Masonry Magazine April 1969 Page. 20
Washington Wire
(Continued from page 17)
money supply has been growing at only a snail's pace this year and that such slow growth is historically followed by a cooling in business.
NEW ANTISTRIKE LEGISLATION IS UNDER STUDY at the Labor Department, to make good on Nixon's campaign promises of better ways to handle crises. Changes that may be recommended to Congress include limiting the use of Taft-Hartley to strikes that are really critical and including purely local shutdowns of vital facilities under the definition of "emergency." Congress, would prefer not to vote on strike legislation, to avoid offending business or labor. But a rash of strikes -even one big stoppage would force action.
A lower minimum wage for youths is also getting study at the Commerce Department as well as at Labor. Permitting employers to pay less than the currently required $1.60 an hour, it is felt, might make the youngsters more employable. The AFL-CIO can be counted on to oppose the entire scheme.
THOSE EFFORTS TO WORK OUT VOLUNTARY QUOTAS ON IMPORTS of textiles and other items are running into snags opposition from big foreign sellers. Japan and West Europe have trade and balance-of-payments needs of their own. They threaten to retaliate-against American farm production, for example. Chances of passage of protectionist legislation by Congress will be enhanced by a final deadlock over voluntary action. The President might find it hard to oppose drives wanted in behalf of items ranging from steel to mink skins.
THE DRIVE FOR ADOPTION OF THE UNIFORM CONSUMER CREDIT CODE by the states has started to lose momentum. Already it has been shelved by three legislatures more than have passed it. Consumer groups are fighting the proposal on grounds that it favors lenders, who supported the drafting work. Consumer advocates want Congress to go beyond the truth-in-lending law, for fear that the states won't be so favorable.
IF THE TAX COLLECTOR BALKS AT SOME DEDUCTIONS YOU TOOK last year, you can now defend yourself...simply... with a minimum of fuss and bother. The Tax Court has set up a new procedure for settling cases of under $1,000. It's a lot easier now for the small taxpayer to contest an I.R.S. decision. Typical cases involve disagreements with Internal Revenue over deductions for travel and medical expenses, charitable contributions, education costs.
Here's how the procedure helps small taxpayers:
-First, you file a simple petition stating why you clained the write-off. Send it, with a $10 fee, to the Tax Court, Box 70, Washington, D.C. 20044. Note that the petition must be filed within 90 days of an I.R.S. notice that your return is deficient. Beyond 90 days, you are ineligible. Your case would be heard in 4-5 months at a nearby point.
The small-claims procedure lets you try your case without an attorney, though many citizens prefer to bring legal help if the situation is complex. If you lose here, you can then appeal to the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. The procedure is more formal there; it's advisable to obtain an attorney.
WANT TO KNOW WHAT RECORDS TO KEEP FOR HOW LONG to meet the demands of the different Federal agencies? Then send 75c to the Gov't Printing Ofc. (Wash., D.C. 20402) for the latest "Guide to Record Retention Requirements."
DICK NIXON'S HONEYMOON WITH CONGRESS IS APPROACHING ITS END, at last. It is fairly typical as these things go neither unusually long nor short. Potential antagonists must give a new President something like three months to get his feet on the ground...review past policies...chart a new course. But now it is time for making some tough decisions-on national defense...on problems of poverty and the cities...and (toughest of all) on Viet Nam. Anything he does now will spark hot opposition from one side or the other.
Nixon continues to handle himself supremely well -there is little doubt about that. His calm, deliberate approach has cooled tempers and reduced the divisions in the country.
But the protracted tussle over the Anti-Ballistic Missile marks a turning-point. Congressmen of both parties have started to differ with Nixon-openly. They will do so on other issues hereafter-on poverty, spending, tax reform.
TEDDY KENNEDY HAS QUIETLY LAID DOWN HIS FIRST CHALLENGE TO Nixon in what Capitol observers see as a major political probing by the Democrat. Nixon's civil rights policy was the battleground. Kennedy is the Chairman of a Senate administrative practices subcommittee, which gives him latitude to poke into many sectors. He has chosen to spotlight the race question-including defense contracts to textile mills charged with discrimination... funds for still-segregated schools...and the easing up on highway builders.
The immediate objective is to put the GOP on the defensive. But, longer-term, all the publicity could derail White House efforts to woo the black vote-keeping it Democratic. But if Nixon tried to back-track, he'd add to Southern suspicions.
OBSERVATIONS ABOUT MOSCOW
Moscow has no smog, very little traffic and there is a strange quality of serenity in this bustling metropolis of 6,427,000 people. These are some of the plus factors in a first-hand evaluation of the Russian capital offered by Morris Ketchum, Jr., head of the architectural firm bearing his name and recent leader of a contingent of U.S. architects to that city in a U.S. State Department approved cultural exchange program.
In his outspoken critique of the city, which Mr. Ketchum wrote in the April issue of the AIA Journal, he sums up the city as "contemporary and adequate, but not outstanding, lacking boldness, variety, color and technical accomplish- (Continued on page 27)
masonry
• April, 1969