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EDITORIALS & COMMENTS ’82 Election In Perspective The 1982 elections are over and for many memories of the defeated candidates and lost causes or issues will fade into oblivion. For many others and their supporters and for the national Republican and Demo cratic parties the ’82 elections were a tune-up for the Presi dential election year of 1984. Undoubtedly, while wishful thinking has President Reagan claiming the election results were a new mandate to “stay the course’’, the fact is the election returns represent a rejection of his economic policies and the possible loss of some good Republican legislators who were losers too. While the Democrats may re joice over taking commanding control over the House of Re presentatives and increasing their numbers in governorships, their good news may be bad news for the nation. That is to say while both parties have expressed a willingness to work through bipartisan support in an attempt to solve many of the nation’s problems. However, there already is evi dence that the rhetoric of cooperation is window dressing ; and nothing more. For example, ; as the nation’s unemployme.it ; has pushed upward past 10.4 per ; cent Republicans and Demo ; crats are proposing separate : legislative public works and job ; training bills aimed at getting at : least 200,000 Americans off the . jobless roles. While the Republi ; can and Democratic lawmakers : are already arguing over which : bill to support, President Reagan : plans to veto any public works type employment bill. Probably of greater significance is the fact that with a Republican con trolled Senate and a Democratic controlled House the President will probably have considerably less success getting his policies and proposed programs ap proved by Congress. Economic Issues The dominant role of economic issues in the election, especially the highr jobless rate, and the current congressional party-line disagreements over what forms a jobs bill or legislation should take, and continuing concerns about inflation and high interest, brings to mind a much larger issue faced by the Reagan Administratioh or the adminis tration that may occupy the White House beginning in 1984. What we are referring to-is a need to find a new economic “ism.” Over the years we have made the point in this column that America needs a new eco nomic order. We have noted that the Keynesian economic theories that Franklin D. Roosevelt used to help pull America out of the Depression of the 1930s won’t work in the 1980s. We have noted too that the so-called free en terprise free market system which most Americans, includ ing Ronald Reagan, like to talk about glowingly in time of eco nomic prosperity is a myth of the greatest magnitude and is not working for the growth and economic advancement of this nation. The fact is the capitalist free enterprise system that we like to think has made America grow to great heights over these past 200 years, cannot sustain nor move America to new glory and world leadership even through the year 2000, much less over the next 200 years. Thus, the greater challenge to Mr. Reagan or his successor in 1984 will be to develop a new economic order for America. This then is the new challenge to either or both major political parties. Single Slot Voting At the state level we witnessed the defeat of six Republican candidates who apparently were caught in the anti-Reagan economic policy vote. Probably of greater significance, these losers were victims of then association and support by Jesse Helms’ N.C. Congressional Club - the negative campaign contro versial organization that North Carolinians have tired of. This, too, may set the stage for Jim Hunt’s possible challenge to Senator Jesse Helms in 1984. At the local level the big issue transcending partisan party issues was the voters’ rejection of a modified form of county district representation by a 53 to 47 percent margin. The district at-large election system for County Commissioners was con troversial because it differed from the City’s district plan in that candidates selected by districts would have been voted upon by the at-large voters system. Significantly, the small margin of defeat reflect contin uing support for district repre sentation but not in the format offered as authored by County Commissioner Tom Ray.. Finally, one local news story following the election tried to resurrect the allegation of “single-shot” voting and pin the label on black voters. The allega tion arose from the fact that black State House candidate Jim Richardson had defeated incum bent Gus Economos by a mere 216 votes when in fact a recount showed the incumbent won by 84 votes. In fact, Economos won in part because he received 3,202 votes