European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - May 28, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Tuesday May 28, 1991 the stars and stripes a Page 17today s tip several environmental groups said they will Battle legislation planned to enable Walt Disney co. To build a $3 billion Seaside theme Park resort by filling in part of californians Long Beach Harbor. A what Disney is attempting to accomplish is pure and simple special interest legislation at its worst a said Lisa Weil policy director for the american oceans Campaign based in Santa Monica Calif it creates a precedent for developers to seek legislative help in promoting their own special  the Sierra club and the league for coastal Protection also have announced their opposition to the  rates London up mondays rates for the . Dollar to other currencies. Figures Are expressed in dollars to the British pounds other local currencies in dollars Gold was quoted at $356.65 an ounce Silver at $4 07. A it May 24 a. A May 27. British Pound a. .1,7300 a a German mark.,. .1.7085 1.7030 French franc. .�?z.5.8030 5.7850 dutch guilder.,.,. .1.9260 1 9135 belgian trans. 35.09 35 02 italian lira.,. 1,271.10 1,266 00 Swiss franc .1.4540 a a a 1 4515 greek drachma. .187.66 186 55 turkish lira. 4,010.00 4,007 10 saudi arabian Riyal .,.3.7499 3.7701 Spanish peseta. .106.00. 105 43 portuguese escudo.149.70 148 35 Canadian Dollar. ,1.1485 1 1482 austrian schilling.,. .-.12.032 -11 947 norwegian Krone .6.665 6 620 danish Krone. ,., .6 55 6 51 these Are unofficial rates As reported by wire service and banking sources and they Are listed to give some. Idea of daily currency fluctuations. The Only official rate concerns the Sale of German Marks to . Personnel for personal use and this will be 1.66 tuesday based on mondays noontime  eludes talks to end tape pirating by the los Angeles times Bangkok Thailand talks Between International record producers and Thailand a pirate tape Industry have failed to turn up a Compromise for ending the Large scale illegal copying of records. Pirated thai audio tapes retail for about $1 per album. None of the Money is paid to producers or original artists. In april the . Government put Thailand on a list of a priority foreign countries threatened with Trade sanctions if the problem was not resolved. Gouw Jui Chian with the International federation of the phonographic Industry said the main stumbling blocks in the talks were How much time thai producers Jot old have to Clear inventories of pirated tapes and which companies would be allowed to continue producing once Legal procedures were established. The federation represents american and other Western record companies. _ Gouw said the producers group had offered thai manufacturers a six month Grace period to sell existing inventories. Skinner not Overly optimistic about the survival of pan am Washington a citing pan american world airways weak Domestic route Structure Secretary of transportation Samuel Skinner said he does no to have High Hopes about the airline s chances for survival. A i am not Overly optimistic from what i saw in the papers Over the weekend a Skinner said during an appearance sunday on no cd so meet the  a i think pan am does no to have the Domestic route Structure to feed its International routes. A other airlines now have those International route structures so pan am is not the exclusive Carrier or one of two and they Are having a Tough time making the  Skinner said he was More hopeful about trans world airlines chances. But the loss of either pan am or Twa which is also struggling to stay competitive probably would have Little significant Impact on the commercial airline Industry he added. A of course i would be bothered any time we lose an airline a Skinner said. A but on the other hand i recognize that neither one of those airlines is so dominant in the Industry that it would have a significant Impact that the other airlines would pick it up a he said. Offices of pan am and Twa were closed for the weekend and represent fives of the airlines could not be reached immediately for comment. Skinner said the United states could have a competitive airline Industry with As few As three carriers with Domestic and International routes. However he predicted the country will end up with about seven airlines. Skinner said he was More optimistic about Twa because it has a greater Domestic network than pan am ail Quot a Good  a a fall in All Twa has a very Good Chance of surviving. I am not saying Quot pan am does t. I m. Just saying it s not quite As Good As Twa a he said. On another Issue Skinner said the Bush administration has not taken a stand on a trucking Industry proposal to increase the weight limit for trucks on interstate highways,.but a will be involved at the appropriate  Don t Amend free Trade Accord with Mexico . Negotiator says Washington apr any