Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, November 22, 1994 TAG: 9411230025
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A6 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
It's a well-documented fact the the Reagan administration promised tax cuts, then gave them to the wealthy and shifted the tax burden to the working class. If newly elected Republicans hold true to form, there will be a repeat of these economic maneuvers. When this policy was criticized, its supporters chastised minorities and working-class people of all races for not being self-reliant. This is what Rangel referred to. Empowering the empowered is a concept that's born of skewed thinking, but voters have once again given their support for it.
Cutting taxes and eliminating funds for educational and social programs isn't the panacea Stewart thinks it is. Budget experts report that the best way to balance the federal budget and make it possible to reduce taxes is to reduce entitlements. They're more of a burden than social programs, and many recipients don't need them to remain financially solvent. Entitlements haven't been eliminated because politicians on both sides of the fence are reluctant to alienate special-interest groups wanting them. Stewart's inference that minorities would prefer government funding instead of working is also without basis. Blacks and Hispanics don't comprise the majority of welfare recipients; they would if they were the parasites he mistakenly believes they are.
Stewart's letter is an example of a disturbing trend in society: judging political issues without thoroughly examining the situation. This nation's problems cannot be addressed rationally if this trend continues.
DELL R. LIPSCOMB ROANOKE
Searching the news for significance
PERHAPS SOMEONE can put a sensible spin on two items in the news recently. I admit that I'm completely perplexed in this regard.
Susan Smith is charged with murdering her two sons in Union, S.C. We all know the story. The country is up in arms over her deception to her friends, and the horrible deed committed. The feelings are that she should either be electrocuted or put in cuffs, stuffed into a car, and run into the lake. I agree that her punishment should be severe.
However, if this same woman had had two abortions, it would have been hailed as ``her right,'' even though it, too, would have been murder. The only difference is time - time for fetal development and birth.
At this same time in Florida, the Rev. Paul Hill was convicted of murder because he stopped a doctor who would murder equally defenseless, unborn children.
Is God trying to collate these two incidents for our inspection and consideration?
The spotlight should be on ourselves. And we must be consistent. What do we really stand for? It's all murder and against God's will. May all who come behind us find us faithful.
LUCEILE P. STOVER SALEM
GOP should avoid revenge politics
OLIVER NORTH'S loyalists should be pointing a finger at someone other than Sen. John Warner as the cause of North's defeat. Perhaps the Republican Party should take a closer look at the candidate it fielded.
Virginia citizens would list honesty, integrity, and conviction of conscience as criteria for good leadership. Warner has all these qualities, and Virginia's voters proved that North doesn't possess the qualities they want in a senator. If North and his $19 million couldn't win the election during this countrywide Republican sweep, then perhaps the cause for his loss should be searched for within the party structure and the candidate himself. North's shortcomings cannot be blamed on Warner. Rather, Warner should be applauded by his party for acting on his convictions.
I hope the Republican Party won't take the childish route of playing revenge politics by trying to oust the good Republican senator they have in office. Concentrating on other candidates with some of Warner's qualifications would be a better plan. Try fielding a candidate of good character rather than a celebrity whose notoriety might not be appreciated as a qualification for office.
SHIRLEY D. FARMER ROCKY MOUNT
And now, a tadpole is in control
NOW THAT the Republicans have gained a majority in both houses of Congress, what do we have to look forward to?
Majority leader-to-be of the U.S. Senate, Bob Dole, has already caused enough havoc. He got choked up when George Bush lost the election to Bill Clinton. Since then, he's done everything in his power to block any initiative the Clinton administration has undertaken. Any success it had might hurt his chances for the presidency in 1996. That means we can expect great things from wanna-be president Dole for the next two years.
As to our new speaker-to-be of the House of Representatives, Newt Gingrich is already acting like he was just elected president. He doesn't seem to realize that he's only one of a large number of congressmen. He's already called Clinton dumb, and has stuck both feet in his rather large mouth several times. He wants more tax breaks for upper-income taxpayers, and will not compromise on anything. The definition of a Newt is a salamander (tadpole), which is what he's acting like: a tadpole trying to be a big frog.
ROBERT M. SYDNOR HUDDLESTON
Christians known by their votes
IN RESPONSE to Sallie Linkous Able's Nov. 14 angry letter entitled ``Judge them not by their politics'':
The issue wasn't really about politics, neither is it an issue of a mother's right to choose to have her child killed. It was about the choices of those who call themselves Christians.
Many people (voters, too) want to believe they can live any way they choose, no matter how contrary it is to God's word, and that they'll still be welcomed with open arms when they die.
The Bible refers to people who ``profess that they know God; but in works they deny him, being abominable, disobedient ... reprobate.''
Voting is a ``work.'' My first labor must be prayerful consideration of the candidates' agenda. If I'm a willful accessory (by my vote) to taxpayer-funded crimes against God, including legalized murder of babies, I could not, in all honesty, call myself a Christian - no matter how many other benefits that candidate might have to offer. God won't either. ``If we are willing to suffer we will reign with him: If we deny him, he will also deny us.''
MRS. ARNOLD DeWALD BEDFORD
A memorial for all D-Day veterans
BEDFORD IS the right and only place for the national memorial for D-Day veterans to be built. But will it be for all D-Day veterans, or will it be like the celebrations in recent months throughout this area that focused only on the 29th Division?
The media, including your newspaper, local television and radio; the public throughout this section of the state, including Roanoke, Bedford, Danville, Lynchburg, Farmville and parts of Southwest Virginia; and the politicians who spoke at these celebrations need to accept this: The 116th Infantry Regiment of the 29th Division wasn't the only combat unit on Omaha Beach on June 6, 1944. There were many units on the beach that morning that should also receive credit.
I'm pleased, proud and very honored to have stood shoulder to shoulder on the landing craft that took us to the beach with some of the bravest men I've ever known. We knew, when we stepped on the beach, and then went running and crawling on our stomachs across the beach, that the German soldiers weren't going to lay down their weapons and start waving a white flag.
Some can ignore the units other than the 29th Division, but history is history and these facts cannot be changed.
FRANK E. KING BEDFORD
by CNB