European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - July 8, 1988, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 10 columns Jim Fain the stars and stripes Friday july 8,1988 ignoring reality on budget could spell big trouble our political folklore has spun from George Washington to Baron Munchausen. Under the Mondale Law we be reversed the Cherry tree tradition and made Only liars or idiots eligible for the presidency. Walter Mondale did not sponsor Hislaw he was its first victim. If elected he said he would raise taxes to cure the deficit. An ungrateful electorate clobbered him and in this Era of instant verities truth was revealed As Don t bother to apply if you re willing to let the Blas Phemy taxes pass your  George Bush and Michael Dukakis got the message. Both lie almost daily about taxes and the deficit Bush about three Teeth deeper than the Duke. Bush says he will veto any hint of a tax hike. Dukakis says Only that hell balance the budget by catching tax dodgers and when pushed that Well he might raise taxes As a last  Bush s budget balancing plan is even More laughable. He begins wit the oxymoron of a flexible freeze by which he Means an Overall Cap on spending. He parrots the Reagan Chestnut that economic growth will take care of the rest. These Are Bright basically decent men nowhere near dumb enough to be Lieve such nonsense. Reagan is a fanta Sizer who has made a career of denial. Once he convinces himself of a convenient deception it s Unish alterable. He was t trying to Ransom  will be Lea proof. Bush and Dukakis Are not that Fanci Ful. They know world markets will Force the next president to Deal with the deficit. Apparently they see the Whitehouse As an end that justifies the Means. They will lie to get elected then try to explain things As they go along. Hey Fellows you got off on that last James Kilpatrick turn. If you have to base your relation ship with the american people on a lie the Job s not Worth having. It s the voters fault of course. Made cynical by chronic deception we re pretty Well convinced taxes will Rise no matter what. We figure the Best Way to slow them Down is to Force a no tax pledge. The result is a government of almost total fiscal irresponsibility. The grand Compromise betwee Reagan and Congress on the 1989 Bud get made the Point. After battling for years the two Side called an election year truce and agreed to a budget no one even pretends is Inland shaking reach of reality. The original Gramm Rudman target for fiscal 1989 was $72 billion. By Jug gling numbers the administration says it will get under the revised goal of $136 billion. The congressional budget office says the deficit will be $ 176 billion and without the surplus in social Security taxes would be $207 billion. Indeed the social Security surplus which is supposed to be in Trust for pensioners is the Only reason deficits Are within sight. Without it we d be having $200 Bil lion Worth of red Ink every year. Foreign Central Banks Are no going to finance this Binge much longer. They la be looking to the next presi Dent for deficit action meaning taxes As Well As spending restraints on de sense and social Security. If they Don t get some realism you Lalsee a free falling Dollar and a ring Ding depression beyond anything since 1933. The economic study commission Willtry in the Spring to ease the next presi Dent s dilemma but Bush already has begun to discredit that tool. He s so eager to be the next president he s destroying any Hope of being ineffective one. C Mew York times supreme court sess on was Good but Nof Greaf the quietest term of the . Supreme court in Many years wound up last week with a few fire Cracker pops and one Good bang. Some court terms Are marked by fratricidal Goring and gouging among the justices. This time we saw a peaceable kingdom. How peaceful was it in the 1986-87 term the court handed Down 44 opinions without dissent. In the term just ended 63 of the 148 decisions provoked no opposition. Last year eight members of the court not counting Powell cast 281 dissenting votes. This time they cast Only 212. As always the justices exchanged a few sizzling in sults but for the most part they were on their very Best behaviour. An explanation lies in the maturing personality of William Rehnquist. In this term he made an interesting discovery that he truly is chief Justice of the United states. As such he put his formidable pow ers of Charm and persuasion to effective use. He dissented in Only 24 cases Down from 35 in the preceding term. He gently muzzled the court s most redoubtable liberals. He undertook to speak for the court in half a dozen close cases of criminal jurisprudence cases in which he would have dissented a few years ago. Rehn quist still leads the court s conservative bloc but he split 24 times with Justice Sandra Day o Connor and 18 times with Justice Antonin Scalia. Until the final two weeks this term had been mostly one big Yawn. January brought a notable decision affecting High school newspapers High school principals the court ruled May act in the role of publishers. In february Rehnquist resoundingly upheld old Doc Trines of a free press the Rev. Jerry Falwell could not recover damages for the emotional distress he suffered from a vicious parody in Hustler Magazine. In april the court upheld Federal regulation of state Bonds. In May came the great trash bag Case in which police were Given authority to Root through a citizen s discarded belongings. Finally in late june a few fireworks began to erupt. The court voted 9-0 to uphold a new York City ordinance that treats Large private social clubs As places of Public accommodation. Another important decision will protect homeowners against harassment from ideological picketing. The court held that labor unions May not play fast and Loose with the Agency fees extorted from non Union workers. On the last Day of the term came the closest thing to a big bang the court voted 7-1 Kennedy not participating to uphold the Law providing for the appoint ment of Independent counsels in cases involving High ranking members of the executive Branch. Rehnquist spoke for the majority. In Washington where we breathe politics As others breathe smog the decision set off a wild buzzing of both jubilation and dismay. Liberals happily saw it Asa stunning blow and stinging defeat for the Rea Gan administration. Conservatives cried that the ruling grievously undermines the old doctrine of separation of Powers. In my own View the Morrison Case was wrongly decided but i suspect its importance has been Over blown. Under the act providing for Independent coun Sels such prosecutors Are named by a panel of judges at the request of the attorney general. Once appointed the counsels Are in fact Independent for All practical purposes they become Superior to the attorney general they can be terminated Only by the appoint ing judicial panel. They exercise executive Powers Powers vested by the Constitution in the president but the president has no authority Over them. Justice Scalia s passionate dissenting opinion provided a convincing if lonesome rebuttal to Rehnquist s opinion for the majority. My own thought is that it is very late in the Day to protest the undermining of the principle of separa Tion of Powers. The undermining began More than a Century ago with the creation of the interstate com Merce commission. Since then a dozen agencies have emerged All of them with quasi legislative and judicial Powers. The three branches today Are about As separate As homogenized milk. The howls and snickers were set off because of Rehnquist s authorship. After All he owes his Emi Nence to Reagan s Confidence in his judgment. A Vir Ginia professor said Rehnquist had Given new meaning to the word  but the history of the High court is Replete with examples of justices who would not stay tied. All in All As they say of Vintage years this was a Good term but not a great one. C Universal press Syndicate