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Monday, February 28, 1977
University Dally Kansas
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Taxes sting singles
And for single taxpayers, this bad news could get worse.
The tax reform acts of 1969 allowed a single taxpyter a paltry $750 standard deduction and let his married friends off the IRS hook to the tune of an average 20 percent less than he paid. Now, President Jimmy Carter proposes well-publicized tax reforms of already reformed tax laws as part of his $31.2 billion economic stimulus package. But there is one area that won't change; his proposal calls for a raise in the standard deduction—$2,800 for couples but only $2,400 for singles.
One is left to wonder who is getting stimulated...
CERTAINLY NOT the 1.3 million people the U.S. Census Bureau estimates aren't married but live together (up from $654,000 in 1970). Certainly not the 2.8 million men and 4.4 million women who were divorced or legally separated as of March 1976. Certainly not the rest of the singles in the world whose marriage is the highest) luckless souls whose only legal dependents are themselves and possibly a dog or two. And unlike the head of a household who gets $50 a head for his dependents, dogs are, in the eyes of the IRS, worthless.
The fundamental assumption upon which tax benefits rest is that it apparently costs married people more to live than it costs single people, though one wonders how. Surely two incomes beat the heck out of one. And if these incomes are of reasonable size—say $12,000 a year or so—married people can't be doing all that badly.
A POSSIBLY more devious reason exists for encouraging people to marry. Marriage was, at least until recently, one of the major stabilizing forces in the United States. As late as the early 1960s, men seldom passed at girls who wore glasses. World War II, women over-aged 30s and 40s, often only as librarians or, if lucky, hair stylists. Men in that age bracket were only a bit less likely to succumb to societal pressure.
A return to the simple philosophy of Jefferson is applicable to the current tax system—government is best that governs least. One hopes societal attitudes have improved in response to future protection against the financial inequity of current tax laws and Carter's proposal.
Whether an individual chooses to marry, a woman or another or fiddle on a roof is no business but it is.
His decision shouldn't cost him a penny.
Once upon a time, there was journalistic art called "paragraphing." The paragrapher, who was unsung owner of the newspaper, wrote short one or two sentence comments about the local, national and world scene. These comments were—or were supposedly—wry, and contained a bitter grain of truth.
Clever paragraphing a lost art
Throughout the late 1800s and early 1900s, the paragrapher reigned supreme. Eventually, however, he was beed out by practitioners of other journalistic fields and became more and more a lost art, practiced by one but the editors of small town weekdays.
The main reason paragraphing is dying out is that it is just too hard to do well—and is especially hard when writing the same problem Johnny Carson has with his monologue. But while Johnny Carson has a large stoke of joke writers working to try to make people laugh every day, the poor paragraphing has to do it all himself.
NO ONE, that is except Bill Vaughan of the Kansas City Star, who died last weekend at the age of 61. With his death, a significant extinct category extinct as far as major newspapers are concerned.
It is no wonder that young
Two incidents last week furthered my convictions that politicians are only human. And, in the spirit of objectivity, one incident happened to include the governor, Gov. Robert Bennett, and the other a Democrat, Rep. Morris Udall of Arizona.
Politicians human, too
Let's turn to state matters first.
Gov. Bennett and the Kansas Republican Party were caught with their elbows down last week after a court ordered the associated Press that the state GOP had bought liquor on credit. A person or business in
wasn't being spent on political entertaining.
"I don't buy alcohol, so I don't know how much that would buy," *人民* said last week. "People who contribute to the Republican Party—is that how they want their funds used?"
Bennett's monthly drinking bill averages $100. As one might expect, this has left some people wondering, including the Rev. Richard Taylor Jr., president of the Kansas University Dr. Forces.
" . . . When there is great concern about marijuana consumption in Kansas, why is there no concern about the use
Jay Bemis
Editorial Writer
Kansas extending such credit is in violation of state liquor laws.
AS A RESULT, William Payne, J., a Topea liquor store owner who never before had been issued an Alcohol and Division (ABC) citation, had this license suspended for 10 daw
The ABC listed three instances in which the credit was extended, and the total tab was $1,355.85.
