Newspapers / The news-journal. / Aug. 23, 1984, edition 1 / Page 3
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Counterfeit laws should be tougher Counterfeit goods are a big pro blem in this country. It is estimated that 130,000 jobs and $8 billion are t lost annually to counterfeiters. They have built a booming business passing off shoddy and often hazardous merchandise as trusted, trademarked products. There is a good chance that you use many of these products: jeans, watches, auto parts, golf clubs, cough medicine - even deodorant. These fake goods can mean more than just annoyance. If jeans seams split, you face limited ex ? posure, but if* you buy counterfeit brake pads you could get killed. Bogus parts have been blamed for fatal bus accidents and helicopter Congressman Bill Hefner r crashes. Counterfeits have also been detected on a space shuttle test, Army missile systems and commercial airliners. The United States has become the world's largest market for such items which primarily come from far eastern countries. Because commercial coun terfeiting has become a slick, sophisticated and dangerous H" w business, it can no longer be dismissed as a minor problem. As a result, Congress is working on bills that would clamp down on the counterfeiters. There are now bills in the House and Senate designed to help. Without tougher rules counterfeiting will continue to be a low-risk, high-profit venture. Under current laws, a person can produce a counterfeit product, get caught and suffer nothing more than a slow down in his production line. Counterfeiting has reached epidemic proportions in recent years, yet bills now before Con gress can control this problem. IP Steak Dinner Sponsored by HILLCREST BAPTIST CHURCH Men's Fellowship AUGUST 25, 1984-6:30 to 8:30 P.M. MENU 10 oz. Steak - Baked Potato - Tossed Salad Coffee or Tea DONATION: $6?? For Tickets Call 875-6194 1984 PLYMOUTH VOYAGER VAN Loodad, 3,300 oetaai mb. *14,000 4x4 TRUCKS Long 6 Short tod *1350 DISCOUNTS 1984 CHEVROLET CELEBRITY WAGON Uxxfad, 7,600 mHei *11,000 Orhrm A UttU...*AV f A LOT. HOKEB AUTO COMPANY CHEVROUT 401 By-Nu ? Rttftrd, N.C. ?75-5591 ~ Hmm 454-3214 f* A (awaH ? w RWfWV d fWVU BLSSJH WELCOME Increased taxes are unacceptable BY JOHN SLEDGE N.C. Farm Bureau Federation There are several methods by which governments increase taxes. The first involves excessive spend ing which takes more of the available resources produced by the people. As government extracts greater amounts of investment capital, fewer resources are left for private job creation, investment and economic growth. 'Inflation is another method used by government to increase taxes. Government benefits when infla tion forces everyone into higher tax brackets. Contrary to what you may hear - government alone is the source of inflation and pro motes in several ways, but primari ly by monetary policies that stimulate increases in the money supply unmatched by national in creases in goods and services. The third way government raises taxes is by force of law openly pro moted and passed. Understand ably, this method has the least political appeal. We no longer have tax increases. Instead, Con gress "closes tax loopholes." A re cent listing shows more than 70 ways in which we pay federal taxes on everything from tires to shotgun shells and truck parts. Nearly everything we earn, buy, sell, invest, give away or leave behind is subject to its own special federal tax. Most of us have difficulty keep ing track of such things as the Gross National Product, often us ed as a measure of economic activi ty. But it is reported that in the 34 years between 1950 and 1984, the GNP, adjusted for inflation, in creased by 230 percent. In that same period, federal tax receipts increased about 300 per cent white inflation-adjusted federal outlays (spending) rose 400 percent. That means we have been spending almost twice as fast as we have been producing income and that growth in federal taxes has been much greater than the growth in GNP. Obviously, we are not undertax ed, we are overspent. We especially need to keep anti tac pressure on all politicians, in cumbents and hopefuls, between now and the November election. Many of these people are misreading the anti-tax mood of the country and need help in get ting back in tune with reality. Now is the time to make sure each candidate fully understands that increased taxes of any type are unacceptable. We must continue to insist on reduced federal spending to cut the siae of government and reduce regulatory interference. They don't make humor like they did Yes, I know us old codgers (anyone past SO) are always talking about how they used to do things better. You know, "They just don't make things like they used to." Well, to some extent, it's true. For one thing, they don't make music like they used to. This can easily be demonstrated by a simple comparison between the immortal songs of, say, Cole Porter, and to day's musical kitsch. They don't make popular singers like they used to. If the people posing as singers on the rock circuit could sing, they wouldn't need to dress funny, go around with their shirts off, sneer at everybody, swallow their microphones, and set off fireworks on stage to drown out the nasal noises they make." But one of the best examples is humor. Humor just isn't what it used to be. American humorists used to be masters of the clever turn of a phrase, the delicate irony, the unlikely metaphor, the ludicrous exaggeration. Now, our comedians depend on props, make faces, raise their eyebrows a lot, and shock us with sleazy remarks about sex. As my number one exhibit, I give you Samuel Langhorne Clemens, popularly known as Mark Twain. If it takes visual gags or other kinds of slapstick humor to make you chuckle, forget it. But, if you appreciate subtle, tongue-in-cheek jests, you'll enjoy this irreverent description of a ser mon, from The Adventures of Tom Sawyer: "The minister gave out his text t Lucien Coleman ^ /X Things That Matter and droned along monotonously through an argument that was so prosy that many a head by and by began to nod ? and yet it was an argument that dealt in limitless fire and brimstone and thinned the predestined elect down to a com pany so small as to be hardly worth the saving." The writings of Clemens are full of notable one-liners, like these: "All the modern inconve niences." "The educated Southerner has no use for an r, except at the begin ning of a word." "An experienced, industrious, ambitious, and often quite pic turesque liar." "When angry, count four; when very angry, swear." "Nothing so needs reforming as other people's habits." "Each person is born to one possession which outvalues all his others - his last breath." "Familiarity breeds contempt -- and children." Then there is that memorable line contained in a cable from Clemens to the Associated Press: "The reports of my death greatly exaggerated. And, with that, I rest my case. 15 REMAN A serious cmv m c* isw^^usr "RQHHW60HTVt issues?
Aug. 23, 1984, edition 1
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