Opinion
C'
Nebraskan
Editorial Board
University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Chris Hopfensperger.Editor, 472-1766
Jeremy Fitzpatrick.Opinion Page Editor
Alan Phelps. Managing Editor
Brian Shellito.Cartoonist
Susie Arth.Senior Reporter
Kim Spurlock.Diversions Editor
Sam Kepfteld.•.Columnist
—
Promises to keep
Clinton takes risk by softening tax stance
With one week left before President-elect Bill Clinton
takes office, there are growing indications that the
centerpiece of his campaign may be endangered, along
with a host of other promises made to the American people.
The reason is the budget deficit. Figures released by the Office
of Management and Budget last week showed a deficit of $292
billion in the 1994 fiscal year and a shortfall of $319 billion by
,the end of the 1998 fiscal year.
The figure for 1994 is
about $18 billion dollars greater
than previously thought, but it
is a far cry from the $4(X)
billion figure for 1993 bandied
about in the recent presidential
campaign.
As a result of what the
Democrats characterize as
deception by the Bush adminis
tration, Clinton’s aides and
allies arc now scrambling to
back away from promises made
in the campaign.
The first victim is
^Jr^helmoJoN apparently the much-vaunted
middle-class tax cut. TTic cut was a focal point of Clinton’s plan
to help what he called “the forgotten middle class" who suppos
edly suffered all through the 1980s. It drew heavy criticism from
his opponents in the primaries, particularly former Massachusetts
Sen. Paul Tsongas. In the face of the “Pander Bear" label, Clinton
stuck to his guns all the way through Nov. 3.
This weekend, though, Speaker of the House Tom Foley said
the notion of a middle-class tax cut would have to be ‘‘rethought."
Senate Majority Leader George Mitchell of Maine told question
ers on NBC’s ‘‘Meet the Press” that Clinton probably wouldn’t be
able to push through the lax cut immediately. Clinton’s choice for
OMB Director, Leon Panclta, also appeared cautious toward the
tax cut in his confirmation hearings last week.
In addition, Ginton is reportedly set to halve the amount he
will allocate toward infrastructure improvements, another impor
tant part of his campaign. He is also set to back away from his
promise to cut the deficit in half by 1996.
Ginton’s shying away from his promises because of a mere
$18 billion in one year is hard to understand, especially when one
notes that Clinton’s own projections arc based on the same
numbers as arc President Bush’s but with different assumptions.
Ginton’s own forecast for the end of the 1993 fiscal year was put
at $426 billion.
Bill Clinton was elected on a theme of “change,” a promise that
he would reawaken America after a 12-year dream. Business as
usual was to be avoided. So far, Clinton has made excellent use of
symbolism to accomplish that.
Substance matters in the history books, however. In backing
away from his promises, Clinton runs the risk of being viewed as
just another politician and causing massive disenchantment
among his followers.
If he truly wants to be an agent of change, Clinton must have
the courage to stand behind his words, and not make the voters
• “read his lips.”
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Nebraskan, 34 Nebraska Union, 1400 R St., Lincoln, Neb. 68588-04 4 8
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Jumping without cord worth risks
I was raised to work. Ii was re
spectable, necessary, and one
could never be without work.
To my folks, children of the depres
sion, the absence of a job meant pov
erty, hunger, abandonment by fathers
and sometimes suicide.
My Aunt Beulah, a high-school
dropout, worked hard and amassed
the family wealth. She had flame
orange hair with matching lipstick,
and I wanted to be like her. In my
family, a woman’s opinion didn’t
count for much unless she had a wad
of cash to back it up.
I came from a world where a job
equals self-esteem, and went into a
minimum-wage world under a blue
collar ceiling. I metcomputer literacy
with farm-labor skills, yet I worked
hard because I believed that hard work
results in opportunity.
I doubled my income within four
years to a sum which barely exceeded
the poverty line, a far cry from the
dreams I had when I dressed my Barbie
in her feather boa for a date with Ken.
After several years of hard work in
this greenhouse or that garden, I lived
in four rooms and drove a moderately
beat-up Ford.
I made a decision. I broke out of the
confines of my conditioning, and I
quit my job. After having been a non
traditional freshman for six years, I
enrolled at the University of Nebraska
Lincoln as a full-time student.
Leaving a job to go to school
doesn’t seem like suen a big deal,
unless you’re doing it. Then you have
a clue as to what it feels like to step off
the space shuttle without an umbili
cal. You’ve just bet all your chips on
a relative unknown, but an unknown
which couldn’t prove much worse
than a string of non-devclopincntal
jobs.
For those traditional students who
consider dropping out, even if you
feel you have an extraordinary future
in athletics, let me suggest that you
I-1
Leaving a job to
go to school
doesn’t seem like
such a big deal,
unless you’re
doing it. Then
you have a clue
as to what it
feels like to step
off the space
shuttle without
an umbilical.
examine the fastest-growing student
group on campus. A lot of non-tradi
tional students can relate just how far
one can go in the job market sans
degree.
I’m not the only one to make the
transition from non-traditional to full
time student. Full-time status, inci
dentally, doesn’t make one feel all
that "traditional” when the majority
of your classmates were bom around
the time you got nailed for shoplifting
Bic pens.
There’s a certain excitement to
transition which revives ones inten
sity and appreciation for being alive.
It’s a similar, yet less deadly, excite
ment than the feeling I used to gel
when I buried the speedometer needle
of my ’66 Mercury for a 130 mpli
nightcruise without headl ights. I know
a lol about suicidal tendencies. I know
a lot about overcoming them. I know
a lol about what it means to change
oneself.
I have the reassurance of the ex
amples set by those who have gone
before me, who have redirected and
constructed their lives according to j
their desires. §
One particular individual whose jJP
example I’ve admired was the assis- 1
tant librarian at my high school. She ’
was a genuine educator in a system
which sometimes recruited the dubi
ous and occasionally the ill for the
tasks of teaching and administrating.
Beck was a passionate reader and
a compassionate listener. She read
my poems and essays and blalherings.
She encouraged me to write, express,
and to survive. I graduated from high
school and spent the following de
cade trying to sort out my first 20
years. She divorced, completed her
degree and raised her kids.
We met again after 12 years, on
this campus. She was teaching Comp
254, and doing research for her disser
tation. I was asking her to help me
overcome a 10-year-old writer’s
block. She gave me a B+ and resur
rected a passion for something 1 love.
Jumping off the space shuttle isn’t
nearly so frightening knowing some
one else whojumped is only a handful
of months away from being addressed
as “doctor” for the rest of her life. I
have also seen that such goals arc
reached with the stubborn obstinance
of getting through one more day.
Leaving my job to become a stu
dent won’t shake the earth, but it’s a
milestone for me, as it is for anyone
who does it. We just keep asking
ourselves, “what if it works?”
When I go watch Beck accept her
Ph.D., I may not have to ask anymore.
McAdams is a sophomore news-editorial
major and a Dally Nebraskan columnist.
P.S. Write back
The Daily Nebraskan wants to hear from you. If you want to voice your opinion about an article that appears in the
newspaper, let us know. Just ^ rite a brief letter to the editor, sign it, (don't forget your student ID number) and mail il
to the Daily Nebraskan, 34 Nebraska Union, 1400 R St., Lincoln, Neb. 68588-0448. Or stop by the office in the basement
of the Nebraska Union and visit with us. We re all ears.
♦