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Civil Rights 1989-1990 [OA 8486]
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Civil Rights 1989-1990 [OA 8486]
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Records of the White House Office of Speechwriting (George H. W. Bush Administration)
Speech Backup Alphabetical Files
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Originally Processed With FOIA(s):
FOIA Number:
S; 1999-0285-F
S
FOIA
MARKER
This is not a textual record. This is used as an
administrative marker by the George Bush Presidential
Library Staff.
Record Group/Collection:
George H.W. Bush Presidential Records
Collection/Office of Origin:
Speechwriting, White House Office of
Series:
Speech File Backup Files
Subseries:
Alpha File, 1987-1991
OA/ID Number:
13843
Folder ID Number:
13843-007
Folder Title:
Civil Rights, 1989-1990
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26
23
2
7
9519
THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary
For Immediate Release
July 21, 1989
REMARKS BY THE PRESIDENT
DURING CEREMONY FOR
CAPTIVE NATIONS WEEK
The Rose Garden
10:02 A.M. EDT
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you all for coming today to the
White House. And I want to welcome you to the White House and to an
occasion -- Captive Nations Week -- marked by sadness, but blessed by
hope.
And today we meet to signal our deep concern at the fate
of nations, and peoples as well, whose liberty has been held captive.
And we applaud the movement toward democracy taking place in the
world, and the changes yet to come.
Six months ago this week, I said in my Inaugural Address:
"In man's heart, if not in fact, the day of the dictator is over.
The totalitarian era is passing, its old ideas blown away like leaves
from an ancient lifeless tree." (Applause.)
Well, I have just returned -- hopeful, and encouraged --
from visits to Poland and Hungary, two nations on the threshhold of
historic change. And I can say to you: The old ideas are blowing
away. Freedom is in the air.
For forty years, Poland and Hungary endured what's been
called the dilemma of the single alternative: one political party,
one definition of national interest, one social and economic model.
In short, one future -- prescribed by an alien ideology.
But in fact, that future meant no future. For it denied
to individuals, choice; to societies, pluralism; and to nations,
-determination. And yet in Poland and Hungary, a courageous
people would not yield to despair. There, as elsewhere, the light of
liberty would not go out.
And ten days ago, I watched thousands brave a driving
rain to acclaim this love of liberty. They cheered for free
assembly, free press and speech, and freedom of religion, and filled
a square in Budapest named after a freedom fighter who believed in
that democracy which linked the people of Hungary with the peoples of
the world.
Lajos Kossuth arrived in America in 1851 after Hungary's
struggle for freedom had temporarily been lost. And yet in his
remarks to the United States Congress, he was hopeful, not
embittered. He spoke of his "Steady faith in principles" of
self-government, opportunity, and individuality.
The heroism of such patriots inspires us, and teaches us.
For they embody the spirit of Captive Nations Week -- the spirit
which says that freedom around the world is not divisible, and which
lives in the brave immigrants from Captive Nations who are beside me:
Polita Grau de Aguero, for instance, a political prisoner in Cuba
before fleeing to America. or Haing Ngor, who fled Cambodia after
Fields. "
the holocaust and won an Academy Award for his role in the "Killing
These seven people are heroes. For they have shown the
MORE
- 2 -
power of courage and free expression. And last week, I saw how the
peoples of Poland and Hungary are leading the way toward this
democratic future -- casting rays of light on other nations that are
not as fortunate. For within these nations, men and women are
standing up for the cause of liberty, often at enormous cost. A
cause the Czech writer Valav Havel once called the "Living in Truth."
This truth forms the heart of Captive Nations Week. For
it dictates that liberty be political, and economic; religious, and
intellectual. "Living in Truth" suggests that democratic ideals can
make all things possible for a nation, and for its people, and that
the individual, not the state, is the voice of tomorrow. (Applause.)
We see that truth in the successful return of democracy
to Pakistan. And in Africa, where liberty lights those nations
moving away from state socialism with new success. The hated system
of apartheid is on the defensive. And in our hope for a Cambodia
with self-determination for her people -- and a complete and verified
Vietnamese withdrawal, with no return to power by the Khmer Rouge.
(Applause.)
And today, the light of liberty is illuminating the face
of Eastern and Central Europe, and reflecting the changes taking
place within the Soviet Union -- toward greater openness at home and
away from confrontation abroad. Such openness prompted the barbed
wire fence between Austria and Hungary to be dismantled. And the
portion I received sitting right here -- the portion I received as
a gift is now on display, and I'd love to have you all take a look at
it after this.
And a spirit of renewal lights the Baltic States --
Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia -- striving to recapture -- (applause) --
their national history.
emancipation
These nations know -- as we know -- that that tide is
moving -- toward change, economic and political. For around the
world, we see democracy opening markets, and boundaries. Freeing
hear
hearts. Freeing minds.
minds.
And therefore, to nations of Eastern and Central Europe,
striving to reclaim their national heritage, we say: America stands
with you. (Applause.)
And to the peoples of China, and Vietnam and Laos,
Ethiopia and Nicaragua striving for freedom, we say: America stands
with you. (Applause.)
And to the ethnic Turks in Bulgaria uprooted from their
homes and forced to flee across the border, we say: America stands
with you. (Applause.)
Indeed, to all nations, America proclaims the truth
cannot forever be intimidated by force. For history shows -- and the
human will proclaims -- that liberty can light the darkest night.
Last Tuesday, thousands filled the streets in Gdansk --
peacefully, movingly -- to honor the spirit of Solidarity. But their
presence did more. It expressed the belief that democracy
underscores the dignity of man.
Among the celebrants was the patriot who, above all
others, has made Poland's future possible. Astonished by the
turnout, he found pride in freedom's past -- and hope in its
tomorrow. As Poles -- cheering, many crying -- flanked our
motorcade, Lech Walesa turned to me -- (applause) -- and said simply:
"This is fantastic." And he was moved -- and stirred -- by the
wonder of the moment, and the crowds that came out to pay their
respects (Applause.) to the freedom that the United States of America epitomizes.
MORE
- 3 -
And in coming years, that wonder can uplift the world --
in Prague and Kabul -- Tallinn, Riga, Vilinius -- in the hopes and
dreams of people who believe in an open and peaceful world, and who
have endured much -- and who will survive everything -- through the
triumph of the heart.
