News Digest
Page 2 Daily Nebraskan Tuesday, February 6,2001
Bush plan one of'class welfare'
■ The president asked Americans to
stand behind his tax proposal, which
would benefit the wealthy the most
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
WASHINGTON—Flanked by a jumbo
refund-check stage prop, President Bush
asked Americans to get behind his proposed
tax cuts Monday and said the reductions
should be retroactive to Jan. 1 to "help get
money into the people's pockets quicker.”
He warned Congress and an army of
lobbyists against add-ons, saying his plan is
the right size “and I'm going to defend it
mightily**
In the White House diplomatic room,
die president began a drive for the upper
hand as he and Congress move toward for
mal debate over the centerpiece of his cam
paign. He did not shy from the idea, empha
sized by Democrats in what Bush decried as
"class warfare,” that the wealthiest
Americans stand to benefit the most
“All the income tax rates should be cut,”
Bush said “Our tax code should not punish
success at any stage of life.”
He stood beside a jumbo check written
out to “U.S. Taxpayer" in the amount of
$1,600 - the average tax cut for a family of
four under his plan, according to estimates
and gathered around him three photogenic
families who, in the bottom three tax brack
ets, would realize tax savings.
Asked by a reporter why no one was
there representing the the top bracket, Bush
laughed “Well, I beg your pardon," he said
“I got alitde pay raise coming to Washington
from Austin. Ill be in die top bracket”
The former Texas governor makes
$400,000as president under 1999 legislation
that doubled the $200,000 annual salary.
Bush has proposed lowering and simpli
fying federal income tax rates by2006.
Current rates are 15 percent, 28 percent,
31 percent, 36 percent and 39.6 percent
New rates would be 10 percent, 15 per
cent, 25 percent and 33 percent
He also would expand child credits, ease
i
11,1
the so-called marriage penalty and gradual
ly repeal estate taxes.
Presidential appearances planned for
Tuesday and Wednesday were to highlight
such individual benefits plus the job-cre
ation potential of tax cuts, before Bush sub
mits his plan to Congress on Thursday.
Drawing battle lines, Democrats con
tended that Bush’s proposal would dispro
portionately help the wealthy and, com
bined with tds spending plans, would bring
back federal deficits.
Senate Democratic leader Tom Daschle
said earners making about $300,000 would
get enough of a tax break to pay for a Lexus,
while people making $50,000 a year would
see only enough tax savings to buy a muffler
for a used car.
Sen. Kent Conrad, a top Democrat on
the budget committee said rate cuts needed
to be aimed more at middle- and low
income earners. “All I hear from the Bush
administration about compromise is we’re
supposed to accept their position. We’re not
going to do that,” said Conrad.
Retroactivity will not be part of Bush’s
formal submission, aides say, but the presi
dent said Monday he would fight for it “We
look forward to working with Congress to
expedite money into the pockets of the
American people ”
Bush played down his argument that tax
cuts could stimulate a slowing economy
and underscored instead their bread-and
butter appeal
“This is real and practical help when, at
this time, many Americans need it,” Bush
said, ticking down what $1,600 could buy: a
year’s tuition at community college; gaso
line for two cars for a year or, with a political
eye on California’s energy crisis, 24 months
of electricity there.
“It's tax relief for everybody who pays
taxes. That’s what the times and basic fair
ness demand,” Bush said.
At an afternoon swearing-in ceremony,
Bush left the economic gloom to his com
merce secretary. Don Evans spoke of “dark
clouds” in economic indicators, saying
Bush’s tax plan “is timely and it is necessary.”
Man revolts,
kills four at
engine plant
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
MELROSE BARK, DL—A factory worker who got
caught stealing from his employer forced his way into
the suburban Chicago engine plant Monday and
opened fire one day before he was to report to prison.
He killed five people, including himself, and
wounded four others.
William D. Baker, 66, showed up at the Navistar
International plant with an arsenal of weapons in a
golf bag and made his way through the vast building,
Masting away with an AK-47 assault rifle, police said.
Employees scattered in tenor.
He shot seven people, three of them fatally, in an
engineering area, then went into an office, where he
killed one person and then shot himself, police said.
Baker had been scheduled to surrender Ihesday
to serve a five-month federal sentence for conspiracy
to commit theft from an interstate shipment. He
pleaded guilty last June, six years after he was fired.
Martin Reutimann, a 24-year-old engineer, was
sitting at his desk when he heard gunfire about 10
aun.
T heard somebody yell, There’s a guy in the cen
ter aisle with a gun!’” Reutimann said, referring to the
long hallway where engines are tested. Reutimann
said he didn't believe it at first, then saw people run
ning past him. He grabbed his coat and cellular
phone and dialed 911.
Police said Baker showed up at the plant with his
weapons in a golf bag. When a security guard tried to
stop him, Baker put a .38-caliber revolver to her side
and forced his way into the plant Once inside the
plant, Baker fired the assault rifle, police said.
