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

DATE: WEDNESDAY, November 22, 1995                   TAG: 9511270092
SECTION: EDITORIAL                    PAGE: A-9   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: CAL THOMAS
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

BACK TO WORK ON THE BUDGET

THE ``SETTLEMENT'' of the dispute between the White House and congressional Republicans reminds me of the end of the baseball strike earlier this year. Everybody started playing ball again, though nothing was resolved.

Republicans claim to have persuaded President Clinton to accept a plan they say will balance the budget in seven years. But the president says the seven-year formula is not firm and a lot of conditions he has set must first be met, including the ``preservation'' of Medicare (there is only $4.80 worth of difference between the Medicare premium plans of the Republicans and the White House - hardly enough to cause the elderly to be evicted from nursing homes), the environment, education and ``working families,'' as if that doesn't include virtually everyone.

While both sides can claim a political victory (Clinton appears to have developed a previously absent backbone and Republicans can crow about refusing to knuckle under in face of a government ``shutdown''), Republicans appear to have emerged the clear winners.

They got the president to agree to use figures from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office in determining which plan will best balance the budget. Previously, the president wanted to cite more optimistic figures coming from his own Office of Management and Budget. That he acquiesced to the CBO, while also saying he would include estimates from ``outside sources,'' is classic Clinton fence-straddling. Still, he's committed to using the CBO as the final authority, and if he waffles, Republicans can nail him.

There are plenty of ``ifs'' in this agreement, and both sides can use it for their own purposes. The president says all of his conditions must be met for him to agree to balance the budget. He's treating the agreement like a ``contingency contract'' one might sign on a house. The president doesn't buy unless he's first sold on the congressional plan.

To get the president to sign on to their balanced-budget proposal, will Republicans forgo the tax cuts that have been part of their vetoed budget proposals? If they do, Democrats will have won a major victory and further diminished Republican claims to be the party of low taxes and reduced spending.

For the Republicans to maintain their momentum, they should take a dramatic step toward reducing dependency on government social programs by recruiting certain citizens to reclaim their primary responsibility to help the poor and needy. How about Sen. Bob Dole and House Speaker Newt Gingrich convening a summit meeting of prominent religious leaders? They might even ask a few Democrats, such as Rep. Tony Hall of Ohio, to join them.

Churches, synagogues and other religious institutions receive tax breaks from government. They should be reminded that their scriptures commission them to be the first line of defense for the poor. Government should be the last. Perhaps additional tax incentives could be given to those for whom the blessings of God are insufficient incentives.

At this summit, computerized printouts of people on public assistance could be distributed and broken down according to region, city and town. Individuals and institutional leaders could be urged to visit these people, assess their needs and provide help. Government could remain for those who can't be aided by the religious bodies. A side benefit to the material assistance might be a spiritual revival which, in the past, has solved difficult moral and social problems out of the reach of government.

Meanwhile, back in the material world, Republicans and Democrats concur that the agreement Sunday night is a victory for all Americans. We'll see. After all, these are politicians, and you can't always trust even those you may like after the TV lights have been turned off.

Both sides are again ``playing ball,'' at least through Dec. 15 when the president will decide whether the budget plan meets his requirements for funding spending bills for all of fiscal 1996. Republicans have circled 2002 as the magic date when supposedly we will see politicians acting like average Americans: not spending what they don't have. It is a prospect about which one may hope and give thanks this Thanksgiving Day.

- Los Angeles Times Syndicate

by CNB