® © © ¢ © ¢. @ The Dallas Post Dallas, PA Wednesday, March 24, 1993 5 SOVIET UNION TODAYS RUSSIA State Rep. Phyllis Mundy, King- ston, would like to make area residents living on a limited in- come aware of special tax forgive- ness provisions explained on pages 27 through 30 of the PA 40 tax form booklet. The tax forgiveness allows those who are eligible to reduce their tax liability depending upon the amount of their income and! number of dependents. Anyone with questions about this special tax forgiveness or other Tax breaks available for low-income families state income tax concerns should contact district offices of the Pennsylvania Department of Reve- nue. All questions about federal taxes should be directed to the Internal Revenue Service's toll- free number atl 1-800-829-1040. The economic viewpoint Walline is named hospital education director -'- Vera Walline, Lake Winola, has been named Education Director ‘at Tyler Memorial Hospital. In her ‘new role, she is responsible for coordinating, staff, patient and community education programs. ~ A Dallas native, she attended "Dallas area schols and graduated “from’Bryn Mawr College. She holds ann M.P.H. in health services administration from Yale Univer- sity and is a certified health edu- cation specialist. Before returning to the region, she worked with the Health Serv- ices Organization and Referral Baha'i World Center in Haifa, Israel, where for nine years she coordinated health center pro- grams. She previously worked as a nursing mothers counselor and rehabilitation counselor in Penn- sylvania. Mrs. Walline is active in com- munity organizations including the Tunkhannock Library and Inter-Agency Council. She are her husband, David, are the parents of three children. LJ W.J. By, J.W. JOHNSON ., The recent changing of the guard in Washington must have been a wonderment to atleast one -of our forebears...Thomas Jeffer- sen. As would have been his wonderment at the far right wing ofthe GOP trying to run this nation oy the better part of the last dec- ade. : Certainly our forebears, and in particular Jefferson, approached both government and theology differently. And although at best ‘dn’ agnostic~~someone who be- “liéves in a higher power, and not ‘necessarily religion—Jefferson “Had this to say aboutJesus Christ. T “Itis not to be understood that Iam with him in all his doctrines. -.1 am-a materialist; he takes the side of spiritualism; he preaches the efficacy of repentance toward forgiveness of sin; I require a counterpoise of good works to ., redeem it, etc. '"* “It is the innocence of his char- “acter, the purity and sublimity of his moral precepts, the eloquenes of his inculculations, the beauty .of apologues in which he conveys them, that I so much admire; sometimes, indeed, needing in- dulgence to eastern hyperbolism. “My eulogies, too, may be fourided on a postulate which all may be ready to grant. Among the sayings and discourses imputed to him by his biographers, I find many passages of fine imagina- ‘tion, ‘correct morality, and of the ‘most lovely benevolence; and others, again, of so much igno- ‘rance, so much absurdity, so “much untruth, charlatanism and imposture, as to pronounce it ‘impossible that such contradic- tions should have proceeded from the same being. : “I separate, therefore, the gold .from the dross; restore to him the former and leave the latter to the WHEN YGU PAY CASH {FOR YOUR #2 HEATING OIL Per Gallon Min.125 Gallons Price Subject to Change Without Notice BiLo Oil Co. |: wilkes-Barre Area DELIVERY SCHEDULE 8:30AM-4:00PM | stupidity of some, and roguery of others of his disciples. Of this band ofdupes and imposters, Paul was the first corrupter of the doctrines of Jesus.” And while Jefferson at another point in time described the join- ing of church and state as “loathe- some”, he most often declared his unqualified support for the moral fiber of Jesus. As such, it is nice to think that Jefferson would have agreed to a summary of his view of the great American experiment as being an appropriate inauguration gift to the new President, and the Ameri- can people. Such a summary can be found in Jefferson's own inaugural speech, made some 190 years ago on March 4, 1801. Jefferson de- scribed what he believed were the essential principles of our govern- ment using the following words: —equal and exact justice to all men, of whatever state or persua- sion, religious or political. —peace, commerce and honest friendship, with all nations—en- tangling alliances with none. —the support of the state gov- ernments in all their rights, as the most competent administrations for our domestic concerns and the surest bulwarks against anti- republican tendencies. —the preservation of the gen- eral government in its whole con- stitutional vigor, as the sheet anchor of our peace at home, and safety abroad. —a jealous care of the right of election by the people—a mild and safe corrective of abuses which are lopped by the sword of the revolution where peaceable reme- dies are unprovided. —absolute acquiescence in the decisions of the majority—the vital principle of republics, from which there is no appeal but to force, the vital principle and immediate parent of despotism. —a well-disciplined militia— ola, . : ‘Would Jefferson recognize America? our best reliance in peace and for the first moments of war, till regu- lars may relieve them; the su- premacy of the civil over the mili- tary authority. —economy in the public ex- pense, that labor may be lightly burdened. —the honest payment of our debts and sacred preservation of the public faith. —encouragement of agricul- ture, and of commerce as its handmaiden. —the diffusion of information and the arraignment of all abuses at the bar of public reason. —freedom of religion. —freedom of the press. —freedom of person under the protection of the habeas corpus. —and trial by jury impartially selected. Jefferson went on to say: “These principles form the bright constellation which has gone before us, and guided our steps through an age of revolu- tion and reformation. The wisdom of our sages and the blood of our heroes have been devoted to their attainment. They should be the creed of our political faith—the text of civil instruction—the touch- stone by which to try the services of those we trust; and should we wander from them in moments of error or alarm, let us hasten to retrace our steps and to regain the road which alone leads to peace, liberty and safety.” Of course, even a casual glance at Jefferson's words will find that much of what he perceived as essential elements of the great American experiment are under assault, or have been so radically changed as to be unrecognizable by the man who initially framed them. As well, the agrarian Jefferson, and despite his lack of ardor for things theological, would have found the commercialism of the Christmas season to, at best, be crass. 