News stories from Tuesday September 13, 1977
Summaries of the stories the major media outlets considered to be of particular importance on this date:
- Bert Lance said he would not quit as President Carter's director of the Office of Management and Budget. This contradicted expectation among some members of the administration that he would step down after testifying before the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee.
A national bank examiner's testimony, made public at the committee's hearing, tells of a discussion Mr. Lance had with an official of the Comptroller of the Currency about dealing with restrictions against one of his banks should he be appointed to a high government position and thus become the subject of an F.B.I. background check. The discussion was reported to have taken place before Mr. Carter's nomination. The currency official told the committee he did not recall any such discussion.
[New York Times] - President Carter's campaign promise to choose United States attorneys on a basis of merit rather than politics has led to a major conflict in the Department of Justice. It involves Attorney General Griffin Bell and Peter Flaherty, the Deputy Attorney General and former Democratic Mayor of Pittsburgh, who is said to have emerged as an outspoken advocate of a merit basis for the retention and selection of federal prosecutors. [New York Times]
- Secretary of Labor Ray Marshall said the Carter administration's economic program was not meeting some of its goals, and called for more fiscal stimulus. Addressing the National Association of Businessmen, he urged steps specifically to create jobs for blacks and young people. It was believed to be the first such call for more economic stimulus from a cabinet member since the Carter economic program was enacted.
A different view came from Charles Schultze, Mr. Carter's chief economic adviser, who said that economic recovery showed few signs of slowing despite some slackening in the third quarter. He did say, however, that if growth started fading, further tax reductions and job stimulus measures might be required.
[New York Times] - Stock prices were sluggish on the slowest trading day of the year, but the Dow Jones industrial average finished with a razor-thin advance of 0.18 to close at 854.56 points. It narrowly averted setting a new 20-month low. Observers said celebration of the Jewish New Year, Rosh Hashanah, was one reason for the slow pace. [New York Times]
- Medicare patients will pay a larger share of hospital bills starting next year because of continually rising hospital costs, Joseph Califano, the Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare, announced. Mr. Califano said he took the action reluctantly and only because the law gave him no choice in the matter. [New York Times]
- Mark Rudd, who led the rebellion in 1968 at Columbia University and has been a fugitive from justice since 1970, plans to turn himself in Wednesday to the office of the Manhattan District Attorney, according to his lawyer. He did not disclose Mr. Rudd's whereabouts or why he had decided to face misdemeanor charges arising from the student rebellion. [New York Times]
- Support for Mario Cuomo from the largest union of New York municipal workers is expected tomorrow. Victor Gotbaum, executive director of District Council 37 of the State, County and Municipal Employees, said it was leaning toward support of the Cuomo candidacy in the runoff of the Democratic mayoral primary. The union was neutral in the first primary. Mr. Cuomo has also met with Albert Shanker, president of the United Federation of Teachers, who had supported Mayor Beame and publicly argued with Mr. Cuomo's rival. Mr. Koch.
Mr. Koch will get endorsement for the mayoral runoff from most of the black political establishment in Manhattan, including Representative Charles Rangel, Basil Paterson, former Democratic vice chairman, and state Senator Carl McCall. On the record, the leaders said Mr. Koch had been more specific in promising consultation with them than Mr. Cuomo. Off the record, some said he had indicated support for City Clerk David Dinkins as Democratic county leader.
[New York Times] - The struggle over Ogaden, a vast arid region of Ethiopia, pits the desert-loving Somalis against the Ethiopians, who continue to hold the strategic cities of the highlands, from which they could counterattack. The Somalis regard the Ethiopian presence as an "occupation" made possible with the help of European powers in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The Somali aim is a "Greater Somalia" that would include Djibouti to the north and a part of northern Kenya to the south. [New York Times]
- Pakistan's election campaign begins this week, leading to elections in mid-October. Asghar Khan, leader of the National Alliance, the loser in the March election which was blighted by irregularities at the polls, said he expected a genuine exercise of democratic franchise as the country renews its search for political stability. Zulfikar Ali Bhutto of the rival People's Party that was turned out of office by the army in the persistent disorders that followed the March voting, is fighting criminal prosecution while he continues to work on his election campaign. [New York Times]
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Stock Market Report
Dow Jones Industrial Average: 854.56 (+0.18, +0.02%)
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* |
| September 12, 1977 | 854.38 | 96.03 | 18.70 |
| September 9, 1977 | 857.07 | 96.37 | 18.10 |
| September 8, 1977 | 868.16 | 97.28 | 18.29 |
| September 7, 1977 | 876.39 | 98.01 | 18.07 |
| September 6, 1977 | 873.27 | 97.71 | 16.13 |
| September 2, 1977 | 872.31 | 97.45 | 15.62 |
| September 1, 1977 | 864.86 | 96.83 | 18.82 |
| August 31, 1977 | 861.49 | 96.77 | 19.08 |
| August 30, 1977 | 858.89 | 96.38 | 18.22 |
| August 29, 1977 | 864.09 | 96.92 | 15.28 |