Page 20—SUSQUEHANNA TIMES
Bob Walker
visits East Donegal,
talks with citizens about issues
Bob Walker, our con-
gressman, visited Harold
Ney's farm near Maytown
last week. About 20 people
gathered at Ney’'s to hear
Walker speak off the cuff
and answer questions.
The visit was sponsored
by Lancaster County chap-
ter of the Pennsylvania
Farmers’ Association. Har-
old Ney is on the board of
directors of the PFA.
Mr. Walker, accompani-
ed by several aides, was
spending the day traveling
to various farms. For this
reason, most of the
questions asked him at
Nev's residence concerned
farmers’ problems. Many
of “those attending were
farmers.
Our congressman arrived
late, but immediately be-
gan speaking animatedly in
response to a variety of
questions. He never seem-
ed to Be at a Joss for
words.
When it was time for
Walker to leave, it became
cvident why he had been
late in the first place he
wouldn't go. ‘‘One last
question,’ he said, and
then proceeded to answer
three more. Mr. Walker
obviously enjoys talking.
Finally, an aide stood
beside Mr. Walker as a
reminder that he had
another appointment, and
he was gone in less than
five minutes.
Here are some of the
questions addressed to the
congressman, and his re-
plies:
What is the impact of the
current farmers’ strike?
Mr. Walker said that,
while the strike is focusing
attention on legitimate
problems, it could lead to
more problems for farmers
in the long run. Walker ts
against any sort of guaran-
tced farm income: he
pointed out that if farmers
were paid by the govern-
ment, they would become
government employees and
lose their independence.
Farms are small businesses
and should be left alone.
Walker sees as one
solution a guaranteed mar-
ket for farm produce, and
feels the public should be
educated about the rela-
tionship between produce
prices and retail food
prices. Many of the pro-
posed solutions, he feels,
would be devastating to
farmers as small business-
men. Excessive regulations
would attend these solu-
tions.
Is Carol Forman doing a
good job?
Walker thinks Ms. For-
man doesn’t understand
the basic issues, as is
typical of people in govern-
ment who have taken a
side to stand for. He gave
her approval of the use of
food stamps in restaurants
as example of a bad
decision she has made.
Do legislators recognize
farmers’ problems?
Legislators from farming
areas are well aware of the
problems, he said, but
those with urban consti-
tuents ignore farmers. The
situation would be better if
everyone, including legisla-
tors, were aware of how
dependent they are on food
production, and how inter-
related all Americans are in
this area. A typical break-
fast, he noted, is composed
of orange juice from
Florida, butter from Wis-
consin, and cereal from the
midwest.
Why are produce prices
fixed?
The problem, Walker
said, is lack of competition.
If more markets were
available, prices would be
more fair.
Certain imported foods
are competing unfairly due
to government interference.
Subsidies should be remov-
ed and uniform standards
imposed. Food should not
be a government business,
he said, adding, ‘‘the only
business the government
runs outright is the post
office and we all know
how efficient the post office
1s.”
In the last few years the
government urged farmers
to increase grain produc-
tion, he noted, and then
shut down the market when
the farmers produced.
What can farmers do about
their land being taken for
government projects?
“I'm opposed to govern-
ment control,”” Walker re-
iterated again. ‘‘l like Ken
Shirk’s idea of letting land-
owners waive all rights to
sell land for development
in return for tax credits.
The county would hold the
land in trust.”’ He said
that Amishmen he had
talked with liked the idea
also. Under this plan, the
deed could perhaps be per-
manently changed, to keep
the acreage in farms
forever.
What about people living in
developments who com-
plain about the noise or
smell of farm operations?
“Whatever the court
says, goes,’ Walker said,
noting that he gets many
complaints about farm
operations from people who
are ‘‘too cheap to hire a
lawyer.’’ He said that he
has little sympathy with
people who move to ‘‘the
country’’ and then bring
their neighbors into court
for carrying on their
business.
Can you shed any light on
the new Social Security
bill?
“If you love taxes, you'll
live this bill,”” Walker said.
He said that, by the mid
1980°’s, Social Security
taxes will be doubled. The
reason for this, he said, is
that Congress didn’t want
to pare the system down to
its. original scope, i.e., old
age pensioning. Walker
noted that Medicare, wel-
fare, and other programs
have been dipping into
the Social Security fund for
years.
The increases taxes will
‘‘devastate our economy,’’
he said, within ten years.
He said that Barry Gold-
water favors abolishing the
system entirely, but he
himself feels that Social
Security is necessary in
some form.
Why are we importing so
much steel?
Walker indicated that
foreign subsidy programs
are responsible for for the
sad condition of the
domestic steel industry,
although our steel manu-
facturers did make a bad
mistake by not keeping
up investments in efficient
modern equipment. Gov-
ernments of foreign steel
making countries subsidize
th product to keep employ-
ment up, and America
should levy tariffs to give
our steel makers a fair
chance, he said. Even with
the huge cost of pollution
controls, we could compete
without the foreign subsi-
dies, he said.
Other topics
Mr. Walker spoke in
favor of a balanced Federal
budget, and criticized pres-
ident Carter for not
keeping his campaign pro-
mise to lower the national
debt. Carter’s budget calls
for $15 billion more debt
this year. Inflation is the
fault of the unbalanced
budget, Walker asserted.
Speaking of Federal
programs, he said that
“programs don’t serve the
people, they serve the
constituency.’ Programs
should be combined to
make them more efficient
without eliminating ser-
vices. Here again he criti-
cized Carter for increasing
the number of Federal
jobs.
Among those attending
the meeting were Mr. and
Mrs. Allen Esbenshade,
Mr. and Mrs. Elvin Bren-
neman, Howard C. Sipling,
Mr. and Mrs. Paul Charles,
Donald Mowrer, Dwight
Hess, Donald Drager,
Grace Bixler, Harry B.
Blessing, Mr. and Mrs.
Daniel M. Garber, and
Mrs. Richard Bromer.
Members of the con-
gressman’s entourage were
Ivan Yost, Mark Phillips,
Earl Newcomer, and Helen
M. Wivell.
EE
Sherri Kinsey (in white) grabs a rebound for Donegal. The Indian girls are making
all the right moves this year
December 21, 1977
Indian girls look good
Donegal has had a girls’
basketball program for the
past two years, but until
this winter, the girls’ play
was so clumsy that it was
almost painful to watch.
There was no elementary-
level basketball program
for the girls, and they had
to learn the game in varsity
competition.
This year, things are
different. With plenty of
experience under their
belts, the Donegal girls
have become a polished,
competitive team.
The games are fun to
watch. Plays are run with
smooth precision.
None of the Donegal
girls seem to be out-
standing outside shooters,
but their ball-handling and
teamwork make long shots
unnecessary.
The team’s ball-handling
expertise is backed up by a
hustling defense. The girls
have plenty of stamina, and
they can shift into a
running game whenever
they want to — which is
often.
Not surprisingly, they
are winning games.
The fans are beginning
to wake up to the fact that,
this year, girls’ basketball
is a very exciting sport at
Donegal High. The crowds
are not nearly as big as the
throngs at boys’ games,
but they are bigger than
last year’s handful.
get bigger.
Miss Keffer sinks a basket.
They will undoubtedly