Clinton’s economic plans good, but more cuts needed
President Clinton made the
economy the centerpiece of his fall
campaign and is now turning it into
a national crusade for “sacrifice.”
Objections from Republicans are
greeted with Clinton’s challenge to
“be specific about cuts, don’t give
us any smoke and mirrors."
Say what you will, but Clinton’s
salesmanship has the GOP mo
mentarily in a quandary, fretting
over whether to go along with the
program or oppose it every step of
the way. Some call for letting it
pass, seeing the economy break
down, and then coming to the
rescue in 1996 the way they did in
1980. This is a dangerous and irre
sponsible strategy.
It is not the GOP’s duty to pro
pose a budget of their own — the
Democrats won. It’s their job now
and their fault if it goes sour. None
theless, the GOP nas an obligation
as the loyal opposition to do more
The answer is to make
government sacrifice
and have people rely on
it less and make their
own way.
than carp about "tax and spend”
economics.
There are any number of pro
posals to cut the deficit and the
national debt, from the Grace Com
mission Report of the mid-1980s to
plans from the Heritage Founda
tion. Any combination of them
would wipe out the deficit and
begin making real debt reduction.
President Bush floated one idea
in the campaign last year and it was
virtually lost amidst all the media
gloom. It’s simple — freeze federal
*
r rayer is private
State may tolerate, not promote, religion
and invocations, benedictions promote it
Many students I know hope stu
dents will vote for prayer at UNL
graduation ceremonies at the next
ASUN election.
I was asked to sign the petition
that put the issue on the ballot.
Upon refusing, I was asked why I
was against prayer.
I am not against prayer. I do,
however, think that whether or not
the issue is passed is irrelevant.
Prayer at UNL graduation ceremo
nies is unconstitutional.
The First Amendment to the U.S.
Constitution reads, in part: "Con
gress shall make no law respecting
an establishment of religion. . .
Because all stale constitutions must
agree with the federal constitution,
no state can officially respect a
religion either. And the University
of Nebraska-Lincoln is part of the
stale of Nebraska.
This does not, of course, mean
that no religious exercise can take
place here. On the contrary, prac
ticing religion must be allowed.
The First Amendment, after the part
already mentioned, reads: "... or
proh ibiting the free exercise thereof.
n
But allowing religion and sanc
Sioning it are two different things.
Having Bible study groups like
Campus Crusade and Christian
Challenge work on campus is al
lowing religion, or "the free exer
cise thereof." The groups have to
use their own funds ana time to do
their work.
On the other hand, having a
prayer at graduation is sanctioning
it. In a case like this, the state asks
the person saying the prayer to
come to the university for the said
purpose of saying a prayer. In this
way, it promotes the religion of the
person saying the prayer.
Because the state can’t recog
nize any religious belief over an
other, it must recognize all rel igions
as equal. Nothing it does can imply
that one religion is better than an
other in the eyes of the govern
ment.
Havinga prayer mentioningjesus
alienates all non-Christians. Having
a prayer mentioning God alienates
all pagans. Having a prayer men
tioning divine beings afienates athe
ists. And a prayer not mentioning
divine beings is not really a prayer.
A moment of silence is the best
compromise idea that has been
brought up. No one needs to think
about God during that moment.
Persons are free to think about
whatever they wish. No religion is
promoted or demoted here.
The pro-prayer cry I have most
often heard is that America and
Americans need God and cannot
survive without God as part of their
national identity.
As a Christian, I say God is part
of my identity; andl hope hecanbe
part of other people’s identity. I just
Feel my fellow Christians and I
should work on our own time with
out government help.
I acknowledge that God is the
most powerful method of bringing
people together, and of bringing
people in line. I also grant that the
Founding fathers all believed in
God, ana that they probably didn’t
expect the diversity of religions that
exists in their brainchild today.
But the Constitution, fortunately,
can be defined and redefined. Part
of the definition means examining
what is wrong with the present way
of doing things, and eliminating
those wrongs.
When this country was founded,
the FirstAmendment meant, in part,
that Congress could not respect any
particular sect ofChrislianity. Things
nave changed; now it means the
government, federal and state, can’t
respect any religion. That means
universities, too.
Jan Calingcr Is a freshman news-edito
rial major and a Diversions contributor.
spending at current levels for five
years, allowing.an adjustment only
for inflation and maybe one per
cent for population growth. Econo
mist Thomas Sowell has stated that
if Congress had acceded to Presi
dent Reagan’s request to do this in
1980, the federal budget would
have been balanced by 1984. If it
had happened in 1984, the budget
would nave been balanced by 1989.
No tax increases, no spending
cuts, nothing except forgoing the
automatic seven to 10 percent fu nd
ing that Congress automatically
votes for every program for every
year.
Clinton does have some ideas
for spending cuts, such as the now
infamous honey subsidy, or cutting
subsidies to the Rural Electrifica
tion Administration. But Clinton
doesn’t go far enough.
For starters, eliminate all agricul
tural subsidies by phasing them out
overa four-year period. Let tobacco
farmers in Virginia and dairy farm
ers in Wisconsin ride the free mar
ket.
Big federal projects, like the REA
and the Tennessee Valley Author
ity, have outlived their usefulness
and exist only to issue paychecks
for their bureaucratic constituen
cies. Get rid of them. Farmers have
electricity today. Some things, like
the post office, could be turned
over to private concerns and run
much more efficiently.
To be fair, end all government
subsidized research tor business
and let them pay their own R & D
bills.
This is all on the ma rgins though.
More than half of the federal bud
get is entitlement programs like
Social Security, Medicare and xMed
icaid. Paul Tsongas suggested
means-testing them last year, and
Ross Perot followed up on it in the
fall campaign. The truly needy
should receive the aid, but those
drawing one or more pensions
making $50,000 a year in retirement
can pay most or all of their own
way. Social Security was intended
as a stopgap measure, not as a
cradle-to-grave social welfare pro
gram.
The answer, as has been voiced
before, is not to demand the Ameri
can people "sacrifice" or “contrib
ute." The answer is to make gov
ernment sacrifice and have people
rely on it less and make their own
way.
Sam Kepfldd is the Dally Nebraskan’*
token conservative and a Diversions con
tributor.
*****
d arrival* . •, ana oeguuung mursaay, you u
Bud Ten further redaction* on thU merchandise.
Wo nuke these price reductions for the legitimate objective*
balancing our inventory and preparing for the season ahead...
ottering yon the added value on first-qaality Post and Nickel clothing.
It la onr belief that these reduction* are o! the magnitude to allow the remaining
winter merchandise to be sold by span. Sondayt Ton wont want to miss theee bargains!
s - ., , ...——----- ~Jj
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