Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, April 8, 1993 TAG: 9304080628
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A16 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
ECONOMY
FROM THE start, a weak link in President Clinton's economic package has been his proposed short-term stimulus spending, including $16.3 billion for this year.The opposition Republicans, thrown on the defensive by a Democrat in the White House able so far to keep congressional Democrats in line on economic issues, were shrewd to seize on the stimulus as the target of their criticism and of a Senate filibuster.
Now, President Clinton says he plans to trim the stimulus by "address[ing] some of the legitimate expressed objections." If he agrees they are legitimate, he should have addressed them before. Nevertheless - with a couple of reservations - his response could prove equally shrewd.
Official justification for the spending is that the stimulus provides insurance against an economic slump that could undo the larger program just as it is getting under way.
But the stimulus runs counter to the goal of getting federal deficits under control, and the timing is off. The American economy, while not exactly robust, is at least on a temporary upswing. In a nation struggling to get out from under the structural economic problems bequeathed by the debt accumulation of the past decade's borrow-and-spend orgy, an economic uptick should be a time for containing rather than increasing debt.
Moreover, some of the proposed items - read line by line by filibustering Senate Republicans - aren't the kind of infrastructure or human-capital investment that promise much long-term economic return. Indeed, many seem more like grease draining from the pork barrel, to lubricate congressional passage of the president's overall program.
Less likely, but appealing to those attracted by convoluted theories of politics, is the possibility that Clinton deliberately included hard-to-defend items as bargaining chips to be given up to soften GOP opposition.
Either way, Clinton's stated readiness to cut back on his stimulus proposals could prove a shrewd move - if:
The president proves willing to key his trimming to an item's merit rather than its appeal to one special interest or another.
House and Senate Democrats prove willing, on items that don't meet the merit test, to accept elimination of pet projects in their districts.
Senate Republicans prove willing to use the filibuster sparingly, and not see this as the first step to obstructing the administration's overall economic package.
If these things happen, it will be not only shrewd but also wise - and not only of Clinton, but also of both parties in Congress.