Masonry Magazine October 1988 Page. 26
Washington Wire
continued from page 25
A limited rise in the dollar's value on the foreign-exchange markets could ease the strains on capacity and on inflation.
MAJOR EFFORTS WILL BE MADE IN 1989 TO RAISE TAXES to cut the deficit, no matter who's elected President and no matter what's said in the campaign. Theoretically, the deficit targets could be reached by big cuts in spending, but politically it isn't likely to occur; the cuts face too much opposition. The central issue then is which taxes should be increased .. and by how much.
The taxes most susceptible to being raised are the so-called sin taxes. Options being considered include doubling the cigarette tax and increasing taxes on liquor, beer and wine.
MANY ECONOMISTS WOULD FAVOR AN INCREASE IN TAXES on energy and fuels. Higher energy taxes might boost conservation by making oil more expensive. This could be passed more easily than an increase in Federal income taxes. And it packs a significant revenue punch... raising billions in extra taxes.
LOOK FOR CONGRESS TO APPROVE AID TO PARENTS for the care of children, no matter who is elected President: the pressure for such action is growing. Both Michael Dukakis and George Bush are supporting rival child-care plans. Bush has proposed a $2.2 billion package that is based on a new tax credit. Lower-income families would receive a $1,000-per-child credit for such care. But no new Federal bureaucracy would be set up and no regulations required. The credit could be used where a parent stays home to care for the children and could apply to child care in the home or in other unlicensed facilities.
Dukakis has backed "in concept" a more comprehensive Federal program. It would create a $2.5 billion program for children of working parents, though it would not be available to those parents who care for children in the home. Federal health and safety guidelines would ensure the quality of such child care.
A FEDERAL ATTACK ON ILLEGAL DRUGS SEEMS TO BE TAKING A NEW TURN now, shifting from curbing
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26 MASONRY-SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER, 1988