Viewpoint
The Battalion
Texas A&M University
Friday
April 10, 1981
i
Slouch
By Jim Earle
With postage rates as high as they are, she must really love
!”
me:
Ted persists after
Reagan budget cuts
By DAVID S. BRODER
WASHINGTON — For more than a
week, he had been on the Senate floor,
working doggedly in what he knew to be a
doomed cause — ; opposing the budget cuts
of President Reagan. And now, Sen. Ed
ward M. Kennedy eased his back in an
armchair in his Capitol hideaway office and,
in a flat, resigned tone, began his litany.
“This is the beginning of a very impor
tant process in which these issues of human
concern were raised,” he said. “These par
ticular amendments have not been success
ful, but I believe these issues require atten
tion .... And the case that was made in the
course of this debate will be made again in
the course of this Congress, and, hopefully,
when the American people begin to under
stand the full impact of the direction the
administration is moving, they’ll begin to
listen ... to what we’ve been saying.”
For the second straight spring, Ted Ken
nedy is challenging a president he knows to
be invulnerable to his arguments, raising
issues that most other Democrats have
abandoned as outdated or unwise. In 1980,
it was Jimmy Carter who brushed aside
Kennedy’s opposition; now, with even less
strain, it is Ronald Reagan.
Call it stubborness or courage, hardiness
or hard headedness, Kennedy’s persistence
is remarkable. In the honeymoon period
that preceded Reagan’s shooting, when
most Democrats walked a careful circle
around the obviously popular new presi
dent, Kennedy — if not picking fights —
certainly found frequent reason for head-on
challenge.
The budget issues — particularly his
favorite health, nutrition, education and
energy-assistance programs — provided
most of the ammunition. But Kennedy’s
eyes roamed the horizon, singling out areas
of disagreement he could spotlight in the
florid prose of his Madison Square Garden
speech to the Democratic National Con
vention.
Although he is not a member of the fore
ign relations or armed services committees,
Kennedy strongly challenged the new
administration’s decisions to send military
aid and advisers to El Salvador, to provide
sophisticated arms for Saudi Arabia, to slow
down arms-control talks with the Soviet
Union and to increase contacts with South
Africa.
“I believe,” he said last month, “Ronald
Reagan is wrong on El Salvador, wrong on
nuclear arms control, wrong on human
rights and wrong on arms sales to Saudi
Arabia ....
A day earlier, he rejected Reagan’s tax-
cut proposals and suggested an alternative
plan that would direct most savings to loW-
and-middle-income families by raising per
sonal exemptions and standard deductions.
In a March speech to his home-state
Democratic dinner, the Massachusetts
senator wrapped all this in partisan rhetoric
and said that rather than repent their past
policies and programs. Democrats should
proclaim theirs “a record to be proud of. ”
He rejected, out of hand, the popular
political cliches of the day: “Government
spending is not in fact the whole, or even
the major, cause of inflation,” he said.
Over the years, one has learned that
Kennedy off the stump is often less dogma
tic and ideological than he sounds on the
stump. But not this year. When I asked him
in his office if he was really sure — as he said
in his speeches — that the Reagan econo
mic program would flop, he said, “I hope
for the good of the country it’s successful,
but I find it very difficult to believe it will
be.”
And then Kennedy offered a view of the
1980 election which not many people take
today — a view which explains why he has
told his political and financial backers that
he wants to keep his options open on run
ning for president in 1984 because he be
lieves the country may be ready for him and
his policies by them.
“I think,” he said, “the American people
voted on rather pragmatic ground in the last
election, when the choice was four more
years of the same policies — or change.
People wanted a change. But if you draw
much more from it than that, you misread
the conclusions of the fall.
“I think,” Kennedy said, straightening
his back, “they’re going to find that there
are not these simple, easy answers they
talked about to these complicated prob
lems, and that is going to become apparent.
And I’m going to try in whatever way I can
to begin to show the way.”
Wherever that way leads, one cannot say
that Kennedy is hedging his bets. A year
before he runs for re-election, he is about as
far out on the anti-Reaganism limb as you
can get.
Warped
Rolling on at the White Hou
By HELEN THOMAS
United Press International
WASHINGTON — It is expected to be
weeks before President Reagan is back to
par and doing a full-time job at the White
House.
The attempted assassination of the presi
dent has slowed the momentum that he
created when he entered office, and it will
take some time to start it up again.
After the shooting last week, it seemed
that the government was on hold. Federal
officials went through the routine paces and
carried on. But business as usual was more
of a facade.
While many of the top-level jobs have
now been filled, there are big gaps in per
sonnel in some of the key Cabinet depart
ments and agencies. None of them seem to
be operating at the optimum with so much
personnel still to come on board.
When his aides told Reagan that the gov
ernment was functioning normally, he
quipped to the effect, “What makes you
think that would make me happy?”
His aides attempted to portray Reagan as
a man who was “up and at ’em” the day after
his grueling experience — a gunshot wound
in the chest and surgery. Reagan signed a
bill and was given a short briefing on press
ing global problems.
The government does in a sense run it
self. At the White House, the “Big Three”
— counselor Edwin Meese, chief of staff
James Baker and deputy chief Michael
Deaver — are firmly in command. They
have carved out their jurisdictions and au
thority, and so far are working smoothly
together.
