Path: bloom-picayune.mit.edu!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!news.media.mit.edu!americast.com!americast.com!usa-post Newsgroups: usa-today.issues From: usa-post@AmeriCast.Com Organization: American Cybercasting Approved: usa-post@AmeriCast.com Subject: issues Tue, Jun 16 1992 Date: Tue, 16 Jun 92 05:20:20 EDT Message-ID: 06-16 0000 DECISIONLINE: Issues & Debate USA TODAY Update June 16, 1992 Source: USA TODAY:Gannett National Information Network Here are some of the issues and topics being debated across the nation Tuesday morning in USA TODAY: Russia; Quayle. TODAY'S DEBATE - RUSSIAN AID: USA TODAY'S OPINION: Russian President Boris Yeltsin's summit with President Bush this week is no time for the USA to be smug. Or complacent. Or chintzy. For while the West has won the Cold War - at a cost of trillions of dollars - only a transformation of the ex-Soviet regimes to free economic and democratic politics can secure a lasting peace - and save additional trillions. Yeltsin's reform government is dismantling a military machine that provides a quarter of all Russians with jobs. While here, he hopes to get President Bush's support for $4 billion in immediate loans from the International Monetary Fund to help do the job. ... Congress and President Bush seem to be holding back. Bush hasn't pushed hard for his aid proposals. So, the Senate and House have tied up a $450 million package of direct aid along with a $12 billion increase in future U.S. commitments to the IMF for Eastern bloc loans. ... Such niggling ... ignores the lessons of history. When the USA has helped to put former enemies on the road to freedom, as it did after World War II, the nation has prospered. OTHER VIEW: DOUG BANDOW, acting director of the Cato Institute Project on Global Economic Liberty: Russian President Boris Yeltsin is visiting, and the Bush administration wants Congress to write him a big check. Aid supporters argue that Russia can move to capitalism and democracy only with the assistance of the West. Many Europeans voice similar sentiments, but they are more worried about the former USSR's $62 billion debt, most to European banks. ... There is no reason to believe that foreign "assistance" will help the Russian people. It is no secret why the former Soviet Union collapsed economically: a disastrously collectivized economy. Thus, the necessary reforms, starting with widespread privatization, are obvious. Moscow shouldn't have to be bribed to do what is in its own interest. ... If Western transfers alleviate the symptoms of the decaying socialist system, Russian politicians will feel less need to risk the political consequences of dealing with the root causes. ... The transition of the former Soviet republics to capitalism and democracy will be painful; but, unfortunately, Western money cannot change that. VOICES ACROSS THE NATION ON DAN QUAYLE'S TALK OF FAMILY VALUES: GASTONIA, N.C., Debbie Taylor, 26, material coordinator: It will help him. Welfare is not handled well. A lot of people could work like I do, and many people on welfare are unwed mothers. They know if they have kids, we'll support them. Young people see Murphy Brown and think, "I can do that, too." WASHINGTON, D.C., Adriana Villars, 36, hotel sales executive: It definitely does not help. Working women feel Bush is not doing much for us. There are a bunch of us who are single mothers and do a lot for this country. He's calling for a traditional family living in the suburbs, and we think family values are much more than that. ERIE, Pa., Thomas Bolan, 64, travel agent: It hurts him because Quayle has no reputation and seems shallow. I don't believe anything Quayle says. I will definitely not vote for Bush. Bush sends his lackey out and then denies knowing what he is saying. OTTOVILLE, Ohio, Sheila Korte, 46, welfare fraud investigator: He's alienating people, especially with Murphy Brown. She should have pleased the Bush administration; she didn't have an abortion. I heard Quayle was talking about moving the homeless off the streets before the convention. Great: Hide your dirty laundry. MILL VALLEY, Calif., Jeff Berner, 51, author, photographer: I heard Quayle is spreading rumors that Bill Clinton is the father of Murphy Brown's baby. Seriously, I'm glad he brought it up, but he's just being opportunistic. Our values have either gone down the toilet or been coopted by fundamentalists. That's a wide gap. Issues & Debate Editor: Beth Mann. (1-919-855-3491) Making copies of USA TODAY Update (Copyright, 1992) for further distribution violates federal law. This article is copyright 1992 Gannett News Service. Redistribution to other sites is not permitted except by arrangement with American Cybercasting Corporation. For more information, send-email to usa@AmeriCast.COM