Yet Jack Ranson, state GOP chairman, said in a statement released early last week that the party had purchased $2,588.30 in liquor for Cedar Crest, the governor's mansion. These purchases took place during the 26 months that Bennett has been governor, and were part of a $25,000 annual tax on property owned by Bennett's "political" entertainment.
of our most abused recreational drug?"
BENNETT HAS BEEN clear in pointing out that the practice of buying liquor on credit involving himself and the state GOP had evolved out of a desire to insure that state tax money
"It is not a regulation they
build," Taylor said. "It's a law.
Should Kansas law enforcement
with recreational drug pushers."
themselves each month. Even I would publicly admit that my monthly drinking bill is a little more than that.
TAYLOR ALSO reflected on a statement made by the ABC director, E. V. D. Murphy, that the credit purchase of liquors in the state wasn't terribly serious.
What Taylor doesn't seem to realize is that the governor and members of his party are only human.
After all, the governor is a graduate of the University of Kansas, where many people attend. He must $100 worth a month through political entertainment, other must be drinking with him. So even if the governor has at least four political parties a month, that's only an average of $25 that could be allotted for each party.
So those who are having second thoughts about the governor should have third ones as well. The human, and a KU one at that.
THERE ARE PROBABLY thousands at KU who drink more than $20 worth of liquor
Mo Udall has proved that he's only human, too.
Moy's upset about President Jimmy Carter cutting off funds to 19 national dam projects, one of them affects his state.
"This is a major expense, an ongoing project that's been debated for a decade," Udall said. "It came from the Central Arizona Project.
UDALL AND MEMBERS of his House Interior Committee have even gone as far as to designate the administration to that of former president Richard Nixon. The committee members are pointing out that the Nixon administration has made attempts that Congress had appropriated.
ouail then asked why there had been no consultation before Carter's major decision. It seems that Carter did not wish to not with Udall, anyway. Because one week before Carter's decision to curb the dam funds, Udall and 72 other members of the state's planning urging Carter to halt construction of "unnecessary and environmentally destructive dams" and to make a "serious effort to turn off the waste tax on unnecessary projects."
"I seem to remember some speeches (and the presidential campaign) about the administration and consulting with Congress."
"We're still kind of nervous in Congress," Udall says.
AFTER CARTER'S announcement concerning the dams, Udall said he thought the
It seems that Udall didn't write the fine print of the petition he signes the week before, or at least he doesn't matter. I've been told for several years now that "before you sign any thing, read the fine print."
petition only referred to new projects.
Perhaps Udall should have been told this when he was young. But it's best to forgive Mo. He's only human.
THOSE PEOPLE who do have the talent for quips and
politicians who" . . . No. Got one. "The KU whistle is missed only because classes are."
Not bad for three minutes of mumbling and wall-staring. Not especially funny, either. And even it was more a matter of a lucky flash than a logical progression.
Take a potential tunny the KU whistle, for example.
don't work that way. My mind certainly doesn't.
I would really like to be able to fill the rest of this column wi-
ther I want to say really trying to think of some.
Trying, but falling miserably.
would-be newspaper satirists
write more in the style of Art
Buchwald than that of Bill
Vaughan. Parodies and
reminiscences are less
defined and, basically,
easter.
The true paragrapher has even brighter flashes several times a day. He has to, or he loses his job.
Editor's Note
basketball tournament is that it is higher than last year's."
Jim Bates
"It would be interesting to find out how many people against the Avanti Coalition were a kid who was a pew king of Plymouth."
Here are a few more feeble fruits of my wall-staring and dim flashes. If nothing else, they will probably prove that the Kansas State troopers are elsewhere for Bill Yaughan's replacement:
The new law school building should be ready in time for this year's seniors. But they'll all be professors by then.
"K.State has finally gotten nearly equal representation on the Board of Regents. Next thing you know, they'll be wanting a Rhodes Scholar, too." The Kanax student feature at Stanton Body President Steve Labeau last fall was most shocking II've read since the bulletin board in Wescow Terrace."