489-9337 Residential - Commercial * Industrial » Sectional Steel Doors *» Rolling Steel Doors + Automatic Door Openers * Insulated Doors » Service on all makes » Spring & Section Replacement « Visit Our Factory Authorized Showroom Call Today for FREE Estimate Northeast Door Sales Co. Rt. 6 Scr./Carb. Hwy. Wilkes-Barre 825-9860 Is American democracy disintegrating? By HOWARD J. GROSSMAN According to William Greider in a new book titled “Who Will Tell The People”, American democracy has been betrayed and what we often think which passed for democracy is a failure of Ameri- can politics and a dismaying and troublesome slowing down of the democratic process itself. He maintains that democracy is in deep trouble and that the very fabric of the system; that is, the meaning of self-government, the values that have sustained us- are unraveling quickly. Greider speaks of the premise that while power corrupts, power- lessness also corrupts. Too many people never develop an under- standing of power and that if power means acting on your behalf, powerless means not being able to participate or act accordingly on behalf of yourself as an indi- vidual citizen and national stake- holder. He points to the data which shows how few citizens actually participate and vote in primarly elections and in many cases in general elections. “The fewer citi- zens who are paying attention and actually voting, the easier it will be for the status quo to endure”. He further notes that in at least one opinion pole, voters desired certain priorities but then voted a President into office in 1988 who did not remotely reflect these pri- orities. He believes that “citizens still struggle for the democratic mean- ing, though giving up on elec- tions.” To replace the electoral process, voluntary associations have sprung up across the coun- try to represent what citizens believe tobe their particular inter- est. He notes that ifdemocacy has lost any accountability to the governed it is because there is no longer any reliable linkage be- tween the citizen and those who hold the reigns of power. Greider suggests that “during the last generation, a “new poli- tics” has enveloped government that guarantees the exclusion of most Americans from the debate- the expense of politics of facts and information. Amajor industry has grown up in Washington around what might be called “democracy for hire”-business firms and out- posts of sponsored scholars de- voted to concocting facts and opinions and expert analysis, then aiming them at the government. These are the thinktanks, the consultants, the public relation firms, and others who provide the informational base upon which rests much of the nation’s partici- patory focus in developing na- tional policies and strategies. Greider points to the “boiler room” strategy utilized in Wash- ington, DC wherein hundred of phone lines and sophisticated computer system, “resembling the phone banks employed in elec- tion campaigns” provide opportu- nities for dialing America on a variety of public issues, search- ing for citizens who can be per- suaded to endorse political objec- tives of major corporate America. He further notes the artificiality of many of the 400 million pieces of mail which Congress receives annually “contrived by interested parties of one kind or another Greider notes that “the land of Jefferson and Paine is long gone. He seems to reflect an attitude thatdemocracyis beyond redemp- tion as we knew it and as we wrote it in the Declaration of Independ- ence and the Constitution of the United States. He maintains that government is different than pri- vate enterprise. Government has a power to coerce or penalize (or reward) that belongs to no private institution. “It has obligations, as well, that are unique-including the obligation to uphold the law. Managing government to save money for industrial corporations versus enforcing a new environ- mental law is a political question, not an argument for business economists, and in a democracy, it is supposed to be settled in a regular order of political decision making”. He advocates community or- ganization “linked by a national organization and a common heri- tage-the inspiration of Saul Al- insky and the Industrial Areas Foundation. he maintains that (contrary to popular impressions, “the Industrial Areas Foundation) has flourished though its meth- ods are now quite different...it now has 24 organizations in seven states, encompassing twelve hundred congregations and asso- ciations with nearly 2 million members..." “Who Will Tell the People” is a book which will not make all people happy. It stresses failure, but also hails the many varieties of substi- tution democracy which have sprung up across the nation. It suggests that failure will not al- ways lead to unacceptable con- clusions but cause a rising tide of opportunity which will not always lead success. Clearly, there are no easy an- swers to the ability of democracy to survive the 21st century. Grei- der, however, has caused the thought process of American citi- zens to focus attention on a topic which is often taken for granted based upon the founding doctrines of this great nation from 1776 onward. Howard Grossman is Execu- tive Director of the Economic Development Council of North- eastern Pennsylvania. He lives in Dallas. | BV ALO OAT OJ07 0 03 SR NO 10 J ly available at his bank. Narrows Shopping Center MEMBER FDIC As a Consumer Loan Officer at First Peoples National Bank, Gary Missal helps people who need to borrow money. That’s why he is telling everyone about the consumer loan offer current- BORROW AS LITTLE AS $1200 at interest rates as low as rl 9% APR “I'm a banker, but like many of you, I also own a home. So when I need money to help with home improvement pro- jects, makes me feel welcome...” Because we want your install- ment loan business, First Peoples makes it easy for you to apply. 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Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers