THE PEOPLE'S FORUM
THE PEOPLE'S FORUM Welfare Facts Dear Sirs: Like many critics of the present welfare program, Representative Morris K. Udall is not well-informed about the facts. In his article, "A Scandal...
...Langdon C. West Arlington, Virginia U.S...
...dogtooth violet...
...Note, however, that a mother of three who already has a job at $4,800 and applies for welfare would be refused a welfare payment because, as an applicant, she is not entitled to the $30 and one-third disregard...
...Coretta King, speaking of the six young men shot in Augusta, Georgia, said that the United States "is the most violent nation in the world...
...Because journalism schools persist in turning out virtual robots, our society is plagued with mechanical pencil-pushers who all too often are concerned only with the hours they work, the vacation schedule, and their employers' overtime pay rate...
...In that instance the Federal Communications Commission forced the telephone company to reinstall the telephone—I believe on the grounds that the company was not required to force collection of the tax and thus could not take punitive action...
...that New Jersey with 58.3 has about the same proportion as West Virginia, Georgia, and New Mexico...
...After all, Thomas Jefferson said, "Truth is the sufficient and proper antagonist to error, error ceasing to be dangerous when it is permitted to freely contradict it...
...illustrated the meaning of sexism all the more convincingly because it was written by a man who, in other matters, is invariably on the right side...
...George J. Gessner Kingsville, Texas...
...It was a revolting article, the worst thing I've seen in your pages...
...May apple...
...hepatica...
...Under present law, this woman will be $1,800 a year better off if she takes the job...
...and that Illinois teams up with Kentucky and Tennessee with rates in the low forties...
...Udall says, "Common sense would suggest that we encourage her to take the $4,800 job and let her keep perhaps $1,500 of the welfare check...
...I should like to hear of other cases...
...Udall also asserts that the "welfare system, like a huge magnet, draws millions of poorly trained, poorly educated people off the farms and out of the rural areas of our country into the already crowded cities...
...But others did, and so we got to know it, too, and its sweet fragrance...
...So I was somewhat distressed when I read in the May issue that the Borlands gathered it, while the plant was still in bud, to use in a salad...
...in the March issue erred in saying that the article was representative of Mr...
...A little later in the spring, the violet...
...Let us be more concerned about the destruction and death caused by our military adventure in Southeast Asia and the injustices forced on many citizens here at home...
...wind flower...
...Now the Army has undertaken a multimillion-dollar advertising campaign to promote military interests...
...I don't support all that students are doing, but I firmly believe that those who destroyed the ROTC building at Kent State, and elsewhere, have a deeper moral regard for the best interests of this country, and for humanity in general, than have those persons who planned and ordered (and who support) the intervention in Vietnam and the invasion of Cambodia...
...Since July 1, 1969, states have been required to let the mother "keep" (that is, not deduct from her assistance payment) the first $30 of weekly gross earnings plus one-third of the balance...
...We had to remove shoes and stockings, and wade into the marsh to get it...
...I refer to the failure of our journalism schools to offer programs which strive to instill in their students job sensitivity, professional pride, and an awareness that the future of our democracy depends to a large extent on their commitment to a free, open, and just society...
...Mayer for documentation of his claim that telephones are being removed by the telephone companies for tax refusal...
...and others...
...Yet we find that AFDC recipients per 1,000 population are about the same in Louisiana (69.7), New York (67.4), and Mississippi (62.4...
...These data do not support the thesis that, relative to population, the large cities are bearing the brunt of the welfare burden...
...The only wild thing we children ever found that was edible was the rather firm center of a weed that grew in the city (actually, vacant lots) which, for some reason or other, we called "cheeses," although there was no resemblance in form or taste to cheese...
...I agree that "nothing is as good as asparagus," the aristocrat of vegetables...
...In his article, "A Scandal Called Welfare," in the May issue of The Progressive, he asserts that, under the present law, a Mississippi mother of three who goes to Newark, New Jersey, and gets $4,160 a year in welfare will be worse off by $500 if she takes a $4,800-a-year job as a waitress, because then she will have to pay $1,200 for transportation, uniforms, and day care for her children...
...If there is any light at all in the tunnel we are in, it is because of the growing number of students and other young people who are rejecting the shallow and materialistic values of this society and who are determined to make some basic changes...
