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Show Wednesday, February 24, THE HERALD, Provo, Utah, 1993 - Page B5 'Citizens Jury' shows Clinton plan can get popular support By DAVID R. BOLDT Knight-Ridd- er Newspapers There is, when you think about it, something vaguelyridiculous about the current political process in which President Clinton is barnstorming around the country attempting to sell his economic program to ordinary citizens. Meanwhile, the members of Congress, the people who are supposed to really understand how the federal budget works, stand around in Washington like so many heifers in a stockyard, waiting to see if the president can pull it off. Is it reasonable to expect that the citizenry will rise up and "demand" that their representatives raise their taxes and cut their benefits? Maybe it is. Consider what happened in January when the Jefferson Center convened in Washington a "Citizens Jury" of 24 ordinary Americans and asked them to fashion a federal budget. The concept was basically the same as the Citizens Juries the Jefferson Center assembled to quiz Arlen Specter and Lynn Yeakel in last year's race for the U.S. SenThe conservative squad was led ate, except that this jury was in- by former Rep. Vin Weber, Retended to be a microcosm of the publican of Minnesota, who nation, not just Pennsylvania. It served on the House Appropriaincluded 12 men and 12 women; tions Committee before retiring 19 whites and five 10 last year, and who was national members who had been to college of the and 14 who had not. campaign. The other side was Ernestine Garza, a computer opled by Robert Kuttner, of erator from Houston, came as a The American Prospect, an opinskeptic, but left a believer. "To ion journal dedicated to reviving my amazement," she wrote afterAmerican liberalism, and the auward, "a diverse composite of or- thor of a book on the Reagan era dinary people with different views called "The Revolt of the Haves." put together a proposal for the Then the jurors went to war Congress and our new president." among themselves, gradually forgMiriam Galvin, a medical reing compromises. "I got $26 bilceptionist from Forest Park, 111., lion cut out of the budget," said found the experience to be "the Jack Goleboski, a commodities most enlightening I've ever had. I trader from Jersey City, with an always thought doing the business obvious air of satisfaction. "I of the country was simple. Just get wanted $50 billion, but there have smart and honest people for the to be tradeoffs." job. I learned so much more. It's Juanita Graham, an unemployed not a simple job." computer graphics specialist from Before preparing their budget Brooklyn, N.Y., was disappointed recommendations, the jurors heard over losing a battle to put $7 billion a presentation of the Clinton ecomore in social programs back into nomic plan as it had been put forthe jurors' budget, but thought the ward during the campaign. They process worked. also heard, over four days, from a The conclusions reflected in the platoon of liberal and conservative jury's recommended budget not economic policy experts. only anticipated many of the non-white- s; co-ch- Bush-Quay- le co-edit- or Too bad no 'special interest' speaks for sacrificial lambs of middle class By JAMES G. DR1SCOLL Fort Lauderdale In his preliminary speech to warn the nation about his economThe special interests will be out ic plan, President Clinton seemed in force, President Clinton predicts to apologize to the middle class, ominously, to knife his economic begging our forgiveness, for the it on recovery plan before it has a fair federal government's laying chance to work. I'd like to protect us one more time. The nearly tearthe president from these dastardly ful tone was new, and sort of welcome, but the result won't change attackers wouldn't every bit. one I fail would but patriot? Load it on our backs, Mr. Presito recognize a special interest until dent. We're so used to an appallit swiped my wallet. Isn't that strange? Everyone ingly heavy tax burden, we'll hardderides special interests, but has ly notice more piling on. Isn't that middle class-eranyone ever treed one? Or trapped our destiny in life, as bail to out everyone else after one? Or gone mano a mano with screw one in a dark corridor of power they up their spending? One point of interest, thdugh. hard by a congressperson's sancWhen you promise, Mr. President, tum? to pry most of the "contributions" I haven't. All I know for certain from the affluent, please excuse us is that no special interest speaks for me. If someone would lobby for if we're skeptical. We've heard the broad general interest really promises before. Matter of fact, didn't candidate and truly, cross your heart and Clinton a instead of narrow suggest, or at least leave hope to die the clear views then impression, he would acmaybe my special one, taxes? It's a would be represented. tually cut middle-clas- s Common Cause says it fights for far, far cry from cutting to adding. the common good. So does the And from at first targeting the small percentage of Americans Concord Coalition, organized rewho make $200,000 or more a Warand Paul Tsongas cently by ren Rudman. year, and then "adjusting" to Perhaps they truly speak for all whack at everyone who earns of us, encompassing among others $30,000 or more. What the heck. President