Salt Lake Tribune | 1983-02-21 | Page 14

I);i id S. S'lt fake tribune Monday, February Section "No Indexing Page 14 er The Washington Post WASHINGTON Overshadowed by othnews in President Reagans press confer- - ence was a foretaste of a lively political debate on the indexing of federal income taxes-- a battle that could blow apart the Posting Ship, Planes To Egypt Not a Fearful U.S. Move the latest military moves in the Middle East, the United States isnt so much taunting Libyas strongman Moammar Khadafy as it is giving Egypt a hand. And doing that is essential if United States influence is to be effective in moving the Mideast toward more peaceful coexistence. Although President Ronald Reagan disputes it, theres every likeli- that moving the aircraft carrier Nimitz to 100 miles off Libyas northwest coast and four AW ACS planes to Egypt was a rehood recon-naisan- ce sponse to airplane and troop build-up- s in Libya, and probably at Egypts request. The detected military flexing in Libya appeared aimed at neighboring Sudan. An interpretation which gained plausibility when the Sudanese government announced it had foiled a coup attempt involving followers of Khadafy. These developments would concern Egypt because it has a mutual defense pact with Sudan. More than that, Egypt has had recurrent disputes with Libya during Khadafys reign and theres little doubt the Libyan dictator would give comfort, even aid, to any event which would further embarass Cairo in Arab eyes. For its part, however, the United States prefers a growing reconciliation between Egypt and the Middle Easts Arab leadership; an acceptance of the potential advantages in Egypts Camp David accords with Israel. In furthering this purpose, first the Jimmy Carter and now the Ronald Reagan administration have pro fragile bipartisan- ship that is now the prevailing mood in vided U.S. assistance of various kinds to Egypt. Mr. Reagan, answering questions Washington. Taxes are going Everyone concedes that, including about the Nimitz and AWACS reas- the president. The only question is who will wrhen. Reagan has accepted a hefty signments, said the moves were part pay-a- na of joint military exercises payroll tax hike as part of the compromise to assure the solvency of the Social Security with Egypt. Except those arrangeproposes further "continments have only become normal and system. His budget taxes on both personal incomes and gency routine in recent years, the outenergy production in the altogether likely growth of Camp David. That they can situation that we are still facing huge budget be seen in Libya as a warning against deficits two years from now. adventurism against Egypt or a Congress doesnt think much of Reagan's tax plan, but is squirming anothof "contingency nearby ally Egypt provides over what taxes it should raise. Theoreticaler useful dimension. cut ly, it could decide to drop the The question, of course, is: would in individual tax rates scheduled for July, United States forces get involved if the third and final installment of the presiLibya did strike at Sudan, prompting dents 1981 blockbuster tax bill. But Reagan has repeatedly threatened to a counter-strok- e from Egypt? President Reagan has said the United veto such a move, and many Democrats have doubts about eliminating that kind of States reserves the right to defend its stimulus from an economy struggling to renaval and air units if they are at- cover from a severe recession. tacked. At present, the United States That leaves indexing as the next target of is obviously contributing only surThe provision to increase the the veillance help, from international standard deduction and adjust the tax brackwaters and a willing hosts territory ets for inflation was not part of Reagan's tax package, but he has embraced it Egypt. So if the worst occurs, the original warmly. United States initially would be Repeal of indexing, which is supposed to strictly in a partial back-u- p position, go into effect on Oct. 1, 1985, would have unless a desperate Khadafy tried to some significant benefits for the Treasury, even though the president tried the other provoke something else. But the obvious effort now is to night to minimize them. Depending on how much inflation expect, administration prevent all clashes and the difficult and congressionalthey sources estimate the first-yedecisions they would impose. And it revenues from repeal of indexing at seems to be working as Khadafy pubanywhere from $6 to $9 billion, rising to licly denies any hostile intentions about $45 billion a year by 1988. while claiming the United Nations But Reagans press conference sounded a should condemn United States impe- clear warning that he can make indexing rialism. When it becomes essential to much more of a political issue than it is today in