He also carried a shotgun and a 30-caliber hunt
ing rifle in addition to the revolver, police said. They
were not sure whether those weapons were used.
Navistar identified three of the dead as Baker;
Daniel Dorsch, 52, a supervisor in the engine lab; and
Robert Wfehrheim, 47, a lab technician. TWo were not
identified at the request of their families.
Of the wounded, one was in critical condition:
Carl Swanson, 45, who was shot in the abdomen.
Baker was a tool room attendant from suburban
Carol Stream who had worked at file plant for 39 years
before he was fired in 1994.
According to his plea agreement, Baker admitted
helping a fellow plant employee steal diesel engines
and components worth $195,400. He used his forklift
to hoist the engines onto a truck driven by the other
employee. The thefts began in the fall of 1993 and
stopped die next spring.
Baker was sentenced Nov. 7. He had faced five
months of house arrest after his prison term and had
been ordered to repay the $195,400.
Preston C Mack/Newsmakers
Irv Rubin, the director of the Jewish Defense League, uses a bull horn to ward away visitors from the Holy Land Experience theme park Monday in
Orlando^ Fla.
Christian park blasted by critics
■The Holy Land,a biblical-era
theme park, opened despite protests
from the Jewish Defense League.
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
ORLANDO, Fla. — A Christian
theme park that re-creates the Holy
Land during the biblical era opened
Monday amid protests from critics who
say the attraction is aimed at converting
Jews.
An actor in a white caftan welcomed
the first guests to the $16 million Holy
Land Experience with several blasts
from a shofar, or ram’s hom.
Visitors were greeted by two actors
dressed as Roman soldiers in armor,
who talked about the history of Herod’s
Temple. Workers in robes hawked ritual
prayer shawls, menorahs and cold
drinks from kiosks.
On the steps of a re-creation of
Herod's Temple, a half-dozen actors in
biblical-period clothes sang songs
about Christian persecution by the
Romans and how Jesus would come
back to save them.
Outside the fences, the leader of the
militant Jewish Defense League, Irv
Rubin, called park founder Marvin
Rosenthal a “soul-snatcher."
“His whole raison d’etre is to recruit
Jews, to steal our souls," said Rubin,
leading a three-man protest
Rosenthal, a Baptist minister who
was bom Jewish, said there was no hid
den agenda at the park other than to
spread the teachings of the Bible to peo
ple of all faiths.
“The idea that we're targeting Jewish
people is fallacious," said Rosenthal,
who calls himself a Hebrew Christian.
“We would be thrilled if Jewish people
came to these facilities. They won’t be
buttonholed. They won't be coerced.”
Although Hebrew Christians con
sider themselves Jewish, mainstream
Jews do not recognize them as such
because Hebrew Christians believe that
Jesus is the Messiah.
Leaders of Orlando’s Jewish com
munity, which has about 25,000 people,
chose to ignore the park's opening.
However, they have gotten the word out
to Jewish communities around the
world to avoid the park, said Rabbi
Merrill Shapiro of Congregation Beth
Am.
“Mr. Rosenthal says you can be
Christian and Jewish at the same time,
but that’s not true,” Shapiro said.
“We have a great interest in not
attracting a lot of attention to this park."
It was too late for that Monday as
dozens of reporters attended the open
ing and about 800 people of varying
Christian denominations paid $17 each
to roam the 15-acre park.
“I haven't seen anything that trivial
izes religion,” said David Graber, a
Mennonite pastor from Sarasota.
“We're different from many denom
inations, but I feel comfortable here.”
The park’s gift shop, The Old Scroll
Shop, sold shofars - blown during the
Jewish High Holidays - and books with
Jewish themes, such as “The Chosen”
and “The History of the Jews.”
Marge McQuiston, a Lutheran visi
tor from Lakeland, saw the park as an
opportunity for Christians and Jews to
better understand each other.
“If we can’t get along in a theme
park, how are we going to get along in a
place like Israel?” she said.
TODAY
Partly cloudy
high 36, low 21
Weather
TOMORROW
Snow
high 29, low 24
/>»(i'Nebraakaa
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Businesses go black to save power
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
LOS ANGELES — “Power
police” prowling car dealerships
to make sure outdoor lights are
turned off. Acres of darkened
parking lots.
Fines of up to $1,000 a day.
All are possible under Gov.
Gray Davis’ executive order last
week requiring retailers to “sub
stantially reduce” outdoor lighting
during nonbusiness hours. The
order becomes mandatory on
March 15.
The goal is to ease California’s
power crunch by halving the
demand for retail outdoor light
ing.
“Everybody has to do their
part,” Davis spokesman Roger
Salazar said.
“We feel that Californians will
respond pretty strongly to this ...
hopefully, we won’t have to issue
fines.”
The order came amid a Stage 3
power alert that entered its 21st
consecutive day Sunday and will
remain in effect until at least mid
night Tuesday.
