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Show The Salt Lake Tribune, Regan: I Dont Hate Iacocca, But I Dislike Ilis Cars - Donald T. Regan Acknowledges Friction CBO Says WASHINGTON (AP) White House chief of staff Donald T. Regan said Tuesday I do not hate Lee Iacoc-ea'- s guts" but he openly acknowledged friction with the Chrysler chairman on a number of issues and said he does not like to drive the cars Iacocca makes. Regan, in an interview, insisted the White House played no part in the firing of Iacocca from a government advisory board or. the restoration of the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. In firing Iacocca last week, Interior Secretary Donald P. Hodel said the Chrysler chairman could not serve both as chairman of the commission, which advises the Interior Department on how to restore monuments, and chairman of a private foundation that has raised money to finance the refurbishing. He Hodel hired him. He therefore can fire him, Regan said. At a Senate committee hearing Tuesday on the Interior Department's $6.6 billion budget request, Hodel defended his decision to fire Iacocca as chairman of the advisory commission. Despite White House disclaimers, there have been persistent reports that tensions between Regan and Iacocca played a part in his dismissal. One account quoted an unnamed source as saying there was extremely bad blood between the two men over Chrysler bailout legislation regarding stock options, and that Regan hates his guts. In that instance, Iacocca unsuccessfully tried to get $37 Billion Needed in Budget Cuts - WASHINGTON (AP) Congress was told Tuesday it must cut $37 billion from existing programs to meet fiscal 1987 deficit targets, but lawmakers said the Congressional Budget Office estimate was too optimistic and could hurt the push for reducing red ink. The outlook for reducing budget deficits has improved dramatically since last summer. CBO director Rudolph G. Penner told the Senate Budget Committee. n Congress new law, although facing a court challenge, was helping its own goal by promoting lower interest rates and strength in the economy, he said. Penners estimate of a $37 billion gap between projected spending and the $144 billion deficit target in the new law was about $1 billion less than the Reagan administration estimatdeficit-reductio- ed. In another development, Budget Director James C. Miller III predicted the Supreme Court will overturn the automatic budget-cuttin- g provibalansions of the Gramm-Rudma- n ced-budget law. A side effect of such a ruling could be to jeopardize the status of independent U.S. agencies and commissions, possibly forcing a sweeping restructuring, Miller told a business luncheon. If the court upholds a lower courts g law finding that the violates the separation of executive and legislative powers, it could call into question the legitimacy of all government bodies answerable to both the president and Congress, Miller claimed. The court is scheduled to hear oral arguments beginning April 23. The CBO assumed 3.6 percent growth in the Gross National Product, not as optimistic as the Reagan administration. Moderate inflation interest and declining long-terrates also were predicted in the CBO report. budget-balancin- U.S. Working To Speed Up Aid for Chad - The Rea(AP) gan administration on Tuesday offered to accelerate U.S. military aid to Chad in its war against Libyan-backe- d WASHINGTON guerrillas. The State Department, at the same time, accused Libya of bombing the airport in NDjamena, the capital of the African country. Spokesman Bernard Kalb said there were no casualties and only slight damage in the attack. Chad already has direct support from France, which once controlled the country as part of its vast colonial empire. On Sunday, French aircraft struck the Libyan airstrip at Wadi Doum in the area of northern Chad controlled by the rebels, and 200 French troops arrived in NDjamena. On Monday, the French defense minister, Paul Quiles, announced a squadron of military planes would be sent to Chad as "a deterrent force. The Reagan administration clearly welcomed the opportunity to support the French in its actions against Col. Moammar Khadafy, the Libyan leader. Last month, the United States supplemented its naval presence in the Mediterranean and began flight operations north of Libya. Senior U.S. officials accused Khadafy of supporting terrorism, including the attacks on the Rome and Vienna airports in December. "We are working to speed up some of the military aid already approved by Congress and we are examining what else might be needed urgently," spokesman Kalb said. He referred to the $6 million in parts for transport planes, trucks and other equipment approved by Congress for delivery this year. The U.S. official did not say what form any additional assistance might take. Unlike the president, however, CBO assumed military spending will rise only to cover inflation The assumptions