America's Fate, Democrats' Test

Not since the bitterly divisive days of war and mounting casualties in Vietnam have we Americans entered a year amidst so many reasons for doubt and worry.

In 1986, the deceitful American antiterrorist campaign blew up in our faces, leaving the Reagan administration in defensive disarray and terrorist leaders such as the Ayatollah Khomeini of Iran and Hafez Assad of Syria laughing.

For how many months will the 100th Congress be obsessed with investigations of the Reagan administration's role in sending arms to the ayatollah for money to sneak to the contras in Nicaragua? Can President Reagan regain the credibility necessary to draw European and other allied nations into a coherent scheme to ensure that 1987 will not also be the year of terrorist celebrations?

If the Reagan presidency came to an end, realistically, with the eruption of the Irangate scandal, can we assume that the new Democratic leaders of the 100th Congress can cope effectively with the nation's economic woes?

Can House Speaker Jim Wright and Senate Majority Leader Robert Byrd round up enough votes to end the American madness of pretending that this nation can spend record billions on the military, give colossal tax breaks to the rich, and still stanch the flood of red ink that has made us a debtor nation?

We are entering the first days of historic tax reform without knowing what the new law will mean to individual families, let alone the national economy. Only two things are certain: tax lawyers and accountants will reap bonanzas in 1987, and the 100th Congress (led by Wright) will try to wipe out parts of the new code that benefit the wealthy and limit the flow of desperately needed funds to the federal treasury.