Block · one region of the page, as the scanner read it. It may hold a whole story, part of one, several, or an advertisement; stitching blocks into articles is the next step. Text is supplied OCR.
Page 4 · column 6 of 6 · from the scan, no model involved
eight (count em) telephone calls!
As if all of the above were not enough, there are many other costly programs which must be undertaken during the next decade or so, most of which could be roughly described as a kind of deferred maintenance. Thus, during their recent meeting in Chicago, the nation’s governors focused on repairing the nation’s infrastructure — i.e., highways, bridges, dams, air, rail, mass transit, water and sewage systems. The governor’s Task Force Report estimates a cost of $1 to $3 trillion for transportation alone within the next 20 years.
This is the price of past neglect, of deferring maintenance, while we indulged our penchant for building Star Wars and Stealth bombers.
Finally, as a nation we must face up to the fact that our urban centers are increasingly affected by drugs, violence, lawlessness, and decay, which make them unfit to live in. During the Reagan years, the rich grew richer, the poor poorer. The cost of ameliorating the results of a decade of social neglect, and restoring civility and mutual respect in our society, will be incalculable.
And since the national debt has been trebled during the Reagan years, budget considerations have caused the nation to be frozen in the ice of its own indifference.
Mr. Sweet shudders to think where we might be headed if Gov. Dukakis had been elected last November. For my part, I shudder to think where we have been headed for the past decade. I also shudder to contemplate the nation’s continuing refusal or inablility to address its real problems.
LEE BIRD
Washington
97.1%