European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - August 1, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse Page 10 the stars and Stripe wednesday August 1,1990 from Wicker to i increase now a recession the Clear possibility of a recession has been raised by revised government figures showing the Economy struggled to Only a 1.2 percent annual growth rate in the second Why Are White House and congressional negotiators urging each other on to a tax increase r Ipek personal consumption and personal income jell in the , As did business investment m new plants and equipment and housing construction. A a s. See a to increase As the right response to. These indicators particularly when the increase is to be coupled with a big Cut in government spending a both deflationary. Even if a tax increase and a Cut in spending were the right Medicine the Republican package leaked to the press last week a granted that it was billed As Only an opening proposal a hardly seems what the doctor should order. A it would couple a Cap on the deductibility of state and local taxes from Federal income taxes with Stift increases in consumption taxes on Beer wine and liquor and Cut More than twice As much a $16 billion a from Federal retirement payments excluding social Security As from military programs a $7 billion. If the Economy needs stimulus As it plainly does Why increase consumption taxes and reduce retirement payments what Good is a relatively minor reduction a $54 billion a in the Federal deficit if the Steps to achieve it kick the Economy into the threatened recession capping state and local tax deductibility at $10,000 also could hit some Middle income taxpayers hard enough to curtail their consumption a especially in the northeastern states where taxes Are High and Many economists believe a recession is already under Way. Such a Cap moreover is a bad idea in itself without regard to its possible effects on buying Power. If the deductibility of state and local taxes were limited then clearly state and local governments would find it More difficult to raise taxes or in some cases to keep them at present Levels. A yet the Bush administration has been trying to shift much of what used to be Federal spending to the states and cities a for example in transportation in education even in the so called a War on it makes Little sense to urge the states to spend More on roads and prisons while limiting their ability to raise Revenue. The Cap would have greater effect in the Northeast,. Rosenthal where taxes Are Steep and services have been established at High Levels than in the lower tax states of the South and West. At the same time the savings and loan bailout will mostly Benefit the South and the West at the expense of other regions and it just happens that the South and the West Are where the Republican party a strength is entered. Republicans complain endlessly that the corporation tax is double taxation on stockholders. But if the deductibility of state and local taxes is capped at $10,000, and any amounts paid above that level Are taxed again by the federals that a much More clearly the kind of double taxation to which republicans supposedly Are proposal was touted As a whack at the wealthy that would make unnecessary an increase in the upper brackets of the Federal income tax. But numerous americans who Are not really at the highest income Levels pay More than $10,000 in state and local income taxes and also u Ould be disadvantaged by the Cap. But in some circumstances very wealthy individuals might not pay much More than $10,000 in non Federal taxes. Besides More and More evidence accumulates that the Reagan Bush Republican years of the 1980s have been one Long Bonanza for the Rich a the most graphic accounting being Kevin Phillips a the politics of Rich and poor. If a tax increase is really necessary therefore the fairest version would be a High bracket income tax adjustment to recapture some of Uncle same a handouts to the Rich. Americans who did not share in the Gravy would then be Able to drink their Beer untroubled and deduct the full value of their state and local taxes from the Federal Bill. In View of the new and depressing economic statistics however those bipartisan negotiators seem to be talking about giving a sick Man the wrong treatment. Bringing on a recession in their Zeal to Cut the deficit would be like giving a patient pneumonia in order to cure a common cold c now York times. Hovel s views on Germon history Ore m or Iii irn i i i. A it. /. Vaclav Havel has unburdened himself of a Weighi too heavy for anybody to carry this Side of the grave a sainthood. What a Relief it must be to him to have accomplished this. Now the president of Czechoslovakia can say and do As Many foolish things As other presidents without having to feel Jie has offended heaven. And what a Relief to All those who Admire his record As a fighter for Freedom. Now they do not have to feel that criticizing him when he says or does something hurtful betrays the cause of Liberty. And they can now admit without being crushed by guilt that they do not like All his tone of the paragraphs above is too Light and ironic. I suppose that like Many other people 1 was reluctant so a Flat out How deeply this hero of the Revo Lution of 1989 offended in 1990. But he has. There it is on newspaper front pages and to. Around the world Vaclav Havel the philosopher president grins away with Kurt Waldheim. Havel president of a country less than a year out of bondage visits the austrian president. Ever since he took office Waldheim has been boycotted because he lied about where and How he had served the German army. He knew that telling the truth would have prevented him from becoming Secretary general of the United nations. So Waldheim dived a lie All the 10 years he was head of the very organization that came out of the German defeat. He was afraid to reveal that he had served in a unit that committed War crimes of murder and torture against partisans from Greece Yugoslavia and other countries. Waldheim knew what was going on in his unit. His lies about his record made him a Symbol of All the campaigns of falsehood designed to conceal minimize or even deny the horrors of Germany a nazi Era. The austrians elected him president despite or because of his lies and record. Only a handful of leaders would see him a some Muslim rulers the Pope and the president of Cyprus whose deed thus became better know n than his name. The United states bars Waldheim even from entering the country. Imagine the outrage if president Bush or president Mitterrand visited Waldheim As an a expression of respect1�?T for Austria. The same outrage should not be spared Havel. Czechoslovak Freedom fighters who fought As hard As he did against the communists publicly appealed to him not to do this thing. In the u.s., Havel a friends from the Days when he was running from the police Are stunned and unhappy. He did not think his homily in Salzburg about not rewriting personal history would take the curse off the visit. Nor could he have believed the Shock would be less because he went with the president of Germany of All countries. Once before this year Havel cruelly distorted history. His admirers pretended not to hear a a mistake for and him. On March 15, he said tear of germans because they were germans was the same As anti semitism. A 1 resident Havel fear of germans remains because germans were guilty of mass murder and torture acts so evil that they still cannot be comprehended by sane minds. Jews were persecuted through the centuries by anti semitism and were slaughtered by the millions because of German Ann semitism. They had committed no crimes beyond daring to be alive Thev left no heritage of murder to create Fea r of germans. Many germans particularly younger ones know it will Tal ume and deeds to eliminate the fear. President Havel does the difference Between jewish fear of Germany and anti semitism really have to be explained to you Why did he commit this visit to Waldheim it May be that Havel has become so entranced with his vision of himself soaring High above Europe a history so convinced he is the Young messenger of a Young Europe Pirouette no into a new Day that he does not give a Damn anymore about w hat people think. Now and then even a philosopher hero should take account of the emotions and values of the people who do remember y esterday and us lessons. They resent his gesture of a a respect a and his airy misinterpretations of their history. Fortunately nobody has to be a Saint to be a Good president not even an admired rebel against tyranny. But around the world Havel a friends Hope he will pause now for thought a Ong enough to realize that history philosophy and honest human Valyes did not begin with his election nor did the memory of truth end with it. A. Cna Yerk t rrtj8