To love freedom -- to overcome oppression -- this is
their spirit -- and the meaning of Captive Nations Week.
We love them, and we are with them, for we will never
waiver nor surrender. And so together, let us raise what Lajos
Kossuth called "the morning star of liberty." " The star that can help
all captive peoples know the dignity that sets men free.
Thank you for your participation in this wonderful
occasion. I'll never forget it. And God bless you, and thanks for
coming to the White House, and God bless the United States of
America, and all that we stand for. Thank you very, very much.
END
10:12 A.M. EDT
Photo Copy Preservation
THE WASHINGTON POST
THURSDAY, APRIL 5, 1990 A25
Civil Rights Bill Veto Threatened
Scope of Federal Employment Discrimination Laws Is at Issue
By Michael Isikoff and Ann Devroy
ators and a coalition of business
Packing v. Atonio, a case involving
Washington Post Staff Writers
groups. "It's a real hard-line letter
alleged job discrimination against
and that's because the bill is that
Eskimos in an Alaskan salmon can-
JOINT
The Bush administration, risking
bad," one Republican staff aide said.
nery
its first confrontation with civil
But the Leadership Conference
In that case, the court shifted the
rights groups, threatened yesterday
on Civil Rights, the Washington lob-
burden of proof on alleged job dis-
to veto legislation designed to re-
bying arm for more than 180 civil
crimination to workers.
It
also
verse a series of controversial Su-
CENTEI
rights groups, countered that on its
preme Court decisions that sharply
made it harder for workers to prove
restricted the reach of federal em-
first substantive test on civil rights,
their claims by requiring them to
the Bush administration had bowed
ployment discrimination laws.
prove that certain employment
President Bush, in a speech to a
"to the right wing of the Republican
practices that disproportionately
FOR
Party."
affect women or minorities do not
civil rights audience last night,
made no mention of the controversy
"What Thornburgh is asking the
serve any legitimate business pur-
about the legislation. White House
president to do is be the only other
pose.
officials said the president prefers a
president except for Andrew John-
Backers claim that the civil rights
separate, administration supported
son and Ronald Reagan to veto a
bill would restore the law to its pre-
measure that would reverse two of
civil rights bill," said Ralph Neas,
Wards Cove state, but Thornburgh
the court decisions but support the
executive director of the leadership
charged that it would set "impos-
court's position on three others. A
conference. "It's totally incompat-
sible" new standards for businesses
senior official called a letter threat-
ible to the president's professed
that would result in employers
ening a veto "part of what we hope
commitments to minority outreach
adopting "a silent practice of quota
will be a negotiating process."
and effective enforcement of the
hiring and promotion" to avoid po-
The legislation, which civil rights
civil rights laws."
tential lawsuits.
groups call their top priority this
The bill in question, dubbed the
The bill also would reverse the
year, cleared the Senate Labor and
Civil Rights Act of 1990, would
court's decision in Martin v. Wilks,
Human Resources Committee yes-
overturn or otherwise alter the ef-
which allowed white workers to
BY RICH LIPSKI-THE WASHINGTON POST
terday by an 11-to-5 vote. The bill's
fect of five Supreme Court deci-
challenge court-approved affirma-
Bush and civil rights leader Vernon Jordan clasp hands at 20th anniversary dinner of Joint Center for Political Studies.
backers, noting the measure has 40
sions last year that make it harder
tive action; plans years after those
cosponsors in the Senate and 160 in
to bring successful employment dis-
plans were adopted. Thornburgh in
conciliation and encourage litiga-
nation's first black elected govern-
Bush departed before Wilder
the House, said they were confident
crimination lawsuits and easier to
his letter said the department
tion."
or, was honored.
chastised the federal government
it would pass both chambers within
challenge the legality of affirmative
"strongly opposes" the reversal,
Thornburgh spokesman David
In a speech, Wilder extolled the
for "continu[ing] to spend and bor-
the next few months.
action plans.
saying the court's decision was a
Runkel said the letter was "re-
"new mainstream" ideology of his
row as if a day of reckoning will
But in a tough letter delivered
The administration's bill also
"reaffirmation by the fundamental
viewed with people in the White
new administration.
never arrive."
late Tuesday night, Attorney Gen-
would overturn two of those deci-
notion that everyone is entitled to
House," but added: "This shouldn't
As he has previously, Wilder cred-
Wilder drew cheers when he re-
eral Dick Thornburgh declared the
sions: one making it more difficult
his or her day in court."
be a surprise to anyone" because it
ited his narrow election victory last
ferred to Bush's prediction earlier in
II unacceptable and charged that it
to challenge discriminatory senior-
A third contested feature of the
was consistent with positions the
fall to a mix of social progressivism
the night that a black someday would
ild lead to racial quotas in the
ity plans and another restricting the
bill would permit women and reli-
department had taken before the
and support for abortion rights with
be elected president. "That's not go-
kplace. If the bill passes in its
reach of an 1866 civil rights law
gious minorities to collect monetary
Supreme Court.
a deeply conservative approach to
ing to happen 100 years from now,"
nt form, Thornburgh said, "I
barring intentional racial discrim-
damages beyond lost wages, includ-
Amid the controversy over the
fiscal affairs. "In addition to the pre-
said Wilder, who has made no secret
her senior advisers would
ination in making contracts. But
ing punitive damages in some cases,
legislation, Bush spoke last night at
servation of individual liberties, one
nd that it be vetoed."
unlike the administration, the pro-
under Title VII of the 1964 Civil
of his intention of playing a promi-
the 20th anniversary dinner of the
of the strongest values of America's
nent role on the national scene.
rnburgh letter bolstered
posed civil rights bill also would re-
Rights Act. Thornburgh said this
Joint Center for Political and Eco-
new mainstream is an insistence on
.
the measure, who in-
verse the Supreme Court's hotly
would be "a major change" in the
nomic Studies at which Virginia
fiscal responsibility in government
Staff writer John F. Harris
tive Republican sen-
contested decision in Wards Cove
civil rights law that "will discourage
Gov. L. Douglas Wilder Jr. (D), the
Wilder said.
contributed to this report.
