Synthetic fuel bill gai WASHINGTON (AP) - House mem- derived from coal, shale and other bers, setting aside major differences on matherials. energy, overwhelmingly approved a At Wright's urging, the House voted plan yesterday to promote synthetic to expand the scope of the legislation to fuels as an alternative to imported oil. set a target of 2 million barrels of syn- On a 368 to 25 vote, the House endor- thetic fuels daily by 1990-in addition to sed the multi-billion-dollar assortment the 500,000 barrels a day by 1984 of federal subsidies, loans and guaran- proposed initially. tees for fuels made from coal, shale and House members also went along with other substances. Wright's proposal to increase federal A move by House Majority Leader price subsidies for such fuels from $2 Jim Wright to expand a package of billion to $3 billion. proposed multibillion-dollar federal SUPPORTERS SAID the bill, subsidies to help launch a U.S. syn- debated as the Organization of thetic fuels industry won easy passage Petroleum Exporting Countries by voice vote. (OPEC) was meeting in Geneva to con- That paved the way for expected final sider another round of oil price in- House approval of the bill, which sup- creases, could go a long way toward porters compared to the crash program loosening OPEC's strangehold on the that established a synthetic rubber in- U.S. energy market. The United States dustry during World War II. imports about 50 per cent of its oil. THE LEGISLATION would provide a "This is not going to stop gas lines but guaranteed federal price for fuels it will show Americans the nation is Killer's execution stayed STARKE, Fla. (AP)-Convicted this mornig. The state attorney general killer Charles Proffitt won an indefinite indicated yesterdday the state would stay of execution yesterday, just 17 not immediately appeal the stays. hours before he was scheduled to die in Hodges, who also granted a stay of the electric chair. execution last month to convicted mur- U.S. District Judge Terrell Hodges of derer Willie Darden, reviewed Prof- Jacksonville indefinitely postponed the fitt's case overnight before postponing execution after attorneys argued Prof- the execution. fitt had an incompetent attorney during Hodges said he agreed with the his trial for the knife slaying of a Tam- recent observation by Supreme Court pa man in 1973. Justice William Rehnquist deploring Hodges directed a magistrate to the pressure of last-minute petitions on review the trial transcript and report as judges, but "the court's jurisdiction has to whether an evidentiary hearing or been properly invoked and it has a con- other proceeding would be necessary. stitutional and statutory obligation to ON MONDAY, a federal judge in Fort entertain and decice the petition on its Lauderdale ordered an indefinite stay merits." for Robert Sullivan, condemned for the After what he called a hasty review of 1973 shotgun slaying of a restaurant- the court records, Hodges said it may motel manager in Homestead. not be necessary to order another trail, Both Proffitt and Sullivan had been but Proffitt's claim that he had an in- scheduled to die in the electric chair c-:apetent attorney is new. The Michigan Daily-Wednesday, June 27, 1979-Page 11 ns bipartisan support moving ahead," Wright said. "We are The windfall tax is scheduled for going to declare our energy indepen- debate by the House tomorrow. dence." An amendment to prohibit the bill And Rep. William Moorhead (D-Pa.), from being used as a justification for the principal author, told the House the rationing gasoline was approved by bill would "senda message to OPEC, to voice vote. the president and to the American SOME MEMBERS of Congress, in- people that we will meet the challenge cluding Rep. John Dingell (D-Mich.), of energy supplies and are determined chairman of the House Commerce to be victorious." energy and power subcommittee, had THERE WAS only token opposition to contended the legislation in its original the bill. The few attempts for major form would have given Carter this modifications-including a Republican- power. sponsored move to require the program The Congressional Budget Office has to be paid for by President Carter's estimated the synthetics fuel measure proposed windfall profits tax-were could cost taxpayers as much as $22 easily defeated, billion. Gas price increaseskeep inflation rate above 13%16X WASHINGTON (AP)-Steep price increases in May for gasoline and other fuels kept inflation swirling above a 13 per cent annual rate, the government reported yesterday, and a top ad- ministration economist held out little hope inflation would slow soon. The rapidly rising cost of energy was the main contributor to a 1.1 per cent, overall rise in consumer prices during May-the fourth straight month that prices have risen by at least 1 per cent, the Labor Department said. CONTINUED L ARGE price in- creases also were recorded for housing, interest rates and new cars, but food prices showed