European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - May 28, 1977, Darmstadt, Hesse Page 16 the Staps and stripes George saturday May 28, 1977 welfare system can t Carter promises the Carter administration has Dis covered and proclaimed that the welfare problem is Complex the moot Enchant ing understatement since Admiral Jelli Coe watching his battleships blown to Smithereens at Jutland observed there seems to be something the matter with our bloody ships the welfare crisis is basically that people resent spending about 3 per cent of the Gross National product on Cash Bene fits food Stamps and medical care for poor people. Of course the welfare stat does not function primarily for poor people. The Middle class is the principal beneficiary of the most important features of the welfare state social Security unemployment compensation and Public employee pensions. And now Carter promises welfare Reform Reform of welfare benefits i Ira c. Eaker reeled below the Middle class that win involve no higher annual Cost than the present wont happen because it would mean raising Beneks for some by cutting benefits for there that is. Redistributing welfare from of poor to the very should come Back to this Issue when he is serious and so should Ray Marshall the Secretary of labor. Marshall thinks that an important Ste toward welfare Reform would be putting recipients to work on conservation chores in National forests or insulating houses. Never mind that most recipients live along commute from National forests. But 90 per cent of recipients Are old or disabled or Are women with Small Chil Dren. In the 1970 census one child m six under age 18 was found to be living with Only one Parent or neither perhaps these mothers could work. But it might not make financial or social sense to compel these mothers to leave their children especially when Many would have to leave them a Day care centers that Cost More than the Mother can make at the marginal employ ment they Are Apt to find unless they get to lug Secretary Marshall s Rolls of insula Tion. In a dynamic industrialized specialized urbanized society the poor and especially those who consistently fail the test of eco nomic competitiveness Are dependent on society s impersonal sense of responsibility for its weakest members. There Are always going to me Many such people in such a society so the problem is to see that their Smalt allotments of the welfare state s resources Are dispersed substantial differences Between various state s benefits May cause the Energy program vital to defense the Energy program preside Tcarter presented to Congress and explained to the american people deserves prompt legislative approval and the Active support of All of us. My prime interest in the Energy pro Gram concerns its relation to and influence upon the nation s Security. This relation is direct and can be critical to our , at some future time the soviet Union possesses adequate Energy for its people and especially for its vast military establishment coincident with a stringent Energy shortage in this country that fact alone could be decisive in the conflict be tween the free world and undoubtedly is recognized by presi Dent Carter and his Energy . James r Schlesinger but what is even More significant and ominous it is also fully appreciated by the men in the Kremlin. That is the basis for their Effort to control . Access to Fossil fuel sources worldwide. That is Why they have supported the Oil producing Arab and Middle East nations in All the israeli conflicts. It also accounts for much of the soviet policy on Africa the persian Gulf and Indian Ocean. Control of these areas will permit Russia to deny Oil to the . Its nato allies and Japan in any future emergency. Since the . Is using or wasting 30 per cent of the world s Energy and since Weare in Short Supply requiring the import of nearly half our Oil and Gas requirements we Are now Energy dependent on the open countries and ultimately could be completely at their mercy. Since Russia has twice our reserves of Fossil fuel and since her consumption is but half our rate it is obvious which country will first exhaust it vital Energy resources. This dismal Prospect has other Factor which make this comparison even Darker from our Point of leaders in the Kremlin need not exhort and cajole their people to conserve Energy resources As do our president an the Allied leaders who must rely on Volun tary popular does not have an Over eager environmental lobby to Deal with. It is a fac that our environmental extremists represent the greatest present danger to the president s Energy program by their opposition and the restrictions they impose on the use of Coal nuclear Energy and hydroelectric Power. As the world s total available Energy re sources dwindle because of increasing populations the Competition for Energy will become acute. Russia has not Only it sown largely undeveloped resources but it can control much of the other areas with Petroleum anyone think that the soviets would hesitate to use their overwhelming Mili tary Power to assure their Energy needs the key elements of the president