Meg Greenfield
Beware of Geobaloney
I've never understood why the phrase "human
as, God help us, Ferdinand Marcos); sometimes
about the horrible onslaught on the demonstra-
rights" always seems to end up in the et cetera
they are the need not to antagonize a foe with
tors of Tiananmen last spring, of showing that
category of policy concerns. And I've never
whom we are trying to do other business (such as
this actually mattered to us, of keeping faith with
understood exactly how those in government
old Mr. Stagnation, Leonid Brezhnev). Generally
the pro-democracy forces there (and in hiding or
who make a habit of relegating the human-rights
we are inconsistent and selective in our applica-
taking refuge abroad).
atrocities of other governments to some lower
tion of our standards in these matters. American
The Bush administration has from the begin-
order of priority than a lot of other high-sounding
administrations that go all pious and self-
ning seemed reluctant to do this. It has never
matters (to which they invariably append the
righteous about not interfering in the internal
found its true voice or authority in protesting
pretentious and meaningless prefix "geo") get
affairs of a friendly thug will seek funds to help
what happened, rather, sounding uncertain and
away with their terrible, beaming condescension
those who are resisting one we don't like
even unconvinced of the case against the Chinese
to those of us who protest their values-excuse
Two main arguments persist. One is that the
government and nervous about making it. To
me: to those of us who protest their geostrategic,
American government's intervention only makes
some extent this may just be endemic to the
geopolitical geovalues.
things worse for the dissident himself. This is
institution: governments tend to like other gov-
You will have guessed that I have China on my
interesting. I have heard the position argued by
ernments, even those they classify as enemies,
mind. It is just like all the other familiar episodes
better than they like a mob. Governments under-
of its kind In recent history. A government
stand each other and sympathize with each other
somewhere commits acts of fearful brutality
Human rights are more
on some level inaccessible to the rest of us
against its own citizens whose crime is espousing
-they drive off in the big black car together
democratic purposes, and our own government
than a frill, an add-on to a
after coordinating their arrival statements and
refuses to jar its relationship with the offending
that sort of thing. They are often more comfort-
government. Smugly and with ostentatious for-
realpolitik speech. They
able with each other than they are with the
bearance it tells us there are larger consider-
unpredictable troublemakers protesting outside
ations to be taken into account and that Papa
are what the fight is
their doorways or refusing to eat in prison or
knows best and/or that we are so cute and 80
understandable, but 60 terribly wrong, when we
about.
otherwise disturbing the natural hierarchic order
of things.
are mad, "You'll see' they say; "it's the geo
thing, the big geo, Hush now
wouldn't
members of every kind of administration. I have
And then there is also the much commented
you
understand. Just trust us.
never heard it espoused or even accepted by one
upon, if unaccountable, double standard that has
of those foreign human-rights disturbers of the
long prevailed in some parts of the American
So what have we seen? We have seen a
worldwide honor roll of brave, unyielding political
peace for whose sake our solicitous government
political establishment concerning Chinese re-
always thought it was keeping quiet. No matter
pressiveness. The Chinese have always been able
dissidents and troublemakers upend superior
force, stare down brutish captors and often bring
what horrors they have endured and still face,
to get away with murder, literally, in this quar-
down governments or bring them to the bargain-
invariably in my experience they will argue
ter. And they will again unless more than some
ing table or at a minimum outlast them and live
for-beg for-overt, conspicuous, noisy, whole-
showy action providing relief for, say, Fang or a
hearted American governmental endorsement.
couple of other prominent dissidents is forthcom-
to see vindication, Andrei Sakharov, Natan Shar-
The other main argument made against such
ing. Such limited gestures could actually provide
ansky, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, Lech Walesa, Ar-
involvement is that it will get in the way of our
cover for their continuing assault on the thou-
mando Valladares, Vaclav Havel, Walter Sisulu,
Nelson Mandela, Benigno "Aquino, Fang Lizhi
larger and more critical business with the gov-
sands of endangered foot soldiers of the uprising.
-each is or was different and each achieved a
ernment in question I concede that there are
Is that kind of cynical cover all our government
different measure of success; but surely they and
times and issues and circumstances that dictate
asks? Unless the Scowcroft mission to Beijing
the hundreds of thousands of honorable, demo-
cozying up to or at least, humoring repressive
demanded and expects to get relief for those
cratic resisters of totalitarian and authoritarian
governments for the sake of achieving other
young people being hunted down, imprisoned,
tyranny around the world they symbolize repre-
necessary goals. And I don't think we should saw
tortured and executed, then I think in a terrible
sent a force with which we should openly and
off relationships with governments that offend on
way we will have broken faith with them, with
robustly identify, as distinct from one to which
human rights and thereby yield up whatever
our traditions and, yes, with our own best inter-
we should merely pay our stiff, formal and
chance we have to affect them or to do other
ests in whatever terms the heavy thinkers
unconvincing respects as a kind of noble after-
business that is also essential. But this, despite
choose to define them, Human rights are not an
thought to our practical policy considerations,
what the administration says; was not the choice
add a frill, an extra sentence in a realpolitik
What are the reasons offered for our usual
in the China case, and it rarely is, The question
speech. They are what the fight was about. Look
skittishness about taking up their cause? Some-
was one of negotiating, of letting the Chinese
at Eastern Europe, if you don't think so.
01989, Newsweek, Inc.
times they are the need to stand by a friend (such
know how our president and our government felt
Reprinted by permission; all rights reserved.
nhoto Copy Preservation
up limits on the types of businesses and coop-
such
firms.
nere
were
Released late Monday evening. the
the party genuflects to the creative
eratives opened. As a result. the number of
If U.S. Is Unequal, Don't Blame the Payroll Tax
new platform of the Soviet Communist
spirit of Marxism and its "humanis-
such businesses was not as large as it
Party makes three main points:
tic" outlook.
might have been. This meant that the
nues from sales and payroll taxes than
income distribution got a 48% increase in
It will be some time before we see
higher prices they charged did not serve to
By HENRY AARON
competing Soviet department stores.
When Sen. Daniel Moynihan tossed his
does the U.S. These taxes fall more heavily
income from 1977 to the present. and were
"The Communist Party of the
increase the supply of goods offered for.
on low- and middle-income families than
rewarded with a 12.5% drop in their tax
Soviet Union believes the existence of
but an acceptance of private property
sale in the way expected. leading to what
payroli tax bomb N/10 the fiscal debate.
do taxes on personal and corporate income
rates.
individual property. including owner-
could pay immediate dividends in ag-
were considered exorbitant price increases
main motive was outrage at the use of the
or than property taxes. (See table.)