Clinthe great, unwashed, downtrodden sacrificial lambs of America's ton himself says everything will be better by and by. The deficit will middle class. If they do, they're be wrestled into submission, health all. at not special interests As for the great etc. middle care via Hillary will become availclass, once again we are being able and affordable, everyone will asked to sacrifice. This time, it was be blessed with a wonderful job and the sun will beam brightly almost comical. Sun-Sentin- red-blood- ed s, The biggest differences between The need for an immediate mathe jurors' plan and Clinton's were jor overhaul of the health care system was perhaps the area in which in the area of federal social prothe jurors were most adamant. On grams. The jurors recommended this subject, the liberal position an increase of about half what held sway. Republican Weber con- Clinton has proposed. As for ceded to the jurors at the end, building the infrastructure, the jtiX "You really told me loud and clear rors proposed spending about $15" that I don't have it together on billion less annually than the Bush administration would have. healthcare." The Clinton proposals to spend Yet jurors were conserv ative on more left them unimpressed. . defense, veering sharply away "There is enough money available from the recommendations for for the needed infrastructure im-- . works programs. deep cuts proposed by liberal deBut the jurors also showed a grit fense specialists. provements if political pork barrel that might astound many of their projects are eliminated," said the the federal cut Generally, jurors fellow citizens. When it was all spending more than Clinton has in jurors' final report. On social programs, the report over they had taxed themselves his current plan, scrubbing space even more heavily than Clinton's missions and slashing "We suspect there is consi said, subsicrop current plan would, and paid for a dies. But they added in a big chunk derable waste in the government national health care plan in the of money programs in this area and believe $10 billion a year that money could be saved by simfor process. research and deIn addition to increasing taxes ply tightening up." Juror Evelyn shrink velopment. They didn't on affluent Americans, the jurors from Swanson, a supply clerk from making changes in Social Sealso advocated the same kind of curity, urging that the minimum Napa, Calif., said, "I don't think it d education needs more money energy tax the presiretirement age be raised. dent has proposed. They went to But in the end, they didn't come needs more control . " But the overall message to the the energy tax after learning from any closer than the president did in both liberal and conservative exnew president was one of encourmatching the amount gained by perts that they couldn't get the revagement. Philip Grant, a spending cuts with the amount enue they needed from increased achieved station inspector from taxes. through higher taxes on the wealthy alone. The jurors plan would produce Klamath Falls. Ore., said the juThe jurors also proposed raising $70 billion in new revenues in fisrors were saying to him, "We'll an additional $20 billion a year by cal 1997, stand behind you if you make the bilcompared with $26 tripling the federal tax on cigalion gained from spending cuts. tough choices." rettes and doubling the federal tax If so, the president may indeed The jurors, however, did a beton liquor. Clinton's plan doesn't ter be wiser to count on the publ ic than g than the job of include these "sin taxes," but president has, the it Congress. down to bringing there are rumors that he may turn $194 billion in fiscal R. Boldt is editor of the David year 1997, to them when the time comes to compared to $206 billion in the Philadelphia Inquirer editorial pay for his health plan. current Clinton plan. page. changes Clinton would make in the plan he presented this past week (compared with what he had promised as a candidate), but also pointed to the portions of the current Clinton plan that are going to be hardest to sell. Not to put too fine a point on things, in the end the jurors had very little confidence in the ability of the federal government to spend money effectively to stimulate the economy through social or public . non-defen- se broad-base- truck-weighi- deficit-cuttin- upon us all. Unless, of course, the dreaded special interests have their way with the president's economic plan. Some of their names popped up in a recent news article about objections to Clinton's proposal to increase energy taxes, and I must confess the organizations rang no bells and inspired no fear: Electricity Consumers Resource Council. Citizens for Tax Justice. American Public Power Association. American Wind Energy As- TOGETkraiA THESES N0IHING LIKE DEFICIT REDUCnOH. INTERESTED HtNJHCPRE. IN KRBGN ?W : sociation. Aside from wondering why every tiny group has to organize a lobbying arm, I question whether, just because I consume electricity, FOLK. HIKES AND V 1 the Electricity Consumers Resource Council has the right to speak for me. It doesn't. Similarly, the Citizens for Tax Justice might recognize me as a U.S. citizen, but I certainly won't recognize it as having the right to represent my views. It doesn't. How many others in the middle class are essentially voiceless in Washington? Millions, no doubt. Write