Path: bloom-picayune.mit.edu!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!news.media.mit.edu!americast.com!americast.com!usa-post Newsgroups: usa-today.issues,americast.usa-today.issues From: usa-post@AmeriCast.Com Organization: American Cybercasting Approved: usa-post@AmeriCast.com Subject: issues Wed, Sep 9 1992 Date: Wed, 9 Sep 92 04:29:47 EDT Message-ID: 09-09 0000 DECISIONLINE: Issues & Debate USA TODAY Update Sept. 9, 1992 Source: USA TODAY:Gannett National Information Network Here are some of the issues and topics being debated across the nation Wednesday morning in USA TODAY: Taxes, Baseball, Haiti. TODAY'S DEBATE - TAXES: USA TODAY'S OPINION: The USA may be stumbling toward a triple-dip recession. But Congress and the White House continue to play the same old political tax-cut games that mired the nation in the dumps. This week, Congress will take up a $31 billion urban aid bill. President Bush has threatened to veto it ... because it would violate his convention pledge to "cut taxes across the board" by permanently limiting tax deductions for well-to-do families. The bill's sponsor, Sen. Lloyd Bentsen, D-Texas, says he'll restore the deductions only if Bush spells out how to make up the $7.7 billion loss of revenues in 1996 and 1997. ... The nation can't afford more breaks for taxpayers making $100,000 and up. ... Such individuals used to pay taxes at rates of up to 70% until a decade of tax reforms set the top rate at 31%, the lowest among industrialized nations. Those rate cuts for the wealthy were supposed to raise living standards, be self-financing and increase savings needed for future growth. Instead, the rich got richer, the poor got poorer, and the middle got stuck. Average-family income has stagnated since 1979, while incomes for the wealthiest 1% tripled in the 1980s. ... the national debt shot up 300% - to $4 trillion - while the nation's savings rate plummeted to a third of what it was in 1980. ... Now, the country must raise revenues - and cut costs - to reduce massive deficits forecast from here to eternity. Taxing upper-income taxpayers isn't the whole solution. A 2 percentage-point increase in the top tax rate would raise only $7.4 billion a year. But that's a start - and not much to ask of those who reaped the biggest rewards of the 1980s tax-cut spree. OTHER VIEW: JAMES C. MILLER III, chairman of Citizens for a Sound Economy and President Reagan's budget director, 1985-88: The federal government doesn't need more tax revenue. It needs to control spending and to spend smarter. Since Ronald Reagan took office, annual revenues have gone from $599 billion to $1,054 billion, while spending has gone from $678 billion to $1,323 billion. Give the Feds more money, and they'll spend it - and far too much on "pork," on subsidies for those who don't need them and on programs that have outlived their usefulness. And if new revenues must be found, soaking the rich is not the answer. ... In 1990, the top 10% of taxpayers paid over 54% of all personal income taxes collected; the top 5% paid an astounding 43%. Moreover, the proportion of taxes paid by the rich has risen during the past decade. ... Paul Merski of the Tax Foundation calculates that doubling the taxes on those making over $200,000 would, at best, run the federal government only 28 days. ... mindlessly going after the rich may kill the goose that lays the golden egg. A growing economy finances expansions in federal programs. A healthy, expanding economy will bring in upward of $80 billion more each year to the federal government, whereas a stagnant economy will bring in next to nothing. ... not all taxes on the rich unreasonably discourage economic growth. But a lot of them do .... Thus, to increase federal revenue, forget about the rich. Remember the economy. VOICES ACROSS THE NATION ON BASEBALL'S FAY VINCENT RESIGNING: BURBANK, Calif., Cheryl Davis, 40, communications director: It's really a moot point. Fay Vincent tried to be a commissioner when what the organization needs is a strong CEO. I'm all for Vincent; he has a lot of grace under pressure. Whenever you have 26 or 28 bosses to report to, you're at a severe disadvantage. ORLANDO, Fla., A.J. Schoepf, 78, retired: Yes. It's the opinion of the majority of the owners and, without the support of your bosses, how can you do a good job? They're the guys who pay the salary. The guy who owns the building calls the shots. Eighteen votes against him and nine votes for him, that's democratic. COLUMBUS, Ohio, Robert Bournea, 20, writer: He was in there for a long time. It's time for some new blood. They need to delegate authority a little more so one person doesn't have as much authority as Fay Vincent did. The owners and managers should have more power. PHOENIX, Ariz., Elizabeth Valdez, 47, consultant: You need support and consensus to reach a good decision, so he was not a good commissioner. It was for the benefit of the sport not to go into a legal battle. We don't know the true story of Fay Vincent or baseball politics. There's a lot of interests there and a lot of power and money. CHAPEL HILL, N.C., Dave Lohse, 37, sports publicist: My opinion of him changed drastically this summer because of the situation with the Chicago Cubs and the National League realignment. That was a distressing thing, to force the realignment over the objections of the club and the fans. He was overstepping his bounds. TOPIC - HAITI: Randall Robinson is executive director of TransAfrica, which was instrumental in raising the profile of the plight of blacks in South Africa. WHY ARE YOU PROTESTING THE POLICY OF TURNING BACK HAITIAN REFUGEES? We have a unique history toward Haiti - a discriminatory policy beginning with President Reagan in 1981. We joined in an agreement with former Haitian leader Jean Claude Duvalier to interdict and interrogate private vessels leaving Haiti and to return those people to Haiti. In our normal legal immigration process from 1981 to 1990, we allowed 76% of the Soviets who applied to come into the United States. Down at the bottom of the list was Haiti with about 1.9%. So across the board we see an indefensible American discrimination against refugees from Haiti. BUT WHAT ABOUT THE QUESTION OF IMMIGRATION LAW? On the question of immigration law, we don't find in good times any great number of Haitians who want to leave. So if we are interested in stemming that tide, then we ought to do all that we can do to restore democracy in Haiti. WHAT WILL RESTORING DEMOCRACY DO? Haiti had, for the first time in its 200-year history, a democratic experience in which 70% of the people elected to vote for President Jean-Bertrand Aristide. With that choice came aid from donor nations, a drop in the refugee traffic, and some period of stability in Haiti. Issues & Debate Editor: Kate Coughlin. (1-919-855-3491) Making copies of USA TODAY Update (Copyright, 1992) for further distribution violates federal law. This article is copyright 1992 Gannett News Service. Redistribution to other sites is not permitted except by arrangement with American Cybercasting Corporation. For more information, send-email to usa@AmeriCast.COM