CLINTON: IT WON'T BE EASY `CALL TO ARMS' OFFERS HELP

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

DATE: TUESDAY, February 16, 1993                   TAG: 9302160167
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: WASHINGTON                                LENGTH: Medium
CLINTON: IT WON'T BE EASY `CALL TO ARMS' OFFERS HELP - AND SACRIFICE
President Clinton issued an economic "call to arms" in a televised address Monday night, asking Americans to accept a painful package of tax increases and spending cuts as the price for rebuilding the nation's economy.
The president lambasted the 12 years of Republican economics and said that the stakes are high as he readies his own program to spur the economy and create 500,000 jobs by the end of next year.
"Change this fundamental will not be easy nor will it be quick," the president said in his first prime-time speech from the Oval Office. "But at stake is the control of our economic destiny."
Clinton's economic program - to be unveiled in a speech to a joint meeting of Congress on Wednesday night - contains roughly $500 billion in tax increases and spending reductions on many popular programs over four years to cut the deficit. Big corporations and wealthy Americans face significant boosts in their income tax rates.
During his 11-minute preview, Clinton said he had hoped to improve education, reform health care and create jobs "without asking more of you." However, he said, "I cannot - because the deficit has increased so much, beyond my earlier estimates, beyond even the worst estimates from last year."
Promising to spread the pain among all, Clinton said 70 percent of the taxes he would propose "fall on the shoulders of those who make more than $100,000 a year."
The payoff from his plan, Clinton promised, will be "millions of long-term, good-paying jobs, including a program to jump-start our economy."
Senate Republican Leader Bob Dole delivered a crisp response to Clinton's address, expressing skepticism that the administration was cutting spending far enough before asking for more taxes.
"We've both heard lots of speeches about `sacrifice,' but we'll be working with you to make certain that sacrifice isn't just a presidential code word for more taxes, more spending and more mandates from Washington," Dole said.

by Archana Subramaniam by CNB