WILL'S ANALYSIS IS BANKRUPT

                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: TUESDAY, March 16, 1993                   TAG: 9303160356
SECTION: EDITORIAL                    PAGE: A6   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short
WILL'S ANALYSIS IS BANKRUPT
IN HIS HYSTERICAL attack on President Clinton's economic plan, George Will (Feb. 22 commentary, "For Clinton, apostasy has reigned") displays about as much intellectual honesty as when he coached Ronald Reagan for his debate with Jimmy Carter, then appeared on national television to "analyze" the debate.
Will's nostalgic review of Reagan-era economic statistics omits his patron saint's two most impressive accomplishments: his all-time records for government spending and increasing the deficit.
Indeed, Will somehow manages to write a column about the economy without mentioning the word "deficit" a single time. He also claims that the Clinton plan is loaded with wasteful spending. I wish Will or any other Reaganite would explain to me why childhood immunization, investment in education, and rebuilding of national infrastructure are wasteful, but building weapons to send into outer space isn't.
Will's sorry tirade reaches a nadir when he encourages members of Congress to reject Clinton's plan with the rationale that they all got higher vote percentages than the president. Surely he knows that presidential and Congressional elections are in no way comparable. How many congressmen had to run against two strong candidates, as Clinton did?
It would make just as much sense to say that, since Clinton and Gore got millions more votes in the last election than anyone else who ran for office, every elected representative should feel compelled to support the plan. JAMES G. SHELL ROANOKE

by Archana Subramaniam by CNB