Paae 4-Thursday. August 7. 1980-The Michigan Daily
Charting the unknown
seas of the economy
4
Carter stares
troubles in eye
F ACED WITH charges of engaging in unethical
and illegal practices, President Carter,
playing to a prime-time audience Monday, went be-
fore members of the press and put on a show that
startled, dazzled, and impressed.
Armed with rehearsed answers and an apparent
willingness to cooperate, the president patiently
and competently fielded questions hurdled at him
during the extended-to-an-hour press conference.
The president did a commendable job of not only
demonstrating a readiness to talk about the mat-
ter, but of releasing documents and cables which
could shed light on the shady dealings between his
brother, the Administration, and the government of
Libya.
The president recognizes the implications of at-
tempting to stonewall information. He realizes,
with the Democratic National Convention just
around the corner, that he cannot allow confusion
and ambiguity to envelop the situation. By a
willingness to answer questions and make infor-
mation public, Carter has given the impression,
whether accurate or not, that he has not done
anything wrong. And by throwing the doors open to
Billygate, he has implicitly invited observers to go
inside and investigate to their hearts' content.
Because of the delicate nature of the situation,
the Senate subcommittee must continue to in-
vestigate the matter to discover whether the
president has committed any wrongdoing. But by
coming forth at this time and releasing the infor-
mation he has, Carter has diffused some of the
speculation surrounding the matter, and impressed
not only members of the media, elected officials,
but many Americans as well.
Over a week ago a spokesman
said that the administration was
trying to chart the course of the
economy. And so yesterday I
went over to see the head of the
National Office of Economic
Charting, just to see how things
were coming along ...
"The chart," said Captain
Horace Norwester, U.S. Navy,
retired, "aye, lad, it's over on
that table," he said, pointingto a
six- by three-foot table. The chart
covered the table completely,
and was labeled, "The Economic
Ocean." At the end of a twisted
line that crisscrossed the chart
was a marker, indicating the ship
of state, which sat on a spinner.
"HERE'S WHERE we started
in '76," said the Captain, "at the
Fiords. In January of '77, we got
orders to set a course for the
Humphrey/Hawkins Full Em-
ployment Islands."
"Ah, yes," I said, "That's when
unemployment was the major
economic concern."
"Aye, that it was," said
Horace. "Hut, then the winds of
inflation started to blow and whip
up the sea," he said, his face
growing longer. "And that's
when we changed course and
headed here," pointing with his
pipe to a narrow gap between two
large land masses, circled in
red.
By Russ Meredith
"WHAT IS it, Captain?" I
asked, too far away to read the
small writing.
"That, lad, is the Volcker High
Discount Rate Straits," he said..
"Never should have been there.
Tried to warn 'em," he said, his
head shaking slowly "but no one:
would listen. All we did was rip a
hole in the hull and settle a few
points lower into the Sea of
Unemployment."
"Was it really as bad as it
looked?" I asked. "Imeanthe
media played it up as a real
goof."
"AYE, THAT it was. Look at
how tight a squeeze those straits
are. Why ya couldn't take Fiji's
economy through there safely, let
alone that drednought of ours,"
he said. "His voice was calm, but
his eyes were filled with rage.
"But that's what happens when
ya steam full speed ahead into a
recession withoutany planning."
-"Didn't the administration
have any studies?" I asked.
"Aye, they had some soun-
dings, but nothing real deep; all
they wanted was a recession, and
quick. After all, they'd been
forecasting it for months," he
said.
"WELL. THEN, what about all
the talk of balanced budgets?" I
asked.
"Balanced Budget May, aye,
that was to have been out next
port," said Horace. "They saw
that inflation was still blowing as
hard as before, and so the hope
was that once inside the bay, we
could make full repairs and take
on some more employment."
"Seems like a sound plan, Cap-
tain," I said. "So what hap-
pened?"
"THE RONALD Reagan Ten
Per Cent Tax Cut Reef," he said.
"Cut right across our course into
the bay. Scared half the crew
clean out of their wits. Afterthat
we had to come about, and head
back out to sea."
"So, where are we now?" I
asked, somewhat confused.
"Well," he said, turning away
from the chart and looking out a
window, "things look grim. In-
flation is still running at high
rates, and we're taking on more
unemployment. But," he said,
with a look of resignation on his
face, "don't worry. The
President has a newcourse
correction on the way now." ,
Russ Meredith, a frequent
contributor to the editorial
page, is a BGS senior.
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LETTERS TO THE DAILY:
Swimming in the nude
and the Citizens Party
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To The Daily:
After attending the debate bet-
ween Barry Commoner, the
Citizens Party presidential can-
didate, and Ed Clark, the
presidential candidate for the
Libertarian Party, I wondered
how my life might be different if
one of them was elected. The
debate packed an auditoriup in
the Modern Languages Building
here on campus with an audience
of avid listeners. I needed to look
back only several hours to come
up with some very definite dif-
ferences.
Earlier on Sunday, I arrived at
the local "nude beach" only to
discover the police clearing the
area and informing the people
there that even with their clothes
on they couldn't stay. For years,
this place has existed without
much interference from the
police. The Boy Scouts and
anyone else who knows their way
around the local waterways
knows how to avoid it if they so
desire.
So, as with the end of confron-
tation politics in the early 7s,
this place has co-existed with the
various other beaches where one
should have their clothes on.
"Not so any more," said the
police. officer'who reported that
the word has come down from
Sheriff Minick to prevent people
from being at this beach. The of-
ficer said we were trespassing,
but he didn't know who owned the
land. I think the Audobon Society
owns the land and that I was
within my legal rights, since I
hadn't taken my clothes off yet.
But then the police officer had a
gun, so I left quietly and respec-
tfully.
Now the question that remains
is, how should I vote in Tuesday's
primary? Should I vote for the
best Democratic primary can-
didate to beat Minick? Since the
Libertarian Party is opposed to
laws against victimless crime, a
vote for Clark would mean a vote
for a beach where one could not
be prosecuted for being nude. But
then under Libertarian principles
there would be no government
regulation to prevent the water
from becoming polluted by cor-
porations. Thus, I couldn't swim
in it, clothes or no clothes. Barry
Commoner probably wouldn't af-
fect the status of the "nude
beach," but would do his best to
keep the water clean. I think I'll
keep my pants on and vote
Citizens Party.
-Ronald Suarez
August 4
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