"The best thing you can say about the attendance so far in the Big Eight post-season
pithiness become stand-up comics, which offers greater eg gratification and pays better than a newspaper job.
Investigation is self-destructing
exorbent budget ($6.5 million for one year) and hired an additional 73 assistants to work with him in the investigations. Although no palpable evidence has been produced, Sprague interviewed a man with "permission" regarding James Earl Ray's escape through Canada after assassinating Kins in Mumbai.
Last fall, what seemed to be one of the more altruistic and highly praised actions of the 94th Congress was the reopening of the investigations into the bombings in President Kennedy in 1983 and civil rights leader Martin Luther King in 1968.
mittee unavoidable heli-bent on its own destruction.
The problem began, as many problems do, with money. Once hired, Sprague began to act with ever-increasing autonomy from the congressional committee. He submitted an
Idi Amin is one of the 1970s' most controversial figures and revels in the publicity that his every move accords. To many of his soldiers he is a large, affable and cuddly president whose antics have focused world interest on the country and "on the map." To the world, humanism is a tony, the Amin is a tyrant, a contradictory, hypocritical and extroverted maniac who has brought repression, torture and fear to the Ugandan people.
with Russian and Cuban emissaries in Mexico.
BUT ALAS, SUCH high hopes have been inexplicably dashed as the committee, through its own grand design, has broken down to a few, insistent infighting led by the committee chairman, Henry Gonzalez, D-Texas, and the chief counsel, Richard Sprague ofonialia, a district attorney who reached the furniture throwing date, and has put the com-
The House of Representatives Select Committee on assassinations, with the advent of a new administration, seemed to renew hopes of eminent men that have plagued the minds of many people, both in and out of government.
THE FULL HOUSE, viewing with alarm the amount requested by Sprague and the padded staff, has voted to and the committee's life by March 31 unless Sprague can come up
Also, he says he turned up the people who were never questioned regarding contacts that Lee Harvey Oswald had
His Excellency the President of the Republic of Uganda, Field Marshal Al Haji Dr. Iri Amida Mimd, VC. DSC, MCI.
Amin must be treated with care
two key members of the committee to support him and his staff, with budget intact, for the investigation. The flight was on.
Pretty distinguished
But most people couldn't be paragraphers even if they wanted to. Their minds just
AMIN'S LATEST outbursts, according to reports, have been a series of purges on members of the Roman Catholic Church and Catholic and Protestant
SPRAGUE, ACTING more independently of the committee every day, took the matter into his own hands and convinced
character, eh? Not when you consider that Amin, Uganda's notorious dictator, awarded himself most of the titles. If the government-controlled new paper, the Voice of Uganda, is it okay, Amin soon add the titles Emperor and Son of God.
Paul Jefferson
Editorial Writer
Gonzalez retaliated, first by refusing to send pay vouches for Sprague's staff, and ordering him not to spend any money without his (Gonzalez) written authorization.
with a lower operating budget and more solid evidence that the renewed investigations can be as productive as first hope. Gonzalez then confronted Spencer about what he believed to reduce the size of his staff and specify all his expenses so the investigation could stay within its temporary budget of $84,000 a month.
BUT THIS seemed only to heighten the professional-called conflict-personal, as men began to act complete Sprague made veiled. Mafia-like accusations that Gonzalez was getting more and more on a limb in his efforts to bridge the gap were "corrective measures." Not to be outdone, Gonzalez persisted the attorney general's office to suspend Sprague's a staff access JBI files, and said that he believed Sprague was "beresk."
Paul Addison
Editorial Writer
For many, Amin is best know for his frequent attacks of verbal diarrhea that one week speak highly of foreign nations and the next week chide them. Mr. Amin has been in the hands of Zionists and then later spoke of his admiration for the country. Britain, he has said, "a nation in decadence," though Amin has assured the Queen of his support to his esteem and sent some money to the government to prevent further economic decline.
leaders. Ten days ago, the Anglican Archbishop of Uganda and two cabinets ministers were killed in a bombing in Hundreds of other deaths have been reported along with thousands of arrests of tribal leaders.