behind the seeming good news brought quick scrutiny by Senate Budget Committee mem- bers. If President Reagans request for a Pentagon budget increase is added, g task balloons Congress to $51 billion, said Senate Budget Committee Chairman Pete V. Dome-nic- i, cost-cuttin- Using low-coassumptions, the CBO makes the problem appear less st urgent, Domenici told Penner. seems to me that we have just sumed the deficit away. It as- After looking over the CBO annual report, you almost need sunglasses because of the glow, said Sen. Law-to- n the panels ranking Chiles, Democrat. "Its quite a reversal from last years predictions. Penner said his estimates were, as usual, based on the CBOs assumption that current law will dominate. the administration to forgive options to buy Chrysler stock. Regan, who at the time was secretary of the Treasury, said, "I insisted that he fulfill the contract, and the taxpayers made a nice profit . He said there also was a dispute over the use of corporate jets by Chrysler. Regan explained that under the bailout agreement, Chrysler had to get permission from the government to use corporate jets. Regan said permission had been denied by his predecessor, Treasury Secretary William Miller in the Carter administration. When Iacocca renewed the request with the Reagan administration, I said, No. Not until they had made a profit. And I don't think he had liked that, Regan added. Regan said Iacoccas dismissal was triggered by a Jan. 29 telegram from the foundation headed by Iacocca to two other members who also held positions on the commission. The telegram said Iacocca "requests there be no crossover of commission and foundation board membership." The telegram was brought to Hodels attention, and he applied the rule cited by Iacocca to the Chrysler chairman, himself. As for his dislike of Chrysler cars, the chief of staff said, I just dont happen to like them. . Will Rogers Says . . . President Coolidge was another one that the Tariff Boys tried to land. Say, that little Yan- red-haire- d kee didnt cut his political teeth on a District of Co- lumbia license plate. He knew the tariff question was poison ivy and Jamaica ginger, and would paralyze anybody that libated on it. But when Mr. Hoover then come along, the old Political Boys mouths just watered. They said: Here is some new money in the game! Here is a fellow that learned politics feeding the Armenians. Well, they didnt even let Mr. Hoover get elected before they started working on him. April 6, 1930. - Raj WL Selected and edited bv Bryan Sterrights reserved for the Will ling. All Rogers Memorial. - WASHINGTON (AP) - The Rea- anti-aircra- ft n sound. The law, which calls for a balanced d budget by 1991, requires spending cuts if Congress and across-the-boar- the president are unable to meet annual deficit targets. A three-judg- e district court panel ruled earlier this month that the procedure was flawed because it gave the comptroller general the power to implement massive cuts, voilating the Constitutions separation of powers doctrine. The court concluded the comptroller general may not have that role because he is an officer of the legislative branch and only the executive branch can enforce laws passed by Congress. But Senate counsel Michael Davidson called the courts ruling a novel Lee Iacocca Didnt Like Regan Remark? In Angola Out in Open gan administration on Tuesday made its clearest public declaration yet that it is or will be providing covert military aid to the rebels fighting Angolas Marxist government. In testimony before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Chester A. Crocker, assistant secretary of State for African affairs, said, Certain decisions have been made to provide both moral and material support. That was his resporse to a question on by Sen. Christopher Dodd, whether the administration already had made up its mind to provide such aid to UNITA, the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola. The decision has been made, and the process is in motion, said Crocker. I cannot go beyond that. When Sen. Jesse Helms, asked Crocker whether the aid includes items such as anti-tan- k and weapons, Crocker said from past court precedeparture dents. The Congress determined in the Deficit Control Act that the economic welfare of the nation required the establishment of an administrative mechanism to promote steady progress to reach a balanced budget by fiscal year 1991, Davidson said. The comptroller generals knowl- edge of and experience with the financial accounts of the federal government . . . make him ideally suited to implement neutrally the hard political choices that the Congress and the president agreed to in enacting and approving the legislation. Offer On Arms Soon A New - President Soviet . Reagan, weighing the latest arms proposal, is nearing approval of a response meant to hasten movement toward an agreement on medium-range missiles, a spokesman said