Congress has adopted a 1988 federal budget resolution that President Reagan stridently condemns as an economy-destroying giveaway to vague, evil
”special interests” that he never identifies. These ”special interests”
include the hungry, the homeless, the elderly, the ill, the jobless, the students, the small businesses, the veterans and those interested in an adequate highway system, bridges that won`t fall down, and safe airways.
This is not a perfect budget, certainly. But the 1988 congressional budget, which would cut the deficit by $37 billion, is far from the Chicken Little disaster that the President claims.
Perhaps by summer`s end the people will begin telling their members of Congress that they are tired of what the Reagan administration pretends to be doing for them, as well as what the administration has done to them.
MINNEAPOLIS STAR AND TRIBUNE:
Surely President Reagan knew that his nomination of Robert Bork to the Supreme Court would start a political fracas. The Washington, D.C., appeals court judge stands firmly on the right–a far cry from Lewis Powell, the moderate swing voter Bork is meant to replace. Bork`s elevation to the high court thus could fulfill Reagan`s quest to recast the court in a conservative mold.
Wary Democrats have a special obligation to probe deeply. They look askance at Bork`s advocacy of judicial restraint–a doctrine that entails radical reversals of long-settled constitutional law in the area of civil rights. They worry about his 1982 assertion that the landmark ruling in Roe vs. Wade was ”an unconstitutional decision”–a view that could lead to renewed state regulation of women`s rights to choose abortion.
And some senators are disturbed by Bork`s conduct in Watergate`s legendary Saturday Night Massacre: After his two Justice Department superiors resigned rather than carry out President Nixon`s order to fire Special Prosecutor Archibald Cox, Bork stayed and obeyed.
NEWSDAY, LONG ISLAND, N.Y.:
Have no doubt about it: Mikhail Gorbachev means business. The changes in the Soviet economy that he announced recently are far-reaching and
fundamental. He`s not just tinkering with the system; he`s trying to change its whole orientation. This is a fascinating, high-risk gamble whose outcome will have profound implications not only for the Soviet people but for the United States as well.
The Reagan administration has consistently underestimated Gorbachev and has been slow to respond to his initiatives. As long as it clings to its demonic, ”evil empire” view of Moscow, it will fail to understand what is really happening there. There are indications that Gorbachev wants a significantly different–and more stable–relationship with the United States. This administration and the next must discard outdated stereotypes and pay close attention to what is actually happening in today`s Soviet Union–and tomorrow`s. The problem now is not so much Moscow`s Iron Curtain as Washington`s blinders.
THE SEATTLE TIMES:
The most ironic foreign comment in the dramatic political transformation in South Korea came from China. Peking called the concessions by Seoul`s hard- line rulers ”a result of the struggle for democracy waged by the South Korean people.”
Last winter the streets of major Chinese cities were filled–as in South Korea last month–with students protesting totalitarian rule. But the result of ”the struggle for democracy” in China was not concession but suppression. To whatever extent Chinese students may be aware of the achievements of their Korean contemporaries, they should take heart from the example that has been set, even while saddened at the fresh realization of how far their own struggle has to go.
DETROIT FREE PRESS:
Readers of spy novels surely sense something familiar in the accounts of the U.S. government`s problems with its new embassy in Moscow.
Devotees of the genre know cloak-and-dagger operations now hinge on sophisticated electronic gadgetry. For that reason, they certainly would have anticipated attempts by the Soviets to use their advantage as host country and provider of labor to imbed the latest listening devices in the walls and beams of the embassy during its construction.
Testifying last week before congressional committees that are looking into the embassy follies, James Schlesinger said the building should be partially demolished and rebuilt. A six-story annex for secret work also should be constructed, said the former defense secretary and CIA director.
Had State Department officials done their homework, the United States could have been spared much aggravation and saved more than $40 million. For a fraction of that sum, a savvy bureaucrat might have invested in a few paperback spy novels.
ARIZONA DAILY STAR, TUCSON:
The common man`s image of the IRS as a powerful, threatening grabber gained more credence last week at a Senate subcommittee hearing when veteran IRS employees testified that their bosses routinely ignore federal directives and base promotions on the number of property seizures an employee racks up from delinquent taxpayers.
A ”taxpayer bill of rights” being considered by the Senate subcommittee would put the burden on the IRS to prove its tax assessment is correct. It would require the agency to read taxpayers their rights in a dispute. It also would put the force of law behind the prohibition against promoting workers on the basis of how much they collect and it would require the IRS to notify a citizen–and in some cases hold a hearing–before any property is seized.
These are reasonable provisions. Americans should not have to live in fear of an agency that has abused its power.
