Word: draconianism
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...certainly should be--pressure to meet the deficit ceilings it mandates. "Whatever the outcome," said Reagan in his weekly radio address Saturday, "we intend to go forward with our plan to bring the federal budget into balance by 1991." In one respect, Reagan's 1987 blueprint is less draconian than expected. It edges below the $144 billion deficit target with a $38 billion package of spending cuts and revenue proposals, rather than the $60 billion outlay reduction that had been predicted. The reason: the Administration now estimates that the deficit will drop about $20 billion partly through the increase...
...less draconian solution would be to designate narrow sidewalks in the city as umbrella-free zones, thereby limiting hand-held canopy use to broader walkways where they pose less of a threat. Zoning would have to be accompanied by strict pedestrian right of way laws to protect the rights of potential umbrella victims. Obviously, such laws would place an added burden on law enforcement authorities, but this cost would be more than justified by the benefit to the public safety...
...reform postponement was necessary to allow for a Senate-House conference on the disputed Gramm-Rudman amendment, a proposal designed to reduce the federal deficit to zero by 1991. The hastily drafted legislation, approved in the Senate by a 75-to-24 vote two weeks ago, calls for draconian spending cuts in many social programs and much of the military budget, and could transfer to the President a measure of Congress's power over federal appropriations. The amendment is attached to a bill to raise the Government's debt ceiling to more than $2 trillion. Without this increased borrowing power...
...truth. In fact, in his presentation, Cameron expressly rejected the "China Solution" of execution as morally repugnant. In fact, it was his repudiation of this option that moved him to consider the quarantine option as a drastic, but possibly necessary step to undercut the pressure for even more Draconian measures...
Obviously, although Harvard is under pressure to comply with the law, it does not have to be Draconian in enforcing it. Naturally, no savvy administrator would publicly announce a policy of leniency, and no student body would call for its announcement. Nevertheless, in paying lip service to the law, Harvard has fulfilled its moral obligation. There is a responsible way of enforcing the spirit of the law which need not treat students like children...