Tuesday. Having contacted Western allies, Reagan will be considering in the next several days" a revised position to be forwarded to Moscow and presented by U.S. negotiators at arms talks in Geneva, said White House spokesman Larry Speakes. The new U.S. stance, Speakes said, will consider recommendations by an working interagency arms-contrgroup and views of allied leaders conveyed during ? recent round of consultations abroad with U.S. officials. The impetus for those discussions . was a sweeping proposal presented ' by Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev on Jan. 15, the eve of the latest round ' of talks in Geneva, for nuclear disar- - ' . mament by the end of the century. Of greatest interest to U.S. officials was a willingness by Gorbachev to separate possible negotiations on in- terim reductions in medium-rang- e , nuclear missiles from the debate over Reagans Star Wars missile-de- fense program. , Speakes confirmed this is the area , regarded as ripe for progress. We believe that both sides have out a framework for discussion in Geneva on intermediate nuclear, forces, Speakes said. That was the c charge in Geneva. The Gorbachev disarmament plan would begin with eliminating Soviet missiles and U.S. intermediate-rang- e from Europe and freezing British and French nuclear forces. It also includes a U.S. pledge not to transfer ' American missiles in Europe to other countries. Reagan approved a tentative counterproposal Feb. 4 before sending a advisers, pair of top arms-contrPaul Nitze and Edward Rowny, to consult with allies in Europe and Asia, including China. They returned , last week. Since Gorbachev made his Jan. 15 i proposal by letter to Reagan, said, the president will likely respond "in kind with a letter to his counterpart. That is expected to be ofcoupled with a Geneva of the at the proposal fering arms talks and a public announce- - ', ment. A State Department official said .. consultations with allies by Nitze and Rowny were very serious. Administration sources say the initial counterproposal accepted the So-- .. viet offer to eliminate the missiles u from Europe, but rejected the proposed freeze on French and British arsenals and the U.S. agreement not ' to move missiles to other countries. The U.S. counteroffer also called for 0 a 50 percent reduction in Soviet missiles deployed in Asia, the sources u said. In a prepared speech to the World Affairs Council, Ken- - , neth Adelman, director of the Arms Control and Disarmament Agency, ! said Tuesday Gorbachevs latest pro- . U.S. Support of Rebels Lawyers for House, Senate Tell High Court Gramm-Rudma- n Ideal for Cutting Budget WASHINGTON (UPI) Lawyers for the House and Senate urged the Supreme Court Tuesday to uphold the Gramm-Rudmabalanced budget act, which they defended as an ideal mechanism for implementing the hard political choices of Congress. In appeals filed less than two weeks after a federal court struck down a key provision of the law, the lawyers said the automatic budgetcutting procedure enacted by Congress last year is constitutionally V A5 Reagan to Make WASHINGTON (UPI) . well-rumore- d Wednesday, February 19, 1986 that is the kind of material support the administration has in mind, but that he could not go into detail. Congressional sources had said previously the administration has privately notified Congress that it planned to tap an existing contingency fund to provide aid to UNITA and its leader, Jonas Savimbi. U.S. officials have said the aid is in the range of $15 million. ard SaConservatives, who vimbi as a freedom "ightei, have been pressing for such aid, and Savimbi recently spent 10 days in Washington lobbying for support. Critics of the aid say they fear it could only harden Soviet and Cuban determination to maintain their influence, and have called for open debate of any aid proposal. After returning to Angola, Savimbi told reporters he had a "firm commitment for military aid from the United States and that he hopes to and have U.S. anti-tanmissiles in hand by April. A law barring aid to UNITA was repealed last year, and the administration began discussing assistance under pressure from conservatives. After initially opposing any aid package, the administration backed down and agreed to a small-scal- e covert program, U.S. officials have said. Crocker said the Marxist Angolan government has received some $4 billion in aid since 1976, largely from the Soviet Union. The State Department estimates there are 35,000 Cubans in Angola, of which at least 27,000 are combat troops, and an additional 1,500 Soviet bloc advisers, he told the committee. The cycle of violence in the region has escalated since negotiations were shunted aside and military action increased late last year, and Cuban Presient Fidel Castro hardened his position this month by vowing that Cuban troops would remain in Angola until South Africa abandons its apartheid policies. anti-aircra- ft k . ol -- offi-cia- ls