News stories from Wednesday March 24, 1971
Summaries of the stories the major media outlets considered to be of particular importance on this date:
- The Senate voted 51-46 against funds for the SST, a major defeat for the aerospace industry, the AFL-CIO, and President Nixon. Senator William Proxmire was delighted but Senator Henry Jackson said that the vote was for "negativism" and he regrets that thousands of workers will lose their jobs as a result.
Eighty thousand people worked at the Boeing plant in Seattle a year ago, however soon only half that number will remain. President Nixon called the vote a severe blow to American aerospace leadership.
[CBS] - South Vietnam ended its operation in Laos as North Vietnam chased the retreating South Vietnamese forces to the border and shelled Khe Sanh, South Vietnam. North Vietnamese troops also staged ambushes along Highway 9 inside the South Vietnam border. [CBS]
- North Vietnamese negotiators called off the Paris Peace Talks session scheduled for tomorrow, protesting U.S. air raids against North Vietnam. [CBS]
- Defense Secretary Laird has said that North Vietnamese counterattacks are what cut the Laos operation short. But a Pentagon source claims that South Vietnam President Thieu refused to commit more troops to the operation, crushing the hopes of U.S. commanders for South Vietnam to stand and fight North Vietnam's attacks. It is believed that Thieu fears high casualties which would endanger his chances for re-election.
Senate doves were unusually quiet during the Laos operation, agreeing to tone down their comments to avoid domestic turmoil during the operation after they were assured that no American ground troops would be involved. General Vogt's briefing at the start of the operation proved to be over-optimistic due to faulty intelligence reports. The end of the operation may set off new antiwar activity in Congress.
[CBS] - The Democratic Policy Council called for total U.S. withdrawal from Vietnam by the end of the year. Council chairman Hubert Humphrey accused Vice President Agnew of waging "media guerrilla warfare." [CBS]
- Senator George McGovern introduced a resolution calling for U.S. recognition of Red China and said that Red China should be admitted to the United Nations as the sole representative of China. [CBS]
- Judge Reid Kennedy turned down a defense request that the jury speed up deliberations in Lt. William Calley's trial. [CBS]
- A federal appeals court upheld the right of southern localities to redraw school district lines, but only to improve education and not to preserve segregation. A tie vote in the Supreme Court upheld a New York state law against defiling or casting contempt on the U.S. flag by word or act. [CBS]
- President Nixon requested that Congress combine the Peace Corps, Vista and other volunteer organizations into one organization called "Action". [CBS]
- The Senate confirmed the nomination of Frank Carlucci as director of the Office of Economic Opportunity. [CBS]
- The Nixon administration asked Congress for licensing authority to permit the limited use of DDT and other pesticides, but Environmental Protection Agency director William Ruckelshaus stated that the U.S. must either ban DDT or let everyone use it. [CBS]
- Cleveland, Ohio, was left out of Railpax's revised nationwide passenger railroad network, leaving the city with just one commuter train. Railpax claimed that it cost $4 million per year to include Cleveland in the network. [CBS]
- Joseph Bonanno owns two companies and some property along the railroad spur line where stolen Penn Central Railroad boxcars were found. Bonanno said he answered all questions put to him by a Philadelphia grand jury, and claimed that he is innocent. [CBS]
- British actor Laurence Olivier was admitted to the British House of Lords and is now Sir Laurence Olivier. [CBS]
- The end of the Laos operation has started a new debate about the Vietnam war. Arguments about the success of the operation are in terms of how and when to withdraw more U.S. forces from South Vietnam. Any change in President Nixon's Indochina policy will be the result of pressure from the American people who are fed up with the war. [CBS]
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Stock Market Report
Dow Jones Industrial Average: 899.37 (-9.52, -1.05%)
Arms Index is the ratio of volume per declining issue to volume per advancing issue; a figure below 1.0 is bullish. | |||||||||||||||
| Market Index Trends | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date | DJIA | S&P | Volume* |
| March 23, 1971 | 908.89 | 100.28 | 16.47 |
| March 22, 1971 | 910.60 | 100.62 | 14.29 |
| March 19, 1971 | 912.92 | 101.01 | 15.15 |
| March 18, 1971 | 916.83 | 101.19 | 17.91 |
| March 17, 1971 | 914.02 | 101.12 | 17.07 |
| March 16, 1971 | 914.64 | 101.21 | 22.27 |
| March 15, 1971 | 908.20 | 100.71 | 18.92 |
| March 12, 1971 | 898.34 | 99.57 | 14.68 |
| March 11, 1971 | 899.44 | 99.90 | 19.83 |
| March 10, 1971 | 895.88 | 99.30 | 17.22 |