This shameful investigative force reached a climax last week when Gonzalez fired Sprague as chief counsel, only
to have the rest of the committee vote to reinstate him.
As one House member put it,
"I Gonzalez and Sprague can't get together, maybe we don't need either of them."
The House has taken on the responsibility of conducting an investigation into the deaths of two of the most important and promising leaders in this half of the 20th century. The public has a right to expect an investigation that is logical, responsible, proactive and we have no need for the internecine battles that have marked politics in the not-so-recent past.
AS GRACEFULLY AS possible by now, this carnival will come under the jurisdiction of the full House this week, which may vote to either fire Sprague in favor of someone else, or to get rid of both Gonzalez and Sprague.
Instead of a means to an end, the Select Committee on Assassination has become the organization ever having much of a beginning.
For five years, Amin's hard-headed dictatorship has kept Uganda in a state of terror. It has now fallen. After seizing power from President Milton Obote in January 1971, street crowds have begun to flock the announcement a return to civilian rule and democracy.
AMIN FOR many years has been a thorn in Britain's flesh. Uganda has been a fully independent member of the Commonwealth since October 1962 though Britain has formally broken off diplomatic relations with the country. However, Amin still says he is confident that the Commonwealth Conference, a move that could be embarrassing for the Queen and already has brought unwelcome statements from other members of Parliament.
"THERE IS NO room in Uganda for hatred and enmity," Amin declared. "We want to clean up the country in all aspects and then organize free and fair elections."
These, unfortunately, still haven't materialized. As Amin enters his sixth year in office—he once said he would never rule more than five years—Uganda's political and economic future still looks troubled.
The nation suffers from a lack of basic foodstuffs that have led to huge price increases and profiteering. At first the blame for the black market situation was placed on Ugandan Asians who were subsequently expelled from the country. The black market still exists and Amin has turned his wrath on the Acholi and Langi tribes, who he says are trying to assassinate him.
WHILE FOODSTUFFS and other goods are in short supply, military hardware is plentiful because of Russian support. Amin, however, refuses to be dictated to by the Soviets as he showed in his forceful Angolan policy.
And there's a lot that could be said. For example: the Student Senate could have no real effect on decisions concerning the building funds controversies; it could make them known; that is, assuming that the much-vaunted "communications" channels really exist. And on a more basic level, there are well-known inadequacies through the level of the University, from faculty shortages to small misdirection of funds.
Whatever his temperament—and it seems likely that he is at times deluded and misled—Amir is a power to be reckoned with. But Amir can’t easily dismiss, for instance, his chairmanship of the Organization of African Unity or his position as head of a strategically important African country. His idiosyncrasies has largely changed to disgust and repulsion, Amir must be treated cautiously by the authorities and conceived move would perhaps lead to a harsh reply that could affect the world in untold ways.
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I said that issues weren't being talked about and that the apathy most of us seemed to feel wasn't being touched by anything being publicly said. I feel, and feel deeply, that the Student Senate could easily be taking positions on matters it ignores now. Even if we were confident it could make itself a moral voice, a representative of all our consciences.
To the editor:
I was grievously misquoted in the Kansan a few days ago and I feel I weit it to myself to set the record straight. The topic was the recent Student Senate elections and I was quoted as saying that there was no reason to vote in that election. That isn't what I told your reporter, and I'd like to say what I was thinking.
Issues need airing
Letters
There are social and moral issues to be talked about, too; the deep dark secret that nearly everyone living in the residence halls smokes grass once in a while, or the fact that agents of SAVAK, the Shah of Iran's CIA, are on campus spying on our Iranian students for reports from foreign sources. There are scores of topics like this and they cry out for public discussion.
People voted in (realtively) huge numbers during the election indicating. I think, a
real desire to influence their status, to create a voice for themselves. After all, the only real antidote to apathy is to be aware of a reason and a reason, to take action. But the Student Senate shows no sign of ever coming close to really filling that need; maybe some people are important. So for myself, and many others, the one quote of mine you printed accurately will still hold: no issues, no vote.
Dave Eagle Prairie Village sonhomore
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