The U.S., like most European countries,
and the disappearance of goods originally
Social Security surplus to disguise the defi-
ship of the means of production, does
Unfortunately. internationally compara-
does not use its tax system to equalize in-
riculture, just as it did in China 10
intended for sale-at fixed low prices in the
cit on other government operations. But he
not contradict the modern state in the
years ago. Mikhail Gorbachev surely
ble studies of tax incidence to prove this
comes. What equalization there is occurs
country's economic development."
state-regulated shops. This in turn pro-
also claimed that the payroll tax is re-
appreciates the disaster of Soviet
point decisively are not available. Even
through high overall taxes that support re-
voked a backlash that ultimately led to the
gressive and that the U.S. tax system as a
the comparative progressivity of personal
distributive public expenditures. most no-
"The restructuring of the price
farming from his days as agriculture
banning of certain kinds of cooperatives
whole is "fast becoming the most regres-
sive of any Western nation." Is he right?
income taxes is hard to judge. Income tax
tably social insurance.
formation is a sine qua non condition
minister. Indeed over the weekend.
and the over-regulation and taxation of
The story that Sen. Moynihan is
for the market to start regulating the
news reports said that the Soviets are
those cooperatives not formally banned.
The critical question is "compared
trying to tell is too complex for a
economy."
running out of feed grain and reducing
The piecemeal nature of the Soviet re-
to what' The combination of benefits
Who Gets Squeezed
press release. The U.S. tax structure
forms also explains the growing tendency
and taxes mildly redistributes income
Percent of total tax revenues
is doing less to reduce inequality than
"Making competition a reality
meat shipments to outlying regions.
toward lower income groups. And this
SOCIAL SECURITY
calls for a legislative demonopoliza-
Late last year, Sergei Grigoryants of
to compartmentalize all economic activity.
it did 10 years ago, and much less
PERSONAL
CONTRIBUTIONS,
For example. in mid-January. local au-
is true when one looks either at trans-
CORPORATE AND
SALES AND
than it did 25 years ago, because of
tion of production, trade, credit serv-
Glasnost magazine told us that Mr.
thorities in Leningrad passed regulations
actions in just one year for the diverse
PROPERTY TAXES
PAYROLL TAXES
the increase in payroll taxes and the
ices and insurance businesses."
Gorbachev would adopt market-ori-
prohibiting food sales to anyone who could
population of taxpayers and benefi-
41.5%
long-running shrinkage of corporate
Japan
58.2%
You don't need help with the trans-
ented reforms only when the agricul-
not prove he was a Leningrad resident.
claries or at the effects of the Social
income taxes. On the other hand, the
lation to understand what this says.
tural system finally failed. That mo-
This was done to hamper speculators who
Security system on individual workers
United States
54.5
45.5
U.S. tax structure probably reduces
ment seems to have arrived. The plat-
flood the city each day to avail themselves
over their lifetimes.
50.9
49.5
inequality more than do the tax struc-
Private property, prices and competi-
tion are now official doctrine of the
form allows farmers the right to lease
of goods for resale in outlying regions. The
So if you believe that in the ab-
Britain
tures of the other major Industrial
same sort of procedures have been in ef-
sence of payroll taxes the U.S. would
39.4
60.7
land along with the right of inheri-
Italy
economies. because they tax capital
Soviet Communist Party. Though still
fect in Baltic states for several months.
have no Social Security benefits, then
37.2
62.7
even less heavily. But the workings of
freighted with vague socialist rheto-
tance. Mr. Gorbachev said last week
the system is clearly progressive. If,
West Germany
As a consequence, rubles-or at least
the U.S. economy are generating more
ric, the new platform marks an al-
that "all obstacles in the way of the
rubles used to buy goods sold at artificially
on the other hand, you believe that
France
22.6
74.2
inequality in the first place than do
most complete break with orthodox
farmer should be removed.'
fixed rates-are losing their value. This is
benefits would have been provided
those of the other major economies-
Marxism. The acceptance of the idea
For all this, the new Communist
an inevitable result of growing inflation
anyway and that the Social Security
Source: Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development
as any of the commonly used meas-
Party platform is still just words. And
and price controls. Ration coupons are be-
tax is a substitute for income taxes as
ures of inequality will show-and more
of private property is crucial. By fi-
such ideas are not alien to communist
coming more important than rubles. And
a means to pay for them, then the substitu-
rates are far more steeply graduated in
than they used to do even a decade ago.
nally setting out in writing a philo-
sophical commitment to principles
thinking. In the early 1980s, Commu-
when one part of the country tries to intro-
tion of payroll taxes for income taxes in-
most European countries than in the U.S.,
And the combination of taxes and social
duce price reform, it causes disruption in
creases inequality.
but progressivity depends on both the
welfare spending are doing less today than
that undergird economic liberalism.
nist Chinese reformers made the case
the neighboring republics. This is what
The payroll tax rate has been set higher
graduation of statutory rates and the defi-
in the past to offset inequality.
Mr. Gorbachev may finally move the
for property rights, as well as for free
prices and labor markets. Then the
happened when Estonia decided to deregu-
than the costs of current benefits require.
nition of taxable income. The U.S. Tax Re-
late the price of vodka and cigarettes.-
The objective was to compel the current,
form Act slightly increased progressivity
Soviet Union forward.
Mr. Aaron is a fellow at the Brookings
In a sense, Mikhail Gorbachev has
regime began to feel threatened by
Speculators in the Russian Republic vacu-
very large, generation of workers to put
despite sharp reductions in the graduation
the democratic and pluralistic values
umed their price-controlled stores of both
of nominal rates, because it extended the
Institution.
replaced Perestroika with Perestroika
aside enough funds-in other words, to
tax base to include more of the income
that accompany property rights and
products and resold them to Estonians at)
save enough-to reduce the cost of Baby
II. The second version-a Russian
ultimately lost its will to go on. It be-
Boomers' future pensions for the smaller
derived from capital, and because it taxed
read-my-lips to millions of bureau-
prices just below those of the market-de-
corporations more heavily. Major Euro-
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL.
crats-could shove the economy in a
gan a crackdown that led to Tianan-
termined stores.
generations of workers to come. The accu
men Square and continues today.
The decision to make a half-hearted
mulation of Social Security reserves can
pean countries are far less effective than
Warren H. Phillips
Peter R. Kann
direction that will allow it to join the
gesture at devaluation of the-ruble is yet.
achieve this purpose, however, only if they
the U.S. in taxing income from capital.
