News stories from Saturday March 15, 1980
Summaries of the stories the major media outlets considered to be of particular importance on this date:
- Gerald Ford will not be a candidate for the Republican nomination for President this year. He said at a news conference that to enter the race at this state would "further divide my party," and that it was "the toughest decision of my life." [New York Times]
- The abrupt shift in economic policy taken by President Carter was defended by administration and monetary officials, woo said it could halt inflation and was worth the increased risk of a recession. Facing a controversy over the President's anti-inflation measures, the officials defended heir revised budget projections, which were substantially more optimistic about keeping spending down than the estimates prepared a week ago by the Congressional Budget Office.
How large a budget cutback is needed to balance it is one of the chief questions facing President Carter and Congress in reaching an agreement. Another question is how effective a more vigilant wage-and-price monitoring staff will be in enforcing the new 7.5 to 9.5 percent annual wage increase guidelines, especially in view of organized labor's recent statement that its participation in the guideline agreement was being "re-examined" because of rising inflation.
Stringent credit card requirements are in store for millions of people under President Carter's anti-inflationary proposals. They are likely to include faster repayment schedules and higher minimum payments, a reduction or perhaps elmination of the 25-day grace period before interest is charged and a shorter termination notice for delinquent accounts.
[New York Times] - Europe reacted enthusiastically to the anti-inflation measures announced by President Carter on Friday, with bankers and government officials applauding him for taking tough action. But the general feeling was that the measures should have been taken two or three years ago. [New York Times]
- Terrorists invaded the campaign office in Manhattan of George Bush, and, claiming to be members of a Puerto Rican extremist organization known as the F.A.L.N., intimidated campaign workers and demanded voter registration and telephone lists. Mr. Bush, who recently won the Republican presidential primary in Puerto Rico, had come out for statehood while campaigning there. A nearly identical invasion occurred at the Carter-Mondale headquarters in Chicago. [New York Times]
- Administration aides were surprised by President Carter's statement Friday night that the United States might renounce the strategic arms treaty even if Moscow continued to honor its terms. An aide declined to describe what special developments might lead the administration to reassess the treaty, but he said they would include any Soviet actions that, if taken while the treaty was formally in effect, would legally entitle the United States to withdraw. [New York Times]
- A reshaping of the federal judiciary has occurred since President Carter began appointing more black, Hispanic-American and female judges to the federal district courts and Courts of Appeals. He has appointed 27 black judges, 10 Hispanic Americans and 32 women. [New York Times]
- A multimillion-dollar aid campaign has been organized in the United States for a health center in Peking sought by Chinese health officials. The Chinese raised the idea of a health center with a visiting group of Americans, but the offer to organize United States help for the center, initiated by the head of the Squibb Corporation, has provoked a controversy in American medical and philanthropic circles over whether a $60 million health center is the best way to help China. [New York Times]