European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - November 1, 1987, Darmstadt, Hesse Page 10 columns the stars and stripes sunday november i 1987 Carl Rowan Market crash a tip of worse Fate if debt not Cut the Stock marked seem to be recovering from the great october crash of 87, but amidst the debris Are millions of victims and a lesson we ought to tired. There can be Little rejoicing Over a recovery be cause millions of people suffered losses so great Dur Iii the panic of Black monday and inc had am of Gray tuesday thai they now Lack the resources with which to participate in later rallies. So these americans Are the primary victims of a society s refusal to learn a lesson about selfishness and greed. In the face of a rising sea of red Ink americans with the ability to pay lanes so As to avoid colossal budget deficits listened to the it Iago Gutry of politicians rail ing against lax increases. They preferred to mortgage inc futures of their children and grandchildren by Liv ing the Good life on credit and by making the United Stales the world s number one debtor nation. The anti tax gang argued that he deficits did t really Mailer pretending that his generation could refuse to pay As you go without anyone Ever being seriously wounded when the due Bills came in. Even while calling for a constitutional amendment to balance the budget president Reagan was equipping hat he was t worried about the budget deficit because it s big enough to Lake care of not much of a joke now today a lot of americans Are saying i d gladly have paid a link or orc axes if i d had any idea that the budget deficits would help trigger a Wall Street debacle that would wipe out most of my greedy Bankers helped cause the worst Day in our Stock Market s history by raising interest rates unnecessarily. Now some of those Banks Are lowering inter est Rales having seen that inc interest hikes will gain them nothing in the face of a frightening Market plunge that the Banks helped to precipitate. Then there is this snooty Binge of americans feeling less than important if they Don t drive a Mercedes or a Dat Sun watch a Sony to and Wear shoes made in Italy. We have been on a Drunken Binge of buying foreign luxury items that Cost umpteen billions More than the revenues from what we can sell abroad. So we have been ringing up record Trade deficits another powerful Factor causing a Drift toward the col lapse or the . Economy. But we be been lulled into an Al Nissl Deac a slumber by the foreign Money that has been pumped into the . Economy in general and the Stock markets in particular. We saw this week How much we had be James Kilpatrick come hostages to inc greed and need of faceless bul Rich people m other lands. And we became Giddy when we cashed in on inc corporate mergers the takeovers that reflected our government s new mentality thai says to hell with Llie Ami Trust Laws let s merge Lake something Over or whatever and gel Rich Las month s record plunge in Stock prices is Only a warning of worse things to come if we continue of refuse to pay today for inc activities and services of today s government if we go on refusing to educate our children so they can compete in an increasingly technological world and if we remain so gluttonous that we cannot curb our App critics for luxury imparts from abroad especially from countries that Are not giving us a fair Chance to compete. The Stock plunge seems to have awakened president Reagan be fact that even in his lame Duck cry he May Prev Over an economic calamity Akin to the great do pression. For the first time during his tenure in the White House or. Reagan seems to understand that he cannot cling blindly to his opposition to unpalatable programs to reduce the Federal deficit. He clearly knows that an economic collapse would enable democrats to compare him with Herbert Hoo ver and virtually ensure that the next occupant of he while House will not be a Republican. So or. Reagan is Likely much Loo late to agree to a lax increase. Fol Nanti aft to. Red Talb safes with lotteries undermine Public virtue the Commonwealth of Virginia appears to be on the verge of doing a most in Virginia thing. Barring a last minute upsurge of no Voles the peo ple of this staid and often Stuffy state will legalize the numbers Racket. They will vote on nov. J in favor of a stale lottery. The Prospect As the Washington Post is so fond of saying fairly boggles the mind. Should Virginia have a slate lottery should grandma Wear miniskirts from the Days of inc venerable George Mason Virginia has adhered to the concepts of frugality Temperance moderation and virtue. These Are the fundamental principles 10 which Virginia recurs. It seems unthinkable that the Commonwealth would legalize gambling in this fashion bul the polls say it looks hat Way. I Hope the polls Are wrong. New Hampshire started this pernicious business in 1964. Since then lotteries have proved so popular among state governments that 2 states and the District of Columbia now have them in operation. Six other states Are poised for action. There is even talk of a National lottery. What has got ten into us ii is government s insatiable love of Money. In 1983-86, according to figures compiled by the Council of state governments ticket sales in slate lotteries amounted to an astounding $12.2 billion a 20 percent gain Over the previous year. After prizes sales commis Sions and overhead expense have been paid about 35 percent to 40 percent of Gross Revenue typically reverts to the state treasuries. Proponents of the Virginia lot Tery talk grandly of Gross sales a few years hence of s8s8 million with a 1400 million net. To obtain thai lucrative level half of All families in Virginia would have to bet More than $1,000 a year on lottery tickets. That seems unlikely but it would be a Lovely chunk of dough. This is like finding a j5 Bill on the sidewalk. Lot Tery profits Are Gravy. The slate performs no useful Public services to obtain the Money. Unlike taxes which Are paid under compulsion revenues from a state lottery Are voluntary. Evidently the people who buy the tickets find pleasure in taking a Chance on instant wealth. What s wrong with having a Little fun at the risk of sounding Loo virtuous for words a risk thai arises from living for 46 years in Virginia let me suggest a few reasons. No. 1 is that government should confine itself to inc business of governing and running a lottery has nothing to do with running a state. Governments have no business in the gambling business. The slates thai embrace Public lotteries undermine Public virtue. They invite social evils. Virginia s pending pottery act prohibits the state from advertising for the primary purpose of inducing persons to participate in the lottery but if revenues fail to come up to expectations that prohibition will not remain Long in the Law. Meanwhile the very act of slate sponsorship is in Ruelf an inducement. An inducement to what to Gamble. That is the Long and Short of it and it is a terrible example of right conduct for a stale to set before its people. In the Case of Virginia and this is True of other states there is no demonstrable need for the unreliable revenues thai a lottery May produce. This Commonwealth has a comfortable surplus. When genuine needs become evident a resp Uit stall legislature has shown its willingness to raise taxes the old fashioned Way. An ambitious program of Highway construction is being financed by a straightforward in crease in the tax on gasoline. Virginia s frugal tradition opposes the creation of new bureaucracies and new social program rail the act that would be triggered by tuesday referendum would create an entirely new department of state government with apparently unlimited Powers to hire personnel and to turn Over to the Commonwealth u much or As Little As a rive member Board might decree. The stale s Cut whatever it amounted 10, would be available to the general Assembly As fun Money to be used for any legislative purpose that could not otherwise command support the legislators May not need the Money but they would want the Money. They would have All the pleasure of spending it without the pain of raising it. This Way lies the kind of bloated government that Virginia traditionally has abhorred. It would be an exercise in futility to urge those governments now operating lotteries to abandon them. You can t do much with unrepentant drunk. But in would be a pity to see sober Virginia like Hamlet s Pufta and reckless libertine tread Down Ihu Primrose path. Tow an in biix41m3 m Cotuna of
