Page 12-Thursday, May 18, 1978-The Michigan Daily Social Security tax cut WASHINGTON (AP) - The House much as $123 a year the taxes paid by Ways and Means Committee reversed higher-income workers and their em- itself yesterday and stifled an election- ployers. year effort to roll back Social Security Every covered worker and his or her taxes for 106 million workers and their employer would have benefitted from employers, the rollback. The $14.5 billion cost of the "I have decided that I cannot live two-year reduction would have been with a vote" to undo the tax increases paid out of income tax revenues. enacted last December, said Rep. Al The tax increase was voted last Ullman, (D-Ore.), chairman. His December in an effort to rescue Social position, and the committee's turn- Security from bankruptcy, which.ex- about, defies a mandate from the House perts say would have hit part of the Democratic Caucus, which last month system as early as 1979. instructed the panel to write a tax-cut Although the increases have not yet bill, gone into effect, many members of Ullman had cast the tie-breaker last Congress began feeling pressure from week when the committee voted 19-18 voters, who were surprised by a for a rollback. He and four other mem- smaller increase, enacted in 1972, that bers switched their positions yesterday, went into effect this year. resulting in a 21-16 vote against a reduc- Ways and Means rejected a number tion. of proposals for reducing Social Ullman said that vote probably set- Security taxes before settling last week tied the question for the year. That on the two-year plan. The ideal of the would mean higher Social Security proposal was to reduce the tax burden taxes starting next Jan. 1. temporarily to give Congress time to But Rep. Fortney Stark, (D-Calif.), come up with a long-term solution. indicated an effort will be made to write One factor in the committee's about- a Social Security tax cut in the House face yesterday was the fact that Rules Committee and on the House Congress traditionally has considered floor. "Power politics is the only way Social Security as an insurance this bill can be stopped at this point," program, under which each worker's stark said. future benefits have some relation to stifled by committee how much that worKer paid in Social Ullman and Reps. Ken Holland, (D- Security taxes. Use income taxes to pay S.C.), William Frenzel, (R-Minn.), and for a part of Social Security, the L.A. Bafalis, (R-Fla.), switched from argument goes, and the huge system support of the rollback last week to op- will be turned into another welfare position yesterday. Rep. John Duncan, program, in which benefits are based (R-Tenn.), who voted against the cut not on taxes paid but on need. last week, voted for it yesterday. 'I have decided I cannot live with a vote' to undo the tax increases enacted last Decem- ber. -House Waws and Means Chairman Al Ullman (D-Ore.) Rep. Barber Conable of New York, senior Republican on the committee, argued for a rollback. He said the panel has "a political mandate from the Democratic caucus and a strong ex- pression of concern from the American people, which cannot be ignored." Eight Republicans and 13 Democrats voted against the rollback; four Republicans and 12 Democrats favored it. Under current law, each worker pays into Social Security 6.05 per cent of the first $17,700 earned this year, or a maximum tax of $1,071. A $10,000-a- year earner pays $605. In both cases, the employer matches the worker's tax. Next year, the tax will rise to 6.13 per cent of the first $22,900 earned, or a maximum $1,404. By 1987, the tax is due to rise to 7.15 per cent of the first $42,500. The plan rejected by Ways and Means would have reduced to 1977 levels the Social Security taxes paid in 1979 and 1910 by most workers and their employers. It would have cut by as Hydrocurve contact lens has introduced new soft lens. Special introductory offer May 11th through May 25th. Dr. Paul Uslan OPTOMETRIST 545 Church St. 769-1222 - Wallace closes political door (Continued from Page 1) HE'S NOT "THE George Wallace of old," said the governor's ex-wife, Cor- nelia, whose exit from the governor's mansion last September led to a divor- ce settlement four months later. Others said that Wallace, who enjoys being surrounded by political cronies, was reluctant to abandon his home turf for life among strangers in the nation's capitol. All these factors, and others, were probably in Wallace's mind as he closed he door on a political career that began with his election to the Alabama House in 1946. ELECTED THREE TIMES as governor of Alabama, Wallace seemed to enjoy most of his four whirlwind campaigns for president, as he taunted the establishment and its "pointy- headed" intellectuals and bureaucrats. From Maine to California, he plum- bed the fears and expectations of the nation's middle class, the "silent majority," generating a wave of sup- port that was at its peak on May 15, ..AVIA WAVAFAAArAV AWAAFArArAr . r4trA AAFAt AffAWAFAF riO, WA SIR IFANWANWAMWAN GET INTO THE SWIM OF THINGS THIS SUMMER! t KEEP INFORMED w/ a Summer Subscription to the Daily- Summeor Subscito PrlCw ----------------- ----- $6.50 Spring/Summer Term (111) $7.00 by moil outside Ann Arbor (Please Print) Lost Name First Middlelnitial $350 Spring (lila) I.D,_No._Phone No.--or-- N1SUmmer (114)Term $4.00 by mail outside Ann Arbor Number Street Name Apt. No. *Ouf of Town Subscribers City State Zip Must Pre-pay! 1..;i:." - S'r An lfn e r Q.Bn th n -- t I 1972, when he was cut down in an assassination attempt at a shopping center in Laural, Md. "I guess you could say that Arthur Breemer really messed me up politically with that gun," said Wallace later, referring to his convicted assailant WALLACE HEEDED WHAT he saw as his calling one more time, running for president in 1976. But after a defeat at the hands of fellow southerner Jim- my Carter in the early primaries, Wallace threw in the towel to support the former Georgia governor. To reporters, Wallace, troubled by worsening hearing problems, has seemed increasingly disinterested in state matters in recent months, railing against the Legislature while it was in session earlier in the year but holding few press conferences. As governor, Wallace has spent much of his time at the governor's mansion, chomping on an ever-present cigar as he transacts business by telephone. Much of the detail-work is left to aides. IT IS POSSIBLE that this preference for the broad sweep of politics over day- to-day business contributed to his decision to abandon his bid for a federal office loaded with chores. The status of Wallace's health remains an unknown factor in his decision. Camp said that, in his opinion, the paralysis and hearing difficulties were "nota factor." But, he added, "I can't say that if he had not been shot he would have done the sametlsing," Camp said that Wallace appeared "relieved and elated" after making the announcement, as well as gratified by the warm response from the people of Alabama. As for the future, Camp said Wallace had received "several offers" of em- ployment prior to the announcement and would probably receive several more. But he said-the governor is not in- terested ir . rpposal to endow a mahtr for him at Ali:Ibza.waaversity.m . " USJfdT10f1: ..]f{ng Li . summer u w .r .i ir .r. r. .rar. r. r... s . r KOMAR . r..r:rr .....