European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - September 14, 1977, Darmstadt, Hesse Page 10 the stars and stripes wednesday september 14, 1977 no.3 Aid official quits in conflict with director Washington up Frederick t. Van Dyk third ranking official of the state department s Agency for International development has resigned Over policy Dis agreements with the Agency s leadership an Aid official said monday. Aid is headed by former Ohio gov. John f. Gilligan. Van Dyk said he resigned Over Sharp disagreements with Gilligan but one Aid official said. I am not aware there were any Sharp disagreements Between him and Gilligan and i Don t think Gilligan is the official said however that personality differences Between Gilligan and Van Dyk May have something to with the Resig nation. I guess it s a matter or style or degree of emphasis the official said. The official said Van Dyk just walked in last week and told Gilligan he was he has to submit his resignation to president Carter but the official did not know whether he had done so As yet. Van Dyk said in statements to the new York times that he had resigned because of policy disagreements with Gilligan. Jack Gilligan and i Are great friends and remain so Van Dyk told the times. But we have disagreements Over the management and policies of development assistance. Therefore i think it is better that he find someone More in agreement with his own out new wage floor called threat to 2 million jobs Washington a the . Cham Ber of Commerce says a proposed mini mum wage increase would cause the loss of two million jobs by 1980. Either through layoffs or by discouraging employers to hire new workers. Suits filed to guard Elvis trademark Beverly Hills Calif. Up owners of the Trade marked name of the Laie Elvis Presley began a series of Law suit monday against unauthorized purveyors of souvenir merchandise seeking to Capi Uili a on the Wido publicity and emotional reaction to the recent death of the Rock n Roll Singer. Factors etc., inc. Claiming to be sex Elu Sive Licensee for the Presley family filed a $5 million action in new York Federal court against creative card co. Of Chicago pos Fermat. Inc., special card and gift mall and the card Center All of new York. Factors lawyers said More suits Are due. The first action seeks an injunction and an accounting of All moneys received to Date for unauthorized Elvis Presley merchandise. Judge Charles h. Tenney set a preliminary hearing in the Case for thursday. The chamber s chief economist or. Jack w. Carlson said that the greatest effect would be on those least Able to protect themselves and already suffering from High he mentioned teen agers workers be tween 20 and 24 years of age workers Over 55, women and minorities. The House is considering a Bill that would increase the hourly minimum wage from the current $2.30 to $2.65 on Jan. 1. President Carter and organized labor Back the Bill. Future increases would be tied to the nation s hourly manufacturing wage. Under the formula the hourly minimum would go to an estimated $2.89 in january 1979 and about $3.15 in january 1980. It would remain at 53 per cent of the manufacturing wage thereafter. An estimated 3.1 million american workers Are paid the minimum wage. . C Price hikes labor costs would increase by 4.1 per cent for All businesses and Consumers would experience a 2.7 per cent increase in prices because of higher labor costs by Jan. 1, 1980, Carlson said in a Telephone interview. Carlson said about 60 per cent of the Job loss would come from discouragement of those looking for work especially Young people just out of High school. An employer might say the Federal government just increased the minimum wage. I could hire you at $2.30 an hour but Competition in my Industry won t allow me to pay More. Federal Law says i have to pay $2.65, so i m sorry i can t hire out of the Hospital Fri director designate Frank Johnson or. Right accompanied by or. Michael Debakey who operated on John son to Correct an aneurysm of the abdominal Aorta tells reporters in Houston hell be ready for Senate confirmation hearings in about two months. Debakey said Johnson is in excellent condition and that there were no complications. A photo environmentalists list filthy 5 Trade groups assailed on water cleanup role Washington a an environmental group monday dubbed five Trade associations the filthy five for allegedly trying to sabotage the nation s water pollution clean up program. Collectively the filthy five represent industries which have 353 major facilities illegally polluting the nation s Waters said Peter Harnik of environmental action a group that describes itself As a citizens lobbying organization for the environment. The Trade associations comprising the filthy five Are the american Iron and steel Institute Edison electric Institute manufacturing chemists association american Petroleum Institute and Ameri can paper Institute. None had any immedi ate comment. Paper Mills steel blast furnaces chemical factories Oil refineries and elec tric Power plants together account for 63 per cent of All Industrial facilities currently violating Federal clean water Laws said Harnik. We have labelled these Trade associations the filthy five because of their avowed efforts to gut the Federal water pol Lution control program. Each is lobbying in Congress to make dirty water a permanent . the 1972 clean water act requires industries to use the Best practicable technology to combat pollution by 1977. It requires industries to use the Best Avail Able technology by 1983 and to eliminate All polluting discharges into the nation s Waterways by 1985. We re not talking about an impossible dream said Harnik who noted that a number of industries already have met the so called Zero discharge goal. He said the five Trade associations currently Are lobbying Congress to weaken the Law. We feel their strategy is to do the least possible Harnik added. The wages of sin still not so bad tax Wise Washington up for som couples the wages of living in sin amount to a is Able tax break. The internal Revenue service acknowledges this but a tax expert on Ca Pitol Hill notes it is difficult under our progressive tax system to devise a schedule that is absolutely fair to eve almost every year around Christmas Lime a couple Breaks into the news by announcing they Are flying South for a quickie divorce will remarry after Jan. 1, and will pay for the vacation with the tuxes they save As single wage earn ers. The fact is most of those blabber Mouths will be hauled into the irs arid required to file a joint return. The annual stories which rarely in clude the fact the practice violates a july 1, 1976, irs ruling give Rise to grumbling from working married Cou Ples. But both the congressional commit tees involved and the White House report a surprisingly Small amount of mail on the subject. A spokesman for the House ways and Means committee says that panel gets a total of about 100 letters a month from both married couples and singles complaining about the unfairness of the system with married complaints having a slight Edge. A Senate finance committee spokes woman said that committee gets Only 25 to 50 complaints a month from both marrieds and singles and it has dropped drastically from that in the past month for some unknown reason. And the White House says it s not a hot they be Only gotten five let ters about it in the past few weeks a spokesman said. For years the tax rate paid by single persons was far higher than that paid by married couples who in addition had the advantage of filing joint returns which reduced their tax base. In 1969 Congress attempted to narrow the inequity by decreeing the rate for single persons could be no More than 20 per cent higher than the rate for a childless married couple. But since a married couple can get Only one Standard or itemized Deduc Tion and singles Are each entitled to the deduction and because a pooled $20,000 income has a higher tax rate than two single $10,000 incomes the total tax now is lower for some single couples than for their married counterparts. And the changes came about just As the number of working wives in creased so More married couples Felt the Impact. Singles complaints increased this year after the 1977 tax reduction act mainly because the former $2,400-a year Standard deduction was Cut to $2,200. They also complain that a single person with the same income As the joint income of a married couple pays up to 20 per cent More in taxes. The ways and Means spokesman said there will be attention Given to All these problems in the new tax Reform Bill but it is difficult under our progressive tax system to devise a schedule that is absolutely fair to everybody. The complaints of both the married and single persons could conceivably be met but there would be a Large Revenue Drain As a