a letter to Clinton? A waste of time. Try to get through to him the next time he's on a talk show? Lots of luck. In Washington, they never notice the middle class until it's time to stick us with more taxes. Then, they remember our names, addresses and paychecks. James G. Driscoll is an editorial writer and columnist for the of Fort Lauderdale, Fla. Sun-Sentin- re-;- f! SOON... WordPerfec MID-FEBRUAR- el SALE Y Demos have no excuse if they don't fix budget By DAVID B. COOPER Knight-Ridd- er Newspapers Nov we'll see how responsible Congress is in dealing with our national economy. and Everyone may not agree with every jot and tittle of won't President Clinton's package, but at least he has laid a plan out on the table. It's not a bad plan, although it could be better if there were more spending cuts to go along with the big tax increases Clinton has prodeficit-reductio- n posed. also unclear whether it will encourage or discourage economic growth in the short term. But it is a plan, it is specific, and it would begin to get at the deficit monster that has been eating away at the American quality of life. I was reporting for newspapers when Lyndon Johnson took the annual federal budget for the first time over the $100 billion mark. That was viewed as a watershed, an enormous step, and one Johnson made with considerable reluctIt is ance. Today, less than 30 years later, the annual federal budget is over $1 trillion, the annual deficit is running at more than $300 billion, the national debt has soared to $4 trillion, and the interest were paying each year on the debt is more than twice that landmark LBJ budget. To listen to the reaction of some in Congress now carping at Clinton's plan, you'd think that august the body had long been wedded to and fiscal notion of responsibility balanced budgets. Not so. on either side of the political aisle. Clinton proposed giving presidents the power of the veto on spending proposals in congressional budget bills, and the great and powerful congressional leaders went into a tizzy. The pres line-ite- ident retreated and agreed to a waterversion in what may have been a mistake. Another clue is the inability of the House and Senate to manage their own spending with any degree of rationality. It defies understanding, for ex- ed-down m ample, why retired House speakd ers are entitled for life to offices in their hometowns. Carl Albert retired as speaker 15 years ago; he's now 84, and Congress still pays $141,272 a year for his office in McAlester, Okla. In 1992, the House bank scandal and the House post office scandal made it clear to the public how collectively lax and lazy their elected representatives are in managing the affairs of the U.S. House of Representatives. Initial polls show broad public support for Clinton's plan. Now, however, the lobbyists for individual interests will weigh in with Congress, which seems always susceptible to special pleading, and favoritism. As one of the country's two great political parties, the Democrats will have no excuse if they muff this chance to repair the federal budget. After 12 years in the wilderness, they now control both chambers and the White House. Clinton has challenged congressional Democrats and Republicans the latter now complaining he to suggest hasn't cut enough specific further cuts of their own. Surely, there is more in the federal tax-pai- deal-maki- budget that can be cut. The big problems are the in Social Seentitlements federal and milicurity, Medicare, areas.' and other tary pensions so-call- these are direct federal payments to millions of individual Americans. The problem is that years ago Congress provided annual increases in the payments without any further action by The entitlements have thus grown without any consideration of the country's fiscal position or the need to balance the budget. Many of the recipients have come to view the increases almost as a right, as though the programs and their steady growth were somehow guaranteed in the Constitution. Congress and presidents have let this growth in spending continue unabated. We will see this year whether Congress is finally willing to do what has to be done if the country is going to restore fiscal sanity. Clinton may succeed where others have failed. Clinton is a smarter political operator than some of his predecessors ot the last several decades. The "Slick Willie" side of his personality is a problem for him, but in dealing with Congress, what any president needs is a com- bination of LBJ's prowess and Ronald Reagan's ability to muster public support. Thinking about all this late last week, a woman who has as much wisdom and common sense as anyone I know told me: "I get so tired of Congress; I wish they would quit being Democrats and Republicans for a change and just be Americans." arm-twisti- WordPerfect 5.2 Number 1 selling wordprocessor. More power, many new features. Easy to use. Add the power of desktop publishing to your PC. 269 HOME-OFFIC- 336 SX40 2 MB RAM y Your Anniversary BAUD Modem $1,049 FAX MiEtts1 03 9-- 7 I UNIVERSITY AV. PROVO 375 8096 409 N. .IS. BAUD Modem TAX REFUDN SPECIAL BUY NOW NO MVMENT FOB WITH CREDIT ULl MONTHS" APPROWM. 9 LAY-AWA- $1,649 Y AVAILABLE CUE ON STAFF J pc smww mn p.m. NO DISCOUNTS APPLY FOR PREVIOUSLY PURCHASED MERCHANDISE COMPUTERS SAT. 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