencies.
Cavanaugh said absolute limitations on
federal spending are impossible and inef
fective. But at the same time "we cannot
afford to devote over 20 percent of our
gross national product for government
spending.
Three-point program
He proposes a three point program to
halt inflation, which consists of a compre
hensive national energy policy, major re
ductions in government spending and a tax
structure which gives incentives to business
to expand production.
Republican candidate Daub also has a
program to combat inflation.
First, he said, a limitation should be
placed on the amount the federal govern
ment can spend, preferably by statute.
Second, Daub said "we should get inside
the bureaucracy and go to work and trim
out waste."
He said the trimming should include
"less important projects" in federal agen
cies and money spent on programs which
are inconsistent, such as the federal anti
smoking campaign and the subsidization of
the tobacco industry.
Tax cut
Daub's third point is an across-the-board
tax cut similar to the Roth-Kemp tax cut.
Balancing the budget is Daub's final
point.
Daub said he would "work hard to im
pact their his constituents point of view"
on legislation "whether I agree or not.
"I don't want to be the kind of con
gressman who sits in judgement of their
constituents" Daub said.
Cavanaugh stresses his accomplishments
in Washington as a record for constituents
to judge.
But Daub points out Cavanaugh 's votes
for a congressional pay raise, trade with
Cuba, Vietnam and other Communist na
tions and against cutting foreign aid by 5
percent as being "out of time and out of
touch with his district."
Both Daub and Cavanaugh favor tuition
tax credits to offset the costs of college
'Lid' bill. . .
Continued from Page 5
If this increase continues, by 1990
yearly spending would exceed four billion
dollars, he said.
"I'm convinced that the whole system
will collapse before that happens," he said.
Limit or self-destruct
"You have to limit government and its
power to tax or the government will self
destruct. I'm scared to death that if we do
not shut down this accelerated growth of
government, and restore to the people
the opportunity to control their own rate
of growth, it will collapse. And when it
collapses, the people go with it."
Brauer said that Schimek "is contending
that it will not reduce taxes.
"That is a blatant lie." Brauer said.
A five percent lid would reduce by
hO percent the present 12.3 percent yearly
increase of local government spending, he
said. B decreasing this rate it would
follow that tuxes 'would also decrease.
However. Schimek has said thai many
advocates of the bill are sirnoU eager for
By Teri Bigelow
As the 3rd District Congresswoman runs
for a third term, her opponent attempts to
keep her from becoming the dean of
Nebraska's Washington delegation.
Republican Rep. Virginia Smith, of
Chappell, with her grandmotherly looks
and high-pitched voice is running for her
third Congressional term.
Smith said she is not thinking of quit
ting and will serve as long as the people
want her to .
After her election in 1974, Republicans
and Democrats speculated that she would
serve one or two terms.
a chance to pay as few taxes as possible.
"I . . . contend that this bill is being
pushed by a lot of fat-cat landowners who
are afraid of equalizing taxes," Schimek
said. "There's a helluva lot of greed behind
this thing. People don't want to pay taxes.
That's human nature."
Improvements cut
Bill Giovanni, city budget officer, also is
concerned with the possible effects of the
lid bill.
Although it is not yet known for
certain, if the budget limit restricts the
spending of self-supported city services
such as Lincoln General Hospital and
Lincoln Electric System, major capital
improvements planned for 1982-83 may
have to be cut.
If capital improvements take place as
planned in order to allow for city growth,
cutbacks may be necessary in tax-supported
services like police and fire pro
tection and personnel.
If the bill is passed, Giovanni said, many
people are anticipating that the issue will
Democrat Marilyn Fowler, of Lexington,
a member of the State Board of Education,
goes back to the Kennedy days of Demo
cratic politics.
Although Fowler is trailing Smith by
more than 50 percentage points in the
polls, she said her candidacy has been suc
cessful in keeping Smith on her toes and
responsive to the needs of the 3rd district
in centra and western Nebraska.
Smith said her success comes from
knowing the people of the 3rd District. She
can be seen greeting friends and support
ers with hugs when visiting district cities,
cities.
be taken to court in order to clearly define
the extent of the budget limit.
Another problem is local governments
may be forced to refuse federal money
offered to them because this spending was
not planned in the budget, he said.
Disaster funds
Another impact of the bill, Giovanni
said, would be to prevent local govern
ments from using additional financial
resources to react to natural disasters and
other emergencies because the cost of
the emergency would not be included in
the budget.
However, a proponent of the lid bill,
State Tax Commissioner Bill Peters, said
even now, without such a budget lid, it
takes time to provide funds. During this
time there would be an opportunity to
vote to raise the lid, he said.
Another advocate of the lid bill, Lincoln
businessman Don Nielsen, said the bill was
a solid, statewide effort to slow down inflation.
Fowler, however, said the incumbent's
grandmotherly "111 take care of it styV is
offensive and claims it is designed to keep
residents in line and in the dark.
Fowler claims she has led the waj on these
five issues:
-Support for the demands of the farm
strike
-Fear of beef imports
-Potential dismantling of the U.S.
Department of Agriculture
-Extension of the Equal Rights
Amendment
-Opposition to possible MX missile
sites in Nebraska
Admitting she may lose to Smith this
year, Fowler speaks openly of running
again in two years.
Many people who are opposed to the
bill are simply reacting out of fear and
confusion, he said.
Scary objections
Built-in safeguards will prevent the bill
from being as restrictive as some members
of the opposition fear, he said. These
safeguards include the ability. to raise the
lid if population increases, through special
election or if four-fifths of the Legislature
approve an increase.
However, he said, the bill may pose
some problems.
"I'm not certain how some emergency
situations could be met." he said. "There
are some really scary objections. But if
we felt we had to address every single
possibility in every single case. I'd question
whether we'd continue the ballgame."
Nielsen said the bill probably will have
little impact over the next few years. If
inflation begins to "run away." he said, the
Legislature may have to annual) re-set
the budget limit.
