Show COMMENT A MY Editorial Desk: A22 SUNDAY April 26 1992 237-201- 9 WASH eatSalt i:akeZribunt I pansion tion that 4 - - -- -- week in t S rp?' Federal Workers Shouldn't Get Special Gulf War Pay Benefits would think that the US House of Representatives which has been stung by the house bank and post office scandals would run from any plan to create new perks for themselves or other federal employees Wrong Many Americans who served in the reserve forces of the military at the time of Persian Gulf War lost considerable income when they were called to active duty Their combat pay fell well short of their normal civilian earnings Now Congress is considering legislation that would make up that loss for federal and postal employees who were reservists called to active duty in the gulf It would pay them the difference between their salaries in their regular federal jobs and their service pay That's a fine patriotic thing for an employer to do It makes up for some of the other sacrifices the 17000 federal workers who are military reservists made when they answered their country's call The average financial loss for a federal reservist was $2300 However the nation's other reservists made the same sacrifices and most of them haven't been made whole financially by their employers There are more than 200000 of these veterans So by proposing this special compensation for reservists who happen to work for the federal government the Congress is creating a benefit for a limited class of people a perk if you will In fact the House already has passed the legislation On March 18 it approved the bill overwhelmingly 354- You 57 Utah Representatives and Bill Orton both voted Reorganizing SL Police Mayor Deedee Corradini has backed away from a plan to reorganize Salt Lake City's police department Her decision to reconsider the proposal shows a that she's not afraid to she has position supported previously in public address serious criticisms and entertain new ideas That attitude is healthy because it places public policy ahead of narrower political considerations Did the mayor act too hastily when she announced the plan originally? Did she cave in later to pressure from police officers? These questions aren't important when placed next to the real issues of how to reorganize the police department to make it more efficient and improve public safety The impetus to revamp law enforcement seems to stem from the mayor's basic philosophy that city government must strive to become more efficient She has ordered all city departments to prepare plans to cut costs This philosophical predilection has been reinforced by a reduction in city revenues The mayor has pointed out that currently there is one supervisor for every five field officers in the police department There are six layers of management in all The original proposal would have 1)gcT cut out one of these supervisory strata by eliminating the rank of sergeant All 47 sergeants would have been promoted to lieutenant and officers in that higher rank would have been given more field duties As retirements from the lieutenant's grade occurred over the next three years those positions would not have been filled and the funds for those jobs would have been shifted to hire more officers for duty on the street Critics of the plan including disgruntled police officers said that it was unfair to existing lieutenants who earned their rank through merit rather than a mass promotion The scheme may violate civil service regulations although that question appears open to legal interpretation Concerns over wages and hours also were raised At any rate Mayor Corradini insists the furor over the original proposal has prompted all kinds of alternative ideas for reorganization Some have been put forward by the police officers labor union some have come from other sources she says If all this brainstorming results in a better plan that will accomplish the mayor's goals and win the support of most police officers then the whole process will have been worthwhile That apparently is the mayor's hope and it's a worthy one Brighton Bikini Bash ) N— tt ''kkvz- - 4 )1-- Brighton High School to commemorate her husband's 30th birthday Even arrived though the message-beare- r v hen the coach Lynn NIoncur was out of class and she kept her bikini on the steamy sexual nature of the practical joke was a poor example to set for any teen-agstudents who might have witnessed the event Mrs Moncur and the five adults who watched the striptease since have apologized for their poor judgment Meantime the Jordan Community Council prodded by infuriated parents demanded disciplinary action and recommended that strangers hereafter be barred from the school building Larry Yates now has accepted responsibility for the incident and resigned his duties as head coach So enough already This incident has been blown so far out of proportion that no one's seeing straight As inappropriate as the message was for a public school Brighton is a high school located in the United States in 1992 The few students in the vicinity of the striptease were apt to have seen more female flesh at the neighborhood swimming pool — and more explicit sexual content every day on television — than they could have glimpsed in the several seconds it took to deliver the singing telegram The submission of apologies was enough to e adult-oriente- d make it clear that the school does not endorse casual undressing as entertainment Mr Yates' resignation would be acceptable if it was prompted primarily by his desire to avoid a conflict of interest (His son will be on next year's basketball team) However it would be unfair and unfortunate for the school to surrender the coach to parents whipped into a frenzy by someone with an ax to grind Mr Yates was not the only person in the gymnasium with the authority or responsibility to stop the striptease The notion of locking out strangers is not an idea whose time has come to most Utah schools If there were ample evidence that students were being disrupted or endangered by a steady stream of intruders the expense of school patrols might be justified The infiltration of the am by one scantily clad singer disguised as a police officer is hardly alarming Utah schools can do more important things with their scarce funds — such as employing more teachers to give students an academic education Then asked about the singing stripper this week one Brighton High sophomore shrugged with disinterest apparently failing to appreciate the issue's prominence in the news She probably has the issue in better perspective than do many students' parents tot 192 4) e -- Wi ' ' ' 11)k k - -- ) -1- - usIi6904 Ak t ? 