Page 4-Tuesday, April 11, 1978-The Michigan Daily Eighty-Eight Years of Editorial Freedom 420 Maynard St., Ann Arbor, MI 48109 Vol. LXXXVIHI, No. 152 News Phone: 764-0552 Edited and managed by students at the University of Michigan Deciphering the bomb rhetoric The bearers of the tax burden N EVER IN RECENT months has one decision by the American President created such an awesome trail of confusion the world over and left so many questions unanswered. President Carter's noncommittal approach to the neutron bomb issue, of- fered as a sort of compromise to the weapon's supporters and opponents alike, will not by itself make debate on the bomb any less intense. If fact, if weekend reactions by the Soviet Union are any indication, the issue may have the same adverse effects on the stalled Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty (SALT) talks as did the Carter Ad-. ministration's human rights campaign over a year ago. But Carter's decision to only delay production of the neutron bomb instead of banning the weapon altogether does not have any of the high moral value at- tached tothe human rights issue. Car- ter's choice, in this case, was one of strategic values over moral values. In a moment of optimism in this space last week, we said we hoped President Car- ter would surmount all the pressure which would inevitably be directed at him to save the neutron warhead as a means of defense. The President has instead succumbed. Leadership and moral questions side, the latest rhetoric on the neutron bomb issue has only deepened a mystery. In Washington, Carter's delaying "compromise" does not really satisfy anyone. Defense hawks in Congress and the Pentagon fear even a short delay on the bomb's production will malign the overall defense blueprint. Some even fear the delay will make it easier for Carter to scrap the bomb later on. Sup- porters of the neutron warhead want to see a decision to produce the bomb now. Ypponents, meanwhile, see Carter's delay as a means of creating time to garner more public and legislative sup- port for the neutron bomb. They predict the President will come backwith a decision to produce the weapon, If Capitol Hill is confused, American allies overseas have even more reason for confusion. In Western Europe, where the ultra-high radiation bomb would be deployed, leaders were led to believe only last month that the U.S. would begin building neutron warheads for use by North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) members, par- ticularly West Germany. At the same time, a NATO plan said, efforts would be made to include the neutron bomb as part of arms control talks with the U.S.S.R. If the Soviets would not agree Kelley the con to the bomb's .inclusion in SALT, the neutron warhead would be distributed throughout West Europe. But the NATO plan never got beyond preliminary talks. President Carter intervened, saying that he would not agree to such a plan unless stronger support for the neutron bomb was shown by the European nations. The countries ap- parently did not show the commitment to the weapon Carter was seeking, and the result has been the latest choice to delay production of the warhead. Needless to say, the President's decision leaves nation's like West Ger- many without any prospects for the new weapon, where only a month before they were practically assured .of its production. The most profound confusion belongs - hands down - to Soviet leaders. The latest U.S. policy change is only'one in a long line of contradictory statements which have been made sin- ce the Carter Administration took of- fice. SALT talks are in frustrating lim- bo, and Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev's recent assessment that the stalling is, in part, due to U.S. in- decision and inconsistency may be an accurate one. Brezhnev chastised Car- ter and others for disregarding many of the agreements already reached by President Ford on SALT talks, and in- stead trying to impose new pressure on the Soviets. The neutron warhead is a good example of such pressure. In announ- cing the delay on neutron bomb produc- tion Carter asserted that a final decision would be influenced by how much the U.S.S.R. conceded in up- coming arms limitation talks.,In effect, the President is threatening the Soviets with production of the weapon, should they not give sufficient ground in SALT talks: The threat is obviously a tactical one. But such maneuvers could very well backfire when Secretary of State Cyrus Vance goes to Moscow for arms negotiations on April 20. They did last year. It is an ironic postscript beyond all the confusion that Brezhnev, at the start of a major arms speech last Friday, reiterated his aim to pave the way toward eventual world disar- mament. Carter, too, keeps on plugging away at his "total elimination of nuclear weapons" motif whenever he appears in public. The two men seem to agree totally in terms of pure rhetoric. Now, if they could only translate their agreement in- to something of substance, it could change the world. sumer advocate WASHINGTON - That un- pleasant April rite, paying in- come taxes, is accompanied this election year, by a new catch- phrase on Capitol Hill. "The tax burden" seems to be the latest topic for magazine and newspaper analyses and political debate - that is, the question of which class of taxpayers is shouldering the heaviest load of those ugly taxes. Depending on which set of claims is put forward and which class one belongs to, the answer seems perfectly obvious - you are paying more than your share while the other guy is getting all the breaks. The genesis of the current debate came in the 1976 presiden- tial campaign when Jimmy Car- ter said he would tax most heavily those with higher than the median income, apparently