Publisher & President
For now, Mr. Gorbachev and his
Chairman
strong Eastern Europe current to-
another case of what happens when offi-2
succeed in adding to national saving and
However, while it is not true that the
ward free markets and property
allies deserve credit for the plat-
cials tamper with market forces.
investment. If the heaped up surpluses
U.S. tax system is among the developed
Norman Pearlstine
Robert L Bartley
form's boldness in throwing over aca-
serve instead to justify or to mask dissav-
world's most regressive, it is true that the
Editor
As of November, the Soviet government
Managing Editor
rights.
The middle class is rehabilitated.
demic Marxist ideology. A system
came to acknowledge that the official ex-
ing-in other words, a deficit on the rest of
tax system has never done much to reduce
Daniel Henninger
that guarantees and actively protects
change rate is far out of line with reality.
the budget-they won't achieve their pur-
income inequality and that it does even
Paul E. Steiger
Deputy Editor,
Editorial Page
The -platform- repudiates the "dicta-
property rights, frees prices and ex-
In what was seen as a bold move, the gov-
less today than in the past. The widely
Deputy Managing Editor
pose.
torship of the proletariat,' which of
course justified the liquidation of the
poses individual initiative to competi-
ernment announced a partial devaluation
The distributional consequence of the
cited analyses of the incidence of U.S.
Kenneth L. Burenga
General Manager
tion can produce results anywhere. It
of the ruble: in one exchange, foreign tour-
Moynihan tax cut, then, would depend once
taxes by the late Joseph A. Pechman show.
middle class under Stalin. "A rule-of-
will also build political support for
again on which assumption you choose to
that all income groups between the richest
Bernard T. Flanagan
Dorothea Coccoli Palsho
ists could obtain 10 times the number of ru-2
Vice President,
Vice President,
law- state-of the whole people has no
bles as before. But regular foreign trade
make: If one could be sure that cutting
10% and the poorest 10% of the population
Circulation
Marketing
room for dictatorship by any class,"
any leader who has the vision to im-
was conducted at the old exchange rate.
back payroll tax rates to the level neces-
bear roughly the same total tax burden in
Charles F. Russell
F. Thomas Kull Jr.
the :platform says. In a short section,
plement it.
Responding to the arbitrage possibilities,
sary to cover current Social Security bene-
relation to income. The poor seem to pay
Vice President,
Vice President,
Technology
Soviet customers emptied their stores of
fits would force Congress and the president
slightly more, but this result may reflect a
Production
everything that might have any value to
to boost income taxes, this substitution
misclassification of some normally non-
Published since 1889 by
foreigners. As a consequence, the Soviet
would decrease inequality. If. however, a
poor but temporarily down-on-their-luck
Asides
Union, one of the world's largest producers
payroll tax cut would boost the deficit and
families. The well-to-do pay somewhat
DOW JONES & COMPANY, INC.
of watches, now is short of watches-some-
force cuts in Social Security benefits, then
higher than average tax rates. In short,
Editorial and Corporate Headquarters:
200 Liberty Street, New York, N.Y. 10281.
possible to tackle ecological problems
thing that never happened in the pre-Gor-
cutting the payroll tax could well increase
the U.S. tax system is somewhat regres-
Telephone (212) 416-2000
Communist Conspiracy
bachev era. The same holds for almost all
inequality. The rest of the U.S. tax system must be
sive at the bottom, somewhat progressive
and save nature without modern sci-
at the very top. and roughly proportional
Warren H. Phillips, Chairman & Chief Executive:
entific, technological and industrial
appliances. Perhaps the most disappointing aspect
looked at in the same way. If the U.S. were
Peter R. Kann, President & Chief Operating Officer,
Recall how last week Washington
in between.
Kenneth L Burenga, James H. Ottaway Jr., Peter
environmentalists suspected that John
development." Is it possible the devi-
of the whole process is that even when the
to amend its tax structure to collect the
same total amount of revenue as it does
Except for the 1986 tax reform, over the
G. Skinner, Carl M. Valenti, Senior Vice Presidents
Sunúnu had somehow altered Presi-
ous, pro-market Sununu is now influ-
proper medicine is prescribed, the dis-
now, but were to collect it by copying the
past two decades taxes have diminished on
Vice Presidents: Frank C. Breese III. Administration:
encing the environmental policies of
pensers of that medicine find themselves
dent Bush's speech on global warming
the communists?
tax structures of the other large, developed
the relatively well-to-do and steadily in-
William R. Clabby. Richard J. Levine. Information
so hamstrung that the effort seems to end
creased on the poor. Statistics recently re-
Services; Karen Elliott House, International; Donald L
to assert that environmental policies
up making things worse rather than better.
economies. the distribution of income in
Miller, Employee Relations, Kevin J. Roche, Finance,
the U.S. would probably become less equal
leased by the House Committee on Ways
couldn't ignore economic costs. Now
Ivana, Cont'd.
As a result, the reform itself is now sus-
get a load of what the Soviet Commu-
pect. This explains why more and more
than it is today. Although the tax burden in
and Means document that the income of
Sterling E. Soderlind. Planning. John S. Goodreds,
the U.S. is much smaller in relation to na-
the poorest fifth of income earners fell
president, Ottaway Newspapers.
nist Party's just-released platform
Meanwhile. with Marxism over-
Soviet citizens are looking back longingly
tional income than in any other developed
8.5 between 1979 and 1987, while their in-
Associate Editor: Laurence G. 'Donnell.
says on the subject of protecting na-
thrown and Drexel on the brink, the
to "the good old days" of Brezhnev and
come after taxes and transfers fell 9.1%.
