European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - September 25, 1985, Darmstadt, Hesse Page 10 the stars and stripes wednesday september 25, 1985 columns David Broder there s still time Tor significant Federal tax Reform there is a Chanc even at this Lute Dale for pics Idem Reagan to Salvage something substantial from a session of Congress that has been More of a shambles than Llie Triumph to which his second term landslide might normally have entitled him. The something is no cheap symbolic Victory but a major step toward the overhaul of the Federal tax code inc goal which Reagan up at the lop of his wish list Back in january when the election mandate was fresh and shiny. Since then the president has been forced to sound Retreat on defense spending to accept a budget that fell far shod of dealing with the deficit problem and to Sec much of his social Issue Agenda rejected. This month he is scrambling to find compromises that will spare his policy on South Africa Ana on for eign Trade from being run Over by a rebellious Republican senate1. The Only thing hat can Rescue this year from going into the record books As inc year the Reagan revolution ran aground is a breakthrough on inc big tax Bill. And Given the widespread belief that Reagan has failed to ignite the voters passion for what he likes to Call America s la plan a Victory on this measure would seem like a real Long shot. Bui it s a Long shot that can come through. The chief reason for making thai rash judgment is a bit o political perversity this is one Issue where the divided party control of Congress works to the presi Dent s advantage. The Best political operatives in the administration Are convinced that they can gel a serious substantive tax Bill through the House before halloween. They believe this because chairman Dan Rostyn . D-iji., of inc House ways and Means commit tee has set that As his timetable and Rostenkowski is in a position to deliver. By Force of personality More than by intellectual dominance the Veteran Chicago demo crat has begun to build into his fractious committee a sense of the discipline he Learned in the Daley machine. Those who attended the committee s Retreat recently in Virginia were impressed by the group spirit Rostenkowski has built and by the absence of doctrinaire or demagogic debate on the tax Bill. Slowly and patiently to Slonkowski has managed to cultivate the notion among his colleagues that this is the Opportunity for ways and Means to demonstrate that the cynics Are wrong. This is their Chance to show that they Are not so hog tied by the Campaign contributions they have received not so subservient to the lobbyists that surround them that they cannot legislate in the National interest. To Slonkowski s Molivas Are Complex but powerful and he is ready to ride his committee hard in closed door markup sessions and to make the Compromise there that will prevent the Bill from being picked apart on the House floor. The substantive issues arc serious but after James Reston sack in the main the re trial they do not seem insoluble As Long As Rostenkowski can maintain the camaraderie within his committee. If the democratic House passes a Strong tax Bill by a big bipartisan margin in october As now seems possible the political heat will shift to the Republican Senate. No one in the administration is kidding himself about the Senate s wish to Duck defer or defeat the whole Reagan inspired scheme. The Senate cares More about the deficit Trade farm supports foreign policy and a other things than it docs about lax Reform. It has its own ideas on rewriting the tax code which arc far removed from Reagan s or to Slonkowski s and tend to favor some form of consumption or business Transfer tax left to its own devices the Senate might Well Post Pone lax Reform right past the 1986 election to hold it hostage for Reagan s acceptance of a lax increase. Bui if Rostenkowski delivers on schedule Reagan will have an Opportunity to capture the momentum of his House Victory and Tell inc Republican Senate i want you to Deal Wilh this tax Issue in Novemb As responsibly and promptly As the House has done in october. Despite their claims that the Calendar is running out on Senate action this year it might be hard for majority Leader Bob Dole r-kan., and Senate finance commit tee chairman Bob Packwood r-orc., to refuse such a request from a president about to leave these shores for a Summit meeting with the Leader of the soviet Union. What the so talc Puls in the Bill is probably less important to the administration than its moving a measure to passage before adjournment. The final tax terms will be written in the House sen ate conference committee in any Case. But if both Cham Bers pass tax Reform in 1985. There is Little risk it will die in conference in 1986. Instead the Odds would be Good for Reagan receiving a delayed Christmas present soon after Congress re turned in january and before in received his new budget and resumed ils Nurmi pattern of kicking Rea Gan around. Cd Waim nalon poll Reagan s courts will be around for years of come like All members of inc human race members of the supreme court of inc United slates have birthdays. This is usually noted around Washington at the opening of the court s autumn term especially last week sept. 17 on the 198th birthday of inc Constitution when chief Justice Warren Burger of Minnesota and associate Justice Lewis f. Powell of Vir Ginia both turned 78. The supreme court has not become the conservative Baslin the democratic leaders feared when Ronald Reagan was cd cried and re elected. He has been Able to appoint Only one member the conservative Sandra Day o Connor to replace the Liberal Potter Stewart. And with the tendency of associate Justice Harry a. A Heckmun to Vole More often than expected with the Liberal Wing the bal Ance today is nol Al that different. In the lower Federal courts How Ever there arc Many changes. Since he entered the White House in 1981. Rea Gan has appointed More than 200 District and appeals court judges most of them carefully chosen to respect his conserva Tive philosophy. By the end of his second term noted the Wall Street journal he will Proba Bly have named More than half the 743 Federal judges in inc country. That says Fred Fielding who monitors judicial appointments in the White houses a legacy that will last Long beyond his and mini oration " Justice department officials concede not Only thai they take care to inquire into a prospective candidate s background and judicial philosophy before recommending nomination but that this prac Tice will probably be followed More care fully under attorney general de Meese. They arc particularly interested in How a candidate approaches questions of Abor Tion affirmative action and first Amend ment rights and insist that these arc merely established procedures. Former Carter administration officials say that while they often discussed such concerns before appointing judges they never did so to the extent now prac tired by the Reagan White House and Justice department. One of the various private conservative organizations that Are Active in screen ing judicial applicants is the Center for judicial studies headed by James Mcclellan. Former aide to sen. Jesse Helms . The Center is said to have the cooperation and financial support of the moral majority foundation and other right Wing groups interested in Pirp Chuat my their conservative Agenda through the courts. Liberals meanwhile arc establishing their own organizations to combat the of r j a Rebhl we factions and seeking funds through prominent National publications to do so. One of these is people for the american Way founded by the television producer Norman Lear an based in Washington. Sheldon Goldman a professor at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst has published a study of the first term judicial appointments of Reagan and concluded that 98 percent of them Are re publican 93 percent White 92 percent men and Over 20 percent of them million Aires. At the same time the american bar association which has evaluated judicial Apponi mmunts for Many years rated More than half of Reagan s appointees As exceptionally Well qualified or nevertheless while nobody not even the president or attorney general Meese can foresee How their judicial appoint ments will vote in the future any More than for could the fact remains that a most intense Campaign is now being waged to assure that As Reagan s Power slips in his second term he will leave behind a Federal judiciary he Hopes will be faithful to his views. Ice new York 11,1. " lnta11 " Tipre tied m the columns Troj cd tent 00mi Iho 0 the Lut Hoft end Fri in no wtv1 store mating Iho of the Slowi w tilted s ate g a i
