ER 27,1978
For the Record
ae
iy AMS
From a commentary by Walluce
Terry on WDYVAM-TY:
The trials of Rep. Charles Dipes anu
city: Black people are as law and order
orjenled as anyone, perhaps more so,
and black people expect their black
ay
\nat ah
mr
Joseph P. Yeldell prove two assertions
about justice in a predominantly black
leaders to uphold the public trust as
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When I came lo this city 20 years ara,
the House District Committee was run
by Southern bigots and the city was administered at the top by whites. When
Mr. Diggs took over the cammitles and
Mr. Yeldcll became the manager of the
mammeth Departinent of Human Resources, they wielded as much power in
District affairs as anyone except the
mayor and the president of the United
\
a
Weed(a
ine
wellas anyone, perhaps more so.
S
Lo
oy
Stales.
Charged with diverting some $60,000
Measiatistie
Wish
i
In government payroll funds to his own
use, Mr. Digas faced a jury of 11 blacks
and one white. Charged with accepting
a bribe, Mr. Yeldeil faced a jury of 12
blacks.
ved
Some people wonderedit those juries
could be impartial, They reealled the
Watergate defenders whe belicved that
they could net geta fair trial in the District because most jurors are Dem ,
ecrats and black. Mr. Diges and Mr.
Yeldelt are both. And besides, Andrew
Young and Coretla King testified for
Mr. Diggs, while the Yeldcll supporters
said there man was the victim of « inedia vendetla and a while-power plat.
But both juries convicted, sending a
loud, clear message: You can't expect
special treatment in a D.C, courtroom |
because you happen to be black. And *
‘
whatever your accomplishments have been in behalf af blacks, you must not
~
betray the lrust of your office. Noone, *
black or white, is er should become
that high or that mighty.
Ogre KHERLote,
i
:
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Tax ‘Rewards,’ Not Penalties
The current tax-relief lJegistation
the cost of borrowing hasn't effec.
should be Included, discouraging the
again, hetween those whe stand to
benefit from it and those who don’t.
Tf the Congress ts interested in cool-
only increased the cost of living for
couraving larger proportionale down-
has sparked @ political debate, once
ing the inflationary trend that crip-
ples everyone, why not draft a tax-relief bill that relicves everyone?
The Federal Reserve Board is attempting lo slowinflation by reducing
the growth of the money supply—speevically, ali cash in circulation and
money in checking accounts (M-1). The
Fed is particularly’ bothered by consumer credit and, when it raises inter.
esl rates, consumers are discouraged
from borrowing because the cost is
made prohibilive. The danger is that
the Fed will be too successful, and the
economy will plunge into a recession,
as it did in 1974.
But this fs x society dependent
upen Installment credit. Increasing
lively curbed credit-buying. It- has
everyone. No one exists In today’s
economy without borrowing of some
kind, and borrowing Increases the
money supply, which fuels inflation.
The soltution is obvious, if Congress
would take the Fed's cue, Why nota
system of rewards instead of penallies?
For example, a‘tax credit on the
downpayments made for Installment
(purchases. If, the downpayment
amounts to at least 10 percent of the
total price of a car, appliance or boat,
the consumer gcts a tax credit for 10
percent of the amount of his down.
payment. If dhe consumer puts down
25 percent of the totel amount of purchase, he writes off 25 percent of the
amount of that downpayment on
April
15.
Realestate
mortgages
MGIC 95 percent mortgages, and enpayments.
- The dollars spent up front will, In
large part, come from M-I, and the
growth of the moncy supply will be
slowed, as the proportion of the totai
amount borrowed will decrease, In
other words, the growth In the nujnber of installment loans will not decrease, {hus jobs are spared; but the
growth rate of nonproductive dollars
en taan will be quelled.
‘The end result 1s that Congress has
reduced the federal governinent’s
take, for conslructive purposes—that
is, reducing lhe growth rate of the
money supply through rewardiog
consumers rather than penalizing
them.
:
Germantown, Md.
JEFF GARVER