Washington News and Sales Office:
Big Apple is keeping its head. The
why Soviet economic reform has become
country except Japan ). the structure of
U.S. taxation is probably among the more
In contrast. the richest 20% of the popula-
1025 Connecticut Ave. NW, Washington, D.C. 20036
ture: "At the same time one cannot
New York Post trumpeted across its
more of a challenge than ever before.
progressive (or less regressive in the ma-
tion enjoyed an increase in income of
Telephone (202) 862-9200
panic. allowing unfounded demands to
an even larger 18.7% increase
SUBSCRIPTIONS AND CHANGES
front page yesterday with: "Gimme
The Wall Street 200 Burnett
close down enterprises that are vital
Mr. Goldman is " professor of econom-
jor industrial countries.
the Plaza!" It's hard to imagine any
ics at Wellesley and associate director of
All the large industrial countries except
in income after taxes and transfers. Even
should Road. Chicopee. Mass 01020. giving old and new
to the country and without which it is
Japan collect a larger share of their reve-
more strikingly. people in the top 5% of the
address. For subscription rates see Page A2.
impossible to meet the most elemen-
event that will knock the Trump tiff
Harrard's Russian Research Center.
tary needs of the people. It will be im-
from atop Gotham's news menu.
A14
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL WEDNESDAY. FEBRUARY 14. 1990
REVIEW & OUTLOOK
Piecemeal Reforms
Echoes of the '50s in Rooney Witch Hunt
Make Many Soviets
By DOROTHY RABINOWITZ
have yielded to the pressure to punish Mr.
where even small deviations from the es-
End of the Game
Long for Brezhnev
Rooney for comments like these is, how-
tablished orthodoxies on women, homosex-
Photo
CBS and its president, David Burke.
ever. startling even for these times-par-
uality or race bring instant retribution and
may think otherwise. but Andy Rooney's
It's end game for the Warsaw
munist regime now running East Ger-
ticularly given the extreme nature of this
threats to job security. It was the UCLA of
By MARSHALL I. GOLDMAN
suspension is going to be with us-and
punishment. It was not simply a three-
the late 1980s-not the 1950s-that sus-
Pact, and in the past 48 hours Presi-
many may hope to retain some of its
them-for a long time to come. True, it is
Acknowledgment that the Soviet Union
month suspension that CBS meted out to
pended an editor of the student paper for
dent Bush moved closer to check-
380,000 Soviet troops, but even it has
only one of countless similar punishments
called for reunification with West Ger-
has run out of feed grains for its cattle is
Mr. Rooney for his failure to obey the pre-
running a cartoon that derided affirmative
mate. "Those troops are not wanted
that nowadays regularly befall people who
but the latest indication of Mikhail Gorba-
cepts of correct thinking on the subject of
action.
in Eastern Europe anymore," Mr.
many. In a reunified Germany-in or
publicly express something other than the
chev's difficulties with perestrolka.
homosexuality: CBS's management in ad-
And it is the CBS of the 1990s that
Bush said of Soviet forces, at a Mon-
out of NATO-Soviet troops will not be
politically "correct" view of homosexual-
Like so many of his other economic ef-
dition made it clear that, as between the
seems not unlike the CBS of the 1950s-of
ity. women's rights, race and the like. Still.
day press conference. "Our troops are
welcome.
forts. Mr. Gorbachev's grain program has
word of the Advocate reporter and that of
1957. in fact. when it fired popular radio-
there is something in the nature of this sus-
wanted by the Free World." Very
Facing the inevitable, Mikhail Gor-
become counterproductive. Last summer
Mr. Rooney. who has been associated with
show host John Henry Faulk, when pres-
pension, something special in the dimen-
the Soviet government announceda plan to
sured to do so by a group called AWARE
simply, the Soviets are an occupying
bachev surely will want to play to a
sions of cravenness it represents. that puts
force, and American troops are there
draw by demanding that if his own
pay peasants in dollars and convert-
Inc., which had determined on the basis of
it among the more memorable examples of
Preservation
by invitation.
ible currencies for any increase their de-
Certain offenses, those
his union activities that Mr. Faulk was not
troops leave the East, those from the
repression in our time.
liveries over the 1988 harvest. Despite the
Mr. Bush's comments were a wel-
U.S. have to leave Western Europe.
Mr. Rooney's particular difficulties be-
of racism and homophobia
a loyal American.
fact that the harvest rose by 16 million
The day after Mr. Rooney's suspension
come antidote to the phony symmetry
But "U.S. troops are there as a stabi-
tons in 1989, the amount of grain offered
gan in a year-end special aired on Dec. 28.
in particular, have such
was announced. CBS logged 2,549 calls in
between U.S. and Soviet forces that
lizing factor,' Mr. Bush said Monday.
for sale to the state fell by 26 million tons.
in which he said that "many of the ills
New York alone, just four of which favored
had become popular in Moscow and
"Our European allies want us there."
What went wrong?
which kill us are self-induced: too much al-
status that it is necessary
the network's action. Mr. Rooney himself
some parts of Washington. Just how
At first glance. the dollars-fo grain
cohol, too much food. drugs, homosexual
He added, "I suspect, I can't prove it,
idea seemed to make sense. Why should
unions. cigarettes. They're all known to
only to be accused of them
received an avalanche of calls, among
welcome became clear yesterday.
them a number of death threats.
that some countries in the Warsaw
the Soviets import U.S. grain and pay U.S.
lead quite often to premature deaths."
Amid announcements in Ottawa on
Pact today would see us not as a
to be found guilty or at
So far we have seen no outpouring by
farmers dollars earned by exporting Soviet
The Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against
reunifying Germany. the Soviets ac-
threatening presence but as a stabiliz-
oil, when it would make much more sense
Defamation (GLAAD) began a letter-writ-
least irremediably-ta
artists and intellectuals like those who
cepted the U.S. position of keeping 30,-
emerged-however timorously-to pro-
ing presence.' Mrs. Thatcher and
if the Soviet Union could pay its own peas-
ing campaign against Mr. Rooney, and
000 more troops in Europe than the
asked CBS to suspend or, preferably. fire
It needs no more to bring
claim Salman Rushdie's right to free ex-
President Mitterrand of France have
ants with the dollars instead? But Mr. Gor-
pression. though Mr. Rushdie's "Satanic
Soviets. Just days ago. Mr. Gorbachev
said many times that they want U.S.
bachev is discovering that piecemeal re-
him. Mr. Rooney then sent a letter of apol-
the capitulation of a
Verses" had given the most grievous of-
was saying that such a concession was
troops to remain. And German Chan-
form can be very dangerous.
ogy to The Advocate, a biweekly magazine
impossible. The U.S. might be able to
Fearful that some of the more daring
for homosexuals, in which he explained his
broadcast network.
