Opinion
Daily
Nebraskan
Editorial Board
University of Nebraska-Lincoln
J. Christopher Haiti.Editor, 472-1766
Rainbow Rowell.Managing Editor
Mark Baldridge.Opinion Page Editor
DeDra Janssen.Associate News Editor
Doug Kouma.Arts & Entertainment Editor
Jeff Zeleny. Senior Reporter
Matt Woody.Senior Reporter
James Mehsling.Cartoonist
Showdown
Compromise required to avoid collapse
By Tuesday 800,000 people may be temporarily out of a job be
cause of the big showdown on Capitol Hill.
Unfortunately it’s a showdown with little reason and with much
on the line.
As Congress continues to work on its plan for balancing the bud
get by 2002, time will run out midnight Monday on the authority of
most federal agencies to spend money, sending half the government
work force home.
—I-1 And Wednesday the gov
eminent will lose ability to
continue borrowing money,
which could potentially send
financial markets into an up
heaval.
Neither President Clinton
nor Congressional Republi
cans will compromise on a
resolution to continue govern
ment funding until December.
Congress is tightly grip
ping the government purse
strings (plus some sharp bud
get-cutting scissors). While
the president is holding his
veto pen up high (not to men
tion his golf bag).
Republicans want the
i jiiL-Mucni 10 agree, in prirt
Jason Giidow/DN ciple, to the idea of a balanced
budget in seven years. And the Republicans want the continuing
resolution to include budget-cutting measures.
Clinton has said he will not accept new cuts as a condition to
keeping the government open.
But the question is not who will blink from the brink of a govern
ment shutdown first, but why should this cavalier confrontation take
place?
This is the kind of governmental gridlock that turns off so many
Americans to Washington and its political games.
Balancing the budget is an admirable undertaking by Congress.
And President Clinton and many Americans have problems with
Republicans' seven-year path of tax cuts, spending reductions and
the overhaul of Medicare and other social programs on the way to a
balanced budget.
But why toy with a federal shutdown and the financial crisis of a
halt to government borrowing?
In the month ahead, Clinton and Congress can hammer out the
budget specifics.
But right now somebody needs to give in for the short-term.
It doesn’t matter which side.
Or better yet — both.
Editorial policy
Staff editorials represent the official
policy of the Fall 1995 Daily Nebras
kan. Policy is set by the Daily Nebras
kan Editorial Board. Editorials do not
necessarily reflea the views of the
university, its employees, the students
or the NU Board of Regents. Editorial
columns represent the opinion of the
author. The regents publish the Daily
Nebraskan. They establish the UNL
Publications Board to supervise the
daily produaion of the paper. Accord
ing to policy set by the regents, respon
sibility for the editorial content of the
newspaper lies solely in the hands of its
students.
Letter policy
The Daily Nebraskan welcomes brief letters to the
editor from all readers and interested others. Letters
will be selected for publication on the basis of clarity,
originality, timeliness and space available. The Daily
Nebraskan retains the right to edit or reject all material
submitted. Readers also are welcome to submit mate
rial as guest opinions. The editor decides whether
material should run as a guest opinion. Letters and
guest opinions sent to the newspaper become the
property of the Daily Nebraskan and cannot be re
turned. Anonymous submissions will not be pub
lished. Letters should include the author’s name, year
in school, major and group affiliation, if any. Re
quests to withhold names will not be granted. Submit
material to: Daily Nebraskan, 34 Nebraska Union,
1400 R St. Lincoln, Neb. 68588-0448.
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Dimensions
I couldn’t believe that on the day
before a potential government
shutdown, all you could print was a
2.5 inch by 3 inch, 4 paragraph
article, when on the same day the
plight of a bar’s liquor license made
front page news.
If the thought of not being able to
get drunk in a certain bar is more
important than the shutdown of our
government, spurring the possible
layoff of thousands of personnel, 1
suggest the DN get its priorities in
order.
Neal Berggren
Freshman
Computer Engineering
via e-mail
Advice column
Dear Doug Peters,
Just about any kind of parent can
beget a procrastinator (“Better
late...” Nov. 7). It takes attention
and an uncommon self-control not
to fall into the habit of giving the
reluctant child a small shove in
some way. When that shoving lets
up, who’s to shove? Society.
My advice is procrastinate more:
all the way. You can’t like much
what you drag your feet and squirm
out of as much as possible. Quit all
that stuff. Spend very little. Live
with friends. Don’t be embarrassed
to mooch; you’ll be pioneering a
; much needed new culture. I’ll help
you out.
Keep the column for our sake;
you’ll still have plenty of spare time
for searching for what you really
want to do.
Mike Chilcote
Lincoln
Bundy jumping
I hope Scott Knutson’s grasp of
English is better than his “A1
Bundy”-like view of Political
I
Jason Gildow/DN
Science. Otherwise he can expect to the fools lead.
spend ms days nipping burgers
rather than researching or teaching.
His assertion that America should
revert to an isolationist agenda is as
absurd as it is bold. I’m going to
“spell it out” for Mr. Knutson:
1. America WOULD NOT be
“just fine” if it returned to its pre
WW1I isolationist ways.
2. Tire U.S. would experience
catastrophic economic ruin. Foreign
trade is one of the pillars of our
economic infrastructure. Without it,
we wouldn’t be a viable country,
much less a world power.
3. In case Mr. Knutson has
forgotten, Kuwait (one of his so
called “little countries”) and other
Middle Eastern countries supply the
majority of our oil.
Perhaps he has invented a
substitute which will run our cars,
planes and power stations.
But what is most frightening
about his views is not his ham
handed attempt to justify isolation
ism, but his view that Yitzhak Rabin
was “a fool fighting for a lost
cause”, and that the only way to
achieve peace is through genocide.
If the desire for peace is foolish,
I say: let the “wise” step down and
Brent Hawkins
Sophomore
International Business
via e-mail
Cyberiad
As a DN alum, who now makes
his living in “cyberia,” I congratu
late you on the DN’s home page. It
looks great. I live in the D.C. area,
and I’m thoroughly enjoying being
able to read the DN on a daily
basis....for the first time in a decade!
Mike Frost
via e-mail
Death penalty advo
cate
As far as I’m concerned, Scott
Barney won’t even come close to
getting what he deserves. And what
he deserves sure isn’t a “death with
dignity” (“All deserve death with
dignity,” Nov. 10).
1 don’t know who worries me
more; people like Scott Barney, or
people like you, Ms. Schwarting,
who actually feel “sympathy” for
scum of the earth such as Barney.
Gordon Strom
Freshman
Special Ed.
. *
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