amendments Congress might try to a attach to a free Trade agreement with Mexico would weaken the Bush administrations bargaining posture says . Trade representative Carla Hills. Hills said sunday Hills that she  a get the Bottom line in any negotiation if my counterpart says to himself a she a going to have to  a. But sen Donald w. Riegle d-mich., who appeared with Hills on Abc tvs a this week with David Brinkley a said the threat of amendments would increase Hills bargaining Power. The two were discussing the so called a fast track Trade procedure approved by Congress. Last week the House and Senate renewed president Bush a authority to negotiate Trade agreements and submit them to Congress for approval or disapproval but not amendment. The procedure would apply to Trade talks with Mexico and to stalled talks on a multinational agreement under the general agreement on tariffs and Trade. Riegle has introduced a Resolution that would allow the Senate to Amend any .-Mexico agreement but not to the broader Gatt Accord if one is reached. Amendments could involve areas where lawmakers had the greatest concerns about a free Trade pact with Mexico such As the environment labor standards and assistance to displaced workers. A if she has that at the negotiating table Shell get the understandings on labor rights and on the environment and these other areas that we must have to protect this Economy Quot Riegle said. Many in Congress opposed a fast track Trade agreement with Mexico saying it would be too easy for .-companies to move South of the Rio Grande to take advantage of lax environmental Laws and cheap labor and thus displace american workers. A a a democrats Edward m. Kennedy of Massachusetts Howard m. Metz Chaum a of Ohio and Harris Wofford of Pennsylvania Are co sponsoring Riegler a Resolution. Majority Leader George Mitchell a Maine has promised Riegle a floor vote on his Resolution and said last week that he was a seriously considering giving it my  sen Lloyd Bentsen a Texas chairman of the finance committee has discounted prospects for the Riegle Resolution. Panel Leader works to Stop efforts in Congress to tinker with tax Law by the new York times Washington a varied proposals for reducing taxes have been floated on Capitol Hill but there is Little likelihood that the tax Burden will be eased if rep. Dan Rostenkowski has his Way. A the american taxpayer needs a rest a the chairman of the ways and Means committee told a recent meeting of accountants in Washington. A the practice of annually rewriting the tax code imposes a tremendous Burden and creates tremendous uncertainty. We should not engage in political tax wars lightly.�?�. Rostenkowski d-ill., said he fears that any Effort to modify taxes this year could get out of control. A another Damper on tax initiatives is the requirement in last autumn a budget package that each change in the tax code Rostenkowski costing the government Money must be paid for with new revenues raised some place  Rostyn Kowskie a opposition there is some talk in Congress of tax changes. Recently an anti recession a action plan proposed by congressional democrats contained a proposal that taxes be Cut for a working americans.�?�. Among the possibilities for legislation Are the so called extenders a dozen or so unrelated credits and other tax incentives due to expire at years end. These include Breaks for corporate research Low income housing employers who hire the poor and employee education benefits such extenders Cost the Treasury $21 billion a year. There is also talk in the House about attaching another increase in gasoline taxes to the Bill that would renew $105 billion of Highway and mass transit programs for five years. When combined with assorted other ideas from various wish lists including president Bush a interest in restoring the tax preference for capital gains there is no telling what might emerge. A these sorts of issues just evolve a said one congressional tax aide who said he had Little idea whether taxes would become a front Burner Issue this year. But even if a tax vehicle does emerge it will face Rostenkowski Slack of enthusiasm. A a a he said he is horrified not Only by the Ever increasing complexity of the tax code but also by the frequent wholesale changes to it. Gan he be swayed by fellow democrats. That is not certain. But some democrats May insist on resurrecting last years Campaign for greater tax equity perhaps pushing a surcharge on High incomes to help pay for a Cut for the Middle class. One democratic proposal a includes higher exemptions for children and an expansion of the earned income credit that particularly benefits the poor. Another possibility pressed by the american Institute of certified Public accountants would be to simplify the earned income credit the beneficiaries of which generally cannot afford the professional help needed to claim it