...Only when her annual earnings are $8,520 will all welfare be discontinued...
...I always find Hal Borland's pieces in The Progressive a delight, and his "May: The Real Greening," with its philosophical content, provides much food for thought...
...The voices of the men who have actually been in the war deserve to be heard...
...Duscha failed in his article to mention a prime cause of the inadequacy of media news today...
...John Weismiller Lawrence, Kansas Equal Time for Peace Dear Sirs: When medical evidence established the fact that the smoking of tobacco products was dangerous to human health, the cancer and heart associations asked for and received equal time on commercial radio and television to counter tobacco advertising...
...S. Vanauken Lynchburg, Virginia That Borland Salad Dear Sirs: A "city child," I, with my brothers and sisters, often roamed beyond the confines of the city limits and into the woods, where we learned to know the springtime wild flowers: the jack-in-the-pulpit...
...If her earnings increase she will be able to "keep" one-third of the increase with two-thirds going to decrease her welfare check...
...spring beauty...
...Art Landes Yellow Springs, Ohio Vietnam Veteran Survey Dear Sirs: The views of Vietnam veterans have been almost ignored in the national debate on the war...
...If this were true, we would expect that, relative to population, the largest numbers aided would be in the states with the largest cities...
...and to allow her to "keep," in addition, an amount for work expense and child care...
...Adele Schmitz New York, New York Questions Telephone Removal Dear Sirs: As a tax resister for the last three years and as a religious pacifist, I want to extend my heartfelt thanks for Milton Mayer's article, "April 15: If You Want Mylai, Buy It...
...But perhaps the cowslip is in more abundance in Connecticut than in Wisconsin...
...This is where the real violence is, and this is the violence to which young people are reacting...
...And how else contradict it...
...As a tax-resistance counselor, I have done some research on this point, and I know of only one case in the nation, in Mississippi, where this action was taken...
...But the "how to do it" courses still thrive on most campuses along with journalism history and counseling about the amount of pay which a journalism graduate should seek...
...bloodroot...
...Because I worked for more than a decade on newspapers, I, too, have sought explanations in this regard...
...It is my opinion that Mr...
...Most Violent Nation' Dear Sirs: Much has been said and written recently about student violence on the campuses— and that it must be stopped...
...We never did find the arbutus, which was said to grow on the steep banks of the Milwaukee River...
...Maybe fairness dictates that peace-minded organizations, such as the American Friends Service Committee, receive equal time during prime-time hours to counter this advertising...
...Mrs...
...The Wright Institute is conducting an extensive survey of Vietnam veterans' views on the war...
...George A. Colburn East Lansing, Michigan Mayer Superb, Revolting Dear Sirs: Hortense Miller's letter in the April Progressive about Milton Mayer's "A.M.E.N...
...Mayer...
...We will be happy to furnish a copy of the report on the survey to each veteran who participates...
...Finally, the welfare reform measures so far proposed require state supplementation of the basic Federal payments only for families where the father is not in the home...
...Thus, the "incentive" for fathers to leave home so that their families can get more assistance remains a feature of welfare reform...
...I am much more concerned about the far greater violence that our society does to many of its citizens here at home and that which this country is committing in Southeast Asia...
...One needs no other proof of the justice of women's cause...
...But I can't agree with him that Charles Reich's The Greening of America doesn't make very good sense...
...Such programs might produce a badly needed new style and tone in the media...
...the trillium...
...But everything else Hortense Miller said was true...
...King was not referring to student violence...
...A little later, the marsh marigold came into bloom, and it was always one of my most prized...
...However, I should like to ask Mr...
...A.M.E.N...
...The present law does even better than common sense...
...Perhaps because it was harder to reach...
...His "April 15: If You Want Mylai, Buy It," in the April issue, was superb, as have been many other articles by him...
...We invite such veterans who are readers of The Progressive to take part in the survey by writing and asking for the Vietnam Survey from R. Duckies, The Wright Institute, 2728 Durant Avenue, Berkeley, California 94704...
...Robert Duckles Berkeley, California Journalistic Robots Dear Sirs: In Julius Duscha's article on the Washington press corps (April issue), the author attempts to explain why there is a dearth of investigative reporting in the media today...
Vol. 35 • June 1971 • No. 6
