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PAGE 4 — The Georgia Bulletin, November 7, 1985
STATEMENT-
Billboard Runaround
Did you know Turner Advertising is no longer
owned by Ted Turner? The Atlanta flamboyant
media mogul began his colorful career in
billboards, but now he has sold that end of his
business. However, the Turner name still ap
pears on those boards around town.
So what, you ask. Well those Turner billboards
are the ones which are about to carry the ads for
contraceptives in the city of Atlanta. Ramses Ex
tra condoms are planning on placing their ads for
all, young and old, to see on 30 Turner billboards
all over Atlanta.
How can you protest this action if you wish to
do so? Easy, you call Turner Advertising at
875-0822. Well, it’s not that easy because they
will tell you to call the manufacturing company,
Schmid Laboratories, in New Jersey at area
201/256-5500 and speak to Mark Klein. We called
and, of course, Mr. Klein was not available but
they were happy to supply another number for us
in New York City. So if you don’t like or want
those controversial billboards, first of all it is not
inexpensive to protest their existence and
secondly you may not get the opportunity even
when you call long distance to lodge your com
plaint.
We think that Mayor Young, if he is about to
allow these high flying messages to abound in
his city, ought to make it possible for citizens to
protest these signs if they so wish. If they appear
in the city, surely we should be able to object in
the city. Right now citizens are getting the
runaround from the Turner people and even from
the manufacturer.
It looks like we are going to have this con
troversial product before our eyes while those
who push for its presence are lacking the guts to
stand behind it. They probably call it a Slick ad
campaign.
We believe it is fair to tell the Mayor or someone
in hisofficethatthisbillboard thing isaput-upjob.
His number is 658-6100.
-NCB
Liz S. Armstrong
Do Poor Pay
For A Balanced Budget?
WASHINGTON (NC) — While generating hot debate on
Capitol Hill, the Gramm-Rudman balanced budget amend
ment also sparked fears among religious groups that the
poor would pay the price of the cutbacks needed to create
the balance.
Gramm-Rudman critics have included the U.S. Catholic
Conference, National Conference of Catholic Charities,
Lutheran bishops, and American Jewish Committee.
Its backers, such as the White House and various con
gressmen, say it is time to turn around the nation’s current
$200 billion deficit, blamed for burdening future genera
tions and complicating the U.S. economy by pushing up in
terest rates, over-valuing the dollar and fostering high U.S.
indebtedness to other nations.
Named after its principal sponsors, Sens. Phil Gramm,
R-Texas, and Warren Rudman, R-N.H., the amendment (a
rider to another finance bill) would balance the budget by
reducing the deficit over a five-year period. When setting
the budget for each fiscal year in that period, if Congress
and the president could not agree on a budget automatic
reductions in some programs would be implemented.
It is this automatic reduction proposal that has drawn the
most flak: According to both supporters and opponents,
while Social Security and about 40 percent of the defense
budget would be exempt from the automatic cut, other pro
grams — such as Aid to Families with Dependent Children
(welfare), Medicaid, nutrition and low-income housing pro-
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grams — would not be spared.
Gramm-Rudman’s provisions also would be lifted if war
is declared, but they would not be removed for crises such
as hunger and poverty and unresolved unemployment
among Americans.
In a letter to House members, Father J. Bryan Hehir,
USCC Secretary for Social Development and World Peace,
Oct. 16 warned that Gramm-Rudman would have a “likely
negative impact” on the poor.
“Over the past four years, reductions in low-income pro
grams have been deeper than the cuts in virtually any other
area of the budget,” he wrote. Acknowledging the “massive
and serious problem” the deficit poses, he nonetheless add
ed that “the basic needs of the poor must take precedence
over other areas of the budget that are less fundamental to
the protection of human dignity.”
Similar worries have been expressed by the NCCC and by
the bishops of the Lutheran Church in America.
The 29 Lutheran bishops Oct. 18 issued a sharp critique of
the budget cut plan, saying they were “deeply troubled by
this amendment’s potentially devastating impact on the
federal programs which provide for the basic needs of the
poor.” They added that cutting help for the poor is "a move
we cannot countenance given the documentation of
widespread and persistent hunger in America” and pointed
out that the plan probably will cut low-income housing aid
but not go after such tax boons as real estate tax shelters.
“Our deficit dilemma has no painless solutions. However,
the sacrifice required must be distributed in accordance
with the ability of individuals and groups to bear it,” the
Lutheran leaders said.
The American Jewish Committee also was not satisfied
with the measure, claiming such a drastic plan should be
adopted “only after a full discussion of its consequences.”
