European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - May 28, 1992, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 4 a the stars and stripes thursday May 28, iyy2mail-order firms Happy with tax ruling thursday May 28, 1992 new York apr Catalon companies and other mail order retailers relaxed after the supreme court handed them at least a Short term Victory in their fight against having to collect out of state sales taxes. The ruling tuesday could ultimately Force companies such As . Bean and lands end to collect taxes in states where they done to have offices or other facilities but Only if Congress approves. That observers say is a big  Steve Ashley a Catalon Industry analyst with the securities firm clearly Gull Reiland amp Mcdevitt in Milwaukee said the retailers a just had a Complete Victory. State officials Hope the decision will Spur Congress to close what they Call a loophole that could have provided state treasuries $3.3 billion this year. Still a a we be got a Long Way to go a said Chris Zim Merman chief economist at the National conference of state Legislatures. State officials were encouraged however that the justices said unanimously that Congress could Grant states the Power to Force the companies to collect taxes from out of state customers. That removes part of the reason Congress had been reluctant to act Zimmerman said since previously a there was some ambiguity such legislation could be  the retailers led by the direct marketing association opposed having to collect sales taxes from states where they done to have what a known As a business presence a offices stores or warehouses. Besides having to collect the state taxes they envisioned collecting local taxes for thousands of local jurisdictions. Neal so cry a office of special investigations is examining evidence on suspected nazi War criminals. Soviet files helping nazi Hunters Washington apr thanks to a wealth of once secret soviet archives a handful of suspected nazi criminals probably will be stripped or their . Citizenship and deported. The documents will allow the Justice departments office of special investigations to file a record number of cases against suspected nazis this year said Neal scr who Heads the unit. The office has investigated 1,500 cases but was forced to close the Book on the vast majority because it lacked evidence or because defendants or witnesses had died. The Agency has filed complaints in More than 80 cases 20 of which Are still in litigation. This year said Sher the office Hopes to file seven More. This might seem a paltry sum a compared with the thousands of suspected nazis believed to have found Refuge in the United states after world War ii. But the cases Are extremely complicated with evidence and witnesses scattered around the world and memories faded by time and the horrors of experience. Some of the offices pending litigation appeared doomed until the soviet collapse and the decision by the newly Independent states to open their archives. The office of special investigations has sent investigators to Lithuania Latvia Ukraine a and plans a Mission soon to Russia a to look through Dusty files kept since world War ii by the Kab and the communist party. Much of the evidence they Are finding is As mundane As a pay stub or a housing assignment. But for nazi Hunters its often the smoking gun they need to link a suspect to a particular unit or concentration Camp. In Latvia and Lithuania for example thousands of local residents formed paramilitary units to help the Mobile nazi killing units that rounded up and shot jews along the path of the military invasion. Some members of these groups fled to the United states to avoid retribution by communist authorities after the War. Many of them Are still Young enough a in their late 60s or Early 70s a to stand trial now that evidence against them has been found. Under a 1967 supreme court ruling the companies had to collect taxes Only from Consumers in states where the firms had a business presence. But state officials asked the justices to overturn the ruling which said obligating retailers to collect taxes would violate their due process rights and obstruct interstate Commerce. The justices tuesday reversed the due process part of the 1967 ruling but said it was up to Congress to decide whether tax collecting would Burden interstate Commerce. Several observers doubted Congress would move soon. Marcia Aaron an analyst with Montgomery securities inc. In san Francisco said a it. Was a positive ruling for direct marketers. At least near term its in their favor. Long term who knows a split forming in gop Plank on abortion by the Washington Post Salt Lake City a the Republican party which dominated presidential elections in the 1980s with appeals to a traditional values a found itself tuesday m the midst of a cultural and political War Over abortion. At a meeting of the party a platform committee at a Salt Lake City hotel and in competing demonstrations outside partisans on both sides of the abortion Issue used moral exhortations and hardheaded electoral calculations to Battle for the heart of a party that has officially opposed abortion since 1980. A the women of America will not be denied their fundamental right to choose a Mary Dent Crisp chairwoman of the National Republican coalition for Choice told the platform committee. But Phyllis Schlafly chairwoman of the Republican National coalition for life warned against any Compromise of the party a anti abortion Plank. A the millions of americans who Are motivated by High moral principle a she said a will not stand for president Bush saying that he is personally pro life while the platform is mushed up to appease the same crowd that runs the democratic  the division comes at a time when Many Republican leaders Are already alarmed Over Bush a poor standing in the polls and the Rise of Ross Perot a Independent presidential candidacy. And the stakes on the Issue could be especially High this year because the supreme court is expected to act this summer to modify or Roll Back Roe is. Wade the 1973 supreme court decision that legalized abortion nationwide. In the past the Republican party a official opposition to abortion has generally worked in its favor. The party used its anti abortion stance to pick up the votes of socially conservative previously democratic constituencies especially among evangelical protestants and roman catholics but it also held on to most of the ballots of abortion rights supporters who were economic conservatives. These voters Many of them Well educated suburban women Felt they could vote Republican in support the party a economic platform since the supreme court had protected abortion rights. Now with Republican supreme court appointees threatening to remove those protections both Bill Clinton the Likely democratic nominee and Perot Are hoping for Large scale defections from these constituencies. Perot and Clinton support abortion rights while Bush opposes abortion except in cases involving rape incest or threats to the life of the Mother. Republicans such As Crisp argue that modifying the party a opposition to abortion is the Only Way to prevent substantial defections this fall. Retraining boosted for Dod workers facing dismissal by the Washington Post Washington a defense department civilians whose jobs might be abolished Are now eligible for up to six months of counselling testing and retraining from the labor department. The new procedures will triple the amount of time that army Navy and air Force civilians have for special help under the Job training partnership act. The regulations were published tuesday by the office of personnel management. Worldwide Pentagon agencies have slightly More than 1 million civilian workers. The defense department expects to trim 44, xxx jobs this fiscal year and to get rid of 43,000 civilian jobs by september 1993. Systems analyst could be trained in Aneth if the program works As planned it or computer language or a specialize could mean fewer workers will be fired welder who works on submarines could Over the next few years because More will trained on equipment that is More in line be retrained for other jobs in government with jobs in the private sector or Industry. Congress has set aside $150 million for in some cases the extra time will also the defense department program. Later allow individuals to be trained for a More it could be extended to workers in other marketable occupation. For example a agencies