Into this vale of tears some joy must fall. On Oct. 1, the Community Services Administration, slated for interment by Richard Nixon in 1969 when it was the Office of Economic Opportunity, became the first important federal agency to go out of business since WWII. (Comments Ronald Reagan: “A government program is the nearest thing to eternal life we’ll see on the earth.”) . . . On the same day, Washington Post front-pager reported massive slashes in the staff of the Environmental Protection Agency. Administrator Anne Gor-such plans to cut 30 per cent of the staff (3,200) by 1983. . . . Meanwhile, the Justice Department reports it will continue to prosecute discrimination cases but will not go that one step further and insist on preferential hiring, which, says Civil Rights head William Bradford Reynolds, smacks of “meeting discrimination with discrimination.” . . . Latest Times-CBS News poll shows Reagan’s approval rating has slipped to 53 per cent from June high of 59 per cent. But the latest Gallup show the people favor giving the President’s economic program time to work by a 2 to 1 margin. . . . Datum: All sorts of celebrities turned out for Ralph Nader’s 1,000-buck-a-plate Gala Tenth Anniversary (of his public ministry) Dinner in Washington last week; not a single congressman or senator put in an appearance.
Looking ahead: Robert Redford indicates he may be interested in running against Sen. Orrin Hatch in Utah. A recent (Deseret News) poll there shows that in any such contest Hatch would lead Redford 69 to 18. Same poll, however, showed Democratic Gov. Scott Matheson ahead of Hatch (49 to 41). … In New York, an AP/WNBC poll shows 7 out of 10 voters hope Gov. Hugh Carey does not run for re-election next year. … In Massachusetts, Tip III, the Lieutenant Governor, is running hard, but his target seems not to be his boss, conservative Democratic Gov. Edward J. King but former far-from-conservative Gov. Michael Dukakis. . . . New Jersey poll (Penn and Schoen) gives Jeff Bell a 2 to 1 lead over other likely Republican candidates for Sen. Harrison Williams’s seat, except for Rep. Millicent Fenwick. Poll was taken before Mrs. Fenwick, 71, announced that her doctors would not oppose her running. … In Virginia, a possible senatorial run by Republican Rep. Paul Trible is now considered likely and could be source of rumors that independent Harry Byrd may move into the Republican Party. . . . New York’s redistricting could put two conservative freshman congressmen, John (Harvard Hates America) LeBoutillier and Greg Carmen in the same district. (One of Carmen’s legislative assistants is Eugene Meyer, son of Frank and Elsie.)
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