fense to Moslems. no outpouring by nota-
cellor Kohl consistently says he wants
bles like those who rushed to defend the
expect a similar outcome despite For-
peasants might make too much money and
views. The same issue of the magazine
a unified Germany to be part of
right to exhibit, as art, a crucifix dipped in
eign Minister Shevardnadze's sugges-
import too many consumer goods with the
carried an interview with an Advocate re-
NATO-and NATO still includes
CBS since the late '40s, they chose to be-
urine.
dollars they would earn from extra grain
porter, in which Mr. Rooney is supposed to
tion yesterday that Moscow could
lieve the former, notwithstanding the lack
American troops.
sales, Soviet authorities imposed all man-
have said that blacks had watered down
On collège campuses, objections to
of a shred of evidence besides the re-
never accept a united Germany that
We suspect that all these Western
ner of restrictions to what initially seemed
their genes because the least intelligent
visits by Minister Louis Farrakhan, a re-
was part of the NATO alliance. We
porter's accusation of racism.
leaders understand that the Soviets
to be a very simple program.
ones have the most children-a comment
nowned anti-Semite, are not only consid-
hope Mr. Bush doesn't budge.
will remain on the European continent
Officials prevented the peasants from
Mr. Rooney emphatically denies making.
Certain offenses, those of racism and
ered abridgements of the right of free
homophobia in particular. now have such
speech that all good citizens should ab-
Indeed, we hope the President's
spending more than one-third of their
The Advocate reporter who conducted the
forceful comments are the first step
in any case. Even beyond the Urals,
interview could provide no tape record of
status that it is necessary only to be ac-
ings on consumer goods and sharply cir-
hor-those objections are shouted down as
toward extricating the U.S. from an
their modernized tanks are only a
cumscribed the selection of goods avail-
this interview, whose incendiary quote
cused of them to be found guilty or at least
"racist."
arms-control process on conventional
couple of days' drive from Poland,
able to Moreover, they jacked up the
about blacks was,
irremediably tainted. It. needs no more:
All of which is to say that what hap-
while as Mr. Bush pointed out,
than such an accusation to bring the capi-
prices of imported goods and imposed a
Mr. Rooney charges,
pened to Andy Rooney simply emphasizes
forces that obviously has become ir-
"We've got a big ocean between us
service fee of one-third of whatever
entirely fabricated
tulation of a large and powerful broadcast
a fact that has long been obvious-namely
relevant, and perhaps harmful, to
and Western Europe."
as part of the cam-
network.
spent. That limited the price paid to the
that nowadays. the right to untrammeled
American interests.
peasants to only one-half the world price
paign
mounted
There are familiar echoes all of this.
free expression is limited to certain select
When they began more than a year
History has simply overtaken the
for grain. And the Soviets refuse to pay in-
against him.
for anyone old enough to recall the 1950s-
groups, namely minority and similar activ-
ago, the CFE talks (for Conventional
CFE talks. It's possible to argue that
terest on any of the peasants' proceeds in
the era when the crime of crimes was com-
ists. Afro-American studies lecturers fre-
But Mr. Rooser
the conventional-arms-control pro-
the bank.
munism. Then it was enough merely 10
Forces in Europe) were a good idea.
denial that his had
quently preach venomously racist views di-
So long as the Warsaw Pact had a
posal agreed on in Ottawa yesterday-
Once they began to see they were being
have a name published in Red Channels,
rected at white America, and do so with
made the comment
three-to-one advantage over NATO in
195,000 troops for each side in Central
exploited, the peasants decided to withhold
about
for political vigilantes merely to phone net-
impunity.
tanks and even more in manpower, it
their grain. In the 1920s something similar
works-as well as other institutions-to
Europe, with 30,000 other Americans
uted to him made
charge that a performer held communist
Look Around
elsewhere in Europe-doesn't do,
happened. when %individual peasants
made sense for the U.S. to seek reduc-
little difference; it.
much harm. Indeed, the biggest
hoarded grain; now the collective and
light of the card*
views, to assure that the performer would
After the dark days of the '50s witch
tions to an equal level. But that was
state farms do so. As a conséquence. las:
be out of work in short order.
hunts, people used to ask: But how was it
"risk" if 195,000 Soviets are allowed to
ments he clearly di
before the revolution of 1989-before
year the Soviet Union imported 36 million
All this of course is old news-the sort
possible that a grocer from Syracuse could
make in his letter of
Andy Rooney
Solidarity came to power in Poland,
remain in a united Germany is that
tons of grain-one million tons more than
of thing our activists of today like to look
publish a guide called Red Channels and
apology to homosex-
before Wenceslas Square, Leipzig and
they all might defect at once.
1988, five million tons more than 1987 and
uals. That letter doomed him, CBS sources
back on when preening themselves on their
get the broadcast networks to cave? How
Timisoara. Now, in the consolidation
The larger problem. however, is
10 million tons more than 1986.
acknowledge. In it Mr. Rooney had said
superiority to the so-called conformist gen-
could large and powerful institutions ev-
that persisting with the current arms-
In 1989. one-third of all the bread baked
flatly what it is of course not now permissi-
eration of the '50s. Back in the Dark Age
erywhere fall prey to such fear and the
of 1990, the danger is that CFE will
in the Soviet Union was made with im-
of the 1950s. according to this view, McCar-
need to appease the zealots and pressure
justify and entrench a presence for
control game allows the Soviets to ad-
ble to say-namely that the particular
ported grain. Even worse, because of
physical practices male homosexuals en-
thyites ruled the land, and none but a piti-
groups?
Soviet troops that would otherwise be
vertise that their troops have as much
shortages of convertible currency. authori-
gage in were repugnant to him.
ful few raised their voices in dissent.
In this, our very own McCarthyite era,
intolerable.
right to remain in Europe as Ameri-
ties have refused to spend any more on
What is wrong with all this is that this
an era in which the only truly permissible
Stories now appear weekly that the
ca's do. In the Warsaw Pact end
grain imports. As a result, feed-grain allo-
Personal Comments
is a description truer of our current age of
public discussion of race or homosexuality
East Europeans want the Soviets out,
game, the U.S. has two rooks and a
cations for livestock are being slashed by
"Is it ethically or morally wrong or ab-
repression than it was of the 1950s. Things
or similarly protected subjects is the ex-
pronto. The new democrats of Poland
queen against Mr. Gorbachev's ex-
at least 25%. This probably will mean a
normal behavior?" Mr. Rooney added. "It
are in fact worse today, in significant
pression of pieties. it is no longer neces-
and Czechoslovakia have said SO
posed king. The smart player would
premature increase in the slaughter of
seems so to me. In these altogether
ways. In the 1950s, for example, the uni-
sary to ask such questions. It is necessary
livestock followed by a severe shortage of
personal and reflective comments, Mr.
versities. and the intellectuals and aca-
only to look around-to look. for example,
clearly. Some Soviet troops have al-
use them to finish the game. not bar-
meat and breeding stock.
