Sulphur Springs News-Telegram (Sulphur Springs, Tex.), Vol. 102, No. 153, Ed. 1 Friday, June 27, 1980 Page: 4 of 14
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4—THE NEW$-TELEGRAM, Sulphur Springs, Texas, Friday, Juna 27,1980
I
In our opinion
\
New assessments due
to cause lots of grief
:
r
*
s
\
Angry homeowners are causing lots
of trouble for public officials in Dallas
as they protest steep increases made in
the assessed valuations of their
properties.
A similar dislocation may develop in
Sulphur Springs and Hopkins County
within the next two years when the new
Hopkins County Tax Appraisal District
completes its reassessment of all
property in the county.
Two time bombs are quietly ticking
away in the local situation.
One is the fact that assessments here
Have been traditionally on the low side
with only nominal efforts being made
to keep listed land and dwelling values
moving upward with the long-time
trend.
The other is that inflation of the last
few years has resulted in a fantastic
rise in the price of real estate.
Yet the new law under which the re-
evaluation will be made requires that
listings be set at full market value all
over the state. That means that a great
many people who have no desire to sell
their homes may face higher taxes for
the privilege of living in them.
Assessments, of course, form only
half of the tax equation. The rest is
supplied by the rate used by govern-
mental agencies as a multiplier.
Even though local governing boards
should reduce their tax rates to keep
their total dollar takes exactly even, a
great many people still would be hit by
higher taxes. They would* be the folks
who had been enjoying abnormally low
valuations in the past.
A considerably smaller number of
property owners whose assessments
had been on the high side probably
would pay less in the final ad-
justments. Most of these are likely to
be larger business firms whose past
valuations have been set by
professional appraisers.
The economic and political im-
plications of such a massive shift in the
tax property tax burden are enormous.
The main things to remember now is
Carter s November strategy
(First of two related columns)
WASHINGTON (NEA) — The Carter-Mondale camp is not
all that worried about polls showing Jimmy Carter lagging
behind Ronald Reagan in the presidential race The Carter
people know the election is more than four months away and
they believe their strategy wili result nra Carter victor , per-
haps an easy Carter victory
The Carter camp is gearing up for what essentially wii'i be a
negative campaign — one in which the candidate runs not on
his record but against his opponent
Obviously, Carter cannot run on his disastrous record
Instead, he will paint the presidency as a nearly impossible-
job that no one could do any better He will say that the
nation’s economic problems were caused by outside forces
THE WAGMAN FILE
BobWagman
and that he has made the hard decisions necessary to bring-the
economy under control
Carter’s polls show that many Americans already believe
that the presidency is an almost impossible job and there
fore that it doesn't really matter who occupies the White
House The president’s camp figures that if voters are told
often enough that Carter a good man has done his best
against almost invincible forces, by November ’hey will
believe it.
Carter’s key planners think their most effective commer
-cials during the primary campaign were those that featured a
series of ordinary people saying. I just don t trust Ted
Kennedy ” In the fall campaign, they will do much the same to
Reagan by trying to paint him as dangerous Look for a lot
of talk about Reagan's "adventurous foreign policy
Also look for a lot of talk about Reagan s record as gover-
nor of California and about every misstatement he has ever
made. An almost encyclopedic evaluation of Reagan s record
has already fetes asnonfeted by Martin Franks issues director
for '.he Carter-Jfcrci.-* -vr ran** and White House suffers
under the direction 4 U*vtt Rubernaein
To win ed November Carter must recapture those tradition-
ally EneuweTartc ■teatiteeanes that during the primaries
tended to defer' -, Mat ethnic groups, the poor.
' middle- and apper-mewne iberais Jews in the Northeast To
do tilts., thepres&flerr.. will mm sharply to the left. He and his
aides fill ipesd qustt- a bit of time before the convention
appeasing Kerned) mmerkt*
It is wittee stai ..beta, 'onstttuenev that John Anderson
poses hss btggat threat to Carter The Carter camp is sure the
liberals «w*kt sever tore to Reagan Rut Anderson will give
them 38.08$
So. the Carter tammsps »J1 spend a lot of effort trying to
discredit Anderses Tisey will paint the congressman as a deep
conservative wfee often distorted his record and switched
hu position m fundament* They will thus suggest
Anderson a Asteuaeiff challenging a key ingredient of his
image
They wifi abo try m «bo* that Anderson is not a serious
candidate that a vote for Anderson is a vote thrown away.
