Page 4-Friday, February 2, 1979-The Michigan Daily

420 Maynard St., Ann Arbor, MI 48109
Eighty-Nine Years of Editorial Freedom

Jerry Brown aims east

By Doug Willis

Vol. LXXXIX, No. 103

News Phone: 764-0552

Edited and managed by students at the University of Michigan

HealthCare-a plan with
problems-but a plan

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS reveal-
ed Wednesday that the Carter Ad-
ministration is considering a national
health insurance plan that would
guarantee every American basic
protection against illness, either
through a private insurance policy or a
government-run program similar to
Medicare.
The plan, called HealthCare, would
require everyone to carry a standard
benefit package that would pay at least
75 per cent of the cost of all hospital
bills, physician's fees, prescription
drugs, outpatient, laboratory and X-
ray services and treatment for
alcoholics, drug addicts and the men-
tally ill.
Families participating in the federal
plan would have to pay 25 per cent of
all expenses up to a limit of $1,500 a
year. They would, however, be billed
by their insurance company or a com-
pany handling HealthCare's claim
processing rather than by their own
doctors or hospitals. The rates paid to
the participants in the plan would be
established annually by the HEW
Secretary and a special rate
negotiating board comprised of
providers, consumers, and insurance
companies.
HEW Secretary Califano said earlier
this week the president had not yet
committed himself to the plan which is
the product of the options under study
by the administration for nearly two
years.
Although the tentative proposal falls
somewhat short of Senator Edward
Kennedy's progressive :plan which
would make government totally
responsible for providing health care
insurance to the American people, we
urge President Carter to adopt the
plan. HealthCare symbolizes the ad-
ministration's first sincere effort to

watch over the health of its citizens. In
the past, poor citizens have been too of-
ten denied adequate health care
because of the tremendous costs. This
plan is a beginning step to do away.
with expensive health care treatment.
But the pl an is not without some
faults.
First, it still requires families to pay
for a, quarter of the program up to a
maximum $1,500 annually. While it's
true that Carter's plan helps soften the
heavy burden of health care costs for
poor families, these families still have
to pay a significant sum to receive the
benefits, a sum which could con-
ceivably rise in coming years to ac-
commodate rising inflation.
In other words, there should be no
cost for these benefits. Poor families
who can't afford the present expensive
health care casts are still going to have
to bear a heavy burden to pay for 25
per cent of the new plan's expenses.
Second, Carter's plan would allow
underprivileged families to pay their
bills over an extended period if they
can't meet the costs during the par-
ticular year. This provision is a good
idea but should be expanded so that ex-
tensions can be granted easily to those
unable to meet the 25 per cent
requirement.
Also, the proposed phase-in
scheduled to begin in 1983, means that
the full implementation of the plan
might take years. Carter should make
the necessary adjustments in the 1980
fiscal budget and start the program
now.'Health care costs are rising daily
and four years may be too lath for
some.
HealthCare may not go far enough in
providing sound health care for all
Americans, but it's the best we've
heard so far from the present ad-
ministration.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. - Jerry
Brown, carrying an increasingly
conservative banner no longer
uses the word "remote" when
talking about a run for the
presidency in 1980.
Instead, the California gover-
nor says he's giving a lot of
thought to challenging President
Carter in the primaries but an
announcement would be
"premature."
SOME OF his actions, though,
seem beyond the "thinking"
stage.
-Recently he won nationwide
attention with his endorsement of
a convention to require a balan-
ced federal budget.
-He is strongly criticizing Car-
ter on inflation.
-He has asked a national labor
leader what his chances of an
AFL-CIO endorsement would be.
At the same time, the 40-year-
old Brown has stopped talking of
an "era of limits" - his phrase
for the need to save the environ-
ment and resources. And gone,
too, are references to Zen and
other counter-culture trappings
that made the nation notice this
odd Democrat.
It is time, he says, for America
to get back to balanced budgets,
less government, less meddling
in the affairs of distant nations,
and more belief in the country's.
fundamental soundness and
future.
"AMERICA RIGHT now is not
building for the future. It is
stealing from it," says Brown,
who defeated Carter in three 1976
primaries and challenged him in
two others. "What we're seeing
today is decline abroad and
decadence at home."
And Brown comments, "I'see a
lack of faith in the future on the
part of people about to retire, I
see frustration at the super-
market. And obviously it's time
for some kind of change."
This all has a, populist ring
reminiscent of the anti-gover-
nment exhortations of Huey
Long, George Wallace, Howard
Jarvis and - on occasion -
Jimmy Carter. And it is the sort
of talk Brown has used since his
political debut on a Los Angeles
school board 10 years ago.
AT A DECEMBER meeting
with labor leaders, which Brown
says labor requested, he says he
asked Al Barkan, national
political director of the-AFL-CIO,
if organized labor would support
him or Sen. Edward Kennedy. He

said he had no commitment from
Barkan.
Meanwhile, he works away at
the issue he believes can be used
to challenge both Carter and
Kennedy. That is the proposal he
embraced in a January speech
for a constitutional convention to
draft an amendment requiring a
balanced federal budget.
Federal deficits, Brown says,
are not a root cause of inflation.
Although Carter's 1980 budget
proposal trims the deficit to $29
billion, Brown says it is still in-
flationary and unacceptable.
BROWN IS A late supporter of
this convention, which has been
endorsed by 24 states and needs
10 more states to be convened.
But Brown is in the battle just as
the proposal is gaining momen-
tum.
This campaign also allows
Brown to use the same tactic both
he and Carter have used suc-
cessfully in the past - to align
himself with frustrated voters
against government.

