Dan Rostenkowski, Lawmaker, Is Dead at 82

Dan Rostenkowski, Ken mastered the craft of brokering and Thurs Compromise "Become one of the nation's most influential Congressman vain whose imprisonment has fraud charges Came Thurs symbolize the excesses of power, at last Wednesday at his vacation at home is Benedict Lake in Wisconsin. He was 82 and lived in Chicago also Life Style, Where in the house they grew up His long-time spokesman, Jim Jaffe, the death CONFIRMED, Saying Mr. Rostenkowski had Been TDAE for lung cancer for some time. In the 1990s they had Been TDAE for prostate cancer. 

Mr. Rostenkowski, the son of a ward Heeler and Congressman from Chicago, was reared by the Cook County Democratic machine under Political ITS longtime leader, Mayor Richard J. Daley, and won a seat in the Illinois legislature Almost right out of college. First Elected to the House of Representatives in 1958 at the age of 30, who was youngest member of ITS for Many years. 

From the start, the plainspoken Mr. Rostenkowski showed a Knack for deal-making, often with at his Republican colleagues, and it helped him land a coveted seat on the House Ways and Means Committee, the powerful tax-Writing panel, in 1961. He served on the Committee for most of 1936 at his years in Congress, 13 of Them ITS as Chairman, from 1981 Thurs 1994, and was a central figure in shaping the Congressional tax policy. 

As a young lawmaker, Mr. Rostenkowski helped write the legislation That created Medicare in 1966. As the Committee's Chairman, who helped fashion laws following is taxes, trade and welfare. In 1983, they brokered the deal That led to the passage of a bill That Kept the Social Security system solvent. 

"During That period of my daughters, Said there's not going to be a Social Security system for Them - That it's going to go belly up," He Said in an interview in 1990. "Congress was Concerned, and legislators made the Difficult Decisions and enacted a balanced" compromise "of tax increases and benefit concerning reductions That Saved the system from going bankrupt." 

Mr. Rostenkowski also Life Style Forged compromises That led to the 1986 tax reform act, a major rewriting of the federal tax code sharply That the reduced nominal tax rates and eliminated responding numbers of loopholes, special preferences and tax-avoidance schemes. 

The Social Security and tax laws following were Both Passed "when power in Washington was Divided Between a Democratic House and the Republican administration of President Ronald Reagan. Yet Legislative Achievements were Almost a side light Thurs Mr. Rostenkowski's true passion: the cajoling, arm-Twisting and posturing That are the stuff of Washington Lawmaking. He was so good at the game That for a time in the 1970s who was under consideration Thurs Succeed the House speaker, Carl Albert of Oklahoma.