any of the polls. confining irrational and unpredict"Let's not kid ourselves, he said. "Govable types like Moammar Khadaffy ernment has found inflation a very to propaganda wars only, discreetly for getting additional revenues withdispatching ships and planes to out having to face the public and demand a strengthen friends in need is an af- tax increase. It is a tax. Government gets a profit from inflation. And I would like to see fordable risk. the indexing put in place to permanently take away from government the incentive to create inflation in order to get more money." The notion that a generation of Treasury secretaries from Douglas Dillon to John Connally to Donald Regan have been secretly plotting to fuel the fires of inflation in to increase the tax flow is slightly imorder he has worked with Republicans in But there is enough truth in Reathe Senate to chart a middleground plausible. bracket gans contention that inflation-fe- d path on clean air and water legisla- creep does push up taxes, to show the politition. At one point, he tried unsuccess- cal potential of making it an issue. In my moratorium on mind, I can hear him saying, The people fully for a are, in effect, new nuclear reactors, but who would repeal indexing licensing tax increase a every year you he has never recorded any personal guaranteeing for the rest of your life. opposition to nuclear power. Kevin Phillips, in a recent newsletter, aris a particularly good isLess insistent on government in- gued that indexingand the sue for Reagan Republicans, betervention than traditional liberals, cause the crowding of brackets in the e Sen. Hart once said of federal imposiof income means that indexing tions in the market place: Governprovides "the most benefit to families with incomes between $18,000 and $50,000 a ment regulations are often one fiscal issue that has unneeded and result in the never failedisinthe a recent statewide vote beoppostie of the intended result. A du- cause of its overwhelming middle class aptiful Rocky Mountain westerner, the peal, he wrote. senator joined in diverting former Joel Havemann in the National Journal President Jimmy Carters attempt to notes that there is even an equity argument trim the regions water reclamation Reagan can employ: While the biggest dollar the biggest savings go to the middle-clasprojects. percentage savings from indexing go to those at the bottom of the income scale. up. on-goi- s. ar handy-metho- Hart of the West Colorados Sen. Gary Hart may be long-shas a 1984 presidential candidate. However, hes not unexperienced in the procedure. Formally declaring his availability for the Democratic nomination slightly more than a year from now, Sen. Hart is actually returning to the point from which his political career started. As former South Dakota Sen. George McGoverns campaign manager in 1972, Gary Hart became a recognized political genius when his organizational ability put together the liberal and anti-wcoalition which secured the Democrat Party presidential nomination for Sen. a definite ot ar McGovern. Of course, the McGovern effort fell abjectly short, but the Hart band- six-mon- th mid-rang- s, wagon moved steadily forward. Elected U.S. Senator from Colorado in 1974, his acknowledged capacity for mobilizing volunteers and contacting voters helped him overcome stout opposition for a second term in 1980. He knows the territory and how to travel it. Without relinquishing his liberal credentials, Sen. Hart has nonetheless edged closer to the nations conservative mood. For instance, although a declared environmentalist. ' Could Mean Tough Battle 21, 1983 A With Broder Sen. Harts statement that he will run for president without funding from political action committees could make him seem fatally naive to veteran political operatives. Or it could attract the sort of attention someone as relatively unknown as he could turn to subtle advantage. For, his appeal as a genuine long-showill have to rely on being distinctively different, rather than being conspicuously strange. t, Against these appealing political propositions, there is the overwhelming fact that the government is now-ev- en by Reagans That is why such key Republican senators as Howard Baker and Pete Domenici want indexing repealed. There is also the fact that indexing would lock in all the inequities of the original Reagan tax cut. But the Democrats who are pushing repeal ought to be on notice after Reagans press conference: They are taking on a tough fight. analysis-under-fund- ed. (Copyright) Patrick J. Buchanan Why Martin Luther King Day Is Still Being Widely Resisted PJB Enterprises - With a vote of 13-- the WASHINGTON House General Laws Committee of the Virginia Assembly bur- ied legislation, again, to make Jan. 15 a state holiday in memory of Martin Luther