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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (March 23, 1984)
Pago 4 Daily Nebraskan Friday, March 23, 1934 Congress and president must stop mortgaging U.S. future It must be election time again. The politicians, in Washington have once again decided that the ever-growing federal deficit is a serious problem and now they're busy trying to decide who's at fault. To no one's surprise, the Democrats in Congress have decided that the White House is to blame for the uncontrolable debt and President Reagan has placed the blame on Con gress. Meanwhile, the deficit continues to grow. It has been estimated at about $180 billion for next year and has accumulated to more than $1 trillion during the past 40 years. As deficits grow, so do interest payments. They now make up about 13 percent of the federal budget and threaten to be come unmanageable. Considering how unsuccessful past attempts at reducing the deficit have been, it would seem unlikely that any progress could be made in an election year. But now, there appears to be hope. i President Reagan and several ser nior GOP senators have proposed a $150 billion deficit-reduction plan that includes large cuts in social spending as well as some reductions in planned military spending increases and a $48 billion tax increase. . The Democrats have proposed a $185 billion three-year reduction plan. It calls for a $49 billion tax increase and large cuts in planned military spending increases. Under the GOP proposal, military spending would in crease 7.8 percent, but under the Demo crats' plan, it would increase only 3.5 percent. The Democrats also are pro posing small cuts in domestic programs. No one can deny that both plans have political overtones, but it is refresh ing just to see some renewed concern about the deficit. The real challenge is yet to come, however. Senators and congressmen can continue to toss the issue around like a political football or they can get serious about it and try to work out a reasonable compromise. We'd all be better off if they chose the latter. Reagan, in many of his campaign speeches, told us that government, like the common man, cannot continue to live beyond its means without disas trous consequences. He was correct. This nation cannot afford to continue mortgaging away its future. ( It's about time the politicians Rebublicans and Democrats alike realized that and accept the responsi bility to change things. A- -4 r A Letters Newspaper 'dumb ' Old ideas don Jt work I never thought I'd see the day when a group of neo-fascists would seize control of the Daily Nebraskan and print such a bad editorial (Daily Neb raskan, March 21). The editorial betrays the editor's total ignorance of how politics work and have worked for 200 years in the United States. In 1860 Abe Lincoln did the same thing Mondale and Hart are doing, i.e., criticizing the incumbent and not offering solid answers as al ternatives. It wasn't a shame he got elected, or maybe in your view, it was. JFK, FDR, Ike, everyone did this. That's how it works because people hate the truth. Goldwater in 1964 and McGov ern in 1972 were honest, decent and straightforward and got stomped by the bad guys. In addition to ignorance, the DN also showed hypocrisy in criticizing the candidates without offering a viable alternative or any alternative, some thing it criticized the candidates for doing. If you are implying Reagan as the alternative, then you're dumber than I thought, or at least seriously deranged. Tim Howard Lincoln Your editorial "Slim Pickin's From the Field, of Democratic Candidates" (Daily Nebraskan, March 21) was dis appointing. The editor should read more than the Daily Nebraskan and watch a little television before forming his viewpoints. Gary Hart has explained several of his new ideas, and his positions on issues have been published in national magazines and newspapers. It maybe difficult to understand his ideas be cause they are impossible to reduce to a few words of emotional rhetoric. Hart seems to understand that the world is rapidly changing and we can no longer rely on old ideas of the past to solve the new situations that we will encounter. I suggest that the editor do more research on this topic before writing, any more opinions. ' Finally, the damage that Ronald Rea gan has done in civil rights, environ ment and military spending have made life worse for millions of Americans. It will be a sad event in history if he is re-elected. Arnold Grinvalds junior english -v - l&St j ? -v .J- y "-. ' y .a - 1 -, f 5, ' - -" f ' T"S - ' . far ' A El Salvador's elections bogus and predictable Do Sunday's elections in El Salvador signal the coming of democracy to that nation? Let us examine the arguments of those who answer yes. The first argument is that a high voter turnout will mean that the Sal vadoran people accept the legitimacy and fairness of the elections. J Krishna . . Madan This claim ignores the fact that vo ting is mandatory in El Salvador. Any one not voting is liable to be punished by law. More ominously, anyone not voting may end up a victim of the death squads. The second argument claims that rebels can participate in the elections under government protection if they lay down their arms. This claim comes from a govern ment that has been unwilling or unable to protect 40,000 of its citizens from being butchered by death squads since 1979. However, let us assume it is theoret ically possible that the government could provide protection for a few reb els