European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - November 8, 1988, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 10 columns the stars and stripes Terence Hunt neither Bush nor Dukakis has offered bold ideas Well what do we do now George Bush asked Ronald Reagan the morning after they were Electra eight years ago. Either Bush or Michael Dukakis will face that question come wednesday and the answer is not As evident now As it was in j9so. The Long Campaign Between Republican Bush and Democrat Dukakis has been filled with political symbols such a theft Jug and the pledge of allegiance but Short on specifics about what either candidate actually would do in the White House. There have been no overriding issues such As a faltering Economy or a threat to peace that have compelled Bush or Dukakis to come Forward with bold  example neither candidate has been willing to offer a Concrete program for shrinking the huge budget deficit Reagan s election was viewed As a mandate for a change in course from the Carter administration. He pledged to Cut taxes build up the Pentagon and putdown the government Bush ahead in the polls just before the election promises to stay on the course set by Reagan when you have to change horses in Midstream does t it make sense to switch to the one who s going the same Way Bush asked. On the other hand if Dukakis managed an upset there would be a major upheaval in policy and personnel. The Best America is yet to come he promises. But again few specifics with the now familiar invitation to read my lips Bush says he will not raise taxes and indeed will try to Cut capital gains Tarn he says he will oppose new spending by Congress and personally negotiate with lawmakers for a flexible freeze on the budget he promises to keep America s Mili tary Strong pressing ahead with research and eventual development of the Star wars missile defense shield while at the same time seeking Progress with the so Viet Union. And he says he will clean up the Environ ment and strive to improve education. Bush also promises More Money for child care including a toddler Ian credit Andrew j. Glass of up to i ,000 per Chad under age 4 for poor families he has proposed no fewer than five summits including an Early meeting with soviet Leader Mikhail Gorbachev 10 size each other up  Bush has pledged to Convene a nato Summit As one of my first acts As  he says there will be a global con Ference on the environment at the White House within the first year in office Anda Summit of Western hemisphere nations to Chart strategy for a War against drugs. Moreover Bush says he will meet with All the governors to discuss the most urgent problems facing our nation s  in addition each year the president of the United states meets with the leaders of the six other richest nations in the world Al an economic Summit. Bush says he will make agriculture the lop item on the Agenda. Mot1ce Hep Dukakis promises a crackdown on tax cheats who he says beat the Treasury out of $110 billion a year. He says hell hire More tax inspectors which Bush seized on As a Promise hat Dukakis would put an irs agent in every Kitchen. On taxes Dukakis says no responsible candidate can Rule out the possibility of new taxes but that he d ask an increase Only As a last resort. To fight drugs Dukakis said he would double the number of agents Al the drug enforcement Agency within five Yea Sand hire 800 More Federal prosecutors to handle drug cases. He says he will wipe out the Trade Defi Cit in four years Ana put the country on the course toward a balanced budget. On defense he Calls Star wan a fantasy but still would put is billion in the budget for it about 25 percent of what it get Snow. Dukakis promises to find a sensible affordable 1 Way to modernize he land based nuclear missile Arsenal but opposes the my missile. Dukakis also would scrap two planned aircraft Carrier task forces but said he would bolster military readiness with a conventional defense  he says he would Lay out the Prospect of better economic ties to the soviet unions a Way of achieving concessions on arms Central human rights and other i pc Power problems. Under Dukakis the environmental selection Agency would become a cab inet Agency. -.-.  Dukakis would seek legislation to require employers to provide health insurance to All employees. He also pro poses to raise the minimum wage from 5 3.35 an hour to at least $4.55. While a Dukakis administration would bring a wholesale turnover in government managers Bush would be expected to keep at least several of Rea Gan s Cabinet officers including possibly Treasury Secretary Nicholas Brady at Torney general Richard Thornburgh and education Secretary Laura Cavazos. Former Treasury Secretary James a. Baker Iii now Bush s Campaign chair Man is a Likely bet for Secretary of state in a Bush administration social Security Bow after the election Well Sec How the new president takes up the task of cutting next year s Bud gel deficit. Both candidates Are pledged to do so Al though neither has said just How he would do it. The annual deficit for the fiscal year that ended sept. 30 came to si55 billion or nearly $650 for each american. It Rose $5.4 billion from the year before. Reputable economists predict it will increase another $5 billion or so this year. In the last six years of the Reagan presidency in Federal budget deficit has lopped 1200 billion on three occasions and has never fallen below $150. Billion. Ronald Reagan s legacy includes As Well a Law that requires a balanced budget in 1993 one year after the nest presidential election.  few politicians see any real Prospect of hailing the Haemorrhage by then. What intrigues them More is the Prospect of masking the deficit by tapping social Saccu Ril funds. /. ,. Increases in social Security taxes enacted in 19s3 ensure that this nest egg will continue to grow steadily. In theory it will Peak at the astronomical sum of $12 trillion in the year 2030. That would amount to 30 percent of the nation s entire Gross National product or enough Money to buy every listed company on Shenew York Slock Exchange. But after that Point when today s baby Boomers begin to claim their retirement checks Benefit pay ments Are projected to exceed payroll taxes until the accumulated Reserve is altogether wiped out about 20 years later. .-.-.-. ,. .--.".  ". Such Long term actuarial calculations carry an unreal Quality it s altogether Likely that a president who might not even be bom yet win fiddle with the books Well before social Security slips into the red. It appears even More certain that As the surplus of social Security payroll taxes Over actual pension outlays continues to grow Over the next decade it will be used to camouflage the real scope of the Federal deficit. In 193s, for example the deficit would have been $40 billion higher had not the payroll lax surplus been borrowed and spent by the Treasury to ease the crunch. Here s the Tricky part under Law the social Security Trust fund must invest All of its reserves in Treasury Imus but the interest that the Treasury owes to the social Security system is treated As a internal debt. Accrued interest is a bookkeeping entry it s never paid,1 notes George d. Gould the Treasury undersecretary charged with managing the debt.1, so the interest payments to the fund amount to no More than a government pledge to tax or borrow enough Money at some future Point to cover the inevitable pension demands. Actual Cash in the Trust fund is the difference Between whatever social Security taxes Are collected and the benefits paid out interest income is excluded.  -., that s something that rarely comes tip when candidates talk about the need to preserve the integrity of social Security. Nor do we hear much about How future generations arc being saddled with their own retirement Bills. V a -.-. .,.- .o.0 ". Actually since the surplus is being Lent Oul the future generation that must repay those Loans must there fore pay for both its own and in parents retirement. One solution is to exclude social Security Trust funds from the Overall general budget. They could then be used for growth oriented purposes or else Lent Back to underwrite individual investment accounts in any event they no longer could be used to hid the actual scope of the deficit but the next president in t Likely to act the num Bers look bad enough even when a temporary Bonanza hides their truly awful dimensions. Can a Titi str vice tie opinions exp tested la tie columns and cart Gnu on this Page represent those Ottber authors Tod be id to Way to be considered at representing the views of the Stan and stripes or the United state government