Rooney also noted that he thought of gay
demics generally, were focal points of re-
at the spectacle of CBS last week-to see
ready left Hungary. The rump com-
gain them away.
Similar disappointments have resulted
men as victims, and of AIDS as a largely
sistance to McCarthy, Red Channels,
history re-enacted.
from the introduction of private and coop-
preventable disease.
thought control and efforts to abridge free
erative businesses.
That homosexuals should take excep-
speech. Today, the universities and the ac-
Initially only pensioners, school-age ad-
tion to these views is not surprising. That
ademics are the main perpetrators of
Ms. Rabinouitz, a writer in New York,
Whither the State?
olescents and after-hour adults could set
CBS's president should SO instantaneously
thought control and repression-places
comments frequently on the media.
such firms There were arbitrary
White House News Summary
Thursday, June 7, 1990 -- B-7
VICE PRESIDENT/ATTACK
Jennings reports that Vice President Quayle was startled but not
hurt when somebody threw a bundle of papers at him as he walked to
his car on Capitol Hill. The thrower, said to be a man from the
Virgin Islands, was arrested. It was not clear what the papers
were or why they were thrown.
(ABC-8, CBS-5)
Brokaw reports that the suspect was angry because he didn't win Ed
McMahon's American Family Publisher Sweepstakes.
(NBC-2)
MASS TRANSPORTATION
ABC's Ned Potter reports that European governments have started
something almost unseen in America: comprehensive, big-budget
plans to give people appealing alternatives to their cars. Outside
Essen, West Germany, a diesel bus picks up passengers, then closer
to downtown it transforms itself into an electric trolley on rails.
It solves three problems: it can go anywhere in the suburbs, it
outsmarts downtown traffic, and cuts urban smog. In Frankfurt, a
computer monitors bus routes and turns lights green for the buses.
They stop less, pollute less and arrive sooner. In Berlin,
engineers demonstrate a train with no wheels and no engine; it
floats on magnets which also pull it along. Such a train, called
Maglev, was a U.S. invention but Germany spent $1 billion to build
it. It protects the environment because there's no pollution. It
does not take cutting-edge technology to make mass transit work.
Other governments have sought other alternatives to gridlock.
Holland has developed a plan to make bicycling more appealing than
driving. Bike lanes are built directly into major streets;
shopping centers have parking lots -- but not for autos. In the
old city of Delft, the Netherlands, cars can get downtown but
detours prevent them from driving across downtown. The plan works:
the plan increased bicycling 11 percent. Nationally, bikes now
account for one-third of all trips the Dutch make. Changes like
these are made more easily in Western Europe because people are
more used to government planning and to the taxes that pay for all
those plans. In the U.S., the average gas tax is 30 cents a
gallon. In Europe, more than $1.80. High as those prices are,
European governments say those prices will have to rise much more
to steer people away from the habits that endanger the planet. The
message for us Americans then, is not that the car can or should
be eliminated, but that with good enough planning, better, cleaner,
healthier alternatives can speed people on their way.
(ABC-12)
AIDS/DISABLED
Jennings reports that a bill intended to protect disabled people
from discrimination will apparently not protect people with AIDS
in some circumstances. The Senate has voted to allow employers to
bar people with AIDS from jobs that require them to handle food.
Sen. Helms argued that people still believe AIDS can be transmitted
through food handling. All the evidence says this is not true.
Sen. Harkin said AIDS sufferers will be the victims of ignorance,
prejudice and mythology.
(ABC-5)
-
White House News Summary
Thursday, June 7, 1990 -- B-8
RIGHT TO DIE
ABC's Chris Bury reports on the controversy surrounding Dr. Jack
Kevorkian, a euthanasia advocate who helped an Oregon woman commit
suicide Tuesday. Kevorkian said the court injunction against using
the machine would not stop him from using it in other places.
(Kevorkian: "I understand the injunction is only for Oakland
County. I have patients in other counties who have contacted me.
I can make another machine very fast.")
Dr. Murray Levin has known Kevorkian for 30 years.
(Levin, Oakland County MIchigan Medical Society: "Jack has been
a loner, he's had unique ideas, he does things uniquely -- out of
bounds with the rest of medicine.")
Kevorkian has been pushing his ideas on TV talk shows, but he has
not been published in a serious medical journal since 1961.
(Kevorkian: "I've been stonewalled up and down the line in this
country by a very strictly-controlled medical press.")
(ABC-4, NBC-3)
PESTICIDE EXPORTS
Bradley reports the Senate Agriculture Committee attached a
provision to the 1990 Farm Bill Wednesday to stop U.S. companies
from exporting pesticides that are banned in this country. Among
other things, supporters said that food grown with those pesticides
abroad frequently winds up being sold here.
(CBS-11)
EDUCATION
CBS's Edie Magnus reports from Boston on decreasing funds for
education. Severe state budget cutbacks and declining high school
enrollments are forcing some tough choices in many of America's
public schools. In Boston, the threat of teacher layoffs threatens
racial harmony. A new court order requires the city to spare
recently hired minority teachers, which means almost all of those
who could lose their jobs are white.
(CBS-2)
POPULAR OPPOSITION
ABC's Linda Pattillo reports from Granville, North Carolina, that
residents opposed to a hazardous waste incinerator in their
community have resorted to a new method of protest. A local
attorney bought 48 acres of land smack in the middle of the
proposed site and started selling five by six foot parcels for $5.
The idea is to bog down the bureaucracy. By law, the state must
notify each owner before it can condemn the property. So far there
are 6,000 names on the deed, some who live in rural areas very far
away.
(ABC-14, CBS-12)
BARRY TRIAL
CBS's Rita Braver reports that ever since his indictment, Marion
Barry has loudly proclaimed himself a victim of government
harassment.
(Mayor Barry: "My family have had to go through my mail being
opened, my bank accounts checked, my tax return looked at, my
phones tapped.")
-970m-