Clinton addresses survival, education with visit
President mourns disaster victims, speaks to students
By James Thomas Snyder
Daily Bruin Senior Staff
Bill Clinton’s back-patting Northridge visit provided time for
the president to make bold policy pronouncements relating to
college students, Japan , and earthquake recovery.
Most significantly, Clinton expanded on an earlier proposal to
make some education costs after high school tax-deductible, by
updating it to allow write-offs of all post-secondary education
expenses.
"We ought to make all education expenses after high school tax
deductible," he said. "We made interest paid on all mortgages
tax-deductible, and why? Because owning a home was important to the
idea of the American Dream. In the 21st century, you may not get
the home ownership if you don’t get the education. Let’s make that
tax deductible."
The collegiate crowd showered the announcement in applause and
cheers.
Earlier, the president asked for a moment of silence for the
victims of the 7.2-magnitude earthquake that hit western Japan
yesterday, a year today after the Northridge quake rolled across
Los Angeles.
"I’ve already dispatched a high-level team including members of
our FEMA to try and help them with some of the lessons that we
learned here," Clinton said.
In addition, General John Shalikashvili, Chairman of the Joints
Chiefs of Staff, is in Japan and has offered help from the large
American military presence there.
But Clinton used most of his time hailing the joint recovery
efforts among federal bodies such as FEMA, state agencies and local
governments as evidence that government can make a difference in
people’s lives, contrary to the prevailing feeling among disaster
victims and the Republican-controlled Washington.
"At this time, we know that government cannot really solve
problems for people," Clinton said. "But we also know that
government cannot walk away from people either."
Sounding the many themes of bipartisanship arising from the new
Republican control of Congress, Clinton used the Northridge
recovery efforts as a hallmark of no-nonsense, nonpartisan
cooperation in face of adversity.
Clinton recited a list of impressive earthquake recovery
accomplishments, saying they were the result of a positive
cooperative spirit.
"This was because we put aside politics, and because we worked
on being partners," he said.
The president followed his note of conviviality by rejuvenating
a "New Covenant" combined with his proposed Middle Class Bill of
Rights to counter the popular Contract With America that
Republicans rode into office last year.
The New Covenant began originally as a proposed campaign slogan
in 1992 to announce Clinton’s brand of New Democrats, recalling
Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s New Deal and John F. Kennedy’s New
Frontier. Democrats drafted the Covenant to instill a reciprocal
relationship between the government and its citizens  no more
something for nothing. But the administration never adopted the
slogan formally.
Clinton’s remarks  made in South Central Los Angeles on
Monday and in Northridge  appeared to revive the Covenant
idea.
"The New Covenant comes down to this," Clinton said. "We deserve
opportunity, but we have to earn success."
Reaction to the speech was mixed.
"It was too political. We’re in Northridge, he’s on the campaign
trail. In theory, a tax-free education and a chicken in every pot
sounds great. It’s a great place to kick off his campaign," said
Don Romo, an employee at the Ventura County Housing Authority.
Lisa Saborio, a second-year law student at UCLA, had her own
take on the collaborative earthquake recovery effort. Working for
an advocate of poor families hurt by the quake, Saborio said the
wealthy areas of the Valley received help while the poor
suffered.
"I saw a lot of people fall through the cracks," she said,
including immigrant families who were intimidated by requests for
proof of citizenship to qualify for government disaster relief.
The two-day presidential visit to Southern California began in
South Central Los Angeles where he defended the National Service
Program known as Americorps. House Speaker Newt Gingrich has
criticized the program, which gives money for college to young
people who work on social service programs, as "coerced
volunteerism."
Following his speech, Clinton left Los Angeles to visit flood
damage in Northern California. The president has declared much of
the region a disaster area, availing federal disaster relief funds
to flood victims.
With reports from Phillip Carter and Gil Hopenstand