candidates. This still leaves us with the problem of providing protection for the candi date's supporters. Under the electoral law, any prospective candidate must provide the signatures of several thou sand supporters to prove that he is a serious contender. It doesn't take much imagination to predict what would be the uses of such a list once it got into the hands of those in the government who have contacts vyith the death squads. The third argument is that whoever wins on Sunday will be the real choice of the people. To respond to this, it is necessary to look at the experience of RhodesiaZim babwe. In the 1970s that country was in a situation similar to El Salvador today; an increasingly successful and popu lar guerilla war threatened an oppres sive government. The main difference is that poverty, and oppression were associated with race in RhodesiaZimbabwe. In an effort to sap the support of the guerillas, the white government ex tended the vote to blacks and put up a black bishop named Muzorewa as its front man. The white government offered to let the guerillas participate in the elec tions but the latter, of course, refused. In the election, Muzorewa won by a huge landslide. This was seen by the people in the West as a victory for democracy and a defeat for the guer illas. However, the blacks who voted for Muzorewa had merely voted for the lesser of two evils. Finally, under the supervision of Bri tain (the colonial power), real elec tions were held two years later. The guerillas won this by a huge landslide The lesson of this is clear. Forced to vote in bogus elections, the people will vote for the lesser of evils. Given a real election, they will vote for those who really represent them the guerillaSi rv -i-. 71 iuy V EDITOR GENERAL MANAGER PRODUCTION MANAGER ADVERTISING MANAGER ASSISTANT ADVERTISING MANAGER CIRCULATION MANAGER NEWS EDITOR ASSOCIATE NEWS EDITORS SPORTS EDITOR ARTS ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR COPY DESK SUPERVISOR NIGHT NEWS EDITOR ASSISTANT NIGHT NEWS EDITOR WIRE EDITOR ART DIRECTOR PHOTO CHIEF ASSISTANT PHOTO CHIEF PUBLICATIONS BOARD CHAIRPERSON PROFESSIONAL ADVISER Larry Spark. 472-1766 Daniel Shtttll Kitty Poilcky Tracy L. Beaver Kally Groeaoenme Steve Meyer Ward W. Trlplatt III Laurt Hoppla Jenn Nyffeler Vlckl Ruhga Jefl Browna . Mlka Froal Pat Clark Patty Pryor Jail Goodwin Chrt Welsch Lorrt Mongar Craig Andreaen Dave Trouba Carta Johnaon, 477-5703 Don Walton, 473-7301 The Daily Nebraskan (USPS 144-080) is published by the UNL Publications Board Monday through Friday in the fall and spring semesters and Tuesdays and Fridays in the summer sessions, except during vacations Readers are encouraged to submit story ideas and com ments to the Daily Nebraskan by phoning 472-2583 between 9 a m and 5 pm. Monday through Friday The public also has access to the Publications Board For information, call Carla Johnson. 477-5703 Postmaster: Send address changes to the Daily Nebra skan. 34 Nebraska Union, 1400 R St.. Lincoln, Neb 68568 0448. ALL MATERIAL COPYRIGHT 1M4 DAILY NEBRASKAN Constitutional amendments found in Platte In an amazing development that has confounded American political scient ists, an additional 10 articles to the United States Constitution have just been unearthed. "The Dead Sea Amend ments," they've been dubbed, are ex pected to change the entire complex ion of American politics. k) ' Mike . Frool The documents were discovered not in Philadelphia, but nestled away in a motor boat moored along the Platte River. "I was out trying to find my 8 track tape player," said Fern Gosddin, "when What do you think I found but the missing 1 0 articles of the Constitut ion! Gosddin quickly responded to charges that the artifacts were falsi fied. "Look, it's signed Geo. Washing ton, just like Washington used to go by. And Alexxander Hamilton's name is spelled correctly too." We must assume the articles are real. Gosddin has granted this column exclusive publication rights, in an ex change for an 8-track player. PREAMBLE: We the people of the United States are having a swell time here in Philadelphia. Sure is humid, though. Oops, that crazy Ben Franklin just put a whoopie cushion under Richard Bassett of Delaware's seat. Poor Richard. Anyway, we have some ideas we think are real important. ARTICLE 1: Eat all your vegetables. And clean up your room for gosh sakes. ARTICLE 2: No justice appointed to the Supreme Court shall be nicknam ed "Big Al." ARTICLE 3: Cereal manufacturers have to give free prizes in each box they sell. And none of that cheap stuff, either, like a whistle or a plastic ring. It has to be something useful like a novel or an 8-track tape player. ARTICLE 4: If you can't say some thing nice about someone, don't say anything at all. ARTICLE 5: The National League shall be divided into two divisions, the East and the West. ARTICLE 6: Officials elected to serve in the House of Representatives should avoid using the word "gosh." It just doesn't sound good, you know? ARTICLE 7: Where's the beef? ARTICLE 8: Anybody who really wants to work can find a job easily. Why, just look in this year's Poor Rich ard's Almanac there must be 10 pages of help wanted ads. ARTICLE 9: Fotomats shall never be larger than 10 feet by 10 feet. Addi tionally, they must always be located in grocery store parking lots. ARTICLE 10: Great Americans should have monuments in their honor. This includes things like government build ings named after them, their faces carved in the sides of mountains, and their names etched in metallic belt buckles.