European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - December 25, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Wednesday thursday december 25/26, 1991 the stars and stripes a pages in the stars and stripes10 years ago _ dec. 25,1981 a Lri a Christmas address president Reagan accused the polish government of waging Quot War against the polish people Quot and announced he was suspending major economic links with Poland. Reagan said he also was ready to impose More severe sanctions against Warsaw and Moscow if they continue a brutal repression of the polish people.20 years ago dec. 25,1971 a after a 90-minute talk with the first Secretary at the North vietnamese embassy in Laos comedian Bob Hope said he was told that american prisoners of War would be released a tomorrow Quot if president Nixon set a Date for total . Withdrawal from vietnam.30 years ago dec. 25,1961 a a recent storm in the English Channel that Tore a lightship from its moorings has raised the Odds favouring construction of a Tunnel instead of a Bridge to link Calais and Dover. The Tunnel As presently conceived would be solely a rail connection. Only a Bridge a providing both a Roadway and tracks a would allow the dream of a driving from London to Paris Quot to come true.40 years ago dec. 25,1951 the state department cancelled Holiday leaves and called High officials into conference to decide whether the . Should pay communist Hungary a $120,000 a Ransom Quot for four imprisoned american fliers who were shot Down by soviet planes. Worl d War ii 50 years ago today 25 dec.1 941 British troops defending Hong Kong surrender to the japanese after a 17-Day siege. Japanese forces begin an offensive toward Changsha in China a Hunan province. In North Africa Britain a 8th army enters Benghazi and age Fabia. Source 2194 Days of War w. H. Smith publishers inc. World War ii 50 years ado today 26 dec. A1941_/ffi=g. Japanese planes relentlessly bomb Manila capital of the Philippines. In Malaya Britain s 11th Indian division retreats from Ipoh. British commandos open a series of raids on German positions in the Lofoten islands of Northern Norway. Source 2194 Days of War w. H. Smith a publishers inc. World almanac Book of world War i Bison books corp1981 democrats formula for 92 cultivate Middle class voters Washington a congressional democrats Are using their tax Cut fight with president Bush to Plant a simple idea in voters minds democrats want to help the Middle class. But critics complain that in wooing the Middle income voters that the democratic party will need to capture the White House next year it May be forgetting a or purposely shunning a its traditional support for the poor. Quot some leaders in the democratic party Are consciously distancing themselves from the poor Quot rep. Charles Hayes d-111., said without naming names. Democrats Are Quot not making appeals to that constituency and its a result of the Willie Horton and David Dukes and Patrick Buchanan who emphasize the insecurity of White Middle class America Quot said rep. Charles Rangel . The recession and what to do about it promises to be a major Issue in the 1992 Campaign. President Bush wants a Cut in the tax on capital gains or investment profits. He says it will help create jobs. Democrats Are proposing a number of ways to help the Economy such As tax cuts tax credits and individual retirement accounts for everyone. But Only rarely do democrats say their tax Cut Bills will help the poor Cope with the recession. For example a one of the leading tax Cut measures sponsored by rep. Dan Rostenkowski. D-ill., chairman of the House ways and Means committee is named Quot the mid dle income tax Relief and fairness act of 1991.&Quot a House majority Leader Richard Gephardt d-mo., said on dec. 6 that Middle class tax cuts paid for with higher levies on the Rich a must be a Centrepiece of whatever we come up  a at a dec. 6 hearing of the ways and Means panel. Sen. Albert Gore d-tenn., used a Middle income Quot is times in a three Page statement. Many democrats say that while they have no intention of abandoning the poor their Choice of language is purposeful. They say the last decade has been difficult for Middle class families. The congressional budget office says median family income a meaning half had More and half less a is expected to drop to $37,300 next year. It was $38,900 in 1980. Democrats also know the Middle class is where the voters Are. I he co projects that 148.2 million of the 254 million americans live in families that next year will earn Between $20,000 and $75,000. Quot we be lost the last three presidential elections not because we Haven t gotten enough special interest support but because we Haven t gotten enough Middle class support Quot said sen. John Breaux a la. Chairman of the democratic leadership Council a group of moderate and conservative democrats. Critics say that in some instances its not just the words democrats use that omit the poor. Its the Bills themselves. Advocates for the poor support Rostenkowski s Bill and another by Gore and rep. Thomas Downey ., which they say would extend tax Breaks to the poor and Middle class. But they have major concerns about a measure by sen. Lloyd Bentsen a Texas chairman