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Pao« 6 NORTHWEST HERALD Section B Wednesday, J uiy 10,19t5 Opinion Courtroom not playroom A judge in Chicago Monday kick­ ed five persons out of his courtroom for attempting to intimidate a pro­ secution witness. Four defendants are charged with conspiracy to make and plant bombs at two military installation in Chicago during the 1963 Fourth of July weekend. At the trial of four alleged members of the Puerto Rican group FALN, five teenagers stood up when the witness took the stand. Each had a black letter printed on a T-shirt. The letter spelled out "Chota" ("traitor" in Spanish). The judge excused the jurors from the room, ejected the five, and then stated that he would assume that they didn't know what they were doing. He said they could return the next day if they behaved themselves, but that anyone who hindered the trial further would be held in contempt to court. Too tough? Biased? Not by a longshot. The judge instructed the pro­ secutor to refrain from using the word "terorists" when referring to the defendants. He also told them not to use the words "terrorism" or "FALN" during their opening statements, for fear of prejudicing the jury. ^ In his actions, the judge was be­ ing fair to all, especially to the judicial system. Life and other statistics WASHINGTON - "Every day, 30 Americans turn 100," says a questionnaire prepared by a New York advertising agency. "Will you be one of them?" Well, 79, which, according to the accompanying actuarial table is my "average life expectancy," is a nice age. But the questions posed by the firm of Calwell Davis Part­ ners are not reassuring for anyone hoping to turn 100, a good round number. The questionnaire asserts that "you can add months, years, even decades to your life, or foreshorten it, depending upon your family life, personality, fitness, work, play, health and heredity." Amen to the foreshortening. It was not, however, the ac­ tuarial pluses and minuses that ac­ tually did me in. It was the indeci­ sion. For instance, statistics indicate people lose 15 months off their pro­ jected life span if they drive more than 20,000 miles annually without seat belts; 12 months if they buckle up. I seldom drive that far anymore and always fasten my seat belt even for short hauls. But I wasn't certain whether to add three mon­ ths to my score. In years past, I have driven more than 20,000 miles and the autos I owned back then didn't even have seat belts. Should I count off for that, and for the fact that I might end up driving more than 20,000 miles this year? Honesty compels me to give myself an "I" for question No. 19. And what about question No. 21, Dick West which asks: "Do you use prescrip­ tion or over-the-counter drugs only when prescribed, following instruc­ tions carefully?" Candor obliges me to admit that no doctor I ever consulted prescribes over-the-counter drugs. And what of the prescriptions I have thrown away unfilled? To be frank about it, most of the over-the-counter drugs I have taken were prescribed by my mother-in-law, who never attended a medical school. And by "instructions," does Caldwell Davis mean the directions printed on the bottle or hers? Once again, I drew a blank, although I might have lost a couple of years, depending on how that last question is answered. Up to nine months can be lost, and no time gained, by the 24th question: "Are you exposed to air pollution?" I am a regular habitue of the Senate press gallery, just off the Senate chamber, and occasionally visit "the cave of the winds" itself. Does this mean I am "regularly" exposed to air pollution "in substantial amounts?" Since most of the questions were impossible, or impractical, to answer, I gave up trying to figure out how long I might live. I simply concluded I had been dead for six years, and let it go at that. (Dick West is a columnist for United Press International) STATE-LOCAL TAXES Take hits new high iill r i J4 TAXES CHANGE m 1\f9 TAX COLLECTED, FROM % 1984 1983 " f 1 (billions) # * . PROPERTY $100.3 +7.4% GENERAL SALES $79.7 + 13.6% K I INDIVIDUAL INCOME $68.6 + 15.6% ;; vo, CORPORATE INCOME $16.4 + 16.9% rJ* 1 *• i vo, MOTOR FUEL $13.1 + 11.7% ¥ > • s, MOTOR VEHICLE/LICENSES $7.6 +9.2% jr. TOBACCO $4.4 +4.8% ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES $3.2 +5.8% " 1 OTHER: $39.2 +4.0% * V 1 I TOTAL: $332.5 + 11.2% %- NEA GRAPHIC (Source: Commerce Clearing Hqyse) Now the tax man is hitting even closer to home. State and local tax collec­ tions rose by a record of more than 11 percent in 