News stories from Thursday January 20, 1972
Summaries of the stories the major media outlets considered to be of particular importance on this date:
- President Nixon delivered two State of the Union messages to Congress, one detailed written version and a 30-minute television speech. Nixon is seeking action on unrealized goals that were set in his 1971 speech: welfare reform, revenue sharing, government reorganization, health care, and the environment. Senator William Saxbe called the President's speech "excellent". Rep. Gerald Ford said that he is impressed with the new proposal for financing education with less real estate tax, but Rep. John Ashbrook criticized the President for not cutting back ineffective programs.
Senator Edmund Muskie said that Nixon's proposals are not good enough; Senator Hubert Humphrey wants more specifics; Senator Henry Jackson referred to the speech as the Republican party's political campaign platform. Alabama Governor George Wallace stated that he is pleased with President Nixon's plan to return schools to local control.
[CBS] - In his speech, President Nixon disclosed more military expenditures in the 1972 budget, including funds for a submarine missile launcher. The action is being taken in order to prompt more Strategic Arms Limitation Talks with Russia. [CBS]
- A U.S. Phantom jet was shot down over Laos; the crewmen were rescued. South Vietnam is preparing for another Tet offensive by the North, so U.S. troops have been flown into the Central Highlands, where the offensive is expected to occur. Amercian B-52s bombed Communist troop concentrations near border areas. [CBS]
- Five U.S. soldiers were listed as killed in action in Vietnam last week; 26 were wounded. [CBS]
- The U.S. delegation to the Paris Peace Talks pressed the Communists for information on American POWs. Ambassador William Porter was absent; he is reportedly back in Washington for a conference with the President and the State Department, seeking a strategy to break the impasse at the talks. [CBS]
- The Air Force Academy is investigating cases of cheating by nearly 40 cadets. A similar investigation in 1965 caused the resignation of 170 cadets. [CBS]
- President Nixon is addressing himself to the economy and unemployment. He stated that "we will break the back of inflation", with the goal being full employment in peacetime. Treasury Secretary John Connally emphasized that controls will remain in place until the goal of reduced inflation is reached. [CBS]
- Personal income in the U.S. rose 6.5% in 1971 to $857 billion. [CBS]
- President Nixon proposed a new plan for financing schools -- a national sales tax could be implemented to ease the burden on property taxes. The President says that the new program will give local school boards control of schools, and will aid communities and schools that can't raise taxes. [CBS]
- An Air West DC-9 was hijacked in Las Vegas. The passengers were released in exchange for two parachutes and $50,000. The hijacker then ordered the plane to Denver and bailed out over Colorado. [CBS]
- British unemployment passed the one million mark for the first time in 25 years. [CBS]
- In Rhodesia, Africans continued to protest white rule. [CBS]
- Protests continued at the University of Madrid in Spain after the suspension of 34 medical students who were seeking higher subsidies. [CBS]
- The Interior Department plans to sell oil and gas leases off the Louisiana coast which are being blocked by environmental groups. [CBS]
- The state of Arizona ordered copper smelters to cut sulfur dioxide emissions by 90% within two years. [CBS]
- The EPA is asking the Justice Department to sue an iron ore mining company which has been accused of dumping waste into Lake Superior from its Silver Bay, Minnesota plant. [CBS]
- Dade County (Florida) banned the use of phosphate detergent. Miami housewives are getting bootleg detergent from Broward County. [CBS]
- Florida prison officials announced that there will be no further acceptance of inmates due to overcrowding. A circuit court judge threatened a contempt suit, but the ban continues. At Lake Butler, Florida, prisoners who were interviewed testified to crowded conditions; there are four men to each one-man cell. [CBS]
- The McGraw-Hill Book company and Life magazine have decided to postpone publishing Howard Hughes' biography pending an investigation of the check which was paid to Hughes for publication rights. [CBS]
- Lee Otis Johnson, a civil rights activist, was sentenced in Houston, Texas, in 1968 to 30 years in prison for giving one marijuana cigarette to an undercover agent. A federal judge has now ruled that Johnson's trial was unfair. [CBS]
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Stock Market Report
Dow Jones Industrial Average: 910.30 (-4.66, -0.51%)
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* |
| January 19, 1972 | 914.96 | 103.88 | 18.80 |
| January 18, 1972 | 917.22 | 104.05 | 21.07 |
| January 17, 1972 | 911.12 | 103.70 | 15.86 |
| January 14, 1972 | 906.68 | 103.39 | 14.96 |
| January 13, 1972 | 905.18 | 102.99 | 16.41 |
| January 12, 1972 | 910.82 | 103.59 | 20.97 |
| January 11, 1972 | 912.10 | 103.65 | 17.97 |
| January 10, 1972 | 907.96 | 103.32 | 15.32 |
| January 7, 1972 | 910.37 | 103.47 | 17.14 |
| January 6, 1972 | 908.49 | 103.51 | 21.10 |