European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - September 17, 1989, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 10 columns Jim Fain the stars and stripes capital gains More democratic foot shooting democrats met last week to do the one thing at which perhaps be cause they be had so much practice they truly Excel. With customary flagellation and some shooting of wounded they Analysed an other presidential defeat. Political scientist Norman Ornstein said it reminded him of reconvening the Edsel team to postmortem a sales disaster at Ford. Chairman Ron Brown lectured his troops for greeting each new White House proposal with a Call for More taxes but otherwise there was Little new. Democrats arc like alcoholics when it comes to tax talk. They know it s Poison but can t leave it alone. They could have spared themselves the pain of autopsy by dropping Over to the House chamber. Even As they mourned some of their congressmen assembled a shining exhibit of the party s suicide tech Nique. They loudly and chaotically set out to slash the capital gains tax. When democrats join a Republican president in robbing the poor to throw a party for the wealthiest 2 percent of the population it s Clear they Don t care to dance with those who bring pm. Unless you make at least $200,000 a year there s Little to be said for cutting the capital gains tax. Doing so will deepen the deficit offer no stimulus to the Economy and Heap More Burden on the Middle class. It s George Bush s pay of to Republican fat cats. Nothing More. Why do some democratic con Gressmen support it partly because they also arc indebted to fat cat contributors. Mainly because of Gramm Rudman. Most arc looking for titbits to Dole  Cost Money. Because of the Gramm Rudman deficit ceiling they need a Revenue gimmick. That s where the capital gains sleight of hand comes in. While this loophole will Cost the government dearly in the Long run it will boost revenues at first a speculators and investors Rush to exploit David Broder it by cashing stored up gains. A number of such budget charades have been in vented to give the illusion of Meetin Gramm Rudman s ceilings while defeat ing its goal. Bush s capital gains ploy offered democrats a rare Opportunity to match Good politics with sound policy by loudly thrashing it. Instead they wac Selod and divided All Over the lot. According to polls one reason republicans win presidential elections is that voters believe democrats arc incapable of governing. Their disarray on Cap gains will reinforce this distrust. It s not that they lacked alternatives. Rep. Byron Dorgan d-n.d., offered a splendid one he d reduce the Cap gains tax Only for people making less than $100,000 a year and raise to 33 percent the Basic tax rate for those with incomes Over $200,000. Every new study shows the Rich getting Richer while the poor get poorer and those in the Middle shoulder More of the Cost of government. Unless  move to Ward More fairness in taxation the next recession will produce explosive rancor. Maybe reason yet will overtake some of the capital gains nonsense.  Bentsen a Texas has offered a counterproposal for a constituting individual retirement account tax exemptions. That s fair and so costly Bush will have to oppose it. But the damage to the party already has been done. When democrats in the House of representatives set up As a re verse Robin Hood to soak the poor and Reward the deserving Rich who s left to represent the bulk of the nation c con news service did f mean much but of least Koch is gone the science of interpreting elections has a fancy name sep ology. A Shorter simpler and More accurate title for much election analysis is fiction. Anyone who can find much meaning in the latest round of City and congressional elections or their 1989 predecessors for that matter has too much imagination to be working in journalism. That won t keep us pundits quiet of course. All you had to do was turn on the tube wednesday morning or evening or open the papers and there were platoons of pundits explaining the meaning of the elections. The new York democratic mayoral primary in which Manhattan Borough president David n. Din Kins Defeated three term mayor Edward i. Koch was their favorite topic. They were right in saying that the election carried a powerful message but it took no great sophistication to see what it was. The defeat of de Koch told us one thing Only after 12 years even new yorkers had had a Bell Ful of the most obnoxiously loudmouthed politician in the coun try. That must have come As a Surprise to the editorial Board of the new York times which incredibly Man aged to look past four years of municipal scandals and the blatant race baiting Koch aimed at Jesse Jackson during the 1988 new York democratic presidential primary to find reasons to endorse the mayor for a fourth term. But people of less refined taste and intellect than the times editors had gagged on Koch s act years ago. The pundits said the new York result was historic because Dinkins will become the City s first Black mayor if he beats Republican nominee Rudolph w., Giuliani in november. That s a new York definition of historic. If that happens As it probably will new York will achieve a breakthrough that los Angeles Chicago Philadelphia Detroit Atlanta Cleveland Baltimore Washington new Orleans Newark and other cities accomplished at varying dates in the past two decades. Welcome to the club new York but take your place in line. Yes say the pundits but Dinkins got an unprecedented 30 percent of the White vote. Unprecedented that s either More new York myopia or someone thinking that All those Sun tanned angeleno who voted for Tom Bradley As mayor All those limes were dark enough to be classified As african Ameri cans. The discovery that Whites will vote for Black candidates can t be news Many places less parochial than new York. But of course new yorkers believe that if it has t happened in new York it has t happened. What the new York primary and the other elections held last tuesday and on earlier dates this year mainly confirm is the sense of Drift in american politics and sadly the trivialization of the Campaign process. Including tuesday s pair there have been six special elections to the House of representatives since the first of the year. The democrats took a scat from the gop in Indiana the republicans took Over a demo cratic seat in Florida. The other four stayed with the party of the departed incumbents three democratic and one Republican. Net result in the party lineup in the House no change. The two House scats that did switch illustrate Noth ing More than the dominance of local factors Over any son of National issues or concerns. Rep. Jill Long d ind., owes her Victory in a previously Republican District entered on Fon Wayne to the fact that she had gained wide name recognition through an earlier unsuccessful Senate Campaign and even More to the fact that her opponent was associated with unpopular local tax increases and annexation moves. Rep. Lucana Ros Lehtinen r-fla., won in a previously democratic Miami District in Large part be cause she was Able to mobilize an exceptionally High turnout in the cuban american Community eager to elect one of its members Over a White jewish demo crat. It was the first time the seat had been vacant since most of them came to the United Stales. What anyone should conclude from this other than its Demon Starlion of unsurprising ethnic Solidarity is hard to know. These and other campaigns of 1989 All have featured the negative to ads that Are the Bane of politics. The elections turned on such edifying questions As whether one Guy s womanizing was worse than another s drinking whether a mysterious third Passen Ger had or had not been in the car when one candidate crashed and believe it or not whether one candidate s absence signified dissent when the Alabama legis lature voted to keep the Confederate Flag flying Over the state Capitol in Montgomery. Maybe the trivialization and the cynicism and the Plain parochialism of politics in 1989 suggests that voters have no Large concerns. One has to think How Ever that the extremely Low turnouts mean that most people with real worries about their cities or their country simply find politics irrelevant. Absent great causes or Strong leaders who can blame them but let s not be too gloomy. Any year that ends de Koch s Public career can t be All bad. C Wshington poll writer group