Image provided by: Texas A&M University
About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (June 16, 1981)
Viewpoint The Battalion Texas A&M University Tuesday June 16, 1981 L< " ouch By Jim Earle “Sir, you may remember that you helped me change my schedule so I could have Mondays and Fridays open at 10 a.m.; this conflicted with my club activities, and we changed it again! Now I ve just learned that I must make one more change ... sir? ... sir?’' By DAVID S. BRODER WASHINGTON — In ordinary usage, reconciliation means kiss-and-make-up. As is is currently being used in Congress, it’s more like spit-and-fight. Stage two in the 1981 battle of the budget, called reconcilia tion, has important implications not just for federal programs and the people who pay for and benefit from them but also for the future of Congress as an institution. In the jargon of Capitol Hill, reconcilia tion refers to the process by which the com mittees of the House and Senate are forced to trim programs under their jurisdicition to meet the budget targets requested by President Reagan and approved by Con gress this spring. Earlier, Congress agreed to cut $35 billion from the 1982 budget and told each committee how much of the re duction it would have to absorb. Now, the committees are coming back — reluctantly and in some cases recalcitrantly — to show what they have done and to see if their handiwork is ratified or rejected by their colleagues. The process now being tested on Capitol Hill is almost unprecedented. Allen Schick, a long-time student of Congress and the budget, last month wrote in an essay for the American Enterprise Institute that he knew “of no measure in the long history of Congress within the scope of this year’s reconciliation (bill). The process is truly un precedented in the range of legislative issues it encompasses ... If reconciliation takes root on Capitol Hill, Congress might become a very different institution than it has been for many years. Among the changes ticked off by Schick were these: — a shift from distributive politics, where Congress pushes up spending as it “seeks to satisfy certain interests without disadvantaging others,” to redistributive politics, “where Congress cannot avoid an explicit consideration of who shall lose by virtue of reconciliation.” — The “fiscalization” of legislative de bate, in which policy considerations are subordinated to concerns about costs as members “are repeatedly bombarded with information on the budgetary consequ ences of their actions. ” — The compression of legislative activ ity, with the reconciliation process short- circuiting policy debates in legislative com mittees and also preempting the detailed Warped New students face frustratioi Just the other evening I was leisurely en joying a dinner in the MSC cafeteria. No sooner had I taken a bite into my jalapeno cornbread when I was disturbed by the tears and frustration of a young woman. She was obviously an incoming freshman because she toted the 1981-82 catalog and a stack of brochures filled with information about Aggieland. Now I’m not one to eavesdrop, but being seated so closely I couldn’t help but hear the conversation with her parents. The poor girl was insisting she get to the bookstore to reserve her textbooks for the fall. Her insistence reminded me of grade school and how disappointed I was when I didn’t get my brand new school supplies in time for the first day of school. Her father kept telling her it wasn’t necessary to reserve her books now. Back and forth they argued, her voice becoming noticeably shrill, his voice quiet, but ob viously restraining his temper. They continued until she stormed out the cafeteria with a tear-stained face. My heart went out to this bewildered couple and their frustrated daughter. I wanted to say, “Excuse me, but your daughter is going to be a freshman. Right? Don’t let her angry words upset you. She’s just affected by the ‘Helpl-I’m-terrified- Staff Notebook by Kathy O’Connell about-going-to-college’ syndrome. ” I also wanted to offer some advice to the girl and tell her that she really didn’t have to reserve her textbooks. In fact, even though it may save time later, there’s no guarantee that a professor won’t change his mind ab out a particular text. She’d be playing it safe to wait for the first class day when her prof says exactly what textbooks to buy. Besides, I’m inclined to think the bookstore is just trying to secure the freshmen s business. Wouldn’t it be great if there was a brochure that would inform new students about the ins and outs of avoiding frustra tion. How to miss long lines should be first on the list. The best way to avoid this pi is to make sure all your parkingtich paid before trying to pre-register. I heard of one girl (a freshman) wlti accumulated over $200 in parkingij tions. Anyone who does that desme stand in line. But then standing in lines maynotli bad after all. For instance, while Ira!? pay a fee, the girl in front ofmehadtop | $2 charge for a stolen P.E. towel.Tit behind me had to shuck out $10forfdi ing an intramural basketball game. And another guy wrote a check forS being overpaid on his BEOG. Imagine having to pay back Uncle Sam, win should be helping you! Also, it would be helpful if the fresli know that when there’s several large overhead an umbrella would cei come in handy. More importantly, the new arrivals! to feel welcome. They need to knot college life isn’t so scary afterall. 