from 12 predominately -black precincts. Furthermore, we have to wonder why no study was reported on about possible single shot voting by people of Greek origin, Mr. Economos’ background. THE CHARLOTTE POST -- 1 Second Class Postage No. 965500 “THE PEOPLE’S NEWSPAPER” Established 1918 - Published Every Thursday by The Charlotte Post Publishing Co., Inc. Subscription Rate $15.60 Per Year Send All 3579’s To: 1524 West Blvd., Charlotte, N.C. 28208 Telephone 704-376-0496 _ Circulation 10,433 104 Years of Continuous Service Bill Johnson Editor, Publisher Bernard Reeves General Manager FranFarrer Advertising Director Dannette Gaither Office Manager Second Class Postage No. 965500 Paid At Charlotte, North Carolina Under the Act of March 3,1878 Member, National Newspaper Publishers’ Association North Carolina Black Publishers Association Deadline for all news copy and photos is 5 p.m. Monday. All photos and copy submitted become the property of The Post and will not be returned National Advertising Representative Amalgamated Publishers, Inc. 2100 S. Michigan Ave. 45 W. 45th St., Suite 1493 Chicago, III. *0616 New York. New York 1003* Columet .'>-0200 2I2-4R91220 From Capitol Hill Liection Necessitates “Stay The Course” Abandonment Allreds L. Madison Special To The Post In 1980 the Republicans were highly jubilant over their victories. They went into action with a bang, reveling in what they eagerly called their man date to take charge and turn the country around. Now after 22 months in office the economy has got ten worse - unemployment is higher than it’s been in 40 years, bankrupticies at an all time high, businesses are failing at 500 a week, many students are unable to go to college, a great assault on civil rights, the recent mid-term election has dampened the Re publicans’ feathers and their wings have been clipped. While the senate seats remained the same the House Democratic seats just about doubled the general win for an off election year. Moderate senators, even though, some are Republicans were elected, Weicker and C ha fee and a new Demo crat, who defeated Repu blican Millicent Fenwick, Frank Lautenberg, who made it very plain that he was of the more liberal type His victory is lamely "IF THE GOVERNMENT WILL NOT PROTECT US AND THE' POLICE CANNOT, IT FOLLOWS THAT BLACK CITIZENS MUST PROTECT THEMSELVES." __ HE CANNOT WAIT UNTIL DISCRIMINATION ENDS BEFORE WE RID OUR COMMUNITIES OF CRIME. \ WE CAN NO LONGER < EXCUSE CRIME BECAUSE 1 OF SOCIETY*? INEQUITIES,. WE STAND MENACED BY OUR OWN KITH AND KIN. IT IS INCONCEIVABLE TOME THAT WE WHO HAVE PREVAILED IN SPITE OF , THE BARBARISM OF WHITE PEOPLE SHOULD, IN THE LAST QUARTER OF THE CENTURY, STAND AS MUTE SPECTATORS TO OUR DOOM ." ORD£ COOMBS M.Y./HA6AZ/ME BLACK'S DESTINY IN OWN HANDS. &tten& Ho. H6e Sditon: \ EiiK,r .^ek^WV I I Power Black Ministers Have? Dear Sir: I feel now is the right time to write about the black churches. When I was asked to help with the Gethsemane Baptist Church matter I knew the matter would take much time; but what I didn’t know was how much power the black minister and pas tors have over black people, and how black min isters stick together, right or wrong. Let me first of all talk about the power black min isters have. There are many of us who think the black ministers can do no wrong. One lady stated to me, “My mother always told me to go along with the pastor"; another stated, “I’ll do without before I let my pastor do without.” It is good that black people have such great love for their pastors. It is time that we as black ministers started to using this power we have to let our people know that they can and ' must think for themselves. We have the power to end many of our problems. It is good for black people to look up to their pastor or minister; but they must understand, all of us are not good. Just because we say we have been called does not always mean so. Black ministers should have power for the people and not power over the people. The second part of my letter brings out the sad and ugly part of us. That is the union we black min isters have. There is an unwritten rule that states, one is to never go against a fellow black minister, be he right or wrong. Many black ministers have made up their minds to never talk to me again because of the stand I took against Rev. Dewberry. In the past I have received little or no support from black min isters and I don’t care if any of them talk to me when I take a stand for what is right. There are a few black ministers who have come to the aid of Dewberry. The thing that troubles me is all of them know of his past. On September 12, 1982 when Dewberry walked out of Gethsemane Baptist Church with the church’s books and records and got in his car, one of our leading black ministers