European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - May 28, 1986, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 10 the stars and stripes wednesday May 28, 1965 columns William Buckley tax Bill a progressive step toward economic sense a in. In a b.v1" sol the Only redeeming thing about Congress u wag remarked Only a few months ago. Is that sometimes it Joes the  to cd. The Rule in democratic situations i for parliamentary bodies to do thai which is not that which is not. Expected. Gul lilt sclerosis in Congress Hud become such Hal u Mere week or so ago. The Public was convinced thai Noth ing in the Way of a Reform Weald be forthcoming notwithstanding the Public clamor for in. For one thing. There were the infernal complications. There u of inc Regan proposal Back when he was Secre tary of the Treasury then there was he Reagan proposal then Hurt was the mouse of representatives proposal. You had to Ila lunch 24 hours a Day with the App Civie to to so exactly to remember which was the Bill that said this about the depreciation schedule and which was the Bill Hal said thai about stale tax deductions. What happened really was a lesion of Public interest. The average american figured nothing was going to happen. At that moment suddenly under he leadership of sen. Bob Rickwood a orc. The Senate finance committee struck. Twenty to nothing it is beyond memory hat any lax Bill Gol to Iii kind of endorsement front a committee. The Only equivalent sensation of recent memory is the cram or Kudman Bill which suddenly came before the Public rising Lite Venus from the sea unheralded unclothed and before you knew you had  Helms and Teddy Kennedy voting for a Bill that called for scheduled reduction in Federal spending across tie Board excluding Ecru in sacred categories if the budget did t Mutch a scheduled reduction in deficits. Bang bang bang and Gramm Rudman was the Law of the land. So it is As a starter with inc Packwood Bill. Now it has a considerable Way to travel. Under Senate rules dirty modification can be entertained an the floor and Many will be. But the package has the feel of an artistic creation defying improvisation. Few of us would resist the temptation if we had the Opportunity to add just thai Little extra touch of Blue or la Bend that Bronze Over just a Little Marc Hataway. At to change just slightly inc shape of the nostril when Given a piece of Art still malleable fresh from the creator s fingers. And no doubt senators will attempt their modifications of the Packwood Bill. And of course even if they do not succeed in will need to go into conference a get the collaborative acquiescence of the House. Bui Alghi now the inertia of that Bill is a Strong As Hal which has attached to any Bill in recent memory which encourages an assessment of it. However Prema Ture. What is most exciting about the Packwood Bill is less its economic configuration Hart ils implied philosophical premises. There Are american economists and James Reston Senate finance committee american social philosophers who would argue for this provision of the Bill or against it engaging respectful Public attention does it make sense la discontinue future iras at a time when we Are asking the people to Lake Steps to look after their Awn retirement benefits does in make sense to discontinue the investment Lux credit at a time when we Are worried about our Trade imbalance and desire More Industrial development and most important Are we by building up the business tax Packwood Calls for a no Nons Csc minimum business lax of 20 percent even though the maximum rate is reduced from 46 percent to 33 percent subsidizing a sleight of hand by which american taxpayers. Dreamily assume that because corporations Are paying the. Tax they Are relieved of it there s a fair amount of this kind of thing in he Packwood Bill Little slights of hand by which people s attention is diverted. For instance the lop Roie of Taxa Tion would now be 27 percent but an individual who has a taxable income of 187,240 would be charged 27 percent beginning with the first taxable Dollar substituting for the conventional formula whereby the higher lax rate is not levied until inc higher income is reached inc result being that a "27 percent tax on an individual earning $�7,240 would riot differ very much from the existing tax which begins to charge so percent but Only after reaching the $85,000 Mark. But the exciting aspect of the Packwood Bill is the dramatic reduction in the marginal rate to 27 per cent which has philosophical implications that should be greeted with cries of Joy. There is the recognition that High discriminatory taxation against the affluent is a economically stupid and b philosophically unwise in a