ROANOKE TIMES 

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

DATE: TUESDAY, June 20, 1995                   TAG: 9506210043
SECTION: EDITORIAL                    PAGE: A-4   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

CLINTON BACK IN THE BUDGET GAME

TWO GOOD things about President Clinton's latest budget plan: (1) It's a plan - well, a sketch of a plan anyway. That's an improvement over sniping at the Republicans for cheap political gain while offering no positive alternative of his own. (2) It's a better proposal than the Republicans'.

Two not-so-good things about Clinton's latest budget plan: (1) It's still largely reactive to GOP initiatives. And if it's so good, why didn't he propose it six months ago? (2) There's no assurance the president will stick with this plan any longer than he has previous ones. The words "constancy" and "Clinton" have little, besides a few letters, in common.

Many of his fellow Democrats are furious at Clinton for joining the balanced-budget game. They were getting mileage out of decrying the GOP's proposed cuts in Medicare and tax-giveaways to the wealthy. The president, though, couldn't remain forever a spoiler on the sidelines. He needed to show leadership.

Following Republicans' lead (again), undercutting party colleagues (again), and changing his policy proposals (again) may not seem a lot like leadership now. But one definition of leadership is acknowledging that entitlements, including Medicare, must be brought under control to get the federal budget in hand. Liberal congressmen would help neither their party nor their nation by establishing Democrats as the party of eternally mounting debts. By offering his own plan last week, Clinton set a standard for measuring GOP proposals, and has become a player in efforts to bring down the deficit.

The Republicans aren't about to accept his proposals just because he's made them, of course. But Clinton has signaled a readiness to deal. And any influence in modifying the current congressional plans would be welcome.

For one thing, although the president is buying into the goal of balancing the budget, he's proposing to do it in 10 years instead of seven. That not only eases pressure on budget-cutting. It recognizes the reality that there is nothing magic, and there is harm, in demanding a perfectly balanced budget by an arbitrary date. The emphasis ought to be on long-term continuous deficit reduction, cutting federal debt as a portion of the economy.

In addition, Clinton proposes to bring down the deficit in ways that spread the pain more equitably (including cutting corporate-welfare subsidies and tax benefits), while protecting important investments in America's future (such as spending on education and training). Like Republicans, he recommends a tax cut, but a smaller one, targeted at the middle class.

A lot is wrong with Clinton's plan, vague as it is. Like the GOP, the president runs from the serious restructuring required for entitlements - including Social Security and federal pensions. He would squander less money on the military than would the GOP, but is still way too generous.

Even so, Clinton's plan is preferable to the Republicans'. His gamble could help him reclaim "New Democrat" roots, which aided his run for the presidency - and guided his first year's budget plans that cut the deficit by a third without any Republican help. His plan might also help the country. Assuming, of course, he sticks to his guns. Experience suggests this assumption is iffy. 


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