0 2 - The Michigan Daily - Thursday, September 16,_1993 REPUBLICANS Continued from page 1 Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) said he was opposed to putting the re- quirement on individuals. Employers might "drop coverage and shift an even heavier financialburden onto the middle class," Kennedy said. And he com- plained that the GOP failed to address soaring costs. Under Chafee's proposal, purchas- ing cooperatives would be set up so individuals and small companies could get betterrates.'The arrangements would be voluntary, not the mandatory alli- ances Clinton envisions. Nor would there be any "global budgets" to put government cost con- trols on rising premiums. Republicans say marketplace competition will bring down costs. Another difference: No new taxes are called for in theGOPplan; Clinton's plan would require new resources. "This is a mainstream plan," said Sen. Christopher Bond (R-Mo) Senate Minority Leader Bob Dole (R-Kan.) said it was "not a Band-Aid approach, but it's not major surgery, either." Like Clinton's,Chafee'splan would set up a standard package of benefits, set by an outside board for Congress to approve or reject but not amend. Chafee's benefits package is seen as less generous than Clinton's, but would include a range of services including prescription drugs, preventive services and some mental health and substance abuse programs. There would be a limit on the tax deduction people could take for health insurance. Any amount spent on health care more generous than the standard package would be taxed. The uninsured would eventually be covered as savings accumulated from tort reform and limits on the growth of Medicaid and Medicare, Chafee said. He proposed a "pay-as-you-save" ap- proach that would cover more poor people as savings add up. By the year 2000, there could be federal help for people making 240 percent of the poverty level and below, about $34,000, Chafee said. That would ultimately cost about $200 billion, or about one-third of whatthe Clinton plan would cost, the Senate Republicans said. Both the House and Senate plans mirror the Clinton approach by prohib- iting insurers from turning away high- risk people or jacking up premiums when someone gets sick. I Clinton peddles NAFTA on road trip NEW ORLEANS (AP) - With crates ofpotential exports towering over him, President Clinton promoted a free- trade pact before friendly dockworkers yesterday and bristled at all the atten- tion being paid to Ross Perot's counter- offensive. Visiting the bustling New Orleans port less than a year after George Bush made the same trip to promote the same trade pact Clinton told a warehouse crowd: "This is a good deal. It's a winner. We ought to take it." In opening his fall drive to get North American Free Trade Agreement through arecalcitrantCongress, Clinton was clearly seeking to counter the rhe- torical fire of Perot. Clinton told his audience: "The people who are afraid of this agreement are quite well organized. Some of them have a dollar or two, as you may know, and they need to hear from you." Clinton sought help getting his mes- sage out by dispatching Cabinet mem- bers around the country to push the agreement. He sent Transportation Secretary Federico Pena to Miami, Housing Sec- retary Henry Cisneros to Baltimore, Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt to San Francisco and Labor Secretary Robert Reich to New York. Pena told small-business officials in Miami that no state has a deeper stake in passing NAFI'A than Florida. And Vice President Al Gore and Environmental Protection Agency chief Carol Browner announced that the agreement had been endorsed by orga- nizations representing 7.5 million envi- ronmentalists. Clinton, asked by reporters if he was losing the public relationsbattle to Perot, snapped, "No. Why do you guys keep asking that question?" "It's not about me and him," Clinton added. "It's about the American people and their future." Clinton was preceded at the ware- house by Sen. John Breaux (D-La.) who told the crowd that NAFTA "is about creating jobs." Breaux earlier told reporters he would have to oppose the agreement unless steps are taken to protect sugar cane farmers. Outside the warehouse, a small group of opponents chanted "No NAFTA" and waved placards, including one that said, "We get the SHAFTA with NAFTA." 