Masonry Magazine February 1987 Page. 65
WASHINGTON WIRE
continued from page 33
Meanwhile, conservatives would like to see big cuts made in Medicare costs. Some changes would eliminate benefits. Others would cut payments to providers, and still others would raise taxes or payments by beneficiaries or workers.
CONGRESS IS EXPECTED TO PURSUE a big environmental agenda. It's likely to pick up on unfinished work, starting with the Clean Air Act, which the President nullified with a pocket veto after November's election. Some amendment of the Clean Water act is also a strong possibility in 1987. Controls on acid-rain pollution and a clean-up of underground water are due.
THE DEMOCRATS ARE CERTAIN to oppose most of Reagan's spending cuts. Many are the same as those rejected by Congress in the current fiscal year. But stonewalling Reagan on budget cuts may mean trouble for the Democrats. It was easier to dispute the President when they were the minority party. Now they have most of the responsibility for producing a workable budget, one that meets the requirements of the Gramm-Rudman budget-balancing law.
SO PRESSURE IS GROWING IN CONGRESS for some sort of a tax increase. Some Democrats see it as a way to duck spending cuts. Others call it risky. The President and GOP legislators are still opposed to an income-rate boost. Several schemes have been offered for raising revenue through higher taxes. One idea to postpone the final cuts in income-tax rates was dead at birth. Another plan calls for an energy tax, to raise money and spur conservation. Still another: A temporary deficit reduction tax on imports-a tariff hike.
Reagan may go along with some revenue-raising proposals. Higher excise taxes are a possibility; the taxes would be increased on such consumer items as alcohol and tobacco.
LOOK FOR A SHIFT OF FOCUS on labor issues from Sen. Edward Kennedy, who comes in as chairman of the Senate Labor and Human Resources Committee. Kennedy is out to create a new liberal Democratic social agenda for 1988. Welfare could be the first piece of legislation to be taken up by Labor. Kennedy wants the Federal government to pay states for training recipients. Kennedy will also revive the legislation requiring advance notice by firms that plan to shut a plant. Employees would be entitled to 60 days warning.
THE SENATE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE will become more aggressive in 1987, now that Sen. Joseph Biden has taken control as the new committee chairman. He will be more forceful on civil rights, white-collar crime and antitrust. Biden won't support changes to ease the antitrust constraints on business. And he is not receptive to changing the system of damage awards in lawsuits brought by persons who are injured from the use of manufacturers' products. The Democrats will thwart Reagan's plans for a more conservative judiciary.
New Majority
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, women hold more than 50% of the professional jobs in the United States. In 1985. women accounted for 73% of the teachers, 87% of the librarians and 95% of the registered nurses in the country. In contrast, women account for only 17% of all doctors, 11% of all architects, 7% of all engineers, and 18% of all lawyers and judges.
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MASONRY JANUARY/FEBRUARY, 1987 65