of the Senate finance committee. Bents no a legislation would give $31 0 tax credits to All children 18 years and under. It also would make All americans once again eligible for Ira lax Breaks. Critics say the Well to do would be the chief beneficiaries of restoring the iras. Bentsen countered that Congress helped the poor last year by doubling the earned income tax credit and that further efforts Are under Way. A it is time to begin correcting what happened to Middle income families in the 1980s,&Quot he said. Vets protest plan to open up hospitals by the Washington Post Washington a veterans hospitals in Virginia and Alabama have been selected to be part of a Pilot program that will treat non veterans from Rural areas alongside former military personnel the department of veterans affairs officials say. The project has enraged veterans groups which have charged that it will undermine the Federal governments commitment to veterans by allowing individuals who have not served in uniform in hospitals that until now have been been largely restricted to veterans. Veterans affairs Secretary Edward j. Derwinski and health and human services Secretary Louis w. Sullivan have continued to press their plans for the project despite the protests. Last week a officials disclosed in a briefing for veterans groups that a hospitals in Tuskegee ala., and Salem va., were the first facilities selected for the project. Sullivan who initiated the Experiment said in an interview that the project could help save veterans hospitals in Rural areas that otherwise might be targeted for closure. It also will help bring better medical care to Rural areas where Community hospitals have been forced to close he said. Three to five a hospitals in Rural areas will be involved in the three year test Sullivan said. A spokesman Dennis r. Boxx explained later that the other a Tilo Edward j. Derwinski test Sites have yet to be selected. American legion National commander Dominic Defrancesco however renewed the opposition of the nation s largest veterans group to the project calling it a the wrong idea at the wrong  a a. Veterans hospitals treat a very special segment of our society and expanding the patient base at a time when needy veterans can to get in is a mistake Quot Defrancesco said. But Sullivan said the veterans Are mistaken and cited Tuskegee As an example of a Rural Community of 12,000 that has been without a Community Hospital for More than six years. By allowing non veterans to he treated at the 600-bed a Hospital there the a will fill sonic of its excess Beds expand its medical program and help local residents secure health care that would he within 30 Miles from their Homes he said. Veterans advocates have Long opposed suggestions that the 171 hospitals in the a system be opened to non veterans. They have charged that the system has been seriously underfunded during the past decade leading Many Hospital administrators to close wards in an Effort to conserve Money and to restrict care available to veterans. Increased Federal funding has been the course that the major veterans groups have advocated. Derwinski and his aides have attempted to argue that such a course is unrealistic but they suffered a setback recently when a commission Derwinski appointed made the need for increased funding the major focus of its report. Whistle Blower rehired after 3-year fight Washington a a farm credit administration analyst who refused to lie to Congress about the financial condition of the farm credit system was Back at work monday three years after a judge ruled he had been fired illegally. Daniel j. Thompson was fired in May 1988 after he accused the Agency of destroying internal studies that showed the farm credit system was in deeper financial Straits than its than chairman Frank Naylor wanted to reveal to Congress. An administrative Law judge with the Merit systems Protection Board ruled in october 1988 that Thompson had been fired illegally. After a three year appeals process the three member Board upheld the decision this month. On monday Thompson returned to his $60,000-a-year Job As a financial analyst at the Agency which regulates the farm credit system a network of regional Banks that lend to Farmers. In 1987, Congress approved a $4 billion bailout of the system which had been stung by depressed Farmland values and commodity prices. A a it a obvious Thompson was wrongly fired and its also Clear that Congress got incomplete information four years ago a said sen. Charles Grassley a Lowa. A was the court order states he was fired in retaliation because the information would have been embarrassing to the chairman of the Fca Frank  the Merit systems Protection Board said the former chairman s perception of Thompson was that he was a a dangerous proponent of a View that could prove embarrassing a possibly evidencing mismanagement and abuse of  Grassley. In a letter to chairman of the farm credit administration Board Harold b. Steele said he hoped the Agency could now address several unresolved issues including ensuring the integrity of the farm credit system. Grassley said Thompson has been awarded Hack pay. But a this alone cannot make up for All that he has lost because he elected to be forthright and