I INSIGHT
Infighting
Continued from preceding page
coalition led by the Likud. In
such a government, it would
be extremely difficult for
Shamir to refuse to return
Sharon to the Defense Min-
istry.
The Shamir camp has
warned that if the unity
government falls, Labor
Party leader Shimon Peres
might be able to set up his
own narrow coalition, in
partnership with left-wing
and Orthodox parties.
Sharon, however, dismisses
this as propaganda, main-
taining that Peres has no
chance to reach an agree-
ment with the religious fac-
tions.
Most observers believe
Shamir has sufficient
strength in the Central
Committee to win a
showdown with Sharon. But
the political cost is likely to
be high.
We see eye to eye
with all our patients.
Clara VanScyoc, M.D. and
Amy Kowalski, M.D. are pleased to
announce their affiliation with
St. Joseph Mercy Hospital
in the practice of
Pediatric and Adolescent medicine.
Washington Correspondent
T
Union Lake - 360-1200
2900 Union Lake Rd.
(across from K-Mart)
Office hours by appointment . Evening
and Saturday hours available.
Same-day appointments welcome.
J
Clip and save these important numbers
VINTAGE WRISTWATCHES WANTEb
PATEK PHILIPPE
ROLEX
AUDEMARS
VACHERON
LeCOULTRE
CORUM COIN
GUBELIN
CARTIER
MOONPHASES
CHRONOGRAPHS
Even Dad
couldn't build you a sofa
as well as we can. What
with 1200 fabrics to
choose from and 457 sofa
styles. Then again, there's
our guarantee to consider.
And probably, Dad doesn't
build custom sofas at all.
Newton Furniture
Livonia, Novi, Ann Arbor, Sterling Hts.
We are winning.
All interesting or unusual time
pieces. Need not be running.
AAAERICAN
CANCER
SOCIETY'
ABBOTT'S-COINEX CORPORATION
1393 S. Woodward Ave. • Birmingham, MI 48011 • (313) 644-6833
Advertising in The Jewish News Gets Results
Place Your Ad Today. Call 354 6060
-
FRIDAY, JANUARY 26, 1990
JAMES D. BESSER
(north of 12 mile)
L
I
High Court Approves
Tax On Religious Goods
Our offices are located in the
MercyCare Family Medical Centers:
Farmington Hills - 855-6773
28270 Orchard Lake Rd.
You and your child feel more
comfortable about seeing someone
you know and like... a doctor who
has an understanding of your
health care needs.
38
ANALYSIS
Clara VanScyoc, M.D.
Amy Kowalski, M.D.
Diplomats of the
American Board of Pediatrics
A
If you feel one-to-one
relationships between doctor and
patient are important, call us.
1
r
n on-going relationship
with a favorite doctor is important.
The party is already badly
split between forces loyal to
the Prime Minister . and
those supporting the Sharon-
Levi-Modai camp. Moreover,
by casting the fight in terms
of ideology and security,
Sharon has put Shamir on
the defensive.
"If Arik [Sharon] demands
that the party reaffirm its
opposition to allowing East
Jerusalem Arabs to vote in
the West Bank, or calls for
continued settlement in
Judea and Samaria, it will
be almost impossible to vote
against him," said a Likud
Knesset member who sup-
ports the prime minister.
"Shamir will be in a real
bind. If he goes along with
Sharon, he's weak, and he
walks into a confrontation
with the United States. But
if he fights on those issues,
he could lose." ❑
he U.S. Supreme
Court's ruling that
California can require
the Jimmy Swaggart Min-
istries to pay sales tax on
religious materials it sells
could pose serious financial
problems for Jewish institu-
tions.
In an unusual 9-0 decision,
the High Court rejected
arguments by the television
evangelist and other
religious groups that the
Constitution's First
Amendment guarantee of
freedom of religion pro-
hibited states from taxing
sales of Bibles, sacred music,
religious tracts and recorded
sermons by such groups. No
Jewish organizations filed
briefs in the case.
Thus at a time when fi-
nancially-strapped govern-
ments are searching for new
revenue, the Swaggart deci-
sion allows tax authorities to
require synagogues, chur-
ches and other religious
groups to collect sales tax.
Several Jewish activists in
Washington suggested that
revenue-hungry state and
local governments may be
unable to resist the lure of
millions of dollars in poten-
tial taxes now exempted by
state statutes.
The court ruled last week
that any city, county or state
could apply neutral taxes to
book sales by a religious
organization in the same
way a government body
could tax that sale by a
retail bookstore.
California had attempted
to collect $183,000 in sales
taxes from the Swaggart
organization based on mate-
rials sold by mail order from
the ministry's Louisiana
headquarters, and at
"revivals" within Califor-
nia.
A general tax tied to ac-
tual sales or use "is not a tax
on the right to disseminate
religious information, ideas,
or beliefs," Justice Sandra
Day O'Connor wrote for the
court. "[It] is a tax on the
privilege of making retail
sales of tangible personal
property" and on its "use or
consumption."
Currently only California,
West Virginia and Indiana
impose taxes on the sale of
religious goods by not-for-
profit sectarian groups. But
after last week's decision,
other states may quickly
follow suit — a possibility
that alarms some Jewish ac-
tivists.
"This decision is not a good
portent," said Marc Stern,
co-director of the Commis-
sion on Law and Social Ac-
tion of the American Jewish
Congress. "What this deci-
sion did was find that chur-
ches could be subject to any
tax that anybody else is sub-
ject to, as long as it is not a
tax specifically for the pur-
pose of taxing a church. We
would certainly urge