European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - July 16, 1988, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 10 the stars and stripes William Buckley Plant closing measure is popular but not right l"7_ _ a Al m Nann 4 ad-1 4 of. 1 the morning news tells us that Ronald Reagan has Given up on the 60 Day notice for Plant closings. You see said the commentator there Are Only 25 senators willing to stick with Reagan on an override so he d lose in the Senate. And in the House he just does t have the votes. So. Hell just let the Bill sit on his desk and it will automatically be come Law in 10 Days. The most satisfaction the president can get is to let the unsigned Bill be come an act without his signature. This step fatherly treatment will give him a Little satisfaction but it won t help the Republic. We have Here the locus classics of the political measure that everyone knows is wrong but everyone is afraid to vote against because it sounds so very simple you Don t let people go without giving them a few weeks notice. What Congress does t appear to know is that Industry needs to absorb in its own Way imposition on its Normal practices. If you have an operation that you Are struggling to maintain you will consider All alternatives. One of them is to continue the struggle at full velocity until your damage has reached a certain figure and then you give up cutting your losses As sharply As you can. A second alternative is to decide that two month before you would reach the cutoff Point you will make the decision to close an spend the Money saved in Severance pay ments. A third alternative is to Clos Down not two months earlier than you might otherwise but four months earlier because of the new act. It becomes one More Burden to Bear. Three fifths of All american Busi Nesses fail within two years of starting out. American business has Given jobs to 18 million people in the past 10  that with the performance of the europeans who Are approximately As wealthy As we Are with a population about the same size. They have create not a single new Job. We Are today employing a higher percentage of Ameri cans than at any time in history. And thesis in spite of the High incidence of failed business. So the question arises Ough Congress get into the business of specify ing what Are the obligations of enter Prises that have become marginal suppose that the idea is to found Small factory and the entrepreneur sets out to raise $1 million. But since the weekly payroll will be $50,000, now he has either to raise an extra $400,000, or else plan to abort the operation before the time Felt necessary to give it a reason Able Chance of Success. And then there is the entrepreneur who recognizes that the moment he announces that the Plant is going to close Down he will Start losing whatever in come he was getting. Everyone who lives in a municipality in which a newspaper or Magazine stopped publishing knows the experience. In my adult lifetime seven daily newspapers have closed Down in new York City and always those papers have announced at noon Ona monday that the following Day s Edi Tion will not appear. By serving 60 Days notice they would lose their advertising revenues and endanger their credit. The care of Laid off employees or of employees who suffer from a Plant Clos ing is clearly the business of the lab Runions bargaining with the Enterprise. These unions can look at the economic picture and tailor their demands to what is reasonable. Funds can be created to be invaded in the event of a Plant closing. But each Enterprise in this Way has the advantage of customizing the plan to the situation. The alternative is to Force the business to absorb into its contingency plans the Cost of closing Down. And to do this can Rob it of the flexibility needed in order to succeed. Here we Are with a record number of people employed the envy of the entire world and we proceed to Hack away at a system that has proved successful and humanitarian. We Are left to pity those men and women of conscience who know this but who do not dare to vote their consciences. Suppose one were to take the complementary position and pass a Law stipulating that no american can quit his Job without serving 60 Days notice inter Esting thought except it s unconstitutional. Section one of the 13th Amend ment proscribes involuntary servitude. Well Section two of the 13th Amend ment should proscribe involuntary employment. Universal press Syndicate a yes -1consipere? Man attractive opportunities beware m6�s� Jim Fain Meese among fhe worst attorneys Genera Ever the most damning thing about Edwin Meese Iii is his state of mind he s Waltzing off in the style of Gilbert & Sullivan convinced he was the very Model of a modern attorney general. He has not a clue As to How he went wrong. It was t the ethical sins. Like the Man himself they were Small bore Nickel and dime. Interest free Loans the Stock caper with w. Franklyn Chinn helping of buddy e. Bob Wallach make a few Bob on we tech and the iraqi pipeline. Not the Way to earn Merit badges of course but not what you d Call raids on the Treasury either. Meese is no Crook just a mite careless and to be Frank dumb. He s a genial Man totally out of his depth As the nation s chief Law enforce ment officer but personally kind and Al most pathetically smitten with the trap pings of office. Dashing around in helicopters to chop Down marijuana Bushes was a Gas for an old patrol car Buff whose father was clerk of Oakland s police court. De and Ursula became fix Tures on the official social scene about the second or third tier of what passes for Washington society. One Way you could Tell he was in trouble was when they no longer appeared on the guest Lis for every state dinner. Contrary to the conventional Wisdom they do not feel deeply wounded by this heartless City. They expect to live Here at least part time. Mos people who know them like them. Yet Meese is among the worst attorneys general the Republic has suffered. That s an imposing list ranging fro Harry Daugherty disgraced in Harding s Teapot dome to John Mitchell Nixon Mentor who served time for his part in watergate. Meese s failings which were spectacular came from the same banality of evil that characterizes Many Bland right Wing kooks. It s a fundamentally undemocratic View of what America is about abusing High sounding phrases such As original intent to mount an assault on the thrust of modern  idea was to reverse the gears of the court system on such matters As religion in schools abortion rights of defendants and privacy while whittling personal freedoms through compulsory drug test ing lie detectors and such. Like the Cap Tain in Vietnam he wanted to destroy democracy in order to save it. Cox news service