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Subject: Clinton Returns to Staffing Chores; President-Elect, Aides Appear Upbeat After
Date: Sat, 21 Nov 92 07:35:20 EST
Message-ID: <16.1992Nov21.073520@AmeriCast.com>

Clinton Returns to Staffing Chores; President-Elect, Aides Appear
Upbeat After 2-Day Washington Trip<By Dan Balz=Washington Post
Staff Writer=

LITTLE ROCK, Ark., Nov. 20 - After two fast-paced days of meet-
ings and parties in Washington, President-elect Clinton went back
into seclusion today to resume work on assembling his administra-
tion and preparing a program to kick-start the economy.

Clinton and top advisers sounded upbeat about the reception the
president-elect received from official and unofficial Washington
and said they were heartened by the consensus that had formed
around an economic program that would combine job creation and
some economic stimulus with long-term efforts to reduce the
federal deficit.

George Stephanopoulos, Clinton's communications director, said,
however, that transition planners have come to no agreement over
how much of a jolt the economy will need come January or whether
a stimulus package will require the deficit to grow in the first
year of the program.

"We don't know exactly what the situation in the economy is going
to be like yet in January," he said.

Stephanopoulos also discounted reports saying that Clinton had
softened his positions on China and Haiti. He said Clinton was
merely elaborating on his previous statements about taking a
tough-line with China and said pressure by the Bush administra-
tion had brought results.

On Haiti, he said Clinton still favored a reversal of Bush ad-
ministration policy, but that establishment of a review process
did not translate automatically into a huge and sudden migration
of boat people.  Except for a brief photo opportunity at the
governor's mansion, Clinton remained out of sight today, his cus-
tomary morning jog through the streets of Little Rock washed out
by heavy rain. He spent much of the afternoon closeted with Vice
President-elect Gore. Clinton said they were reviewing the
results of his meetings with President Bush and Gen. Colin L.
Powell, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, among other
things.

Stephanopoulos said Clinton also planned to discuss Cabinet per-
sonnel with Warren M. Christopher, his transition director who
also made the trip to Washington. Among those sought out by
Christopher was Sen. Lloyd Bentsen (D-Tex.), heightening specula-
tion that the Senate Finance Committee chairman is a leading con-
tender to be Treasury secretary.

Clinton brushed aside questions about Bentsen during the photo
opportunity, and Stephanopoulos said there were no "front-runners
or back-runners" for the Cabinet jobs at this point. Bentsen has
made clear he enjoys his independence as Senate Finance chairman
but would consider an offer from Clinton if it came.

The communications director said background checks for potential
appointees have not yet begun but predicted the first Cabinet ap-
pointments would be announced "very soon" - most likely in the
week after Thanksgiving. He also said the transition planners
were in the final stages of arranging the economic summit Clinton
wants to convene, which likely will be scheduled for the second
or third weekend in December.

With Clinton focused on personnel, his issues advisers were fan-
ning out on Capitol Hill to consult with Democratic staffers
about the details of his economic and health care programs.

"One of the things I think we saw (Thursday) is that there actu-
ally is a general consensus along the lines of having some kind
of stimulus in the short-run, along with stringent deficit reduc-
tion in the long-run," Stephanopoulos said.

But when pressed about the size of the stimulus needed, Stephano-
poulos hedged. "There can be some acceleration of the initial
programs, and there can be some job creation, which doesn't
necessarily call for increase in the deficit," he said.<02:12
11-21C9999-----

Copyright 1992, The Washington Post.  This story is from the
Washington Post's Capitol Edition On-Line and is not to be ar-
chived or redistributed.

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