s Energy program appear primarily to in clude conservation and the development of alternate Energy sources. The conserva Tion proposals will necessarily entail considerable changes in life styles and Energy use even involving personal and family hardships. The development of new Energy sources will inevitably involve conflict with eco nomic programs and policies and be of in Terest and concern to Many business and labor leaders. It should not however be a politically partisan Issue. Its Success involves the welfare of All our people but the most Crit ical aspect is its vital influence upon our future National Security. Id pm Angeles Tim Roy Wilkins movement of welfare recipients to High Benefit states. Although in the six North Ern cities with the largest Black populations. Southern Black migrants Are less Apt to be poor or on welfare than Are Black natives in any Case the welfare crisis is primarily the property of a few such states. The most important form of assistance is Aid to families with dependent children Ardc. About one fourth of All Ardc recipients live in California or new York and More than a fifth live in new York City los Angeles Chicago Philadelphia or states Are not guilty of reckless largesse. Twenty eight states provide family of four with Cash benefits of less than jb8 a week which is not quite two thirds of the poverty Standard. Interstates Cash benefits supplemented by food Stamps come to less than j68.today, the food stamp program is the most vivid Symbol of the welfare crisis. It unquestionably 1s untidy. But it also ineffective in reducing disparities Between benefits in different states and other inequities. It includes the working poor and social Security recipients and is based on National standards of food needs. It is the kind of improvisation which although imperfectly conceived and administered has nevertheless improved the system. Carter has an Engineer s dislike of unti Diness and has vowed to scrap the existing welfare system and Start fresh. He will not do that either. There is no consensus about where to Start fresh so he too will wind up tinkering with the useful government often is a matter of incremental improvements achieved by tinkering at the margins of policies. In fact the following is a parable for Reform ers a town s electricity Generator failed and various engineers were unable to fix it so an elderly professor was summoned. Reexamined the , then tapped it lightly once with a Hammer and Power was instantly restored. He submitted us Bill for $1,000.02 and itemized it tapping $.02. Knowing where to tap 1,000." two front situation for the Black Soldier the Black Vietnam Veteran of Chelate War in that unhappy country was Fol Lowed _ Home after discharge from the army by a whole Host of gripes every Veteran of any War has been not the least of which is color of skin. In the first place Black Vietnam Veter ans had a War to fight that had nothing to do with patrols or front line fighting or helicopters or Booby traps. It consisted of re lating to soldiers who were White especially to those who were in command Ana to those who were not in command but told lies no matter How preposterous. In the Spring of 1977 Black veterans Are getting jobs Here and there because of the ruling of the equal employment Opportunity commission Leoc that it is an act of racial discrimination in itself for a prospective employer to even ask for a Dis charge paper. In such a situation a Blac Veteran holding bad paper solves his employment problem for the moment a least and is no longer seeking to have his discharge upgraded. It is not that they need the veterans benefits now said Julius Williams then Acap Veteran affairs director but for the future. These benefits include lifetime hospitalization medical care pension for no service connected disabilities an Home Loans plus whatever social Security they May have earned As Black soldiers in whatever capacity have found that they have a two War Situa lion facing them the Black front and the White front with every Man willing to Sac Rifice for god and country no matter at what Price. In world War i they were expected to fight for democracy even As Lynch mobs roamed the United fought for democracy for White men and Only taunts for themselves. In world War ii the korean War and All the rest the negro troops fought negroes Don t hold out much Hope of the system rectifying itself. They Point out that the rate of promotion for Whites i four times the rate for Blacks which Means the Whites will always be ahead. As one Black noncommissioned officer put it when you come in you take the air Force s qualifications. I graduated from High school in 195s. I got substandard Edu cation compared to White cos my age. They can Progress because their Bette Basic education puts them in another career Field. No matter How hard i study ican t Advance now. On a promotion exam n0rut&few.spats that a of up in Byfield i have to score Damn near perfect. In my Field my score has got to be phenomenal or i am out of it in terms of promotion. That is what is killing so it is was and shall be. " it tin it Alstn my Tolu film