1984. Largest increases were posted in income, sales and gasoline taxes. NORTHWEST HERALD "Be practical as well as generous in your ideals. Keep your eyes on the stars, but remember to keep your feet on the ground." Theodore Roosevelt ROBERTA. SHAW Editor and Publisher LEONARD M. INGRASSIA Executive Editor STEVEN H. HUNTER Marketing Director MICHAEL E. MORSCH News Editor/Regional DENNIS M. McNAMARA Editorial Page Editor RONALD L.STANLEY Circulation Director THETROU^ WITH THIS HOSTA&CM WAS TOO W MEM- y WiCEmi1A* SC/N«, AH ION? *1NS Coptef News Sarrict Social Security: the way out WASHINGTON - Now and then a book comes along, so rich in sound ideas well presented, that one wants to shout its merits from the housetops. Such a book is "Social Security: Prospects for Real Reform," edited by Peter J. Fer- rara. If a hundred key people in the capital would read these 11 chapters, and take appropriate action, we could avoid the time-bomb disaster that threatens to overtake Social Security. At the moment the system is sol­ vent. Income comfortably exceeds outgo. Retirees who are now getting benefits are getting a good return on the tgaxes they paid in. But Ferrara sounds this warning: "For those entering the work force today, even if they receive all the Social Security benefits they are promised, the pro­ gram will still be a miserable deal." Chickens come home to roost, it is said, and by the end of this century -- just 15 years hence -- Social Security will have a barnyard full of them. The problems are familiar to every observer of the passing scene. Social Security benefits, unlike annuities in the private market, are not tied to a trust fund; the system operates on a basis of cash in, cash out. As medical technology has improved, life spans have dramatically lengthened. Too many oldsters now are living too long for the system to support them, and too few workers are in prospect. Over the long term, under the Social Security Administration's own "pessimistic" assumptions, a payroll tax rate of 37.5 percent would have to be imposed. Ferrara proper­ ly terms this "absurd." So crushing a burden "would never be accepted by America's workers." One poll after another has turned up a pervasive cynicism among young people just entering the work force. They simply do not believe that adequate Social Security benefits will await them on retire­ ment. Their intuition is sound. Young people may not be able to find their way through a maze of tax laws, ac­ tuarial probabilities and tables of compound interest, but they know this much: Under the present system they will pay and pay and pay -- and their employers will pay and pay and pay -- and at age 70 they will get a pittance in return. What to do? Ferrara's recommen­ dations make great good sense. For both social and political reasons, he lames J. Kilpatrick would begin by guaranteeing those now receiving benefits that their benefits would never be reduced. He would accomplish this by giving every retiree a U.S. government bond embodying an enforceable pro­ mise: The retiree will receive his monthly benefits, plus cost-of-living adjustments, calculated under the law in effect at the time of retire­ ment, every month for the rest of his life. With that guarantee in place, Fer­ rara would move to the next step. At his option, every worker entering the labor force would be permitted to deposit 20 percent of his Social Security taxes in a "Super Individui Retirement Account." Employer would match these deposits. In timej the 20 percent would be raised to or 40 percent, ultimately to 100 per-l cent. Retirement benefits, of course,! would be reduced accordingly. No one would be compelled to opt for the Super-IRA, but a workei would be crazy not to exercise the op-| tion. Suppose for a moment, to supposing, that it were possible for a| married couple (average income,! two children) to pay into a Super-IRAI over the next 45 years what they now] must pay into Social Security. At 67,1 assuming both spouses were alive,] Social Security would pay a life an­ nuity of $19,064. The Super-IRAI would pay a life annuity of 197,824. But suppose these retired workers wanted to leave something to their] children at death. Under Sodi Security, they could leave the kic zero, for they would have zero equity. | Under Ferrara's Super-IRA system, they would have accumulated assets at retirement of $864,000, to be drawn | down or conserved as they directed. Ferrara's book, published by the I Cato Institute at $20, spells out the | Super-IRA proposal in many alter­ natives. In the short