European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - May 27, 1985, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 10 the stars and stripes May 1985 columns Tom Wicker Buchanan touting fax plan for the Middle class Patrick Buchanan came out of the closet in one of his first inter views since becoming White House communications he described presi Dent reagans tax Reform proposals As a program for main Street that could bring the working the Middle class massively into the Republican and so it might Pat Buchanan May be an ideologue but he knows his lower tax rates for eliminating taxes altogether for doing away with the loopholes and shelters that allow corporations and the wealthy to evade All or most of the taxes they should and the abolition of most of april 15s dam Nable paperwork that an obvious prescription for Success for the party that can claim to have done reagans program will have a Clear Bias toward the towards Small business and new investment and Buchanan told Ber Nard Weinraub of the new York in a speech to a conservative he said this will reach working class this is a reach for the conservative move ment to bring these people into the re publican three sizable problems nevertheless stand in the Way of the Buchan an vision of a new Republican majority party based on tax Reform and simplification the democrats can hardly be expected to treat Buchanan remarks the president also has talked of bringing More ethnic americans into our fold As a Call to bipartisan cooperation for needed tax yet con Gressional veterans of both parties believe Mary Mcgrory that a tax Reform As sweeping As Reagan proposes can Only be passed As was the Case with social Security Reform in 1983 with the support of both in the Case of tax major interests real High tax states like new York will be opposed to one or All of the Reform provi Sions that touch them they will not be slow to cooperate with each other to defeat these perhaps gutting some of the most important re if not the entire in such circumstances bipartisan sup port for the Reform package and bipartisan Compromise on its essentials Are be although the blatant partisanship expressed by Pat Buchanan will not real bipartisanship might not yield the republicans All the political manna he the the Bradley Gephardt Bill after first in the tax simplification Field and democrats can imagine Riding this vehicle Back into the favor of the Middle class quite As hopefully As Pat Buchanan sees the republicans finally regaining majority its True that the democrats All but destroyed their Opportunity by not running on the tax simplification Issue in but they do control the House and its ways and Means com the constitutionally commanded source of All tax legislation and Senate votes on the budget have shown that on major questions like tax demo cratic help will almost surely be needed by the narrow Republican so if republicans want to make tax simplification a partisan the democrats Are Well Able to respond in kind which probably would doom any Bill this year and in the election year after which the democrats might control both houses of Congress and seize the initiative from a Lam Duck reagans the president has retreated in significant respects from his own Treasury departments plan to put All taxpayers on a level playing Field by the elimination of most Loop holes and he actually has reduced the maximum capital gains rate from the current 20 to a break for the the Treasury had proposed to tax capital gains like any other Reagan has decided to treat depreciation allowances for business More generously than under current but less so than Treasury proposed he has rejected the Treasury plan to tax Charita ble contributions of stocks and other property at original Cost rather than mar Ket another break for the wealthy and he is reported to have agreed with Oilan Gas lobbyists to retain the Indus try percentage depletion allowance and immediate write off of intangible drilling for an annual loss of billion in How will these retreats sit with individuals who Are losing their deductions for state and local taxes and in some cases for mortgage interest and charitable contributions at the reagans re treats May give the democrats Opportunity to claim that their Bill not that of Pat Buchanan Boss is really the one for main Street and the working the Middle new York times Syndicate reagans Hurt feelings evolve into foreign policy t hop a in a we the Trade embargo that president Reagan dropped on Nicaragua As he headed out on his euro Pean so Hurt him More than what the state department Calls the target reagans action had the predictable out come the europeans were even Helmut reagans faithful German could not Italy promptly announced plans to go ahead with a million Power Plant project in latin american countries rallied to their sister when assistant Secretary of state for Inte Rameri can affairs Langhorne Motley was asked at a House hearing what countries do support the he said Al a reply that caused some he he said provide a list of others for the but since the Only two to come for Ward Are other Honduras and Costa no one that the catcalls will change reagans his visit to Pitburg proved that he Doest mind his stubbornness is a pillar of Amer ican foreign Secretary of state George Shultz said that perception of american weakness seems to mean Reagan changing his mind is the most destabilizing Factor on the global at Home the reaction is not the majority of american citizens have tuned out reagans premise that Nicaragua is picking on Many were emotionally watching retrospective on two world War ii and one an engulfing the other a mistake of a kind that we May repeat in this nobody noticed the National emergency that the president claims propelled him to at the hearing where Motley witnesses from the Treasury and Commerce departments gravely an Al Zed the effects on our budget our foreign Trade and unemployment they assured the members that the United states will survive a loss of Trade with a beat up Little country the size of no one mentioned the Impact on the the fact that the people who dont have much to eat anyway will now have less did not come apparently someone at the state department gave fleeting thought to the Prospect that Reagan might be seen As taking bread from the Mouths of hungry the problem was dealt with in summary fashion under the familiar Rubric that nothing Reagan Ever does causes human a spokesman put out the word that it was not reagans responsibility for the current economic plight rests squarely on the shoulders of the we Are not to it is possible that nicaraguans will dutifully rail at Daniel Ortega for their new deprivations and specifically exclude Reagan from their curses Over the Lack of spare parts when their tractors break Reagan Mav indeed have had no rancor in his heart against the people of Nicaragua when he imposed he was really furious at the House of repro which had the effrontery to turn Down his request for humanitarian Aid to the who Are contributing so materially to the inhumanity in Nicara the in was Busy fashioning a suitable punishment for that other hardheaded Daniel for his untimely trip to members were so embarrassed by Ortega insensitivity to their feel Ings that they Are going to vote for Contra Aid As soon As they the next time reagans feelings Are he will probably put a ban on travel to thou Sands of americans have gone there to see the threat Lor fear for the National Security is alleviated by first sight of with its endless vistas of vacant and evaporates totally on touring a Countryside Replete with ragged Many dogs and spa ined 6 the Reagan administration has attempted to discourage these encounters with Fri agents Contact returning travellers with chilling requests to visit and see their they make sure that the tourists have not brought Back any marxist Leninist lice in their Lus e the Appeal of the nicaraguan for the american is not primarily the country needs everything that we Are Good at and it is starting which we once Long Theale continue sponsors report no drop off yet in reservations we can Hope that some factual element May creep into the Washington is practising what Calls the politics of bruised i to u is not important if you have occasional starvation or even what matters is that people know How much your feelings have been c 1985 Universal press Syndicate