without realizing he was talking about everyone earning more than about $14,000 a year. The Republicans jumped all over him for that, recognizing that people earning $14,000 a year don't feel wealthy, even though logic dic- tates half their fellow Americans were worse off. Since his election, Carter has backed new Social Security and oil taxes and called for income tax reform so that most of those earning less than $30,000 a year would pay less. The reason middle By Ira R. Allen The Republican position, cent of income earners pay only backed by statistics from the IRS four-tenths of 1 percent of the itself, is that the lower and mid- total. dle income groups have had their Carter's "tax reform" with its share of taxation increased in aim of closing loopholes and en- recent years, while the extremely ding certain deductions, Roberts class people pay the so great a share of taxes, goes liberal analysis, is simply because there are so many more of them. pay a higher percentage of in- come. The reason middle class people pay so great a share of taxes, goes the liberal analysis, is sim- ply because there are so many more of them. The real villain, according to critics of both the current system and Carter's tax proposals, is in- flation. As people earn more money, they get pushed into higher tax brackets, although their higher incomes don't give them any more wealth because prices are rising at the same time. Everything thus stays the same except the taxes. In some cases in this debate, opponents are tossing statistical apples and oranges at each other. But inhany event, it does seem clear the system is working as in- tended - taxing those with higher incomes at higher rates. At the same time, inflation- caused "bracket creep" is leaving people worse off than they were at lower incomes and feeling abused by the tax system. And the real problem for politicians as they face reelection is convincing people struggling to raise a family on $15,000 or $20,000 that - statistically, at least - they are rich. Ira R. Allen is correspon- dent for United Press Inter- .national. rich and extremely poor get off lighter. According to Republican congressional staffer Paul Craig Roberts writing in the March issue of Harper's, IRShstatistics for 1975 show the top half in in- come - those at about $9,000 a year or more - pay alsmost 93 percent of the income taxes. The top 10 percent, those with ad- justed gross income of $23,420 or more pay half. Conversely, those earning over $59,338 pay 18.7 percent of all in- come taxes and the lowest 25 per- says, hits the middle income group harder than the rich and is another indication of "runaway greed in Washington.' But a recent report based on figures from the Treasury Depar- tment and the Brookings In- stitution, a liberal think tank, shows that the middle income family earning between $10,000 and $12,000 a year pays the lowest. percentage of income - about 30 percent - for all taxes com- bined: federal, state, local, in- come, property and sales. All the other groups, richer or poorer, I1$D up ul US, t-QSOU { sTT j " M! I x' 5 f O GE'O$ I . OF weAt-% IM APD S~iR\Y .Cosmic _r & aFf' I.EAG Q. U1El iu E nl6" z LETTERS TO THE DAILY Anti-abortion article "manipulative' N A PURELY omy, competitio open marketplace. C commodity pricesl high, because the p has viable alternativ producers who supply priced products. But in the state of many other state proaching a free m for the purchaser of by utility companies Detroit and needs ele cannot shop around price. Detroit Edison So the statenmust consumer in an effort deal -or at least a d the one the utilities the customer. We are encourage Attorney General, recognizes it as his prices increases byi of the customer. Ove weeks, Kelley has z have overturned, v creases by compar state. . On April 3, for exan capitalistic econ- ecomony has been depressed for many n is the key to an years, where the unemployment rate noeis ioee runs high and where many senior ,ompetition keeps citizens live on fixed incomes. low and quality Kelley has also moved to block a $15.2 urchaser always million electric rate hike granted Con- es to buying from sumer's Power Company last month by y inferior or over- may the PSC. Kelley contends that the in- f Michigan, as in crease is without legal basis and that, s, nothing ap- rightfully, the rates should be cut, not arketplace exists increased. services provided The utility's most recent financial s. If one lives in statement shows that it has over $150 ctrical power one million in unused cash. forthchapoersonKelley also points out that the in- for the cheapest terim hike was authorized contrary to intervene for the the recommendation of both the PSC's t toprocurea fair technical staff and a certified public a torre fair accounting firm, which presented a eal more fair than report at the request of the Attorney would force upon General. d that the state's Then, yesterday, Kelley filed with drak th the PSC to oppose Consumer's Power' s role to question request for a $76.2 million gas rate in- utilities on behalf crease. er the last several Hopefully, the Attorney General will ealously sought to remain vigilant in his intervention on various price in- the side of the state's pow consumers. lies all over the It is good to see an official as important as Kelley watching out for our in- nple, the Attorney terests where the Michigan PSC seems To The Daily: We were truly appalled by Greg Lynne's article "A deadly' insurance policy" which ap- peared on the editorial page of the Daily on March 31. Mr. Lyn- ne's comparison of abortion to Hitler's genocidal mania is an emotional play. We fail to seerthe correlation and condemn Mr. Lynne for the use of manipulative' rhetoric. In his article, Mr. Lynne is at- tacking more