News stories from Tuesday November 16, 1971
Summaries of the stories the major media outlets considered to be of particular importance on this date:
- Department of Health, Education and Welfare Secretary Elliot Richardson is proposing that much of the Social Security reserve fund be used to defer tax increases; since 1935, Social Security payments have built up a reserve of $41 billion. The White House will push for more Social Security benefits without increases in withholding. The change will require the Social Security trust fund to carry only a one-year reserve.
President Nixon's political advisers want to make the Democrat-controlled Congress share the blame by proposing a change in accounting plans. If Congress approves, benefits will go up with little if any payroll deduction increases. Richardson recommends that President Nixon try it.
[CBS] - Railroads reported a tentative contract settlement with the Brotherhood of Railroad Signalmen. The settlement is thought to be a 42% wage increase over 3½ years, an increase which surpasses Pay Board guidelines. [CBS]
- The Pay Board met today to discuss the coal industry settlement. The board ordered the IRS to study the contract between the United Mine Workers and soft coal mining companies. [CBS]
- The Federal Reserve Board reported that industrial production increased only slightly in October. [CBS]
- The Chinese delegation in the U.N. voted "yes" in a 106-2 vote to ask the U.S. to prevent the importation of chrome from Rhodesia. South Africa and Portugal voted no; the U.S. abstained. Congress voted to allow the importation but President Nixon hasn't signed the bill. The Chinese representative also made a speech demanding that America get out of Taiwan and Vietnam, cut ties with Japan, and stop joining forces with the Soviets. The official word in Washington is that the Chinese speech was intemperate, but the administration really feels that China's first U.N. speech was merely routine Peking propaganda. [CBS]
- UPI reported that the Air Force is exempted from the stepped-up withdrawal from Vietnam. [CBS]
- The Senate sent legislation to the House to continue funding the foreign aid program for two more weeks. The bill is now in conference committee. [CBS]
- The Civil Rights Commission declared that little improvement was made in the past year and there will continue to be little progress until President Nixon makes a personal commitment to civil rights. The Commission's evaluation of progress in enforcement of civil rights laws changed from "poor" to "marginal". Part of the trouble is the government failing to impart to the public the urgent need to end discrimination. Commission members toned down their criticism at a news conference. [CBS]
- The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, a non-profit, independent organization, studied small cars and highway crashes, particularly head-on crashes between standard size models and economy models. Damage to the inside and outside of the cars was extensive; small cars were completely demolished but larger cars held up slightly better. A spokesman for the Ford Motor Company said that crashes seldom occur in the manner the institute showed.
Institute spokesman Dr. William Haddon stated that the occupants of smaller cars are exposed to far greater hazards than those of larger cars, and are not aware of the risk. Haddon estimates that 7,000 deaths occur yearly from head-on collisions.
[CBS] - General Motors has agreed to notify 760,000 owners of 1961-69 Corvairs of possible defects in heating systems. Repairs will be at the owners' expense unless covered under warranty. [CBS]
- Attica State Prison was opened to reporters for the first time since the September riots. Richard Clark and other leaders of the riot talked to reporters. Clark related grievances such as only being allowed to take one shower; inmates can't wear shoes, use soap, or clean up their cells. Clark's attorney told him not to answer questions about the uprising.
Clark said that the riot had 1,200 "leaders" and he noted that all inmates are subjected to the same conditions; he observed that what happened at Attica is happening at other prisons too. Other inmates told stories of harassment; prison officials denied the stories.
[CBS] - A Senate subcommittee headed by Abraham Ribicoff accused the federal government of not informing the public well enough about ineffective vaccines. The National Institute of Health's Division of Biological Standards tests vaccines for potency and safety but doesn't determine effectiveness as consumer advocates feel it should. Some scientists claim that they are prevented from publishing tests showing ineffective vaccines.
Four scientists in the 1960's found an influenza vaccine to be ineffective. Two were transferred and a third left the division. Doctors at the Federal Communicable Disease Center acknowledge that the flu vaccine was ineffective in its usual dosage, but the vaccine is still recommended for the old and chronically ill; the military is purchasing $750,000 worth this year. The vaccine has been found to cause cancer in laboratory animals, and was taken off the market -- three years after doctors pointed out its dangers.
[CBS] - Soviet spy Rudolf Abel, 68, has reportedly died of lung cancer in Moscow. After four years in an American penitentiary, Abel was swapped for American U-2 pilot Francis Gary Powers. [CBS]
- Los Angeles Mayor Sam Yorty will be in the Democratic presidential primary in New Hampshire, and the Manchester Union Leader endorsed Yorty. George McGovern hopes that Yorty will cut into Edmund Muskie's votes. Yorty is known as a maverick Democrat, hawkish on Vietnam and economically conservative. He will be selective as to which primaries he enters. [CBS]
|
Stock Market Report
Dow Jones Industrial Average: 818.71 (+8.18, +1.01%)
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* |
| November 15, 1971 | 810.53 | 91.81 | 9.37 |
| November 12, 1971 | 812.94 | 92.12 | 14.54 |
| November 11, 1971 | 814.91 | 92.12 | 13.31 |
| November 10, 1971 | 826.15 | 93.41 | 13.41 |
| November 9, 1971 | 837.91 | 94.46 | 12.08 |
| November 8, 1971 | 837.54 | 94.39 | 8.52 |
| November 5, 1971 | 840.39 | 94.46 | 10.78 |
| November 4, 1971 | 843.17 | 94.79 | 15.75 |
| November 3, 1971 | 842.58 | 94.91 | 14.59 |
| November 2, 1971 | 827.98 | 93.18 | 13.33 |