4I ele ' ir V !PI Nrla- -- cQ -- 4"r t N 4 14 '" ?' li - 14 Manning: Deficit's Hit on Capital Markets By Alan C economic philosophies all over the world is for investment capital demand the accelerating The United States as a particularly nation is at a disadvantage in the worldwide competition for funds especially when the global economy picks up The gross ratio and the dearth of imbalance in our foreign savings pools to tap mean that real intermediate and long-terinterest rates in the United States will remain high for a number of years and will constrain economic growth The economic climate of the past year and the imprudence of adding to the deficit have dictated the use of monetary policy as almost our sole recovery tool and its limitations have been obvious The Federal Reserve Board has lowered short-terborrowing costs 21 times in the past 32 months and the results to date are disappointing The fact is fiscal policy not monetary policy works best in spurring a weak economy particularly a economy such as ours Service companies generally borrow less manufacturing firms and thus reheavily than inventory-ladespond less to lower borrowing costs But when budgets are out fiscal measures is severely of control the use of counter-cyclicinhibited The lackluster economy and a presidential election year are generating a variety of proposals to spur activity The federal deficit — the "D" word — is almost never cited by either political party as a major deterrent to a healthy capital market lower interest rates and economic growth however When the topic is raised it's important that it be done in the s most informative analytical framework which is the ratio An appropriate understanding of the problem could be the first step toward seeing that the private sector of the economy has access to the funds it needs to operate in a much more competitive global environment Lerner FOR THE WASIIINGTON market-oriente- POST Official Washington and would-b- e presidents are scrambling — y to come up with credible — or at least debate to the the stimulate goes to economy Inevitably plans the budget deficit and to underscore its size its relationship to the amount of the GNP — an arbitrary ratio having no analytical significance What really matters is the impact of the deficit on the capital d low-savin- sound-bite-worth- savings-to-borrowin- markets where private and public borrowers compete with the federal government for funds and run the risk of being "crowded out- - when rates become prohibitively high To gauge its potential for driving up interest rates and impeding the economy the deficit should be measured against the domestic personal savings pool which underwrites all forms of debt ranging from Treasury and corporate borrowing to home mortgages Here the numbers are truly alarming During the 1970s the deficit as a percentage of personal savings averaged 38 percent It soared to 117 percent in the 1980s topped 160 percent in 1991 and in 1992 will likely reach 225 percent Obviously the United States no longer has a large enough pool of domestic savings to meet the financing needs of a healthy private economy in tandem with a burgeoning federal deficit Even in a meandering economy with modest private credit demands our domestic bond market is feeling the pinch Long-terinterest rates in the United States are considerably higher than the tempo of the economy and inflation in this country would seem to indicate Financial market participants and borrowers are getting a preview of the future: a worldwide capital shortage and high real rates of interest What kept interest rates from soaring during the extreme savings scarcity in the mid to late 1980s was a bounteous influx of funds from foreign investors who filled the savings gap by purchasing billions of dollars of US government securities That's not apt to be repeated in the 1990s Foreign investors are not as flush as they once were At the same time the triumph of the 'Lifet count' — credit w America acquire of their a The W it calls a Fact She proposal which tu Congress law ever second al — and fa the admi sure hov 1 Ott gall ' N Act of 19 tic timid educatioi paratus I flate a m a major s small ste: The pr cation at last Thu right to a help?" "1 went har flounce a :: 1A""N — N Air r" N 0-1 L Ns J '444:-- 44 -- - o tr- i A NN - 'i--- '' : puppy - - '- high-borrowi- g which till The fi called 13( students assailabli way of who war t but can because they hayi for etc In fadi seems sc H service-dominate- d Thi grace when when fraug n end-- o finge tertai tims long-ter- show! risk" infra age weigt It i heavi deficit-tosaving- Of a lam Alan C Lerner is managing director of Global Markets Economics Bankers Trust brag Co purpl mon Nation's History Defends Suitable Militia that ! work 1956 Bul By John L Matthews FOR THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE The proper balance of active guard and reserve military forces is not a new issue It has been with us since George Washington's day and had a history that predated the United States having been a matter of concern in England at least back to the end of the 16th century It was Oliver Cromwell who caused such concern over standing armies that it was reflected in the American Constitutional Convention by the delegates fear of the same In many countries of the world the takeover of the government by the army or the control of the populace with an army by a despot is the commonest of household memories and Cromwell's feelings Army produced such that there was considerable interest in setting up an effective militia as a hedge against a standing army In addition it was proposed that a militia would provide substantial savings for the anti-arm- y well-traine- An assistant coach's wife made the mistake of sending a singing stripper to -- 7)' Jim Hansen for it Rep Wayne Owens didn't vote