ustxtxb_obs_1980_11_28_50_00021-00000_000.pdf

DALLAS Big Main Store 4528 McKinney alre-,7-1 cross trom. uowntown: Austin Alley, a & ElM1 El`Centro College \(Austin FORT WORTH Flidglea Shopping Center WACO 301 N. 25th 125th & Columbusl TEMPLE toxvne & Country Mall 4401 S. General Bruce Dr. RICHARDSON 508 Lockwood FARMERS BRANCH Farmers Branch Shopping Center Valley View & Josey Lane classified COMMUNITY ORGANIZERS–ACORN needs organizers to work with low and moderate income families in 16 states for political and economic justice. Direct action on neighborhood deterioration, utility rates, taxes, health carer Tangible results and enduring rewardslong hours and low pay. Training provided. Contact ACORN, 503 West Mary, FREEWHEELING BICYCLES. 2404 San Gabriel, Austin. For whatever your bicycle needs. BOOK-HUNTING? No obligation search for rare or out-of-print books. Ruth and John River Hills Road, Austin 78746. MOUNTAIN RETREAT & HOT SPRINGS in private valley. Enjoy room, meals, swimming, sunbathing and exercise classes from Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico. SIMPLE WILL. Instructions with sample, $2. Roye Publications, Box 2084, Beaumont, Texas 77704. TEXAS BOOKS, Rare and out of print. Free Catalog. Trackside Books, 8819 Mobud, Houston 77036. PEACEABLE KINGDOM Foundation and School has residencies available in the following areas: business manager, land manager, maintenance/carpenter, , blacksmith, organic gardener, kitchen/garden coordinator. Fifty acre experimental craft community founded in 1971. Write Peaceable Kingdom School, Washington on the Brazos, Texas 77880. JOIN THE ACLU. Membership $20. Texas Civil Liberties Union, 600 West 7th, Austin 78701. BACKPACKING MOUNTAINEERING -RAFTING. Outback Expeditions, P.O. Box THE SAN ANTONIO Democratic League meets the first Thursday of each month. For information, call Jim Bode at 344-1497. THE PEACE MOVEMENT is alive and well in Texas. The American Friends Service Committee works for disarmament, human rights, economic justice. Join us. Write AFSC, 1022 W. 6th, Austin 78703. Classified advertising is 300 per word. Discounts for multiple insertions within a 12month period: 25 times, 50%; 12 times, 25%; 6 times, 10%. D.C. and the liberals have been thoroughly repudiated. However, had the Democrats offered the voters a truly progressive alternative, the election results probably would have been quite different. And if they continue to interpret the .election returns as a mandate for the right, the Democrats will reinforce the prevailing belief that traditional liberals are both unwilling to see the flaws in their programs and unable to adjust by moving further to the left. Yet as bleak as the current situation is, the next four years may provide one of the best opportunities to forge a coherent left alternative. Already Reagan’s transition team is preparing to amend Carter’s fiscal 1981 budget \(the 1981 fiscal year runs from October 1, 1980 to September for defense and slashing $13 billion to $19 billion from domestic programs. This is only the beginning. If Reagan remains committed to cutting taxes by 30 percent and balancing the budget, his advisors concede that by 1985, they will have to reduce domestic spending by an additional $92 billion. According to Alan Greenspan, one of Reagan’s chief economic aides, even this lofty figure may be too small. His computer analyses indicate that much larger cuts will be required. Since it is almost certain that cuts of this magnitude will generate significant opposition to Reagan and his political allies, a well conceived progressive program can gain political support. But if progressives are going to take the initiative and forge a powerful left coalition not necessarily in the Democratic party they will have to move beyond ineffective liberal programs and generate new ideas that move the political discourse further to the left. For starters, two programs that should be discussed are: Restrictions on corporate relocations. Currently, corporations can create domestic unemployment and destroy local communities by moving their offices and factories to Third World countries. Although corporate stockholders benefit from this freedom, most Americans clb not. Their jobs disappear. Their cities become ghost towns. Even workers who have not lost their jobs are affected. They must worry that if they demand higher wages nd better working conditions, their corporations will be the next to move elsewhere. Since these decisions influence thousands of Americans, they should not be made by a handful of corporate directors who are immune to democratic control. Worker control of pension funds. Under the current system, pension fund assets are usually placed in the trust departments of major banks. The bank of ficials then decide how to invest the money and, very often, their decisions do not reflect the workers’ best interest. For example, union pension funds may indirectly provide financing for corporate relocations. This arrangement must be changed immediately. Once the enabling legislation is enacted, workers will no longer be forced to finance their enemies. More importantly, they can use their money to provide low interest home mortgages, preserve family farms, finance projects that maintain neighborhood integrity, punish corporations by refusing loans to those that will not recognize unions, and finance purchases by worker cooperatives of factories that have been shut down by their owners. Together, these two programs will go far’ towards providing good jobs, housing, and economic security to numerous Americans. In addition, they will increase economic democracy and reduce the need for government spending that merely pays for the costs imposed on everyone by irresponsible corporate conduct. These programs will not be enacted without a struggle. But if progressives can use this minimal agenda to form a coalition, they may demonstrate to those Democrats who want to move to the , right that the rest of the country has found a home on the left. THE TEXAS OBSERVER 21