House Republicans back President on tax issues

In a show of strength, 146 House Republicans - enough to sustain a presidential veto - sent a letter to President Reagan urging him to veto any bill tampering with the July 1 tax cut or tax indexing.

At the same time, Sen. Thomas Eagleton (D) of Missouri offered a compromise on tax indexing in an effort to break the impasse in Congress. His proposal would delay indexing until the federal deficit is reduced to 2 percent of the gross national product. The administration has estimated that figure will be hit sometime after 1988.