got in the car with him. I ask, did this fellow minister demand that Rev. Dew berry return the books? Now the church cannot find some of the records for 1975, 1976 and 1977. There are two others who have joined him and they them selves are not on good ground at their place of work. I feel that many of us black ministers feel that if one falls then all of us will fall. I feel that if we are wrong then we will and must fall. We should not hold up a brother who is wrong. The facts in the Geth semane Baptist Church case are clear. It is not a matter of Barnett vs. Dewberry, but one of right and wrong. All the con cerned members are doing is giving the power to the people to run the church. After all it is the people or members that paid for the church, not C. E. Dew berry. He just works for the members, or that is what the members want. Too many pastors have taken over the black church. No church in Charlotte belongs to any of us ministers. We just work there. Many of us have forgotten who pay us. I ask those who support Dewberry, what is it you want? Should the pastor have all power over the members? Those who pay him and in most cases better than themselves. It is a fact that power has been misused at Gethse mane Baptist Church along with many other churches in Charlotte and this must and will come to and end. Whatever there is in the communitv that is not good for us must go, be that a Barnett or a Dewberry. Rev. James E. Barnett Sincere Thanks On behalf of the entire Darby Family we would like to gratefully thank everyone who made visits, sent cards, brought food, sent flowers, made calls or just thought of us during our time 6f deepest be reavement. Whatever you did to console our hearts, we thank you very much. Mrs. Dorothy J. Darby and the Darby Family due to the very heavy black New Jersey support. Paul Trible’s win in Vir ginia seemed due more to a television blitz, than Tri ble’s congressional perfor mances, coupled with Vir ginia's extreme conserva tism, a state that leads all the nation’s 50 states in anti-black concerns. Of the 12 Virginians on Capitol Hill, nine got a zero civil rights rating, the lowest rating of any state in the country. It is stated that Trible received only five percent of the black vote. In November 1981 the Washington Bureau of the Sun carried an article of the Republicans' high ex pectation of capturing con trol of Congress in 1982. Ed Rollins who is the Presi dent’s chief assistant for political affairs said at that time, he wanted to lower the expectations to be more realistic He predicted the GOP would gain 10 to 15 House seats and 3 or 4 in the Senate There were no Senate gains but a loss of 28 House seats Rollins said, "unlike White Houses in the past, the expectations of what this President and this Administration do for candidates is high." Representative Tony Alfreda L. Madison Coelho, Democratic Con gressional Campaign Com mittee Chairman listed the historical election points; first, in the spring of 1981 the favorite topic was frost belt and sun belt reappor tionment shift which would be costly to Democrats. Second, when the reappor tionment idea fizzled out, the Republicans began trotting out their pollsters to announce an idea logical alignment shift, finally, when more independent pollsters straightened out those numbers, the public witnessed a conversion in the Rose Garden with the promise of at least a dozen more to come Coelho said he raised those issues, “is not just a Democratic vie lory; it is a story of an _ historical opportunity the -Republicans kicked away.” He stated that the Republicans launched as saulyts against the public’s sense of fairness and their attraction for getting social security. The American people made decisions based on issues instead of national slogans, through a multi-million dollar media campaign. The Administration tried to save face by saying the Republicans won. It is im possible to win by losing. House Speaker O’Neill said the President called for a lame duck Congress meeting, but the only thing that will be considered at that time will be appro priations The President is emphasizing “stay the course," Democrats and some Republicans are say ing the President will have to make changes. Blacks had the highest percentage of voter In crease of any group in the nation. Representative Tony Coelho said both parties realize the power of the Black vote and he feels Congress will give more consideration to issues that directly affect them. The Black vote provided small business NEWS & VIEWS Variable Loan Rates Congressman Benjamin Rosenthal (D-NY) recommended recently that the Small Business Administration reduce the interest rate spread that banks are permit ted to charge on SBA loans. His committee also recommended that the