0 EVAN PETRIE/Dally Kevin Miller tosses the remains of countertops and desk drawers into a dumpster outside Jacobson's. The store closed its doors downtown last week after relocating to Briarwood Mall. ean inventores, improved sloan repayment oint to better econo-mcal Uture WASHINGTON (AP) - Fresh re- ports yesterday suggested the economy will pick up a bit of steam during the second half of the year. One showed businesses with lean inventories, and another indicated consumers are pay- ing their debts more easily. Inventories held on shelves and backlots fell 0.5 percent in July to a seasonally adjusted $860.3 billion, the Commerce Department said. Invento- ries were unchanged in June. July marked the first decline since Septem- ber and the steepest since March 1991. Meanwhile, the American Bankers Association said the percentage of Americans behind on their consumer loan payments fell during the April- June quarter to the lowest level in nine years. The loan delinquency rate decline "should support slightly higher con- sumer spending. Both numbers bode for slightly stronger economic perfor- mance in the second half of the year than we had in the first half," said economist David Jones of Aubrey G. Lanston & Co., agovernmentsecurities Do you have a complaint? Do iIfhI w~nt In tiVA dealer in New York. Businesses' difficulty in reducing an unwanted inventory buildup slowed economic growth in the April-June quar- ter, but stocks now are at a level that should not impede future growth, he said. Much of the July inventory decline was concentrated among auto dealers, where stocks fell 4.9 percent, the largest decline in nearly seven years. However, business sales were weak in July. They fell 1.lpercent to a season- ally adjusted $583.6 billion. It was the biggest drop since December 1991. At the retail level, inventories fell 1.3 percent. They were flat at factories and down 0.2 percent at wholesalers. July sales were weakest at factories, where they fell 2.6 percent. They edged down 0.1 percent at wholesalers and rose 0.3 percent at retailers. In an ad- vance report on Tuesday, the depart- ment said retail sales rose 0.2 percent in August. Meanwhile, the bankers association said a seasonally adjusted 2.06 percent of consumer loans were 30 days ormore past due at the end of June, down from 2.31 percent at the end of March and 2.60 percent a year earlier. The latest rate, a composite of eight types of installment loans, was the low- est since 2.02 percent at the end of June 1984. Economists said slow-but-steady improvement in the job market, low inflation and extensive mortgage refi- nancing has improved consumers' abil- ity to repay their loans. "Consumers are halfway home in terms of redressing their balance sheet. They are midway between what could be considered a healthy debt level and the dire situation they had gotten into by the late 1980s," said economist Elliott Plattof Donaldson, Lufkin and Jenrette. The eight types of loans included in the composite delinquency rate are: auto loans made directly by banks, auto loans purchased by banks from other loan originators, personal loans, second mortgages, home improvement loans, recreational vehicle loans, mobile home loans and boat loans. 0 " A t E n evE ~ .- - RA AS III JvMTwa.lb U i I us a suggestion? ANTIOCH Continued from page 1 EmiNakazato, co-coordinatorof the Peer Education Program at the Sexual Assault Prevention andAwareness Cen- ter said some aspects of a similar policy may serve to reduce incidents of sexual assault on campuses. "Anything done on an educational level is a good thing," she said, but she cautioned against placing toomany re- strictions on students. "People don't want to be told what to do in their bedrooms." she said. Rob Johnson, anLS A junior, said, "I personally think itwouldbea joke. I just don't think anybody would take it seri- ously. There would be no way to en- force it." LSA junior Patricia Dugan ques- tioned, "How could you monitorapolicy like that? It all comes down to your word against someone else's." But LSA senior William Newstone said he thinks the policy will help. "I think it would be a fine policy to impose into any university, especially with all the legality of date rape going on right now," he said. U U INCLINED BRIGHT NEW DAY TWO MINOS/SOMEWHERE IN THE MIDDLE r -I I Then call us at the Daily reader response line at 764-0553. Or send us a letter at 420 Maynard Street. 01 I 9.99 CD 5.99 CS 11.99 CD 7.99 CS 11.99 CD) 7.99 CS The Michigan Daily (ISSN O45967) is published Monaay tnrougn riaayoduring ne Tall ano winter terms by students at the University of Michigan. Subscriptions for fall term, starting in September. via U.S. mail are $120. Winter term (January through April) is $90. On-campus subscriptions for fall term are $35. Subscriptions must be prepaid. 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Rybock, Keren Schweitzer, Michael Thompson, Jason Vigna. PHOTO Michelle Guy, Editor ASSISTANT EDITORS: Douglas Kanter, Sharon Musher, Evan Petei b STAFF: Anastasia Banicki, Josh Dath, Susan lsaak. Mary IKoukhab, Elizabeth Lippmean, Rebecca Margolis, Peter Matthews. i ll' BUSINESS ST y i;