European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - February 24, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 12 the stars and stripes sunday february 24, 1991 helps Widen Gap among Washington not Federal lax policy contributed to the widening Gap Between the wealth of Rich and poor americans in the 1980s, a group of experts told the Senate budget committee on Friday. F but they disagreed on How great a role other economic factors played in the inequity. There was near unanimity As committee chairman Jim Sasser a Tenn put it that the 80s were a the decade when the Rich got Richer and the poor got poorer. Robert Mcintyre director of citizens for tax Justice a coalition of labor Public interest and Community groups said a huge a Breaks for wealthy americans had stimulated a Gross Over consumption by that sector of society at the same time he said lower a come families were facing increased lax burdens because social Security taxes were raised and because states had to raise sales taxes and other taxes to make up for reduced Federal Aid. Marvin it Kosters an economist with the american Enterprise Institute a conservative research and policy group in Washington expressed a contrary View. Although tax policy might have had some effect on the distribution of income Kosters said it was a relatively minor element. The a Tref Factor for the change he said was the widening it Jap Between the wages paid to skilled educated workers and their unskilled uneducated counterparts. An important was to close the Gap he said would he to improve the education and training of unskilled workers. Tax policies that aim at redistributing income he said a Are More Likely to impair human capital investment and income  Gary Burtless. A senior fellow of the Brookings i no tuition. Said economic and demographic developments including poor the declining demand for unskilled labor and the growing number of single Parent families a were far More important than direct government policy in explaining the swelling incomes of the affluent and the shrinking wages of the less  a but he added a even if the role of government was smaller than sometimes suggested in the press or Congress i regard it As scandalous that government policy should have played any role at All in making the matter  Burtless too urged Liat unskilled workers get More and better training and that schools provide Tnyre help to students who Are not bound for College. He also said he thought the Issue of income distribution should be directly addressed by reducing government transfers of income to the wealthy like social Security and medicare payments Ite proposed taxing such benefits once they exceeded the payroll contributions made by the recipient., Sasser said the net Worth of the aver age american family adjusted for inflation declined by 3.4 percent Between �1984 and 1988, while the richest 20 percent of households saw a 14 percent increase in wealth during the period. He also cited data showing that the real hourly earnings of the average work or had declined 4 percent since 1982. Sasser said the income disparity was reflected in tax trends during the decade. The wealthiest 1 percent of americans he said pay a tax Fate that is 9 percent below the rate paid Loy cars ago because of Quot the Supply Side tax cuts of the 1980s.�?� Quot by contrast a he said a tax rates for 60 percent of americans have  sen. Pete v. Dominici r-n.m., expressed scepticism about the disparity of wealth in the United states saying that the 1980s had been a time of general Prosperity for the nation. A if you torture numbers Long enough they will Tell you anything a he said challenging the statistics. Waterlogged Caprice tests Washington api a a front seat passenger in the Lwi Chevrolet Caprice is vulnerable to serious or  head injury in a crash according to government teds of seven new ears released Friday. Chevrolet Beret tax a air bag and seat belts however make venous injury unlikely the National Highway rat tie safety administration found. It  testing showed that both the Driver and the fro Iii Veat passenger in the Chevrolet Blazer 4x4, a multipurpose vehicle Are vulnerable the passenger even More so than in the Caprice. I he Agency released its first round of crash test results Tor the la a Model year. It tested seven vehicles.  the Caprice. Beretta and Blaer from Chov Tom Miller of Pickens Vilc ala., moves debris away from his House Friday As he wades through rising water while his wife Shannon watches from a drier spot. More than 9 inches of rain has fallen in the past few Days causing the to Highee River to flood. Passenger injury Rolet and the Ford escort Nissan sentry Dodge Shadow and Honda Accord the Beretta earned the third Best score for Driver head injury in the history 6f the governments 12-Yearcrash test program according to the Center for Auto safety a consumer advocacy group. The group said the test results showed that Drivers protected by air bags Are significantly safer than Pas song cars without the bags even if the passengers Wear seat belts. A in the Caprice for example the front seat passenger is More than twice As vulnerable As the Driver. The Caprice manufactured by general motors has an air bag Only on the Driver s Side. Quot a passengers need their lives saved As Well As Drivers a Center for Auto safety spokesman Russell Shew said a a pm should install dual air bags in the Caprice and other full size models to prevent passengers from i being killed and injured when these cars  rated highest of All vehicles tested for potential head injury was the Blazer with scores of 1,026 for the Driver and 1,826 for the passenger. Quot its Eliest injury scores also were highest 71 for the Driver and 51 for the passenger. The Beretta s Driver head injury score 343, was lowest. The lowest score for passenger head injury was the Honda accords 378. Court asked to allow prayers at school Goddu Atins washing in aim Hie Bush urged the supreme court on i rid it to allow  at Public a Iuo l or ideation. At gum that courts   re to Jar in of Tine religion irom t a in  j. A department lawyers. Stepping j do Jie Fern Fri. Al nov. . Said it his to  violate the constitutionally required separation of Church and slate when Thev Aam Cut t speaker to deliver  or her. Edict Ion at graduation ceremonies. I tic High court since 1962 has banned organized a a Pra or sessions from Public schools. But the Justice departments a Friend of the Couit Quot Brief submitted in the Providence Case said prayers Al graduation be removes Are Dit Lerent. A such Eer crannies typically occur but once a year. They Are addressed not to children alone but to families As a whole which Are. A natural bulwark against any  lie government lawyers said. Pending before the court is an Appeal by school officials in Providence from lower court decisions barring invocations  that acknowledge god. Such prayers were challenged two years ago by Providence resident Daniel. Weisman when his daughter Deborah. A a was a student Al Nathan Bishop Junior High school. Deborah is now a student at classical High school in Providence. Weisman s lawsuit led to rulings that permanently barred such prayers in Providence a Public schools., a in the Brief filed Friday government lawyers urged the court to scrap in sonic cases the three part test it has used repeatedly since 1971 in trying to decide whether some governmental practice violates that part of the Constitution Banning a an establishment of religion.�?�. Under that test the governmental practice is struck Down if it does not have a secular purpose advances or promotes religion or Fosters excessive entanglement with religion