Sunday, October 2, 1988
In the Shadow of the Partition
Tonight the 24 Summer Olympic Games had their closing ceremony in Seoul. These Games took place in the shadow of the partition between North and South Korea. Fearful apprehensions had preceded this Summer Olympics that there could be disturbances brought on from the North and domestic violence in the South. Nothing of the kind happened. The Games were well organized and passed without an incident. After a long time, both East and West participated again in a Summer Olympics. Athletes from 160 nations competed in these Summer Olympic Games.
Government Reshuffle in Moscow
In no time over the weekend, the government in Moscow was reshuffled - the constitution was amended, the Politburo renewed, and Mikhail Gorbachev unanimously elected President of the Soviet Union by the Parliament. Gorbachev consolidated his position and moreover paved the way for his reforms.
South Bend, October 13, 1988
The Last Debate on Television before the Election
George Bush and Michael Dukakis squared off in the second and last debate before the election broadcast tonight from Los Angeles. They discussed primarily the major issues of this campaign. There were areas of agreement, but in the course of the debate, two clearly different points of view on national problems were presented to the American electorate. Altogether, George Bush emerged as the more convincing candidate from this debate.
October 26, 1988
A Brave Rescue Mission
In an effort that had lasted for three weeks, the two Californian gray whales were rescued today. The two whales were trapped in the ice by a sudden onset of cold weather at the northern tip of Alaska near Barrow. At first, the Eskimos sawed out big holes in the ice so that the mammals could surface and breathe; then, helicopters dropped heavy concrete blocks on the ice; and finally, two Russian icebreakers plowed a path through the thick sheet of ice so that the two whales could swim out to the open sea. This brave rescue mission was followed with great interest by a worldwide audience on television. It certainly evoked a stronger international awareness of the importance of nature conservancy and the protection of animals in the wild.
South Bend, October 30, 1988
The Mountain of Debts
At the end of the fiscal year 1988 on September 30, the high American budget deficit and national debt was made public. According to the fiscal report, the federal government has a deficit of 155 billion dollars and the national debt has increased to 2.6 trillion. The government pays high interest for the bonds every year. The federal government had for the last time in 1969 a balanced budget. It will be one of the most urgent tasks of the new administration to reduce the accumulated mountain of debts.
Addendum
[The deficit of the federal government doubled in the following years, while the national debt increased threefold. Only in the second half of the 1990s was it possible to have the deficit under control. On February 2, 1998, President Clinton could, for the first time in 30 years, present a balanced budget for the following fiscal year. That goal was reached by discipline in spending and increased tax revenues during the economic boom of the 1990s. The budget for 1999 of 1.73 trillion dollars was not only balanced but also showed a substantial surplus. That was the turning point from years of deficit spending to a long-term surplus in American fiscal policy. The tax reduction policy of President George W. Bush at the beginning of his term in office in 2001 relied on the projected budget surplus for the ten years ahead.]
[Transl: Unfortunately, the budget surplus was short-lived. Following the terror attack on September 11, 2001 and the war in Afghanistan and in Iraq, the budget deficit again reached record highs.]