the smallest increase in six months. Altogether, consumer prices have risen 10.8 per cent since May 1978. So far this year, they have been rising at a 13.4 per cent annual rate. "You can't look for any significant moderation of inflation in the next few months," the director of President Car- s s w ft vi d ft fl e ti K a r a r( s p 1i H lc g Kahn: Livingstandards must fall tape decks were accumulated with lost purchasing power to American tandard of living for a few years," he frenzy. One way to make up for the loss woul aid, although he acknowledged they But so far in the '70s, there has been be to produce more, expanding th von't grow as rapidly as before. very little gain in the standard of living, nation's total wealth. But this hasn Gar Alperevitz of the National Center and it has even faltered at times, happened. or Economic Alternatives said, "A COMMERCE DEPARTMENT ery large number of things can be figures showed that after adjusting for Productivity, rising at 3 per cent a one long before asking people to take inflation and taxes, the buying power of nually not so many years ago, scarce urther cuts in their standard of living. earnings and salaries declined 0.3 per increased at all last year and actual . , We could control a good chunk of in- cent in 1978, the first decline in four dropped early this year. ation by putting controls . back on years. nergy prices." Weekly earnings were down 2.6 per The government hopes business it JACK CARLSON, chief economist of cent in this April, the sharpest monthly vestment will boost productivity, b he U.S. Chamber of Commerce, said drop in the 15 years the government has inflation and the threat of recession ar ahn's statement showed the Carter - kept such figures. They were off 4.6 per making businessmen cautious abot dministration "has given up on any cent for the 12-month period ending in investing. eform of the government policies that April. re causing inflation." He said costly And noting that consumer spending is "It is clear that unless we can i egulations and excessive government down 3.5 per cent this year, Blumenthal crease productivity, which als pending are at the heart of the said the other day, "Quite clearly . . . requires bringing inflation under co roblem. consumers do not have the money left trol, then we could not expect the star American living standards ap- to maintain the purchases they other- dard of living to rise the way it hasi roximately doubled in the 1930s and wise would because they are spending the 50s and the 60s," Blumenthal said. 960s. Many families went from one more on energy. ar to two; a summer cottage was no EACH DOLLAR hike in the price of a anger just for the wealthy; and barrel of foreign oil drains $4 billion adgets from electric toothbrushes to from the United States, which becomes s. ild ie I't in- ly ly in- ut re .ut in- so on- i- in ter's inflation-monitoring agency told a congressional committee after the latest inflation report was released. BARRY BOSWORTH, outgoing director of the president's Council on Wage and Price Stability, told the Joint Economic Committee that energy has replced food as "the most serious in- flation problem we face." "I see no hope for moderating energy prices" in the near term as long as shortages for crude oil continue. Bosworth said in explaining his gloomy assessment of administration efforts to combat inflation. Despite the latest sharp rise in con- sumer prices, the average worker was able to keep up during May, the Labor Department said ina separate report. AFTER ADJUSTING for inflation and subtracting taxes, a worker's real spendable earnings remained un- changed from April, the government said. But for the 12 months ending in May, workers' purchasing power declined by 3.3 per cent, indicating they could not keep pace with inflation during that longer span. 4 Gasoline prices jumped 5 per cent in May, followinga 6 per cent rise in April. So far this year, gasoline prices have been rising at a 55 per cent annual rate, the government said. Price rises for other fuels were equally dramatic. Home heating oil prices jumped 5.3 per cent. Gas and electricity prices rose 2.6 per cent. EVERYBODY KNOWS ABOUT THIS GAME ... but how many can play it? BILLIARDS at the UNION open 11:30 A.M. __. _ City employee strike likely Coninued from Page. Police and firefighter contracts also in Ann Arbor when compared to em- expire June 30, but the deadlines'are ployees of similar classifications in automatically extended by state law if other cities, according to Muskovitz. agreement is not reached by the ex- The AFSCME workers should not be piration date. Negotiations with those compared to police andfirefighters, he employees have been proceeding sbid. -,-, stgwly, accordiing t0,Mussko,,tz, - THIS WEEKEND ONLY HADRIAN VII a staged reading of the Broadway play Friday and Saturday, June 29 and 30 8 p.m at CANTERBURY LOFT 332 SOUTH STATE STREET-second floor $2 general admission beginning at 7:30 p.m.