society that prides itself on equal treatment before the Law. The Packwood Bill is an exciting progressive step toward economic sense and philosophical Justice id univ Cut Prett Syndicate War dead honoured while wars rage All the fiercer there is no More Beautiful ceremony in Washington in the flowering Spring than the decoration of the Graves in Arlington National cemetery on the Banks of the Potomac ii lies on a slope Between Ruben e. Lee s modest House at the top of the graveyard and Abraham Lincoln s memorial on the other Side of the River the symbols of reconciliation with the Pentagon a few thousand Yards away and a new commercial City crowding it on the Virginia Hill. There was a quid procession on memo rial Day weekend from Cathedral Hill and Capitol Hil the sacred and the profane to Honor the dead. But there Are some things we forget to remember including the causes and curse of War. We forget that 14 wars Are now in process in of Hartison. Angola. Cambodia Ethiopia Omalia. Al Salvador Guatemala Iran Iraq Lebanon Mozambique Nicaragua Peru sri Lanka Uganda and the Western Sahara. The human suffering of these struggles is beyond our knowledge or be if. The people who keep a record of these disasters Don t count the outrages of South Africa or the wars of terror or the hidden massacres of tribal conflict. But adding it All up As Best we can it s Clear that this is the most violent Century in human history not Only Between the nations but in the murders in our streets. Memorial Day or decoration Day As it was originally called was established in 1868. Since then there have been 271 wars accounting for the deaths of at least 88 million people and god knows How Many More. In this Century alone there have been 207 wars taking about so million lives in he to world wars alone More of them from the soviet Union than any other country. This the unresolved problem. Presi Dent Woodrow Wilson justified . Intervention in world War i on the ground thai in was a War to end All wars president Franklin Roosevelt confronted by isolationist sentiment tried to evade Hitler s Effort to dominate it Western world until the japanese destroyed the american Fleet at Pearl Harbor. But the nations Are still trying to Deal with the strategy of theoretical future wars in outer space rather than the practical causes of present conflicts Here on Earth. Consider the new in the week before memorial Day. The Pentagon was publish ing ils opposition to the Contador proposals far peace in Central America the slate department was condemning the Pentagon s opem Sirion and the White House was saying there was no conflict Between them. The Secretary of defense was in Europe arguing for a new family of nerve Gas weapons he president was saying that All was Well abroad and that nobody need be hungry at Home unless they weren t smart enough to know where to get a handout. Give i this Day our daily tranquil Izer and deliver us from evil far mine is the kingdom and the Power and the  there is obviously a conflict in this Lovely swale by the Potomac about How to Honor the dead and it s an honest conflict among the mourners. The White House Calls on the men on National Cathedral Hill on memorial Day to Pray Over the Groves but denounces them and other Church leaders for their efforts to control the arms race. And the administration s people Are joined by men of equal sincerity who come Down from Capitol Hill and the Pentagon believing not in the Power of the spirit out in the Power of missiles called peace keepers. Lincoln an one Side of the River and general Lee on he Virginia Kilt having tested military Power in the civil War came finally to believe in the spirit of moderation and recon Clintion and the importance of Compromise i would save the Union Lincoln wrote to Horace Graceey in a famous ice scr we also forget to remember. If there be those who would not save the Union unless at the same Lime save slavery i do not agree Wilh them. If there be those who would not save the Union unless at the same time destroy slavery 1 do not agree Wilh them. If i could save the Union without free ing any slave 1 would do it and if i could save in by freeing All the slaves i would do it and if i could save it by freeing some and leaving others alone i would also do that. "1 shall Correct errors when shown w be errors and i shall adopt new views so Fasi As they appear to be True views. I have Here slated my purpose according to my View of official duty and i intend no Moa if Calion of my Oft expressed personal wish that All men everywhere could be  this was a theme and a Clarily of Pur pose and modesty worthy of emulation on memorial Day and explains Why Lincoln s memorial still shines along the River in pm Yort Tyrom