0nei!j main reasons I came to Texas because of the friendly, helpful the students. If we can do anything to welcomti freshmen, it’s to give a sincere‘lb and any other assistance they need. P Congress’ budget job a shaky experiment 1 IOLD YOU PENTAGON GUYS LASER 'WEAPONS WOULDN'T WORK. scrutiny of agency operations by the appropriations committees. “Because of this compression,” Schick said, “reconcilia tion risks becoming an overloaded pro cess.” — The concentration of legislative power in the House and Senate budget commit tees, which would use their control of the reconciliation process to police the work of every other committee. — An enhancement of the influence of a budget-cutting president, who is able to use the reconciliation process to focus pub lic attention and political pressure on Con gress to meet his fiscal goals. Those are not all the consequences, but they are enough to make it clear why the reconciliation process is bound to be con troversial. Schick says — and Rep. Richard Bolling (D-Mo.), the House sponsor of the seven-year-old Congressional Budget Act, agress — that the act never contemplated what Bolling calls this kind of “straitjacket” procedure. Veteran members of the congressional money committees are divided on its wis dom. Rep. Sidney Yates (D-Ill.) says it “dis torts congressional intent.” Rep. Lindy Boggs (D-La.) argues that by denying the lawmakers “maneuverability,” it defeats the original purpose of the budget-reform act, which was to “give Congress back the power of the purse” that presidents had gradually usurped by their actions. But Rep. Ralph Regula (R-Ohio) says that it is only by adopting and enforcing its own budget decisions that Congress can “hope to gain parity” with the executive branch in spending decisions. And Rep. Joseph J. McDade (R-Pa.) says that while the lack of latitude for correcting the spending deci sions later in the session is “worrisome, because we re legislators, not oracles,” the forced comparison of high- and low-priority programs is “certainly an exercise that we have to go through.” What all of them realize is that reconcilia tion is a historic change in Congress’ way of doing business — and a shaky experiment. Privately, even some of Reagan’s own budget-cutters express doubts that Con gress will repeat this process another year. But for now, as Ralph Regula says, “there is not other game in town.” The stakes — political, social and institutional — are im possible to exaggerate. eprese que car lystem (and off lized [ | form in; Bib ethar dioxide marine Used as xion en : tor mo Bio; | [crate e | at leas tricity i er con | and ot The ion mo that a small i !g° — 'i pound turn cr of bio; The Economy's yard gets growth formula By DICK WEST United Press International WASHINGTON — There are times when the current tax debate sounds some thing like a lawn care manual. President Reagan, as we know, says a 5-10-10 formula would make the economy grow best. He recommends three tax cut applications — 5 percent the first year and 10 percent the next two years. While this is a switch from his earlier endorsement of the 10-10-10 formula, many congressional Democrats insist the mixture still is too rich. Both sides seem to agree it wouldn’t do much good to fertilize with tax cuts as long as the economy is overgrown with federal programs. So the present plan is to spray the economy with a powerful fundkiller. The theory is that thinning out federal prog rams will give more desirable private pro jects room to take root and sprout. Anyway, the conventional wisdom is that fall is the best time to apply a tax cut — particularly in an election year. The experts say spring applications may cause the economy to grow too rapidly, allowing inflation to spread and weakening the root structure. They say an economy that is shot through with inflation has less chance of surviving longer summer periods of stock market slumps and dollar shrinkage. There likewise is a danger that interest rates will spring up too high, preventing the seeds of economic recovery from germi nating. But in the fall, the right tax cut formula will promote healthy growth and put the economy in better shape to withstand such winter shocks as the Christmas shopping season. and practically starving the lower end Democrats contend the alternative!* mulas they have proposed would be®] conducive to level growth. If there were a greening of take-M pay, that would be a pretty goodindifl Lwiitiil i M/onlrl Inp minnKH the formula would benefit the tmuwfj of the economy. But if a thick mat of inflation dioleJI income gains and prevented them tj maturing into savings accounts, that® be evidence the complaints abouttheat nistration formula were well taken. The warnings we hear most often are that the 10-10-10 and 5-10-10 mixtures would mainly enrich the upper end of the eco nomy, leaving barren spots in the middle I personally feel more experiment* should be done before Congress ant administration finally settle on a taxc»l> inula. I would like to see variousfom tested on small patches of taxpayers^ being applied to the economy as a® By Scott McCullar The Battalion L S P S 045 :I6() MEMBER Texas Pres*. Association LETTERS POLICY Southwest Journalism Congress Editor. Angelique Copeland Letters to the Editor should not ext-rwl 300w City Editor JaneC. Brnst length, and are subject to being cut if they arctaP^B Photo Editor Greg Gammon editorial staff" reserves the right to edit letters Sports Editor Ritchie Priddy length, but will make every effort to maintain Focus Editor Cathy Saathoil intent. Each letter must also be signed, slmu th'^B News Editors Marilyn Fanlkenherry, and phone number of the writer. Greg Gammon, Venita McCellon Columns and guest editorials are also weltoiw ’yB Staff Writers Bernie Fette, Kathy O'Connell. not subject to the same length constraints^ *(:■ Denise Richter Address all inquiries and correspondence to: Edi»y® Cartoonist Scott McCullar Battalion, 216 Reed McDonald, Texas A&M l'"" I College Station, TX 77843. EDITORIAL POLICY The Battalion is a non-profit, sclt-snpportinn newspaper The Battalion is published Tuesday, Withu^B operated as a community service to Texas A&M University Thursday during Texas A&M 's summer seim''^ J and Bryan-College Station. Opinions expressed in The Bat- subscriptions are $16.75 per semester, $33.251* 1 , B talion are those of the editor or the author, and do not year and $35 per hill year. Advertising rates I necessarily represent the opinions of Texas A&M Universi- request. tv administrators or faculty members, or of the Board of Our address: The Battalion, 21(i Heed | Regents. ing, Texas A&M University, College Station-W' I The Battalion also sen es as a laboratory newspaper for students in reporting, editing and photography classes United Press International is entitledexdifflmLB within the Department of Communications. use for reproduction of all news dispatclirsiris'^B Questions or comments concerning any editorial matter Bights of reproduction of all other matter lien' 111 ",,. ■ should be directed to the editor. Second class postage paid at College Stoto'"-