European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - October 04, 1989, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 10 the stars and stripes columns Carl Rowan decent minimum wage would help in drug War i wonder Why it has t occurred to president Bush that a decent minimum wage must be a part of any successful War against drug abuse in America. Why can t this president Sec that when he vetoes efforts by Congress to give just above slave wages to he hard est working people in the land he promises the drug cartels another generation of Street gangs and miserable youngsters upon whom the pushers prey i know that America s drug problem is Complex. Some people sell drugs out of greed others out of desperation. Some use drugs because they think it is socially Cool and for the Good feeling the alleged Good sex produced by cocaine and marijuana. Others use drugs because they have become addicted beyond any sickness that most of us can understand. The Saddest cases in my mind arc the children who get caught up in drugs be cause that is their Only Hope of living the Good american life they Sec on television every Day. Hope just a Little decent Hope is All we need to produce to save millions of youngsters. But How much Hope can there be when the president fights to give a capital gains tax Bonanza to the Rich even As he stands stubbornly against efforts to raise the Federal minimum wage to $4.25 until 1992, and even then he would allow employers to pay newly hired workers Only $3.40 an hour for six months even if that new employee had years of previous Job experience. That offers indentured servitude to a lot of Black and hispanic Heads of household. If i were one of the lords of the medal Lin drug Cartel i would be laughing cer Tain that . Officials arc protecting the Rich and abusing the permanent under class in ways that guarantee there will always be smugglers wholesalers push ers runners and users of costly and destructive narcotics. Dont misconstrue what i m saying. Raising the minimum wage to $4.25, effective today would not Stop All ghetto 12-, 14 or 16-year-Olds from risking David Broder thus cutting off  from  Coffee men their lives to peddle dope and be Able to tote around wads of greenbacks. Many thousands of youngsters arc already hopelessly imprisoned by the gangs and cartels. The minimum wage increase won t mean a lot to millions of others including adult Heads of household because most jobs have been taken from their neighbourhoods and they cannot easily get to suburban employment if they arc Wel come there which is not always the Case. But i know personally so Many of the youngsters about whom i am writing. Give them a self respecting Job paying $ 150 a week with Hope of promotions or later getting College training and Mil Lions of them would reject the drug lords and their easy  just As most of us resist the lures of corruption crime and greed because we dare not Chance being imprisoned or murdered so would these kids take an honest liable wage Over the Doc stars big Money Hal would destroy their lives. But the youngsters the poor adults must be Given a Choice Between dirty Money and a fair wage coming from respectable labor. George Bush de Nies them that Choice when he takes the unconscionable stance of blocking a Trul piddling increase in the minimum wage. North America Syndicate polish courage in poverty haunts fax Congress in Congress As in most offices or factories there arc people who put in their time do their jobs As Well As they can but Don t take the responsibilities of the world on their shoulders. They Don t sweat it. Sen. Pete Dominici r-n.m., is not one of these nonchalant types. To say he s intense is like saying Nolan Ryan is durable or Joe Montana dependable. Ii just slightly understates the Case. Fifteen months ago when he was on George Bush s list of possible running males Dominici forced him self to quit smoking. When i saw him last week he was puffing steadily again. The Day i dropped by Dominici was Halfway be tween exaltation and despair. He had just returned from a trip to Poland. Under the auspices of the a Lionas Institute of democracy Domenici and four distinguished former members of Congress Walter Mon Dale Howard Baker Thomas Eagleton and James r. Jones joined similar delegations from Britain and Western Europe in two Days of intensive talks with members of Poland s first freely elected parliament. It was like nothing i had Ever experienced or read in a novel Dominici exclaimed. Most of them had never been in any Public office. A year ago some of them were in jail. They come from tractor factories from  was a doctor. They re impetuous and impatient and frightened. They re afraid if they Don t show Success thing s will go Back. But they want to do it right. They want to protect their  the visiting americans answered a Hundred questions about How Congress works How the parties Coop Erate and compete How Bills Are scheduled How constituents arc helped. They could t believe All the information resources we have Dominici said. One Man said i Don t even know what Laws we have now " Domenici came Home believing that although the poles have nothing but a great spirit and a desire for change they will devise a realistic plan for stabilizing their inflation ravaged Economy and introducing Market oriented reforms. When they do he said the United states and Western Europe must be ready to recognize this is a major event in the struggle for human free Dom and to respond with a coordinated program of assistance. This is the rarest of opportunities he said. Meantime Dominici and the other legislators who shared this deeply moving experience have pro posed to the congressional leadership that Congress itself make a unique first gift of democracy to the new polish parliament let Congress raise funds from Pri vate sources they proposed to give the fledgling pol ish legislators who make $ 12 a month phones copy ing machines typewriters simple computers and a library1" to help them do their jobs. Clearly exhilarated by his Contact with the new pol ish democracy Dominici came Back to find the con Gress where he serves probably the most lavishly staffed superbly equipped legislature in the world tied into knots by the budget problem it never seems to resolve. The train wreck is going to happen he said referring to the mandatory across the Board spending cuts required by the Gramm Rudman Law when projected spending exceeds inc mandated limits. For six years As chairman of the Senate budget committee Domenici had struggled without Success to reconcile Ronald Reagan s military buildup and tax reductions with the need to control deficit spending. At the beginning of this year he told me he really believed that Bush s election opened the Way for a bipartisan Bica Meral agreement with the White House. The agreement would take a Small but significant bite out of the deficit this year and set the stage for larger Steps to close the deficit in the next three  no longer docs he hold such Hopes. That Effort ingoing to Tail he said puffing on his cigarette not because the process is cumbersome which it is but because the political Battle lines have obliterated the basis for  is not one to Point fingers at others. And in truth there is blame enough to go around for the 1989 budget fiasco. At Bottom the leaders of this affluent established democracy have shown none of the courage or readiness to sacrifice that the Brand new polish parliamentarians display. And that is Why do Munici is so close to despair. His mood reminded me of what reporters Felt when they came Back from the Jungles of Vietnam where Young men were dying in a War they barely under stood to the smug self satisfaction of a Washington where political Wheeler dealers flourished. There arc times when the extremes of selfishness and selflessness can drive men mad. Domenici had seen too much of both in one week to do anything but Chain smoke. Wail Nylon poll Wien group the opinions expressed in the columns and cartoons on this Page represent those of the authors and Are in no Way to be considered As representing the views of the stars and stripes or the United states government