King Jr. This signals the end of yet another bitter, partisan and divisive campaign to compel reand luctant states the United States government honor Kings holiday. to memory Before the issue recedes, only to return again, the arguments need be restated why conservatives, principally, are doing the right and necessary thing in resisting this campaign. It is not to insult the memory of Martin Luther King. No other American in the 20th Century has been more honored in death than the assassinated civil rights leaders. Fourteen states have made his birthday a state holiday; scores, nay. hundreds, of schools and parks, public buildings and highways bear his name. - Reaganism. Wherever the "cruelty of Ronald Reagan's budget cuts are deplored, the "unfairness" of his tax cuts bemoaned, the "militarism" of his defense budget decried, there you will hear the name of Martin Luther King invoked and see his widow exploited. Martin Luther King Jr., then, has become the patron saint of the Democratic Party; but this is no reason for conservatives to collaborate in making this particular saint's feast day a holy day of obligation for the rest of us. Indeed, the ideological and religious components of the crusade are reflected in the intolerance of the crusaders. The King holiday is a "litmus test for white legislators in Virginia, declared State Sen. Douglas Wilder, a black. A litmus test" for what? For racism, of course. Just as the matter of whether or not a citizen was willing to burn incense to Jupiter or Juno became a "litmus test" of whether he or she was a true Roman patriot, fit to live. When the holiday motion went down. Jack Gravely of the NAACP pointed to those who defeated it: Where we can take a piece of your hide, we will take it!" That sound like Christian brotherhood? In launching this year's drive for the national holiday, Rep. John Conyers of Michigan let the cat out of the bag completely in the official statement: "Dr. King's ideas are as relevant today as they were in the 1960s ... In fact, the values and goals that he stood for then are in great jeopardy today. The U.S. government has lost its moorings, and as Dr. King believed, a government that is not rooted in moral purpose is no government at all. Tragically, that insight is more relevant than ever (i.e., the "ideals" of Dr. King vs. the amorality of Mr. Reagan). Conyers & Co. want to use Martin Luther King Day to rub our noses in it, the way some whites like to use the Confederate Flag -not as a symbol of the heroism and associated with the lost cause but as a battle pennant of white supremacy. No Why, then, not a national holiday? Well, first and foremost, because Dr. King, though civil rights leader of the the 60s, was not remotely so pivotal a figure in American history as George Washington who was the only American so honored commander in chief in America's War of Revolution, the first president of the Repubof our exislic, for the first quarter-centur- y tence the dominant and indispensable leader. Second, like his contemporaries from the '60s, Dr. King remains a divisive and polarizing figure, which partly explains the acrimony attendant to these campaigns to enshrine his memory. Beyond that, there is no small trace of vindictiveness about this campaign, supposedly, to honor Dr. King, as though the triumphant North had mandated in 1883 that, way. henceforth, all states, including the South, To force people to honor a prophet they will set aside a day to commemorate the do not accept, to pay homage to a secular greatness of Abraham Lincoln. saint in whose religion they disbelieve, JefBut, at bottom, the reason this campaign ferson reminded us, is base and despotic; is rightly resisted is that its organizers and resistance to such a crusade is a necessary adherents are after other game than simply and not ignoble thing to do. honoring Dr. King for the cause of desegregation he championed or for the concept of Christian brotherhood about which he ( ) )i preached. For, since his death in Memphis 15 years It's alarming to realize that the governago, Dr. King has become more than a martyr to the civil rights movement. He has been ment is in the hands of politicians. canonized as a secular saint, elevated to the Kids who do their homework by the light status of divinity in the secular religion of of a TV set are envied by a generation whose of faith the liberalism, the ideology, political studies were illuminated by a radio dial. the Democratic Party. His name is now invoked and his graven image figuratively disWith the apple harvest starting on the heels of the played on the battle pennants of the Demoseason, fall is cratic Party as it marches as to war against not time to initiate your first set of dentures. rl tinji; Paragraphs Russell Raker Possession Movies Just Costly