Thursday, February 2, 1C34
University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Vol. 03, No. 92
Eecov3ry mecms deficu reduc&io
Kxrk DxvltDx.iy tUirx:Jan
Loub Rukeyser, economist and host
of television's Wall Street Week, said
Wednesday the nation's economic rec
overy will falter by 1035 if the federal
government does not begin to reduce
its deficit.
In a press conference at the Corn
husker Hotel, Rukeyser said the Rea
gan administration has not met its
promise of reducing the federal govern
ment's financial share in the overall
economy. Instead, it has increased its
share from 23 percent in 1981 to 25
percent last year.
If the federal government "conti
nues to run deficits at the projected
rates," Rukeyser said, "we are going to
see a clash between public and private
borrowing that is going to make any
sustained, long-term economic recov
ery in this country impossible."
At the end of fbc&l 1C33, the deficit
was nearly $200 billion, almost tripling
the SCO billion deficit Reagan encoun
tered when he entered o&ce.
However, Rukeyser said, the federal
government must be cautious against
pursuing deficit reduction policies
that will actually hurt the recovery.
Releasing its 1935 fiscal year budget
to Congress Wednesday, the Reagan
administration asked for domestic spend
ing cuts of only about 5 percent from
last year's figures, despite pressure
from many Democrats in Congress for
a larger reduction. In his State of the
Union address last week, Reagan pur
posed a bipartisan effort among mem
' bers of Congress to come up with a
plan to cut the deficit in half over the
next three years.
Rukeyser said the federal govern
ment can reduce the deficit in two
ways: through a strong economic rec
overy or through a reduction in federal
spending.
The major stumbling block to reduc
ing the deficit is not military spending,
Rukeyser said, but entitlement pro
grams such as Social Security.
As long as the nation had many peo
ple working and relatively few in retire
ment, he said, "there was no problem
whatsoever" in financing entitlement
programs. However, over the last two
decades the federal government has
dramatically increased social bene
fits. And if these increases are not
reduced by the end of the next decade,
he said, the nation will have "the aver
age working stiff in this country paying
half his income to support people in
retirement at a higher level than he is
living himself."
Rukeyser said he expects the eco
nomic recovery to maintain a steady
pace through 1934 .
Ey Ctcic Tzozzzs
State legislators discussed six of 12
bills designed to prevent another insol
vency similar to Commonwealth Say
ings Co. at a public hearing Tuesday
night.
Sen. Vard Johnson of Omaha, chair
man of the 16-raember special legisla
tive committee, called the bills reme
dial legislation and said they are not
intended to be a direct solution to the
Commonwealth problem. Instead, the
bills are intended to prevent another
Union Board continues jIasio
foL' comDmtsr room in -i2nin
EyJcnTcylcr
The Nebraska Union Board voted
Tuesday to invite two computer repre
sentatives to continue negotiations
about locating a computer terminal
room in the union. The board also
passed a motion requesting Sue
Hansen, planning committee chair
woman, to organise a task force to
further investigate the proposal to
renovate the women's first floor lounge
into a computer room.
In opposition to the computer room
proposal, Deb Swinton, a senior, pres
ented petitions totaling 170 signatures,
65 ofwhich, she said, were collected in
one day without solicitation. She read
a letter written by freshman Susan
Kadavy who could not attend the meet
ing, urging the board to reconsider. In
the letter, Kadavy cited the lounge as
"a popular gathering place...that al
lows for a wide range of activities." ,
Swinton described the lounge as a
peaceful place to get away from the
pressures of school
As a health and human develop
ment major, Swinton said the lounge
promotes better mental health, be
cause it allows women a chance to
relax and unwind. -
"Without the" lounge, the university
will be a colder place for us,? she said
Laura Williams, a junior, spoke in
favor of the computers and said there
are many other places .to relax in the
union, including the smaller second
floor lounge that she said was rarely
crowded. Williams said the benefits cf
a computer room in the u would
be important because individuals from
sororities, fraternities and off campus
would not have access to the residence
hall computers after hours.
Continued en Pa3 3
insolvency, he said.
LB699, introduced by Sen. Glen
Goodrich of Omaha, would prohibit
the chartering of new industrial loan
and investment companies and would
require existing industrials to be fed
erally insured within a year or be dis
solved by the Banking Department.
Goodrich said because banks, and
savings and loans were deregulated,
they have absorbed the middle jground
that industrials occupied. -
"There is no justification for having
industrial loan and investment com
panies anymore," he said.
Sen. John DeCamp's bill, LBS99, is
similar to LB699 in that it would require
the industrials to become federally
insured. LB899, however, would give
the industrials a six-month deadline,
rather than a year as in LBS99. DeCamp
said the processing time for federally
insuring the industrials has been shor
tened so the six-month deadline is
reasonable.
LBCC3 would allow new charters to
be issued, but DeCamp said, "I dont
think anybody in the room needs to
worry about any new charters being
iss'ied."
Former Nebraska Gov. Robert Crosby,
1953-55, testified in support of LBS99
and part of LBSC9. He said he supports
the federal insurance proposal. Crosby
said the fact that other industrial loan
and investment companies have sur
vived runs since Commonwealth tailed
proves the industrial's strength.
Crosby said the other industrials
have suffered guilt by association since
Commonwealth's failure - the only
failure in the 50-year existence of the
industrials. .
DeCamp also introduced two other
bills. LB939 and LB940 were based on
two recommendations presented by
the MiUer-Domina report.
LB339 would require any officer or
director of a financial institution to
report any violation of law or insol
vency of an institution to the state
banking director. Failure to do so would
be a misdemeanor.
LB940 would require the state bank
ing director to take any evidence of
possible criminal activity uncovered in
examinations of financial institutions
to the county attorney or state attorney
general. Failure to do so would consti
tute malfeasance of office.
"I personally think they may be a
sample of overkill and may cause more
problems than they solve," DeCamp
said.
DeCamp said he thought the bills
would create panic and too much
paperwork because they include too
many technicalities. The laws exist to
prevent another Commonwealth if pro
perly enforced, he said.
i Continued cn Terra 2
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rzzu I
Inoide
Nebraska's "bong bill" may not be a hit
with store owners who allegedly sell drug
paraphernalia P3 3
The Lincoln Jazz Society provides a home
for the lovers of be-bop, swing and stride . . .
The Cornhusker men's and women's bas
ketball teams took on Oklahoma State Wed
nesday night st the Bob Dcvariey Sports Cen
ter .. PS 10
Arts end Entertainment..... 7
Classified 1
Crossword
Editorial.. J
Off The Wire
Sports
Cn'2 AnireaenDy f.'xtrj:!;sa
4Thsre's srppesed to be a let cfthsn In Lens bet I don't knenr where they're at," Eaid Drnce Czthz
cfClrs.ru!, ts he Itched frcm Us ice kazzz Cstsrdsy cn Drenched Oah Lshe near Lincoln. Ctciy ia Li