SS-2- Phila-delph- , ia . posal showed some movement worth picking up to see whether the Soviets are sincerely interested in moving forward in arms control. But it still contains unacceptable elements, Adelman said. Early Congresses Couldnt Spend Money Fast Enough Republican administrations By Lawrence L. Knutson - . Forty-nin- e Congresses and 99 years ago, the nations lawmakers had a problem, a money problem, a monstrous money problem. And dealing with it tied them in knots. Things were different then. A lot different. The federal Treasury was bulging with an enormous surplus. And no one could agree on how to get rid of it or how to spend Congress is struggling with enormous, even monstrous budget deficits. And, in the Oramm-Rud-ma- n law, lawmakers have come up with a complicated and painful plan to whittle deficits down to zero by 1991, cutting federal spending drastically in the process. In the climate of Gramm-Rudmaand the trillion-dolla- r federal budgets and a massive federal debt, the idea of a large federal surplus is difficult even to imagn n Associated in the 1880s it was no laughof course, did laugh about it. A cartoon in Puck magazine on Dec. 7, 1887, timed for the opening of the 50th Congress, introduces the Surplus Monster, a swollen, dragonlike beast sprawled in the well of the House of Representad foot protrudtives, a ing from a bloated, moneybag-styl- e skirt labeled "SURPLUS." The monster, arm; folded, has hairy and pointed ears, a malicious smirk and a long and scaly tail that laps up against the marble rostrum of the speaker of the House. The nations politicians are seen three-clawe- ) . . the Republicans captured the ine. matter, although Americans, : projects for their But, according to the House historians, President Cleveland re- jected all of these plans. He complained that the veterans pensions had become the largest item in the federal budget, after payments were made on the national debt, and that pork-barrprojects invited congressional if not corruption, the historians said. The debate became intertwined with the issue of protectionist tariffs as a bill emerged that would cut the surplus in half by cutting import duties. It survived a filibus- ter in the House and was adopted after 240 hours of debate and dem- onstrations from the House galleries that grew so noisy "the speaker could not keep order. But the bill died in the Republican-controlled Senate, and when money. But . home districts. Today, in the 99th Congress, the money problem screaming for attention is far too little federal ing . pork-barr- it. deficit-reductio- , diverted the surplus to generous pension schemes for Union the historians Army veterans, said. In Congress, the tariff supporters absorbed the surplus with Associated Press Writer WASHINGTON : Cartoon seen Dec. 7, 1887, in Puck magazine depicts U.S. budget surplus as a bloat- - running in every direction, led by President Grover Cleveland, who scurries away after delivering a message on the dangers of the surplus, leaving Congress to grapple alone with the problems of reducing federal revenue. "Here I am again, the Surplus Monster declares. "What are you going to do with me?" The great surplus crisis was recalled last week by the official House historians. Their account was published in one of a series of bulletins issued to call attention to i ed monster that sends congressmen and President Grover Cleveland, left, fleeing. the bicentennial of the House, which will be celebrated in 1989. The surplus crisis had been a long time in the making. As early as the Andrew Jackson administration, federal income surpassed federal outlays, igniting unpleasant debates over national economic policy. In 1836, a year government spending totaled $30 million, the surplus was growing at a rate of $5 million a month. But 50 years later the surplus was far greater, piling up at the I I Press Loserphoto of $100 million a year or more through the 1880s. In fact, there was a federal revenue surplus every year from 1866-9According to the House historians, the 49th Congress refused to deal with the surplus, which, they conclude, was "largely a product of the high tariffs that allegedly protected growing industries and maintained the relatively high wages of American workers." Since few supported ending the import duties, other ways were needed to dispose of the surplus. rate White House and both houses of Congress in the 1888 election, they passed their own revision of the tariff and raised duties to the high- est levels in history. "The problem of the surplus disappeared not through the actions of president or Congress but rather in the severe depression of the the House historians said. 1890s, "Although a surplus returned in the 1920s, never again would it be the central source of political in Congress. " de-ba- In other words, the Surplus Mon- ster has long since ceased to threaten the dreams of Congress and the president. The Deficit Monster reigns. , |