European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - May 13, 1986, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 10 the stars and stripes tuesday May 13, William Buckley an unholy juror greets David Stockman s Book the reception of inc David Stock Man Book has dealt largely with inc matter of his manners and morals which arc not easy to. Defend. Attacks Range from the relatively genteel or David Brodur of the Washington Post who is shocked almost beyond expression Rind goes on Way pail or. Stockman s offences to reflect that he was a product of the Washington culture hat he was honoured and received in the very heart of  washing. Ion and yet he has done this others Are More direct. Maxwell new Ion financial columnist for the new York past writes under the headline Stock Man a frustrated  he Summa Rizes his piece the pro Sidon has nol killed socialism in America but he will leave inc country stronger and leaner than when lie came to Lead it meanwhile Stockman can Only sulk White he counts his money.". Most readers arc familiar with the out line of the Story told in the Stockman Book the Triumph of politics Why the Reagan revolution  what it tells us is that or. Stockman went to the Rea Gan administration As his words a Radical ideologue determined to execute Reagan s revolution a vastly reduced government with vastly reduced taxes and u balanced budget what happened o him he complains was difficulties at two Levels. The first is that he found himself sur rounded by boobs everybody was in one Way or another incompetent ignorant or venal. In most cases two of the above in some cases All three. The president the Secretary of the Treasury the head democrats on the Hill the head republicans on the kill the three principal presidential advisers right on Dawn inc line. That was one problem. The second was that american politics has Laid in Concrete inc scaffolding of the welfare state and any serious reduction in government expenses Given congressional and Public opposition to cuts is quite simply out of the question. With the result with the result that we Are headed for. Economic cataclysm. Well if this is so in t or Stock Man in part responsible As the principal executor of a tailed revolution the head Tine in last thursday s new York past i Tom Wicker was u fool says  everything be did primarily his failure to resign and Alert the country secondarily his hypocrisy is dealing with Congress he now publicly and acc Pill regrets. The purpose of the Book one gathers is expiration so that we can All know what a fool he was while celebrating the survival of his intelligence and his decision to go Public with the melancholy news of the fools he has left be Hind running the White House and the Congress. Alj very Well. Out there is serious mate rial in this Book namely is in possible seriously to reduce Federal expenses with out taking another look at social Security thai was a program framed a generation ago to look after the needy aged. Ii has become a pension plan for what now thanks to the  Are americans in Laic Middle age but Stockman fails to a Litfy on the question of How to increase revenues me is utterly impatient with inc opposition to higher taxation at various times Sug Gesting that anyone who opposed taxes knew nothing about economics was Igno rant and perhaps even intellectually de generate. This poses among other prob lems far Stockman the question of the judgment of the Nobel committee which has awarded annual prizes to George Sliger. Milton Friedman and Friedrich Hayek All of them economists who believe that taxes ought not to be raised. Are we learning something about the deficit we did nol know or indeed Are we learning something about the deficit thai Stockman did not know the Wall so Eccl journal s Claudia Ros Salt Wriles two years ago or. Stockman was predicting that unless the administration changed its ways there would be deficits of $200 Bil lion per year As far As the Eye can Sec yet today. He congressional budget office shows deficits starting at Well below the $200 billion Tor 1937" and declining to s100 billion by 1991. Those of us wedded to conventional ideas about the deficit maintain our Bare knuckled opposition to them but the eco nomic recovery of America under Reagan is As outspoken As the critique of Reagan s policies by Stockman both Are sitting out there. And the Bull Market and Hie to Ducco interest rates and the collapsing inflation Are perhaps an ironic Way of talking Back to David Stockman and reproaching him for his dubious behaviour in Universal Pru Syndicate perhaps some Good May result from chernobyl in the first Days after the chernobyl nuclear Accident the soviet government once again earned the world s indictment for failing to make warning information promptly available. Is it possible however that the russians finally Are learning to respond to International outrage Willii something other than the usual Stonewall and Stone face at a Moscow news conference last week for exam ple a Deputy prime minister conceded thai officials in inc Ukraine at first had not made a Correct assess ment of the Accident and had underestimated its seriousness r Washington Oleg Sokolov the highest official in the soviet embassy since the. Recall of former Ambas Sador analogy Dobrynin told representatives of anti nuclear groups hat the Early silence about the Acci Dent resulted from human error in judgment. We went in slow motion at  Socolov said that the initial stages of the soviet response to the Accident were unsuccessful and Munfor  this by no Means undoes the damage to others that May have been caused by Moscow s two Day silence after the Accident on april 26 nor docs it redeem what the russian did to their own reputation. Bui such after the fact admissions of error seem in Sharp contrast 10 the blustery soviet responses to International outcry following the invasion of Afghanistan in 1979 and the shooting Down of korean air lines flight 007 Over Sakhalin Island in 1983. If there is a change it can Only reflect a new Atti tude in the government of Mikhail Gorbachev who has seemed on other occasions to display a somewhat higher regard than his predecessors for world opinion in would be premature however to suggest that this portends a really substantive change in soviet relations with other nations. Both the spokesman in Moscow Boris y. Shcherbina and Sokolov in Washington seemed to be Sug. Gusting that the russians Early failure to Alert the world resulted from local officials incorrect assess ment of the Accident and human error in judgment that could Well be True Given the tendency of bureaucrats everywhere to cover their mistakes and particularly because Gorbachev in his modernization Campaign has been rough on lower level officials whose performance he considers sub Par. On the other hand this could be a pass the Buck Man Euver to cover up Moscow s own mistakes. Either Way it May portend unpleasant consequences for such local official 31 Vladimir Schb Rubitsky the ukrainian party Leader a Holdover from the regime of Leonid Brezhnev three governments Back. A More apologetic soviet attitude also suggests that influence As Well As in the West. Thai May Well have mad an arms control agreement More difficult to achieve causing the Reagan administration to be even More Psi steel on foolproof verification procedures. But in s at least possible that Gorbachev counting his losses from chernobyl might try to recover by making some forthcoming new gesture. At the least he s unlikely any Lime soon to resume nuclear testing even though the Reagan adminis Rostron refused o enter the testing mom Lon urn that Moscow observed from lust August through March 31, nor in the Wake of chernobyl will the . Be eager to set off More nuclear explosions. I Fps meeting with representatives of physicians Tor Ioctl responsibility and Greenpeace Soko Imi Isi his of rom 1 had no plans at his Lime w resume nuclear weapons letting and was in Ai pc Dos under it dirt the also said that the soviet Union was open to Foth on Sile in Iris and the Mszal Lazion of seismic devices  of a testing agreement. Moscow has said in ran administration of facials say Inere s been to Craf follow up in official negotiations so the chernobyl Accident unpromising As it to Siovitz am incan afire rent. May have left pm us Perl Iii. Perhaps the nuclear Ned to r old a Fri a. Together with the soviet Kali it "jl1" can eve further life Lother. Jurii  .jur.t.  Umu my an give utter e to to Gorbachev realizes that his government has suffered a5 i. Mov Emcil in Congress to push Reagan to grievous loss of credibility within his own sphere of lial1 to Clear testing Al new Virk Tymn