Such alerts are called when
energy reserves dip below 1.5 per
cent and set the stage for rolling
blackouts. On Sunday, Lorie
O'Donley, a spokeswoman for the
California Independent System
Operator, predicted no immedi
ate rolling blackouts.
Davis’ order exempts lighting
deemed “necessary for the health
and safety of the public, employ
ees and property.” But what that
means in practical terms hasn’t
been determined.
“Is it half my lights'* Is it a third?
I can’t answer that,” said Kenneth
Greene, vice president and gener
al manager of Silver Star Motor
Car Co. in Thousand Oaks.
The dealership has five acres
of Oldsmobile and Lexus cars, and
luxury sport utility vehicles like
Land Rovers and Humvees with
price tags up to $100,000.
Vandalism and thefts have
occurred, so outdoor lighting is
important
"Car lots have to be big users of
energy,” said Henry Hansel, presi
dent of the dealers association at
the Petaluma Auto Mall. “Our
wares are outside, unlike a Mac/s
where they have their products
indoors. ...We have to light it”
Hansel and Greene said they
were cutting electricity use. “I do
want to do what's right,” Greene
said. "I know we'll try.”
Nobody has precise figures on
how much electricity outdoor
signs and parking lot lights con
sume.
But Home Depot, with 140
stores in California, believed that
its stores by themselves could save
enough electricity each month to
power 1,800 houses, spokesman
Chuck Sifuentes said.
Law enforcement officials said
they hoped businesses voluntarily
complied.
“Enforcing it would be the last
thing that we do,” said Deputy R.
Bottomley of the Los Angeles
Sheriff’s Department
Darkening auto dealerships
and store parking lots could “be a
help for the criminal element,”
said Lt. Jim Peery of the Police
Department in Tustin, south of
Los Angeles.
Peery said his department’s 95
officers might have to do extra
policing if businesses darkened
their outdoor signs and lights.
World/Nation
The Associated Press
■ Russia
Clintons agree to return gifts
taken from White House
WASHINGTON — Bill
Clinton and Hillary Rodham
Clinton said Monday they will
give back any gifts they took
from the White House if it turns
out the items weren’t meant for
them personally.
The White House curator’s
office is working with the
Clintons to figure out the inten
tions of the people who donat
ed the gifts, President Bush's
spokesman Ari Fleischer said.
Gifts worth a total of more
than $23,000 - including two
sofas, rattan chairs, an ottoman,
an easy chair and a kitchen
table - were in question.
■ Illinois
Young gay blackmen believed
most at nskforHIV infection
CHICAGO — A stunning
one-third of young gay black
men in large U.S. cities are
infected with HIV, another sign
of the growing racial divide in
the AIDS epidemic.
The findings, based on a
study released Monday, show
that HIV infections are dis
turbingly common among gay
men of all races in their 20s,
especially considering that they
grew up knowing how AIDS
spreads.
However, HIV is particularly
rampant among young gay
blacks, and experts worry that
these men have missed the
safe-sex message that has been
a drumbeat among white
homosexual men since the
mid-1980s.
The study found that among
young gay men, 3 percent of
Asians, 7 percent of whites, 15
percent of Hispanics and 30
percent of blacks are infected
with the virus.
■ New York
Trial begins for four accused
of bombing Ui. embassies
NEW YORK — Four men
went on trial Monday in the
1998 bombings of two U.S.
embassies in Africa, with prose
cutors portraying the deadly
blasts as part of a worldwide
plot by terrorist mastermind
Osama bin Laden to kill
Americans.
“The story that’s about to
unfold before you is long, com
plicated and chilling,'' prosecu
tor Paul Butler said in bis open
ing statement.
Staring and pointing at each
defendant, Butler said the men
contributed to bin Laden’s
decade-long terrorism spree
aimed at weakening or over
throwing governments he dis
liked.
■ Massachusetts
11-year-old boy charged
in stabbing of other youth
SPRINGFIELD, Mass. — An
11-year-old boy was charged
Monday in the stabbing death
of another 11-year-old
moments after the two argued
at a movie theater.
The boy killed, fifth-grader
Nestor Herrera, was on his first
outing to the movies without a
grown-up. He was stabbed in
the theater lobby Saturday
night, minutes after he called to
check in with his mother, and
he died later at a hospital.
The defendant, whose name
was not released, is charged
with juvenile delinquency by
reason of murder.
new Tore
Rapper Big Pun's death to be
memorialized with mural
NEWYORK—Family, Mends
and fans of Christopher Rios, the
platinum-selling rapper known
as Big Pun, will gather in the South
Bronx on Tuesday to commemo
rate the first anniversary of his
death.
The 698-pound Rios, known
for his imaginative lyrics and
smooth delivery, was 28 when he
died of complications from obesi
ty on Feb. 7,2000.
A mural painted last year at
163rd St and Westchester Avenue
will be whitewashed and a Bronx
based hip-hop graffiti artist will
paint a new mural, according toa
news release.