But there was a lot of support for the plan as well, with
backers citing the ongoing national threat posed by a $200
billion deficit.
Support for Gramm-Rudman “would allow American
businesses and taxpayers to see that Congress is willing to
put 100 percent guarantee behind their promises to reduce
the deficit,” said an analysis from the Republican Study
Committee. “Anything less would be a clear endorsement
of more of the same — empty promises and huge federal
debt.”
Defending the proposal, Rep. Bill Schuette, R-Mich., in a
message to his House colleagues, said, “I know that there is
opposition to this measure. One must ask why anyone would
oppose this simple and straightforward mechanism to get
our country out of fiscal crisis.
“I think also that I can answer why,” Schuette added.
“Everyone wants a balanced federal budget and no one
wants to see his or her favorite program cut.”
The Week In Review
NAMES AND PLACES — Archbishop Felixberto C.
Flores of Agana, Guam, the island’s first native bishop and
first archbishop, died at Mossett General Hospital in San
Francisco Oct. 25, two hours after heart bypass surgery. He
was 64. His body was to be returned to Guam after a
memorial Mass in St. Mary’s Cathedral, San Francisco,
Oct. 31. Archbishop Flores had undergone the surgery to
improve his physical condition in preparation for a second
kidney transplant operation. He had an unsuccessful kidney
transplant in 1984. In early October Archbishop Flores was
in Rome for the beatification of Father Diego Luis de San
Vitores, a 17th-century Jesuit who established the first per
manent Catholic mission in Guam. Guam, largest and
southernmost of the Mariana Islands in the Pacific, is a
self-governing U.S. territory.
*****
AROUND THE NATION - The National Conference of
Catholic Charities has called on the church and federal and
local governments to immediately and “significantly” step
up the fight against the disease AIDS. The NCCC urged the
action with a resolution unanimously approved by
delegates during the organization’s 7lst annual convention
Oct. 25-30 in San Francisco. In the resolution NCCC also
recognized the need for pastoral care for individuals with
AIDS, Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome, and en
dorsed commitment of its member agencies’ resources to
helping AIDS patients and those with AIDS-related condi
tions and their families. It also stated that NCCC will be "a
voice of advocacy” for the civil and human rights of AIDS
sufferers and called for an immediate response to their
physical, emotional and spiritual needs in “a spirit of real
concern and compassion.”
*****
INTERNATIONALLY — Yugoslavian Bishop Pavao
Zanic of Mostar-Duvno met with Pope John Paul II Oct. 31
to discuss reported Marian apparitions in his diocese.
Bishop Zanic gave no details of the 20-minute meeting at the
Vatican. The reported apparitions at Medjugorje, a small
village in western Yugoslavia, are being studied by a com
mission of religious and medical experts. Bishop Zanic has
said he does not believe the reported apparitions, which
began in 1981, are authentic. He and the Yugoslavian
bishops have discouraged pilgrimages to the villages until
the commission has finished its work. “All I can say is that
they’ve supported me at the Vatican,” Bishop Zanic said
after his meeting with the pope. He said a letter in June
from the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith to the
Italian bishops’ conference was a positive step taken with
his full agreement. The letter asked that organized
pilgrimages to Medjugorje be stopped. Pilgrimages to the
village have diminished a little since then, he said.
RESOUND
Hunger Is Our Problem
To the Editor:
Regarding your article (Ivan Kauffman, Hunger and Na
tional Debt) in the 10/24/85 issue of the Georgia Bulletin
leads me to writing a comment or two back to you.
I can appreciate your point of view. Millions of people go
hungry each day. The government cuts spending in the area
of social causes and we are still trillions of dollars in debt.
As I see it, however, the government debt and hunger are
not related.
World hunger, inclusive of that in the U.S. is a huge issue
and one needing to be addressed by the world population,
not their governments alone. We need to take social care
out of the hands of the government and put it back where it
belongs — in the hands of the population. Let us all care for
one another. Certainly in this manner can more people par
ticipate in contributions and more resources be tapped for
solving these problems, food kitchens and pantries includ
ed.
The Metro Atlanta Hunger Walk has just completed,
where over 2000 people participated to help the cause local
ly. The Live Aid Concert was a large success. Hands Across
America is scheduled for spring 1986 and the list goes on!
There are groups — The Hunger Project, Seeds, INSA —
absolutely aligned on ending hunger in the world by the
year 2000. Can you imagine! Not a job for the government,
but a job, Ivan, for the people.
We need people like you who care. I urge you to join a
group, get involved. End hunger!
Judith Ann Reiker
Tucker
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