BA stop using the prime rate as a floor for loans and to develop a new system for setting SBA loan rates. Many small business borrowers have been forced into bankruptcy this year because their variable rate bank loan payments have increased dramatically. The SBA’s variable rate bank loans are guaranteed at 90 percent for repayment by the government and are set according to the current prime rate. Local banks can charge borrowers the prime rate plus 2.25 percent for loans under seven years, and 2.75 percent over prime for loans over seven years. The variable rate loans are adjusted each month to reflect changes in market interest rates. The fluctuation in this rate during the past two years from a high of 23 percent to today’s 9*6 percent has caused severe cash problems for many firms. The SBA guaranteed loan program is very attractive to local banks, but even so, many banks do not want to handle any government guaranteed loan applications because of the paper work involved in preparing the loan application. Bankers can make substantial profits by selling the guaranteed portion of the loans to other lenders, such as pension funds and insur ance companies. These lenders are referred to as the secondary lending market. A recent report from the House Govern ment Operation Committee’s panel on commerce and monetary affairs pointed out that banks can make as much as a 40 percent profit on an SBA loan. This high degree of profitability makes the loan very attractive to banks and other lenders. Buyers of these loans like the relatively high yield, federal guarantee against de fault, and the variable interest return. Here is an example of how a bank can make 40 percent on these SBA loans. The SBA can guarantee 90 percent of a loan not exceeding $500,000. In this example a bank makes a small business loan of $550,000 with the SBA insuring 90 percent of the loan. The loan is for ten years at 17 percent interest. A pension fund manager is willing to take an annual return of 14.5 percent on the $500,000 guaranteed portion of the loan. The local bank will collect the monthly payments, pay the pension fund its share, and keep 2.5 percent as its service fee. So the bank has 2.5 percent on $500,000 and * the full 17 percent on the $55,000 portion of the loan it keeps for itself. 'Hie small business borrower pays $9,645 each month. The bank will collect $11,943 in service fees on the $500,000 and $8,999 in interest on the $55,000 portion for a total return of $20,942. This is a 40 percent return on the bank’s portion of the $55,000 loan. The $55,000 is the only portion of the loan that is not SBA insured. For additional information contact the Center for Improving Mountain Living, Western Carolina University, Cullowhee, N.C. 28723, 704-227-7492. outcomes in many races. Governor Cuomo's victory in New York was largely attributed to a concentra tion of Black votes. Go vernor Clements of Texas who spent $12 million, tried to drive a wedge between the Hispanics and Blacks but these two groups were too enlightened to fall into his trap. So Clements, with even strong help from Rea gan, lost to a Democrat. The great increase in Black voting, caused the predicted overwhelming win for Jim Thompson, where, at this writing the vote is so close that the winner has not been de cided. In Virginia the Black vote defeated Robert •Daniel, who has a zero> rating on civil rights. It is reported that the Black vote against him was 20 to one. Virginia picked up three Democratic seats. In North Carolina, Jesse Helms went down to four seat defeat. All Congressional Black Caucus incumbents main tained their seats, and the seat vacated by Shirley Chisholm was taken by Major Owens. The addi tional Caucus members are: Edolphus Townes of New York's Eleventh Dis trict; Kate Hall, Indiana’s' First District and Allen* What of Missouri's Fifth! District. Congressman Fauntroy, Black Caucus - Chairman, is greatly en-! couraged by the Caucus’ increase from 18 to 21. He* stated that the Caucus bud-! Rets, while being ignored,; Senator Bob Dole, included • many Caucus budget items I in the tax bill. The Jobe* Training bill that the Ad ministration takes credit! for was Representative ; Augustus Hawkins' bill. - Fauntroy feels that the Caucus 1984 alternative: budget will receive more* attention because of the necessity for a constructive economic policy. GRACE AME ZION . .Grace AME Zion Church will celebrate Homecom-T ing on Sunday, November 21 at the 11 a.m. worship service. Rev. Smith Turner I III, Presiding Elder of the*. Charlotte District, will de liver the Homecoming sermon. r ■ ' .1
The Charlotte Post (Charlotte, N.C.)
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Nov. 18, 1982, edition 1
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