Substitute For The Real Thing New York Times Service NEW YORK On "Saturday Night Live" not long ago they were stopping people on the streets and asking them, "What do you hale? and not a soul said, "Possession movies," which is what I would have said. I have hated possession movies from the very first one that started the vogue, which was Rosemary's Baby. In that one, Rosemary birthed a little devil. This is somewhat unorthodox as possession movies go. Usually the badnesf doesn't get in that early in life. Usually it doesn't start to show until the child in the movie is well developed. Then Mom and Dad are in for a surprise. Little Mary Ann starts talking in a deep baritone and leaving roller skates on blind Granddad-dvfavorite cclln steps, and then somebody . s whos seen enough possession movies to recognize the symptoms says, "The child is possessed by the evil god, Moloch." Sometimes the child is possessed by more contemporary figures, like crazy Uncle Willis who used to pluck the hair out of caterpillars until he was shot to death years ago while attacking a Boy Scout Camporce with a chain saw. Hate is usually irrational and for a long time I simply hated possession movies for what seemed like no reason at all, the way some people hate Sunday afternoon and other people hate those leg warmers women wear to look The "Saturday Night Live" street quiz, though, made me pause, menially saying something like, "Come now, irrational hatred is uncivilized; if you must hate, at least " try to justify it Its easy to come up with some cheap sociology here, to say, "I hate possession movies because they pander to perverted adult suspicion that children are evil, and their popularity shows that Americans hate children " And so forth Run this through your thinking equip- gan and the Congress about whether the ment and it comes out sounding like pretty Pentagon should get it all or leave a little for thin stuff, worthy at best of a sorority house everybody else. In recent years, possession bull session engaging the campus Marxist movies have been getting the big Pentagon and the star of the sophomore psychology share of movics-horro- r resources while class. I had to think deeper, deeper. Then it monster movies have fallen through the came to me in front of the television set safety net. while I was watching a monster movie about Here, in the movie, was the a giant bustard that was terrorizing the usuevidence. Talk about cheap-budgoperaal scientific expedition. tions. In the old days they would have built While absorbed in Dr. Avine's attempt to an authentic looking bustard big enough to steal a giant bustard egg from the giant buspeck a movie producer to death. Instead, the tard's nest so he could run the yolk through bustard on the screen is obviously nothing his test tubes and discover where nature had but a barnyard turkey superimposed on the gone wrong, I heard myself murmuring, film in blowup to make him look impressive. "They dont make horror movies like this Whats more, the giant bustard egg is any more." That's when it came to me: The reason pretty obviously nothing but a football painted bustard-egcolor. You can see the seams they dont make horror movies like this any if you watch carefully. When youve got your more is that theyre too busy making possession movies. Possession movies are using up mouth set for bustard terror you're bound to the resources that could be better used to feel let down when the bustard turns out to be a turkey that lays footballs. make monster movies. Here was the ancient quarrel about the Even then, though, the plot is a big imuse of limited resources, a cinematic variaprovement on possession plots. This is betion on the dispute between President cause the pint has been looted in hundreds of giant-bustar- g d movies and refined to perfection. You know this plot: The earth has moved through a weird belt of space debris, a soupcon of which has drifted into the bustard mash. Very quickly, the bustard begins growing and laying giant footballs that hatch more giant bustards. The hero named Buck, of course is leading Dr. Avine's expedition to capture an egg so laboratory analysis can produce a new kind of litmus paper which, flashed suddenly in the bustards eyes, will make him recoil and shrink down to a decent size. There are the great moments: Buck saying, "That bustard must be ten stories high"; the bustard pursuing the professors daughter Leona with lust in his eye; Dr. Avine muttering "Incredible!" as he pores over the bustard yolk, unaware that the bustard is looking over his shoulder. This, folks, is a horror movie. If our movie horror experts weren't wasting their time on children containing Moloch, it would be made more often and with more elegance. Thats why hale possession movies. I hate 1 Moloch too i i.W.