Detroit Free Press from Detroit, Michigan • Page 8

8 A DETROIT FREE PRESSWEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 24, 1990 Budget plan sinks in a political flood i f. ft Raucous Democrats split on compromise; they say Republicans can agree, either I Jta Chairman Dan Rostenkowski leaves a ing for Republican candidates, that he had not decided whether to sign another bill. "I'm so frustrated by Congress' inability to do anything, I don't know what I'm going to do," he said. At their stormy caucus Tuesday morning, House Democrats complained that House Republicans had all but deserted Bush on a deficit-reduction plan. Negotiators said they can't count on more than one-third of the Republicans to support any package.

Democrats said if they were going to provide the votes to pass a bill, they wanted it to be to their liking. The Democrats lodged two major objections to a possible compromise between House and Senate deficit-reduction bills worked out after four days of bargaining with the Senate and White House. They protested: A proposal to limit some itemized deductions for upper-income taxpayers, preferring a House-passed plan to impose a surtax on the rich. A proposed 31-percent top income tax rate, preferring the 33-percent top rate in the House-passed bill. Enacting a new 31-percent top rate could cut income taxes for an estimated 3.5 million taxpayers who are caught in the tax "bubble" and now pay 33-percent on part of their income.

As several lawmakers noted, House members, with their $96,600 salaries, BY CHARLES GREEN And R.A. zaldivar Free Press Washington Staff WASHINGTON Rebellious House Democrats balked Tuesday at a proposed budget deal acceptable to the White House and urged their leaders to insist upon more tax hikes for upper-income Americans, despite Bush administration opposition. In a show of hands at a raucous closed-door caucus, Democrats said only half the members supported the proposed deal, not enough to carry the compromise because House Republicans overwhelmingly oppose it. "That's not good at all," said House Ways; and Means Chairman Dan Ros-tenkowski, D-Dl. The development injected new uncertainty into the up-and-down budget deliberations, and negotiators were scrambling to keep the talks from completely unraveling.

"Start manning the lifeboats," said Bill Frenzel of Minnesota, top Republican on the House Budget Committee. Adding to the problems: A short-, term spending bill keeping the govern- ment operating expires at 12:01 a.m. Thursday. President George Bush has signed stopgap spending bills three times since the fiscal year started Oct. But Bush told reporters in Water-bury; where he was campaign Civil rights leaders take case to Senate ClVTL RIGHTS, from Page 1A would lead employers to adopt hiring quotas based on sex and race, despite specific language in the bill stating it should not be interpreted that way.

Supporters of the bill Tuesday lobbied Republican Sens. Pete Wilson of California, Rudy Boschwitz of Minnesota, Warren Rudman of Vermont, Alfonse D'Amato of New York, John Warner of Virginia and John McCain of Arizona, among others. The Senate voted 62-34 to approve the bill, with three supporters absent. Both Michigan senators voted yes. If all 100 senators vote, 67 votes are needed to override.

Rudman, who has called the administration's position unreasonable, and Wilson, who is in a tight race for governor of California, are viewed as swing votes in an override attempt. "Those members who choose to support the president will have to answer to women, and those who say they simply voted to support Bush will find that answer just won't fly," said Marcia Greenberger of the National Women's Law Center. "This was a cynical choice willingly made by a president who has decided to buddy up not only with the right wing but with corporations who want to preserve the best jobs and salaries for white males," Berry said. Berry made her comments during a news conference in Washington attended by local labor leaders, ministers and Jesse Jackson, former Democratic presidential candidate and founder of the National Rainbow Coalition. In Detroit, Young said: "He turned out to be another version of Reagan." Young noted last week's celebration in Detroit of the 200th anniversary of the Bill of Rights and added, "What the hell did I have to celebrate? It's an insult to the American people that 200 years later, the rights haven't been realized." Paul Hubbard, president of New Detroit echoed Young's sentiments.

In a written statement, Hubbard said, "His refusal in signing the civil rights bill would do nothing but heighten the racial friction in this country, and it would also legitimize the white hate groups that are in existence." On Capitol Hill and around the nation, the bill's supporters launched a campaign of phone calls, telegrams and letters urging lawmakers to vote to override and outlining possible consequences on Election Day if they don't. The Civil Rights Act, introduced in February with bipartisan support in both houses, would overturn six 1989 Supreme Court decisions that, taken as a whole, make it more difficult for women and minorities to win job-discrimination cases. "This is a defining moment for the Bush administration; he has aligned himself with the only two other presidents in our history, Ronald Reagan and Andrew Johnson, to veto a civil rights bill," said Ralph Neas, executive director of the Leadership Conference of Civil Rights. Hussein sets 14 Americans free French hostages to follow; Iraqi invasion foes say they re united RON EDMONDSAssociated Press Democratic caucus Tuesday behind The surtax approach has been consistently opposed by Bush administra-tion officials. The surtax, coupled with the 31-percent top tax rate favored by the administration, would result in an effective tax rate of 33.3 percent, according to tax analysts.

With no breakthrough to the budget morass in sight Tuesday night, lawmakers were wondering whether Congress might have to return after the Nov. 6 election to deal with the problem. The deficit-reduction bill is intended to reduce government borrowing by $40 billion this fiscal year and $500 billion over the next five years. Faisal Arabo of Detroit arrives in Amman, Jordan, on Tuesday. He was part of the delegation that secured the captives' release.

