Path: bloom-picayune.mit.edu!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!news.media.mit.edu!americast.com!americast.com!usa-post Newsgroups: usa-today.issues,americast.usa-today.issues From: usa-post@AmeriCast.Com Organization: American Cybercasting Approved: usa-post@AmeriCast.com Subject: issues Wed, Sep 23 1992 Date: Wed, 23 Sep 92 04:36:28 EDT Message-ID: 09-23 0000 DECISIONLINE: Issues & Debate USA TODAY Update Sept. 23, 1992 Source: USA TODAY:Gannett National Information Network Here are some of the issues and topics being debated across the nation Wednesday morning in USA TODAY: Economy, POWs. TODAY'S DEBATE - CUTS IN ECONOMY: USA TODAY'S OPINION: Out with the old, in with the new is Gov. Bill Clinton's rallying cry against President Bush. But not against outdated, money-wasting programs. While President Bush has proposed more than 30 programs he'd ax, Clinton in his economic plan and interview with USA Today could only site a single program - honey subsidies. Now he names three, including student loans for which he'll have to provide a replacement. That's not good enough in light of $1.2 trillion in deficits the USA faces for the next five years. What's needed is the courage to stand up to the powerful lobbies that keep programs alive after their usefulness has ended, such as: National Helium Reserve. Created for World War I blimps, it now gives a lift only to Texas congressmen. Savings: $682 million over five years. Congress' pork-barrel "highway demonstration projects." ... Savings: $6 billion. Wool and mohair subsidies. The military's gone nylon and thermal. Savings: $760 million. Interstate Commerce Commission. Trucking and rail are safety regulated by other agencies .... Savings: $125 million. Clean-coal technology program .... Savings: $270 million. Grants-in-aid for airport. Airports can pay their own way. Savings: $6.55 billion. Wastewater construction grants; they're actually delaying water clean up. Saving: $5.9 billion. Naval Petroleum Reserve; with a strategic reserve, why this? Saving: $2.4 billion. Throw in NASA's solid-fuel rocket, foreign agricultural promotions and some old education programs and these eliminations would save taxpayers $26 billion over five years. Clearly, that won't pay off $300 billion-a-year deficits without both military and other cuts and higher taxes, which Bush pretends won't be required. But sweeping out old programs must be part of the answer. OTHER VIEW: BILL CLINTON, Democratic presidential nominee: My economic plan is a detailed proposal to create jobs and economic growth by investing more in America and the American people while also cutting the deficit in half over four years. To pay for these new investments in education, training, technology and transportation, I proposed closing corporate loopholes, raising taxes on those making over $200,000 and $144 billion in spending cuts. We need to cut inefficient and wasteful government consumption so that we can invest more in the productivity of our people and our companies. That is why I call for cutting 100,000 bureaucrats, cutting the White House and congressional staffs by 25%, streamlining Agriculture Department field offices, freezing all spending on federal consultants, reforming the Resolution Trust Corp., a line-item veto and, most importantly, a comprehensive plan to cut health-care costs by standing up to powerful pharmaceutical and insurance interests. ... I have proposed the complete elimination of some federal programs. In addition to calling for the elimination of the honey subsidy and the Housing and Urban Development special-purpose grant program, my call to eliminate our current student loan program is larger than the total of all my opponent's proposed program eliminations combined. ... the savings from eliminating our current loan program and its high default costs is that it frees up the funds for us to create a far superior approach to college lending through my National Service Trust Fund. My opponent, on the other hand, has shown a degree of fiscal irresponsibility during this campaign that has been matched only by his record as president. He has presided over a $1.5 trillion increase in our foreign debt and the largest increase in real spending in our history. During this campaign he has continued this habit of fiscal irresponsibility by promising hundreds of billions of dollars in tax breaks that would largely benefit upper-income Americans while refusing to say that these supply-side tax cuts can only be paid for by passing on a greater debt to our children or severely cutting Medicare and other benefits for our parents. VOICES ACROSS THE NATION ON POWS LEFT IN VIETNAM: ELGIN, Ill., Aimee Gosse, 24, production associate: As I've gotten older, I've learned more and more about politics and how screwed up a lot of it is. I wouldn't put it past the Nixon administration, or our current administration, to keep harmony throughout the states to keep themselves in power. ARLINGTON, Texas, Nelcenia Haralson, 43, purchasing analyst: I don't believe any American president would allow American citizens to remain in POW status. There's a lot of unpopular information about Nixon, but on that particular issue I don't think he could rest easy knowing he did that. And he seems to be resting pretty easy. TUSCALOOSA, Ala., Michael Murphy, 33, telephone operator: They knew. There's a lot of other stuff that goes on that the government doesn't tell us about. I believe there are POWs alive today. I'd hate to join the service and know they'd leave me over there. I'll stay stateside. SEMINOLE, Fla., Toni Van Pelt, 44, travel agent: Without a doubt. Nixon was one of the sleaziest people on Earth. He would leave anyone anywhere to die if it were in his own best interest. I don't know what his justification was; I'm not saying he had any justification. We shouldn't have been over there. SOUTH HADLEY, Mass., John J. Mitchell, 57, retired teacher: I'm quite sure there were people left by the Nixon administration because the administration was so lax. But Reagan and Bush have sent over several teams to investigate whatever clues indicate there are people still over there. Issues & Debate Editor: Kate Coughlin. (1-919-855-3491) Making copies of USA TODAY Update (Copyright, 1992) for further distribution violates federal law. This article is copyright 1992 Gannett News Service. Redistribution to other sites is not permitted except by arrangement with American Cybercasting Corporation. For more information, send-email to usa@AmeriCast.COM