European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - August 31, 1985, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 4 the stars and stripes August 1985 no More free Gao report says Washington up the head of the government accounting office warned top White House and budget of fice officials that they May be breaking the Law if they arc using government cars to commute to William who released the report of comptroller Gener Al Charles Bowsher on said the ruling ends the free ride these officials have had at the taxpayers for Federal officials blithely ignored the government wide ban on the use of government vehicles for Homet work even though this Law has been on the books since Proxmire said in a the mandatory penalty for ignoring the Law ranges from temporary suspension without pay to outright the Gao cracked Down on the abuse in As a the number of officials being driven to work at taxpayers expense dropped from a Peak of 190 in 1982 to 51 Proxmire the office of management and budget officials claimed they were not subject to the and the White House under White House chief of staff Don refused to even respond to my in response to pro mires re quest for a review of the current prac and of chauffeur the Gao said no person at bomb or on the White House staff May properly receive government Homet work transport it said the Law limits that privilege to the vice Heads of Cabinet and selected officials usually for Security bomb technically is not a Cabinet depart although the position of budget director holds Cabinet asked about the White House spokesman Larry Speakes weve always used cars for official business and not normally for Homet office com he said As far As he Only Regan and National Security adviser Robert Mcfarlane now have the commuting service Mcfarlane under separate statute and Regan under a special arrangement with the secret who As Treasury Secretary had the secret service under his now retains the service based on a secret service recommendation and approval of White House counsel Fred Speakes the Gao report said former budget director David Stockman continued to use government transportation until his departure from government service 1 and his Joseph continued to do so until april but the report suggested that Stockman and Wright could not be prosecuted for will full disregard of the Law since they relied on the advice of their Legal it is our View on that that the officers and employees on the White House staff who might be involved should immediately cease such use of govern ment vehicles unless adequate justification is the report 2 barometers show signs of economic health Washington a the govern ments main forecasting gauge of future economic activity posted a big increase in july while the country Trade deficit dipped to its lowest level since the com Merce department said the Index of leading economic Indica tors Rose percent in this matched the revised june gain and was somewhat stronger than most private economists had been the country merchandise Trade deficit declined to billion last a 22 percent drop from the june both these improvements came in a month when most economic statistics have been uniformly casting Strong doubts on Hopes for a rebound in activity this the big improvement in Trade stemmed from a percent drop in imported Oil shipments and a percent decline in imports of japanese these declines sent Overall imports Down percent from the june level to a new total of exports dipped a slight percent in july to a total of for the first seven months of the the Trade deficit has soared to 10 percent ahead of the same period in for All of the deficit is forecast to go As High As far above last years record billion the country trading problems have been cited As the key reason that economic growth has been so anaemic this As measured by the Gross National prod the Overall Economy expanded at a slight percent annual rate for the first six months of the this weakness has been reflected in the leading which has declined five times since june of reflecting the sluggish Ness since the Middle of last the percent july gain left the Index at percent of its 1967 while the  july in crease was analysts noted that the government revised the june gain Down sharply from an originally reported 1 per cent surge to Only a percent the Reagan administration is forecasting that growth in the second half of the year will rebound sharply to a Strong annual rate of but most private forecasters believe that prediction is far too they Are calling for the Economy to grow at around a percent annual Only slightly better than in the first half of the David an economist with data re sources said a key problem is that con Sumer which has been a driving Force behind the is beginning to slow As consumer debt burdens grow and personal income shows Only modest the Overall increase in the leading Index for july stemmed from strength in six of the 11 available the largest positive contribution came from growth in the Money followed by an increase in Stock Market also contributing to the gain were a fall in unemployment a gain in net business growth in credit and a jump in manufacturers orders for consumer Hes really got a grip on her up photo Brandy Adamski seems More than a Charlie is part of an exhibit of Little unsure of the intentions of exotic sponsored by the living hyacinth As he perches on her science which features Arm at the Michigan state fair in de Handson midair collision suggests pilots May rely too much on seen David Rule Washington a air safety in examining a collision Between two air planes Over California last Are raising Broad questions about whether pilots May be relying too heavily on an age old aviation concept keep your eyes open to while air traffic controllers direct thou Sands of planes Many More both Small and Fly under visual flight rules when weather especially when flying in and out of airports that do not have traffic control such was the Case a year ago when a wings West commuter plane carrying 15 people took off from the san Luis Obispo county Airport on a flight to san within it collided Headon with a single engine plane approaching the air All 17 people aboard the planes were the National transportation safety Board concluded thursday that the Colli Sion was caused by the pilots of the two planes not monitoring a radio frequency that would have shown the aircraft were in the same operators of Large jetliners Are required by the Federal aviation administration to Fly under instrument flight rules regardless of the and they always Are under air traffic but smaller commuter planes and private aircraft often Fly under visual flight rules when weather per partly because it allows them to avoid some traffic restrictions and because they often Fly into airports that do not have control san Luis Obispo was such an the safety Board acknowledged that rely ing on seen David practices and flying under visual flight rules is an inherent part of the country aviation but the Board concluded the wings West collision demonstrates that there May be occasions in which the physical factors of a traffic conflict can approach or May even exceed the physiological capabilities of the pilots to see and avoid an oncoming air in the Case of wings investigators said the pilots probably did not see each other until eight to 12 seconds before the and because of the were not immediately certain they were on a collision one Board Patricia argued that the inadequacies of the see and avoid philosophy should have been declared the direct cause of the and not the actions of the the Accident occurred in sunny the two other Board members but they acknowledged the flaws of pilots relying on seen David were both planes were on radar at the los Angeles air traffic control Center minutes before the but the Cor were paying them scant attention since both planes were flying under visual flight the Board