Proponents of the bill argued that the money for the compensation is available from funds already appropriated to federal agencies and the net effect on the federal budget would be nil Opponents on the other hand said that it would cost $13 million Common sense suggests that the opponents' argument is closer to the truth Regardless of what kind of fancy accounting is employed the measure must be going to cost the Treasury something add to the costs of the war and make the federal budget deficit worse than it would be otherwise The House passed the bill just as the political firestorm over the House bank was breaking out of control The list of the 24 worst abusers of the overdraft provisions became public the same week Perhaps if the vote were taken today the result would be different At any rate the Senate still must act and there's reason to believe it may be more prudent Sen John Glenn DOhio is said to be unhappy at the idea of paying reservists more for their wartime duty than the regular troops they served alongside Sen Glenn a Marine Corps veteran is chairman of the committee responsible for evaluating the bill No one wishes to minimize the personal and financial sacrifices America's fighting men and women made in the gulf but all should be treated equally by the government that called them to serve 6 E CU1 '' ' ti A Prl treasury therefore positioned the people forces in such a way that the guard and reserve would be required to prosecute a war of any significant size This was called the "Total Force Policy" It involved both substantially improved equipment and training for the reserve forces It was tested in Operation Desert Storm and the results are uniformly described as outstanding (In the case of the Army National Guard 91 percent of those called answered the call and in excess of 94 percent were deployable Those statistics compare very favorably with the active force) The budget for the National Guard of the United States in fiscal 1992 is $9 billion That is about 3 percent of the Department of Defense budget With that 3 percent the nation has received a force He d The Constitution of the United States with its militia clause reflected the concerns of the delegates over the issue of a large standing army and the continued preference for a militia as a counterweight Our experience as a nation has shown that there is little need to fear the army as a source of mischief against the Republic Ample constitutional safeguards have left us well protected from potential military adventurism or despotic uses of the army The issue of the effect of militia size versus army size as it relates to the treasury however is an issue that has remained current The debate has also centered around the capabilities of the militia Washington wrote in September 1776 -- to place any dependence upon militia is assuredly resting upon a broken staff" His frustrations reflected a situation that existed at that time in the colonies Militiamen served for set periods of time (some refused to serve) and there was no standardization in training or equipment By the end of the war however Washington concluded that the militia served the country well and that it could be relied on in the future if it were led by quality officers uniformly trained and supplied and composed of able fighting men from the community Following the war in Vietnam Gen Creighton Abrams vowed as chief of staff that the Army would never again go to war without the support of the American FlISpits ACTIVE I 2 DuTY1 L one-fourt- A O0 Ile 4 -'- - s ' ' dm -- me L p t )t it riit Pqr le 4 vi 111 f I ? i The proposed cuts in the National Guard will produce the lowest percentage of the population in the National Guard in this century From the pre- World War II period all the way back to the 1700s the National Guard was always larger — substantially larger — than the active Army The debate is not about whether there need to be cuts There is a national consensus on that The debate is about force mix where to cut Critics of the current proposal argue that there is ample evidence from Opera- tion Desert Storm to show that the amount of force that can-b- e lifted to a theatre within the first 90 to 120 days is substantially smaller than that proposed for the active Army If units cannot be to the theatre beor cause of the limited amount of air and sea-licapacity before they could have been deployed or trained up and deployed from the National Guard or reserves these critics wonder why a larger active-dutforce should be maintained at four times the cost A National Guard unit in a small town like Filhnore or Manti or Mt Pleasant or Nephi has a profound impact on the comschool edumunity It provides cational opportunities for its youth it does many community projects it provides a significant hedge for the governor and the town against natural disasters and it provides a rapid source of combat power in case of war The proposed cuts in the National Guard save less than 1 percent of the defense budget over the next five years but result in a loss of some 119000 troops and have a profound effect on rural America As the debate continues ovR: force mix a variety of plans will undoubtedly be proposed Perhaps as we emerge into d the War world we would do well to the philosophy of the Founding Fathers in dealing with the challenging issue of national defense d sea-lifte- d post-Col- ' ) tol aboul He Ma smok light else t - air post-hig- h (3 when sang pulle SE dam( and pref E came fixioi Or away fun cons( "natt begal scrib frigh Th deed of Ti Po y II 11 N V - h ft 1' heav3 of the tactical fightlift over ers and approaching over 50 percent of the aerial refueling in the Air Force as well as many other units both Army and air-lifte- short-timer- s v of some 550000 personnel including 51 percent of the field artillery battalions of the combat divisions over one-thir- d two-thirof the separate brigades in the Army 100 percent of the air defense inof the tactical airterceptors one-thir- d A2: Maj Gen John L Matthews Is adjutant general of the Utah National Guard A LOS Robert also did sion I fe minutes What al In one s who are ijuana: with a f person i domly a penalty My d rupted les' KM1 tail-vve- a been de done old Alk fizz oh For n that Ha stand A w pas |