"The fiscal excess by the
federal government is recognized
by 75 per cent of the American
people.. ." he says. "So the only
people who can't recognize this
seem to be a rather limited group
of experts that dwells in
Washington."
CARTER CALLED a con-
stitutional convention on the
budget proposal a "dangerous"
idea that might open the door to
other amendments restricting
civil liberties. Brown says this is
a "scare tactic."
"I had never thought that
balancing the federal budget was
an unusual idea, or even a radical.
proposal. But given the reaction
in Washington, it was as though
I'd proposed a different form of
government. Perhaps I , had,"
Brown says.
Reaction in California to
Brown's maneuvering is mixed.
Some liberal Democrats are
enraged by his adoption of a
cause championed mostly by


aEXPR TATSON'S
OUR L/IrTS,~

conservatives and by the tigh
state budget he unveiled i
January.
"THIS MAN thinks he ca
,become president of the Unite
States by having Herbert Hoove
capture the Democratic.Party,"
said David Roberti, Democratic
floor leader of the state Senate.
And state Sen. Barr Keene,
Democrat allied with Brown i
the past, adds that he cannot sup
port a candidate "who rides int
the White House on a con
stitutional crisis . . . he has per
petrated."
Some newspapers also hav
had critical editorials. The Los
Angeles Times termed Brown's
call for a constitutional conven-
tion "a clumsy grab for national
attention." The Washington Post
said it "dispelled any lingering
suspicions . . . he might be fit for
national leadership."
BROWN, MEANWHILE
doesn't act as if he is bothered by
the criticism. He goes along prac-
ticing his favorite approach -
moving both left and right,
seeking support from liberals and
conservatives,
He opposed Proposition 13's
property tax cuts until its lana
dslide adoption by voters. Then,
during his successful re-election
campaign for a second term, he
embraced it as the will of the
people and declared himself "a
born-again tax-cutter."
Brown hopes to sell the balan-
ced budget idea toliberals. If
President Johnson had been for-
ced to balance his budget, he
says, Vietnam would have been
avoided. And today's budget
deficits finance foreign aid that
props up repressive governmen-
ts.
.BROWN USED THAT
argument at the liberal-
dominated state Democratic
Party convention. He was
greeted with boos, but by the end
of his 45-minute address, e
received a standing ovation.
It was another example of the
balancing act between left aid
right that the bachelor, governor
had used throughout his political
career.
Brown described it in his calm
paign: "People ask me, 'Are ybu
a liberal or conservative?' I think
you can do both."
Doug Willis is an Ass'bciat d
Press staff writer.


Progressive change ADA's

goal

AATA on right track

M ASS TRANSPORTATION is one
of the most important attributes
of any metropolitan area, large or
small. A good system gets people
where they want to go with a minimum
of inconvenience and waste, and help-
s to bring an area a stronger sense of
community. A poor system, on the
other hand, is not only a drain on the
taxpayers, it hinders the community
by closing areas off because of poor
access.
For years, the Ann Arbor Transit
Authority has fallen under the second
category. Incomplete routes coupled
with an inefficient though well-
conceived dial-a-ride system provided
the city and the surrounding areas with
a system too cumbersome to be useful
to the public. Horror stories, especially
about long waits for the Dial-a-Ride
vans, were the rule rather than the ex-
ception.
All that may be changing, however,
and not a moment too soon. After an
exhaustive four months of re-
examining their goals, the AATA
board Wednesday night finally decided
to aim more towards fixed routes and
main-line buses, and to phase out
gradually part of the Dial-a-Ride
system.

,The AATAS board, however, wisely
realized that what took a long time to
do would also take a long time to undo,
and their plans to phase Dial-a-Ride
out gradually seem to be well con-
ceived.
The board has taken great care to
see that the gradual phase-out of rush
hour dial-a-ride service for the non-
elderly or handicapped will not cause
undue trama to persons and areas affec-
ted. Board members at the meeting
used phases such as "reliability of ser-
vice" and "least disruptive as
possible," when discussing the service
cuts.
Dial--Ride is an essential part of the
AATA system. For many elderly and
handicapped citizens, Dial-a-Ride is
their only tie to the rest of the com-
munity. For many others, who seek to
use Dial-a-Ride as a convenient alter-
native to fixed route buses, though, the
great expense cannot be met.
Of course, some people are bound to
suffer from the cuts. The Board,
though, in its decision making, has
realized the one most important thing
about managing mass transit. That is
the fact that they are moving not
cargo, but people. This realization is
an important first step towards
allowing AATA to realize its goals.

