European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - February 16, 1992, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Sunday february 16, 1992 the stars and stripes a Page 13 i commentary Stu in what newspapers Are saying at Home the following editorial excerpts Are selected from a Cross Section of newspapers throughout the United states. The editorials Are provided to the stars and stripes by the associated press and United press  daily Gazette a Schenectady . It s no secret that president Rush is opposed to High taxes so perhaps we should t he surprised that he s found a creative Way to reduce his own tax Hill. His Fina gling in this matter May pass Muster with the lawyers but it sure does t look Good to Ordinary citizens. Politicians who live in Washington can get out of paying that City s income tax if they claim their private residence is out of town. This is reasonable enough for a congressman or senator who has to maintain a Home in the District he represents. While Bush is not in that position it would still be acceptable for him to claim Maine As his primary residence since he owns a Home there. Most residents of Maine or Washington have Only a single residence and Are required to pay income tax to either the state or City. If he did so. However he would have to pay Maine a income tax. So instead the president claims Texas a which has no state income tax a As his Legal residence. Bush is much wealthier than the great majority of these people and he is using that wealth to avoid paying the taxes that they have to pay. It May be Legal but it in t  Indianapolis Star the american people must a do More with  said Senate majority Leader George Mitchell. This Means you a unless you Are a member of Congress. If you were you got a $4,400 pay raise in january. Since 1987 the deficit has More than doubled. Since then Congress has raised its own pay $52,100, nearly 70 percent. This years boost was barely noticed. It was automatic. Members now get $125,000 a year. That might not be so bad if Congress was doing a Good Job. It in to. Albuquerque . Journal some columnists Are already viewing it As a strike two Quot but the report that democratic presidential hopeful Bill Clinton might have stretched the rules to avoid the Vietnam draft May be of even less substance than the kiss and Tell for Eash yarn first spun out by a supermarket tabloid. The Luck of the draw. Was primarily responsible for Clinton s avoiding the  free press most notably through his wondrous Book roots Alex Palmer Haley gave voice to the generations of africans who through the crime of slavery were plunged into a cruel and involuntary process of becoming americans. A kind and gentle Man or. Haley seemed to have. Heart enough for All. Like us his princely ancestor kunta Kinte would be proud of what he gave us. Sad to see him  fort Lauderdale Fla. When Saddam Hussein a iraqi troops invaded Kuwait the Rich rulers of that tiny nation lied in fear. That a not the full Story. Courageously staying in their Homeland to organize resistance to the brutal invaders were other kuwaitis helped by palestinians who lived in Kuwait. Since Kuwait was liberated a shabby and ironic scenario has unfolded. The Rich cowards who fled Are trying to Force All remaining palestinians out of Kuwait. The . Should exert maximum pressure on Kuwait which it rescued from oblivion to begin proving it was worthy of the War fought on its behalf. So tar Kuwait s dictators Are demonstrating just the  Muskegon Mich chronicle the world remains a dangerous place and the Middle East continues to Lead All contenders As the site where the powder Keg could ultimately blow. Nowhere is the threat More real than in Iran the epicentre of the islamic revolution fomented by the late Ayatollah Khomeini. World peace is not yet at hand not b a Long  Dally oklahoman Oklahoma City democrats who control the u a. I Louse of representatives Are about to spend about $2.5 million of taxpayers Money on an election year Witch Hunt designed to smear two Republican presidents. By a heavy partisan vote the House authorized an investigation into a speculative a october Surprise Quot theory that the 1980 Reagan Bush Campaign schemed with Iran to delay Freedom for 52 american hostages. If this in t a criminal offence to american voters what is and what if the investigation miraculously did turn up proof that republicans stole the 1980 election does that mean Jimmy Carter would get to be president again no thank  news a observer Raleigh . Congress Long ago adopted a a a what me worry a stance toward Federal budget deficits. President Bush threw in the Towel and made it unanimous the official fiscal policy of the United states is to live on the cuff and not worry about it. Somebody needs to worry. Entitlement programs arc about to eat America alive. And the interest Bill for the incessant Treasury borrowings that finance this mushrooming will balloon beyond belief if the expansion of entitlements proceeds unchecked. The Post and courier Charleston . One Man with courage makes a majority. Said. Andrew Jackson. We wish it were True in the Case of sen. Dennis Deconcini the Arizona Democrat who has launched his fourth heroic a and futile Effort to enact a Flat tax rate for individual taxpayers and businesses. Deconcini said he based his Bill on a study by two Stanford University economists who concluded that a Flat tax rate on individuals and corporations with no exemptions would raise As much Money As does the present complicated tax systems. At the least this is an idea that ought to get a fair . Petersburg Fla times the Bush health plan offered Little Prospect for meaningful change. Even though his plan is Likely to go nowhere. Bush got what he wanted politically by making a gesture toward health care Reform. Democrats too got what they wanted new ammunition for the argument that a Bush White House wont grapple seriously with health care issues. Overall the presidents plan is a Good prescription for the insurance Industry hut a powerful dose of disappointment for  Seattle times president Bush s Long awaited health Reform plan is filled w Ith hollow promises slapped together for the Campaign Trail. Not even the president could possibly expect serious support for his plan much less believe it can cure the crisis. The trouble is the president lacks a coherent vision about health Reform. He does no to have the conviction to overhaul the lax code eliminating tax free employee benefits for example or the guts to Cap health spending. Instead he a come up with a plan that clings to the status quo and magnifies the system s fatal  Atlanta journal if american workers As the japanese contend Are Lazy then they Are among the worlds most productive louts. American made computers dominate Europe. Our Farmers feed the soviet Union. And.  sneakers pad the Globe. America a a not Japan or Germany a is the world s leading exporter. The problem is not that americans Don t work hard. It s that their Bosses make them work hard on the wrong things. They build too Many office buildings and shopping malls and not enough new roads sewers and schools. And. The country does t invest enough in its workers improving their ability to read write and figure. The advocate Baton Rouge la. Internal politics undoubtedly motivated president Bush s recent journey to Japan and there s plenty of room to debate the Wisdom of the trip and the presidents Choice of travelling companions. Those considerations aside the trip could have been worthwhile if it had fostered Friendship and improved Trade relations Between our two Peoples. Capitalism is our game. If we let the japanese beat us at it it could be because they be Learned More from our mistakes than we have. Maybe we can learn some things from them to improve our competitive  Fla Herald Tribune when i Misaburo Sasaki of the japanese productivity Center talks people listen right nobody knows More about productivity than the japanese Correct apparently not. Prominent japanese politicians who claim that americans Lack a work ethic and Are plagued by illiteracy Haven to paid attention to their productivity enters findings. Statistics compiled by the Center. Show that american workers have buckled Down working longer hours to make themselves and their companies More efficient and Are world leaders in productivity. San Frances up chronicle statements by More than 40 haitian refugees to United nation officials that they were beaten or otherwise abused after they were sent Back to their country and then forced to flee a second time raises More serious questions about the current United states haitian policy. . Policy toward Haiti has been seen As a mixture of confusion and frustration. At least in the matter of the refugees a temporary halt in the repatriations should be called until a full investigation can ensure that Haiti is Safe for the returnees