ENRIQUE SHORE Reuters Prince Sultan is Prince Bandar's father. Bush rejected any compromise solution. "I am more determined than ever to see that this invading dictator gets out of Kuwait with no compromise of any kind whatsoever," Bush said. The Iraqi-American Foundation was established this year in the Washington area. Members, including Arabo, attended a conference with Bush and recently traveled to Iraq to foster a dialogue with the Hussein government, said James Zogby, executive director of the Arab American Institute in Washington.

Arabo, who is an insurance agent in the Detroit area, has in the past publicly supported Hussein. Free Press Staff Writer Jeffrey S. Channam contributed to this report. House Ways and Means Committee Rep. Leon Panetta of California.

would be among the potential beneficiaries. "We've got enough difficulties without doing something like that," said Rep. Dale Kildee, D-Mich. Higher-income taxpayers couples earning about $200,000 and up pay a 28-percent tax rate. The issue of limiting deductions versus imposing a surtax on higher-income taxpayers would directly affect relatively few Americans, but it has imperiled the budget deliberations.

As a visible way of making the rich pay for deficit reduction, House Democratic negotiators want to impose a 7.5-percent surtax on the estimated 65,000 households with taxable in sisted in their release. Faisal Arabo, a foundation member who is host of the "Arab Voice" TV program on WGPR-TV (Channel 62) in Detroit, said Iraq will free all Western hostages in return for international assurances that the country will not be attacked by U.S.-led multinational forces. Reacting to the Americans' release, President George Bush, on the campaign trail in Manchester, N.H., said: "I'm always pleased when Americans might be released, or if anybody's released. But it just reminds me of the brutality of the policy, the total brutality, holding people against their will and parceling them out as though to look generous. It is brutal and it is unacceptable." Five Finnish men also left Iraq for home, and 38 ailing or elderly Britons departed with former British Prime Minister Edward Heath late Tuesday night.

Also Tuesday, the Iraqi parliament endorsed Hussein's proposal to allow all 330 French citizens to leave Iraq. The niuve was seen in Paris as an attempt to divide uic "'cot's anti-Iraqi alliance, and the French government called on Iraq to free all foreign hostages. mtf f'i cf i come above $1 million. Many House Democrats also want a 33-percent top rate. Senate Republican and White House negotiators prefer to limit some itemized deductions for upper-income taxpayers and a 31-percent top rate.

When the Democratic negotiators couldn't win a 33-percent rate, they agreed to take the Republican plan to rank-and-file members. Both proposals would raise at least $5.5 billion over five years from those earning more than $1 million in taxable income and considerably more than that from taxpayers with six-figure incomes. "The taking of hostages is odious. Their liberation is merely an atonement for that inadmissible act. France cannot lend itself to any negotiation whatsoever on this issue," the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

In Washington, the Saudi ambassador denied his kingdom wants Kuwait to concede territory to bring about a peaceful settlement to the crisis. "You cannot make aggression pay," Prince Bandar said. "If you make aggression pay, that's the law of the jungle." He was summoned to the State Department after reports quoting the Saudi defense minister, Prince Sultan, had raised the possibility Iraq might gain territory in return for ending its occupation. Til ed Com- QQOoOp 0k price arable Values' from' $40 Mm' .50 ..75 "TOW or of FURS 1 ground offensive is less likely. While the United States has already amassed a large force in the region, some military officials say the Pentagon has not yet deployed enough logistical supplies to support an offensive ground action.

The 14 Americans who arrived Tuesday night in Amman, Jordan, on a Iraqi Airways flight from Baghdad included two employees of the besieged U.S. Embassy in occupied Kuwait and two sons of diplomats stranded there. The 14 were taken to a VIP lounge at Queen Alia airport. They then were escorted by embassy officials to an Amman hotel, where they were to spend the night before flying this morning to Frankfurt, Germany, en route home. feel great, but there's a lot of people left," said Jared Scogna, of Fairfax, after stepping off the Iraqi Airways flight from Baghdad.

A U.S. Embassy spokesman at Amman's airport said the group included "officials who worked with U.S. government offices in Iraq and Kuwait." The Americans left Baghdad with a seven-member delegation from the Iraqi-American Foundation that as WERE $3650 Now'1305 Aquatech Spas 425-7227 CIBA EXTENDED WEAR LENSES INCLUDES EXAM W9 it Kat a pair Persian Gulf, from Page 1A Hani, announced Tuesday night that Iraq will release five Swedes. He sajd more would have been freed if Sweden had sent a higher-ranking official than a Foreign Ministry department chief to Baghdad last week to try to secure freedom for the 90 Swedes still there. In Washington, the Bush administration said Tuesday that it was considering expanding U.S.

military forces in the Persian Gulf region beyond the 240,000 troops and other personnel already there or soon to arrive. Pete Williams, the chief Pentagon spokesman, told reporters Gen. Colin Powell, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, would recommend whether to extend the U.S. buildup when he returns Thursday from a visit to Saudi Arabia. A decision to send large numbers of additional forces could be an indication that the administration is laying the groundwork for possible offensive action to force Iraqi troops out of Kuwait.

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