Have you been libeled for being liberal? Did
you find the "tax revolt" revolting? Do you
think that conglomerates cooperate rather
than compete? Do you believe that
progressive social change is important? If
you've answered these questions affir-
matively then you may be interested in
joining the U of M student chapter of the
Americans for Democratic Action (ADA).
Many people have heard of ADA but only
have a vague notion of what ADA is. ADA was
formed in 1947 and first received national
recognition in 1948 when it led the fight to
place a civil rights' plank in the Democratic
Party platform. ADA's goal is to *attain
progessive change by working within the
American political system. ADA remains ac-
tive on a variety of issues relating to both
foreign and domestic policy. For example in
1979 the national chapter will lobby for the
Equal Rights Amendment, for the SALT II
treaty, for a cleaner environment, for
economic sanctions against South Africa,
against allocating foreign aid to human
rights' violators and against wasteful defense
appropriations.
NATIONWIDE ADA has over thirty
thousand members. ADA's newly elected
president Patsy Mink previously served in
Congress and as Assistant Secretary of State.
Its national officers include former U.S. At-

torney General Ramsey Clark, Represen-
tative John Conyers Jr. (D.-MI), Senator
George McGovern and economist John Ken-
neth Galbraith.
Now more than ever, liberal participation
in the political process is needed. As demon-
strated by a new and well funded radical
right, Congress and State representatives do
care about what their constituents think. A
sample of the results; Congress has been
swamped with irresponsible legislation
requiring a balanced budget and twenty-three
states have voted to convene a Constitutional
Convention to amend the Constitution to
require the federal government to balance the
budget.
It all happened because people wrote their
representatives and organized others to do
the same. Unless these in-vogue conser-
vatives are seriously challenged by an
equally active liberal constituency, defense
spending will rise while spending for social
programs declines, the Equal Rights Amen-
dment will fade away along with human
rights' legislation, the SALT II treaty will be
defeated, and environment protecting
measures will be rescinded.
THE U of M chapter of ADA is a multi-issue
organization that will work on issues related
to state and federal government and to the
university and its students. The chapter is

composed of people who understand that th
issues of today are complex and that the s"
plistic solution will rarely work.
In order to be as effective as possible, w
need a large membership of concerne
students, because each of us has academi
time constraints. We also have a common i
terest in political issues thus making th
work'both politically and socially rewardin
Through our contacts with the ADA Nation
Youth Caucus and other campus chapters, w
will be able to form an effective coalition t
work on national as well as local concern
such as tenure reform, divestment fro
South Africa, and increased state spending o
higher education.
A few of the chapter's proposed project
are: a teach-in on South Africa; a lette
writing campaign on human rights
legislation; and a conference to set priorities
for the women's movement in Michigan.
ADA will hold its next meeting on Thur
sday, February 8, at 7:30 in the Lawyers Cliu
Lounge in the Law Quad. The purpose of th
meeting is to decide the organization's agen
da for the coming term.
This story was written by
ADA members Stewart Man-
dell and Bob Gurss. Interested
people should call.


Letters

To the Dead: Hearst
I think your editorial position
on the release of Patti Hearst
sucks. Your appreciation of the
fact that prison sentences tend
not to be rehabilitative is quite
progressive, but how do you ex-
cuse not explaining how you feel
about how her status affected her
fate?
Obviously there are a con-
siderable number of people who
pose very little threat to society
in jail. Did you choose not to men-
tion them, was it an oversight?
We have an increasing list of un-
derprivileged, white, influential

I SUPPOSE you grow up with
fewer opportunities and are
relatively used to a low income,
perhaps you don't mind serving a
full prison term. The
psychologicaltrauma of being
punished would be much less
significant.
Power and freedom are won-
derful things and jail is crummy.
If, as a country, we considerably
maintain the power and freedom
of the privileged classes than we
don't have to spend a whole lot of
time considering rehabilitative
alternatives to prison. In fact, we
will rarely even hear about
peaple serving sentences.
I hope to God the conclusions I
have drawn offend you as much
as they do me. Tell me the Daily

leaving other nonthreatening law
offenders in prison, you ruin your
credibility.
J3eanie Wylie
To the Daily: V C.
I am appalled at the conduct of
the employes at Village Corners
and I will never shop there again.
I went into the store to buy a
loaf of bread and a candy bar. I
wrote a check for these items and
the cashier put the bread in a bag
but left the candy bar on the
counter. I picked the candy bar
up and put it in my pocket. Just
as I walked out the door an em-
ploye grabbed me and dragged
me back into the store. He loudly
accused me of stealing the candy

employe never apologized to mn
Village Corners has gottenc
siderable business from me in th
past four years but because!
this inconsiderate an
humiliating treatment I wi
never shop there again. Wh
ever happened to polite e
ployees and innocent until proe
guilty?
-Catherine M. Browntn
To the Daily: Product h
Your editorial, "Work6
Unite," was typically incoheren
Your position seems to be, "He
man, let's work slower. It's th
militant way."
Productivity is the rate -.
production per unit of time. Tb
slower one worked, the- lower


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