That tactic has already beer, seen in Carter's reluctance to
debate Anderses
The Carter ramp im made a big issue of the independent
committee that Meads to raise and spend millions of dollars
on Reagan i behalf Res. while Carter s people are crying foul
because the coosnstJ**- »taking advantage of a loophole in
federal decline .aw tie) are simultaneously planning to do
much the 'same l&tag tSsesruelves.
Last year Carter 5 fproe* quietly pushed through an amend-
ment to the federa. eieetwc ia* eliminating limits on what
state political parties can spend on general-election
campaigns So ut ’key states from New York to California,
state Democratic paras* wjii be raising and spending millions
of dollars' or. t&ap that would normally fall within the cam-
paracorantur’stdfett .
Electsoe law ban .independent committees like the one
backing Reagar, from having any contact with regular cam-
paign comaattm Rvt so such restriction applies to the rela-
tionship between state parties and regular campaign commit-
tees In fact, tie state-party effort a being run by White
House aide Let Fnaca who a </r» leave to the Democratic
National Committee- Francis remains in close contact with
Hamilton Jordan wi*> a runrung the re-election campaign
'-•wn«e«Mas3nihMMCiiHK.
be filed is with your state legislator.
Failsafe circuits
needed in computers
(
The Almanac
Etta nea
wuisdt
In the age of the computers there’s a
big concern, especially as it relates to
the nation’s missile warning center.
Twice recently faulty computers
were blamed with flashing a warning
that the Soviet Union had launched
intercontinental ballistic missiles.
Fortunately, cool heads at the North
American Air Defense Command
suspected a computer malfunction —
which it was — and did not push the
buttons that could have set oft nuclear
counteractions that could have dealt
wide destruction to human lifes and
world improvements.
Sulphur Springs Needs....
•Cooper Reservoir
•Broader Vocational Education
•More Downtown Parking
•Continued Industrial Development
•A More Prosperous Agriculture
Jack Anderson
Faulty computers offer the danger of
responding to an alarm that does not
exist. Or failure to respond to a im-
mediate danger could wipe out a large
portion of key areas of the United
States.
It is a scary thought to entertain that
vast loss of life and property rests with
an inexpensive gadget in a computer.
At this point it’s pretty clear that the
computers in the vital defense com-
mand posts must be improved with
failsafe circuits that can rule out all
chances of malfunctions.
•A City-County Health Unit
•City Beautification
•Enthusiastic Citizens
•Minimum Housing Standards Code
•Improved Streets & Drainage
By The Associated Press
Today is Friday, June 27, the
179th day of 1980. There are 187
days left in the year.
Today’s highlight in history:
On June 27, 1950, U.N.
Secretary-General Trygve Lie
urged members to help South
Korea repel North Korean
attacks, and President Harry
Truman ordered the Air Force
and Navy into the conflict.
On this date:
In 1844, Mormon leaders
Joseph and Hyrum Smith were
killed by a mob in Carthage,
111., and Brigham Young
became head of the Church of
Jesus Christ of Latter-day
Saints.
In 1847, New York and Boston
were linked by telegraph.
In 1942, the FBI announced
the capture of eight German
saboteurs who had gone ashore
on New York’s Long Island
from a submarine.
In 1973, President Richard
Nixon vetoed a bill that would
have cut off all funds for U.S.
bombing operations in Cam-
bodia.
Mobil resents lightest slap
it gets from Administration
“Your job, Filmore, as our waste management expert, should you choose to
accept it, would be a real bummer.”
As Karen lives' on
• a a
By JACK ANDERSON
WASHINGTON - Big Oil’s
arrogance is nothing short of
amazing Even when one of
the oil giants is caught ripp-
ing off the American public,
it puts on an air of outraged
innocence. And, more often
than not, the Carter admin-
istration swallows it all.
Confidential documents
disclose how Mobil Oil
responds to even the lightest
slap on the wrist by the fed-
eral government Caught
allegedly overcharging its
customers by |45 million.