term, as the plan I was phased in, it would add to the federal deficit, but these revenue losses would be offset in some degree by the economic activity generated by new pools of private savings. The principle is sound and the machinery to adapt the principle is not complex. I am too old to benefit from the plan, but if Congress acts boldly, perhaps my grandchildren will have a better deal than Social Security holds out for them now. (James Kilpatrick is a columnist for Universal Press Syndicate) Hijacking proves retaliation required Sooner or later, probably sooner, we are going to have to decide whether it is wise for the United States to use violence -- perhaps somewhat indiscriminately -- to try to curb terrorism. The arguments against the use of force are tactical and moral: We can't and we shouldn't. We can't -- so it's said--because we don't know ex­ actly who the terrorists are who hi­ jacked the TWA plane, and so, we don't know where they live, and So, we won't know whom to strike. We shouldn't -- it's said -- because violence begets violence and inno­ cent people would be killed if we retaliate forcefully, making us no better than terrorists. My own view is that we can, we should -- and we must. We can. While it would be nice if we had name, rank and serial number of every terrorist involved, the absence of a specifically known culpable group living in a neat geographical area should not deter us from retalia­ tion. We know that at least two governments in the area -- Iran and Syria -- have actively created the conditions, the climate and the fren­ zy that have led to attacks on Americans, be they in a Marine bar­ racks, or an embassy, or on an airliner. In the Syrian case, they control the ground from which the terrorists operate. The Syrians make a big point that they run Lebanon; they brag that they drove out the Americans, French, English, Italians and Israelis -- and they pull Ben Wattenberg the strings in that tortured land. In the Iranian case, the Ayatollah's men have trained terrorist groups, and have philosophically incited elements of the Shiite community to attack the Great Satan -- that's the United States -- because we are the exporters of Western modern values. How ot punish them? It's true, the general problem with dealing with terrorists is there is no mailing ad­ dress to hit. On the other hand, suc­ cessful combat against terrorism means establishing a logical and ap­ propriate mailing address, even if one didn't exist before. It is in­ teresting to note that no terrorists cross into Israel from Syria. If they did, the Israelis would hit Damascus. When held responsible, the Syrians have acted responsibly. Thus, the plan: After the hostages have been returned, hit the Syrians moderately hard and let them know that they will be struck harder if an American is harmed again in Lebanon. That will force the Syrians to police the Shiite extremists. They can do it if they Want to. Same with the Iranians: Strike them and let them know they wil be hit harder if Shiite extremists attack us. That will give them an incentive to cool down their fanatics. We should. It's true, in a general sense, that violence begets violence. But in this specific sense, it is the lack of response to violence thatNis begetting violence. Americans were killed at our Beirut embassy. We did not respond. Americans were killed at the Marine barracks. We did not respond. Had we responded, it is possible that TWA 847 would not have been seized. The brave Navy nwn would not have been murdered and 40 hostages not held in Beirut's slums. By not punishing violence, we en­ courage it to multiply^ It is wrong to suggest that using force -- where innocents may be harmed -- makes us as bad as the terrorists. President Reagan said this the other day, but it's just not true. We kill people in a war if we are attacked; that's a terrible thing, but justified. Rapists use knives--but so do surgeons. Muggers use guns-- but so do policemen. It an depends for what purpose a weapon or a tactic is used. We are -- I believe -- attempting to do good things in the world. Our adversaries -- be they Shiite ter­ rorists or Marxist guerrillas -- are not. We are trying to promote liber­ ty; they are trying to promote despotism. That makes their use of force malign and ours decent We not only can and should res­ pond -- we must. It is precisely our decent values that are under attack by the Terrorist International. If we don't deter that attack, the terroriM**" will succeed. (Ben Wattenberg is a columnist tot Newspaper B.t .rpri , .