Like other palace guards, they are pro
tective of their own turf and any intruders.
And while more subtle than in some past
admnistrations, there is still the jockeying
for position and power.
From what aides and his visitors say,
Reagan is in “good spirits” and good humor.
Although he is 70 years old, his physical
fitness has stood him in good stead. His
doctors say they seriously doubt that he will
have a let down after the reality of the vul
nerability of public figures sets in.
As he recuperates, the soul searching be
gins anew. Can a president be protected in
public? What new security measures can be
taken to prevent such aberrations in the
future? Did everyone do everything right
the first time around?
Several studies are under way. The
White House is conducting a review of the
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findings are disclosed. The FBIalsol
investigation under way and has
questioned Reagan.
Whether Reagan is willing to ck*
lifestyle from an outgoing personal passed throu^
joys being in crowds, remains to k the water is!
His aides say his convalescence«( ;ome gases tc
place at the White House. His pe
physician, Dr. Daniel Ruge, willh
stantly on hand as well as the nursiM
The aides also are saying that Reaii
scrub his trip to California at the end
month when he was to participateimi
raiser in Los Angeles and to meetwi!
ican President Jose Lopez Portillo
San Diego-Tijuana border.
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Undoubtedly he will makegreatm
television to keep in touch with thei
ican people, a communications medk
which he excels. His first address
later this month to rally supportersii
tax cut proposals and his plans forecoi!
recovery.
By BERN
Battali
Members of
Jls Associatioi
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The proposal
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Tom Murray
licial Board
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RHA membc
Texas
It’s your turn
Leaving dog was an indecent act
Editor:
Yesterday, while stopped at a red lighten
College Main and College Avenue, I
noticed a girl and a buff colored cocker spa
niel in the parking lot of Tri-State Sporting
Goods. As I watched her try to put the dog
out of the Bronco her friend (?) was driving,
I sympathized with her for having an ill-
behaved dog. My sympathy turned to sheer
rage when, after throwing (literally) the dog
out the second time, it became apparent
that she was abandoning that defenseless
youne dog at a busy city intersection. If that
wasn’t enough, she then threw large rocks
at the dog to deep it back while she got in
the Bronco and slammed the door. The
three girls tore out through a red light, with
the dog running down the middle of Col
lege Avenue yelping and trying to catch up
to the owners he obviously loved and de
pended on. Glancing in my rear view mir
ror while trying to catch the black/silver
Ford Bronco, I noticed that the dog was still
running down the street with no regard for
the traffic, thinking only about catching his
owners.
As far as the people who left the dog,
including the driver and other passenger,
are concerned, there are no words to de
scribe how cruel and insensitive you are. If
you had any shred of decency, you would
have at least tried to find a home for him
instead of leaving him in the middle of a
busy intersection. I know you go to A&M
because I saw the parking sticker on your
car, but you are no Aggie. Such insensitiv
ity and heartlessness deserves much har
sher punishment than you will receive. I
don’t expect you to regret what you’ve done
because of this letter — I only want your
comrades to know that you, the driver of a
black/silver Bronco with the license plate
WTB 139 are sc shallow a human (and I use
the word very loosely) that you could prac
tically kill a dog yourself and drive off
laughing about it. Now, many fellow stu
dents will recognize your car on the streets,
and will know what kind of person you are.
Don’t be surprised at the number of sincere
go to hell looks you get ...
Lisa Ott ’81
Dr. Henry
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Quote shocks, disgm
Editor:
I am shocked and disgusted by theqiid
from a student in an article in your Mi
31 edition. The article concerned the"
rious reactions to the shooting oftheprf
dent and his associates. One unidentif
student started off talking about thezfl
year “curse.” Then he said that he dit at ™
like Reagan, but didn’t like Bush either,! |“ sters J n ‘
he guessed he hoped that R ea g an w011 ' He*taught
make it. To you, unidentified student: lt i] comin g
I think you must be sick! You “gues Among his
hope he makes it.” How magnanimous Diversity”a
you. I hope if you are seriously injuri ellas < ‘Ame
someday, that people pray for you. _
need it. I hope you were not serious vl* "
you made that comment in the paper. If"
were, you’ve got a lot to learn about k®
human and humane.
Dick Record'
Rees Lawrence
Larry Patman
By Scott McCullar
The Battalion
ISPS
MEMBER
Texas Press Association
Southwest Journalism Coneress
Editor Dillard Stone
Managing Editor Angelique Copeland
Asst. Managing Editor Todd Woodard
City Editor Debbie Nelson
Asst. City Editor Marcy Boyce
Photo Editor Greg Gammon
Sports Editor Ritchie Priddy
Focus Editor Cathy Saathoff
Asst. Focus Editor Susan Hopkins
News Editors Venita McCellon,
Scot K. Meyer
Staff Writers Carolyn Barnes,
Jane G. Brust, Frank L. Christlieb,
Terry Duran, Bernie Fette, Cindy Gee,
Phyllis Henderson, Kathleen McElroy,
Belinda McCoy, Kathy O’Connell, Denise Richter,
Rick Stolle
Cartoonist Scott McCullar
Photographers Chuck Chapman, Brian Tate
Brian late
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045 .460
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