Mobil was allowed bv the
president's Economic Policy
Group to wriggle out of this
multimillion-dollar gouge by
giving up $30 million in per-
missible price increases. Net
for Mobil: $15 million of the
money it wrongfully took
from customers.
The trouble with the presi-
dent's guidelines on price
increases is that they’re
strictly voluntary. Aside
from jawboning - which can
easily be overcome by paid
counter-propaganda in lead-
ing newspapers - the only
stick the administration can
wield is cutting off federal
contracts and exposing the
price gougers to bad publici-
ty. In the case of oil compa-
nies. this is a thin reed
indeed.
But even the Economic
Policy Group’s mild finger-
wagging apparently out-
raged Mobil, which is not
accustomed to Uncle Sam
acting uppity to an*' oil
company. Mobil, meanwhile,
was busy behind the scenes.
was considering against
Mobil
Evidently astounded.
' Mobil President William
Tavoulareas on April 3 fired
off an indignant "confiden-
tial" letter to Alfred Kahn,
chairman of the Council on
Wage and Price Stability
"On grounds of basic fair-
ness and good sense," Tavo-
ulareas wrote, "we call upon
you to discontinue your pres-
ent campaign against Mobil
... It seems inconceivable to
us that in the year 1980 a
senior adviser in the White
House would even consider
attempting the misuse of the
full panoply of federal gov-
ernment power to enforce a
supposedly voluntary
program.”
What got Mobil’s water
boiling, apparently, were
staff suggestions that the oil
company could be punished
bv sanctions against such
Mobil subsidiaries as Mont-
gomery Ward. This possibili-
ty was in fact rejected by
the pr “
watchdogs.
he president's wage price
because somebody slipped
the company a copy ot a
White House memo. It
sures that the government
. ■’ V.r.........l
Another possible weapon
against Mobil, discussed in
the memo leaked to the oil
company, was to lower the
amount of federal money
that had to be involved in a
contract before it could be
canceled for non-compliance
with the guidelines. The
Economic Policy Group
memo suggested that lower-
ing the contract figure from
$5 million to $1 million - or
even zero -- “would be more
effective and far more
dramatic.” This would have
caught Mobil, but it was also
rejected.
The ultimate threg$ that
got Mobil worked up was
also mentioned in the-boot-
leg memo: the President's
power to price and allocate
Mobil’s crude oil.
Forewarned by leaks
from friends in the govern-
ment, Mobil reacted with its
usual bluster. Carter caved
in, and other Big Business
giants are now trying to get
the same sweet deal that
Mobil got, one official told
my associate Tony Capae-
cio.
TROUBLE IN PARA-
DISE - Among the things
that Marxism was supposed
to consign to the scrapheap
of history were prostitution
and the black market. But
intelligence reports disclose
that the Soviet Union is eve-
ry bit as troubled by these
seamy sides of society as
any decadent capitalist
country.
Streetwalkers are a con-
tinuing headache for Rus-
sian authorities Though the
secret police constantly
harass the ladies of the
evening, Western analysts
report that the KGB uses
most Soviet prostitutes as
police informants.
Oddly enough, according
to one Soviet defector, for-
eign sailors sometimes pay
for the hustlers' services
with bootleg copies of books
by Soviet dissident Alek-
sandr Solzhenitsyn - a valu-
able black market item.
A large part of the Soviet
black market, in fact,
involves printed material.
This includes internal
passports and work permits,
usually genuine. “Tne Rus-
sians don’t forge much,” a
Western analyst reported.
“In fact, the only documents
we have seen forged are col-
lege diplomas."
A high-stakes smuggling
operation is in religious
matter, such as Jehovah's
Witnesses’ smuggling of
Bibles and religious leaflets
Western-stylo clothing is
another big item. Italian
suits sometimes bring as
much as 600 rubles (about
$660) per copy So strong is
the Soviet appetite for West-
ern clothes, indeed, that a
clandestine factory in Odes-
sa is turning out blue jeans
that are reportedly indistin-
guishable from the highly
sought-after Levi Strausk
originals.
UNDER THE DOME -
Rep Robert Giaimo, D-
Conn., is quitting Congress.