than the student health insurance plan; he is at- tacking a womai is right to an abortion. Mr. Lynne cites a quote from 1919 to support his claim that life begins at conception. Yet, anyone who reads more recent literature would realize that the debate is not whether the cells are living, but when those living cells become a human being. Mr. Lynne makes it sound as though the argument has been resolved; this is untrue. There has been no definitive answer to the question of when a fetus becomes a human being. It is dishonest to proceed as if there were. Some major religious organizations would have us believe that life begins at concep- tion. However, other religious organizations and some mem- bers of the medical and philosophical professions do not concur. Anti-abortion groups accuse people who believe abortions must be available with a 'disregard for human life. In doing this, they illustrate their near sightedness - their moral myopia. Right to lifers should examine the facts and consider whose life they ignore in their self righteousness and accusations. We revere life and agree with Mr. Lynne that, "All human beings require the proper nutriments and the proper en- vironment to grow and develop at all stages of life." However, unlike Mr. Lynne, we view all and motherhood. The issue is not one of irresponsibility. Con- traceptive failures happen regularly, even for the most faithful of contraception users. There is no such thing as the per- fect contraceptive. The pill and the IUD, the "safest" contracep- tives in terms of preventing pregnancy, have been shown to cause serious side effects. Con- sequently, many women are resorting to physically safer but statistically less effective methods. Anti-abortionists would deny women their equitable role in society. If women are truly to achieve equal opportunity with men, they must be able to control if, when, and under what circum- stances they bear children. Legislation and policies which prevent access to abortion result in mandatory motherhood. In closing, we would like to chastise the Daily editorial staff. We were extremely disappointed since we thought you had better judgment and would not publish sensationalist rhetoric and tasteless and inflammatory car- toons. Access to abortion is the bot- tom line for women's rights. Without the freedom to control reproduction, all the rest is lip service. s .Deidre Feeney Deborah Filler Joan Gibson Ann Arbor funding clarification To The Daily: Vice President for Student Ser- vices Henry Johnson has asked me to clarify several points about the funding proposal which will be appearing on the student elec- tion ballot, April 10, 11 and 12. First, the MSA is presently sub- ject to a negative checkoff system in the collection of student fees; the mandatory 64 -I - 1- I -11-4-. 411 I would also like to emphasize that the ballot question calls for one single $2.92 per student per term required student gover- nment fee. Of this amount, $1.74 would go to Campus Legal Aid and the joint legal aid-MSA Housing Law Reform Project, 15c would continue and improve the Course Evaluation Project, 6c would go to the Tenants Union legal service, and 97c would go to fund all other proper MSA programs and activities. The ballot question will call on students to evaluate all of the programs as a package. -Jon R. Lauer President, MSA MSA coverage To The Daily: I commend the Daily editors and reporter Mark Parrent for the extensive coverage of this terms MSA elections. The stories were informative and presented a thorough explanation of the issues and candidates running in this MSA election. In the past, those of us who were active in campus politics have blamed the Daily, in part, for the low turnout of student voters. Uninformed of the issues or even the existence of a campus election, most U of M students never bothered to go to the polls for campus elections. This year, the students and their gover- nment have no such excuse. The strength of a student government lies only in its sup- port as a representative of the student body. I urge all U of M, students to go to the polls and vote in the MSA elections today and tomorrow. -Debra Goodman Student Government President '75-'76 hash bash incident To The Daily: had just finished my third pic- ture, a big Ann Arbor officer came up to me. Pushing his chest into mine, he kept walking, saying, "If you take one more picture, I'll stick that camera and lens up your ass. Or better yet take your film, camera, and len- ses. Shocked and in a state of disbelief, I backed off and stam- mered, "Yes Sir," three or four times. The crowd started yelling, "Let him take his pictures." The officer said, "You better turn around and go home, and don't let me see you here again." I turned and ran. I could have stayed and been arrested for disobeying a police order, or inciting a riot, but I didn't; I ran. I understand that the officer is human, he saw his friend being beat up, but his actions were un- called for. The police department is supposed to work with thg community, not against it. This incident with me was un- necessary. I sincerely hope this officer will think the next time before he lets his temper override his better judgment. On the whole, the police did a fine job, except for this one unfortunate incident. This is not intended to be an anti- police letter, but to point out that this type of outburst is not helpful to police-student relations. NAME WITHHELD UPON REQUEST poor taste To The Daily: The Daily has once again shown poor taste and true insen- sitivity in its coverage of the death Jeanine Boukai: The "chainsaw mixer at the arb featuring Ricky Wayne Wilson and the Coed Killers" was a totally repulsive and abhorrent thought. Needless to say, we at Steven's House are outraged!