But meanwhile, as chairman
of the House Budget
Committee, he has been
trying to push through an
austere, balanced budget
and hqs had to take all sorts
of heat from his soon-to-be
ex-colleagues. The budget
enforcer blew up the other
day at a meeting of the
Appropriations Committee,
ana stormed out snapping.
“I can’t wait until January!"
... Sen. Paul Laxalt. R-Nev..
Ronald Reagan's campaign
manager and possible run-
ning mate, got a surprise
visit recently from Washing-
ton seer Jeane Dixon She
advised him to play down
Reagan's age and Hollywood
background In fact, she
said, the former actor would
have a “script" that he could
use when he reaches the
White House. When Dixon
departed, she left Laxalt
with a baffled look on his
face. “That was really
crazy." he remarked to an
aide.
I lftTHlIX I'M"
I ml«il IV.itnrv S\ i«to. ,*.• In.
, ■■■ ■ -- ■ „»*■,* - v
It has been four years since doctors pulled the plug on
Karen Quinlan’s respirator They expected her to die when
that was done but she is still alive - and still in the coma she
slipped into in 1975
Shriveled and weighing just 68 pounds, she is being cared
for in a nursing home in New Jersey She reached her 26th
birthday in April Her parents visit her every day
"Most of the time she is sleeping peacefully.” says Joe Quin-
lan, Karen's father "But when she is particularly restless it
bothers me.”
This indication that Karen may have some awareness and
may be experiencing some torment even in her comatose
state points up a question that has scarcely been asked m ail
the debate over whether or not to keep her alive
What is best for Karen-1
In the heat of the controversy over whether or not U> turn
off Karen's respirator, discussion centered mainly on the med-
ical ethics of terminating someone's life, the legal definition
of death and the emotional suffering of her parents
Berry's World
"... But on a positive note — I’ve been expect-
ing less from television and I’ve been getting
It."
i.. -yi. w***
..1
SAINTS AND SINNERS
George Plagenz
A deeper moral issue not only in Karen’s case but in the
case of ether terminally ill patients may well be: What will be
the quality of nk open to them if they are kept alive?
Sock a question of course raise the specter of euthanasia
According to the Hastings Encyclopedia of Religion and
Ethics euthanasia is tbe doctrine that in certain circum-
stances when owing to disease or senility, a person's life has
ceased to he either agreeable or useful, the sufferer should be
painlessly killed ether by himself or by another ”
Judaism aad traditional Christianity have always opposed
eotfeaoasia of any kind — including suicide. But this has not
stopped tankers and philosophers at various times from con-
sidering the menu of “mercy killings .”
The Dean of St Paul's Cathedral in London, Dr. W.R. Inge,
lest fas consider able prestige to the euthanasia movement in
the 1938s
Inge said It seems anomalous that a man may be punished
for crafty if he does not pat a hone or a dog out of its misery
hot is bahfe to be hanged for murder if he helps a cancer
patient to as overdose of morphine ”
One of the big arguments against euthanasia is that those
who take the life of a terminally ill patient are “playing God.”
(My God, it is said, has the right to determine when a person
The prorahanasu people answer by saying that, if it is up
to God to decide when life ends, then all attempts to lengthen
bfe may be thwarting God's will too
It is lost as logical to say that God may have intended for
many of those to have died who are alive today only because
o< the Mrrreatioa of doctorsthe euthanasia proponents
Everyone dies sooner or later. Why the repugnance then —
especially bn the part of religious people who believe in a
happy heavenly hie beyond the grave - to hastening the
deaths! someone who is suffering the ravages of a terminal
Wouldn't if be "more Christian” to end the patient’s suffer-
ing and to speed Ms entry into that realm '’where there is
f view of Dr. Henry Pitney Van :
t churchman, and of his wife. They
I smode several years ago
Thor suicide note made a reference to modem medicine's |
practice of keeping people alive into old age and infirmity.
There wit the wnphroti m that, became of medical science,
some people are hvieg past the time allotted to them by God.
’ but rather to i
rht which death’s role isf
jS|
■
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Keys, Clarke. Sulphur Springs News-Telegram (Sulphur Springs, Tex.), Vol. 102, No. 153, Ed. 1 Friday, June 27, 1980, newspaper, June 27, 1980; Sulphur Springs, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth823789/m1/4/: accessed July 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Hopkins County Genealogical Society.