European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - February 1, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Thursday february 1, 1990 the Aspin rips administration on military base closings Washington apr the chair Ere disputed Aspin s assertion Hal his of a member with a base in his or Nan of the House armed services com ideas were dead or amounted to political District a Aspin said. The stars and stripes Page 3 Washington apr the chairman of the House armed services committee accused the Bush administration tuesday of putting Quot a political gun to the head Quot of lawmakers with a partisan list of military base closings. Rep. Los Aspin. A wis. Said defense Secretary Dick Cheney s list of More than 12 Domestic facilities and 14 overseas installations Hal would be closed or sealed Back had  but he objected to the Way the administration wants Congress to Deal with the list. A this is merely a list of candidates for closure Quot Aspin told reporters at a news conference. Quot the upshot is that the list can be changed. Bases can be deleted or perhaps added. That creak s hostages for the administration. Vole against a veto override your base is Safe. Vole to override your base is  Quot the process is dead Quot Aspin said of the administration approach and he introduced legislation that would create a bipartisan commission to make new base closing recommendations. Cheney in an interview with report Cheney Calls on Congress to be flexible by the los Angeles times Washington a Secretary or de fens Dick Cheney said tuesday he might reconsider some of his 1991 budget proposals for major new weapons systems if developments in the East bloc justify  called on lawmakers to be Quot flexible just like we  signalling tractability Only one Day after submitting a 1295.1 billion defense budget Cheney said he could not Rule out the possibility of scaling Back the program Tor b-2 stealth bombers. He gave conflicting signals Aslo whether he might be flexible about spending for the strategic defense initiative or Star wan. Now slated to Cost 14.5 billion in 1991. However Cheney said there arc no soviet developments Quot in the realm of possibility Hal would justify an easing of the Bush administration s Overall Sara Legie modernization plan. Although he did not spell out which modernization systems were off limits to Compromise strategic modernization includes a submarines that carry Trident missiles. A a new rail based scheme for the my missile. A midget Man. A Small single warhead missile. Quot unless you re talking Aboul significant soviet unilateral reductions in their strategic forces and 1 would argue there s no evidence at All for that. I would argue thai we need to continue to modernize our own strategic forces to protect and preserve the  Cheney told reporters. Star War and the stealth bomber Are strategic modernization systems. However in answering a direct question. Cheney said he could not Rule out cuts in the stealth bomber. He did defend the bomber generally As a key Factor in current arms control negotiations. At one Point he defended Star wars As essential but at another Point he listed Star wars As among the systems that now Are being studied by the Pentagon. He said changes in the budget As a result of Pentagon reviews Are Quot entirely  ers disputed Aspin s assertion 1 has his ideas were dead or amounted to political blackmail. A the idea i m putting a gun to their head is not a valid one a Cheney said. The Secretary said that because his list is not final changes could be made in it. Cheney he said he would t Rule out the idea of a Blue ribbon panel and said he had made his suggestions because it takes a Long Lime to study such closures Aspin s suggested panel a similar to a commission created by Congress in 1988 a would produce an All or nothing list or closings for approval or rejection by the defense Secretary and Congress. The recommendations of the 1988 panel to close 86 bases were adopted by Congress last year. Cheney in presenting his s292.1 billion military spending plan Tor fiscal 1991. Proposed on monday a list of bases for closing or realignment that would be considered by lawmakers on an individual basis. A this puts a political gun 10 the head of a member with a base in his or her District Aspin said. Questioned whether thai was Cheney s intention in proposing the Hases Tor closing. Aspin said Quot you have to ask or.  Aspin also said the defense Secretary s Lisl clearly is political with 21 of 32 Domestic bases slated for closing in democratic districts. Rep. Patricia Schmo Cdr d-colo., a senior member of the House armed services committee said Cheney has Quot produced an unbalanced partisan hit Lisl a of base closings. She said a such an unbalanced package is just Plain  however. House speaker Thomas s. Foley a Wash. Declined to accuse the Bush administration of playing politics in its Choice of bases and said with a Grin a live heard some republicans Are very angry Quot with the selections. Cheney also took Issue with the charge that his closure list was partisan. He said numerous bases were in dam rep. Les Aspin socratic districts because there Are More democrats in Congress and because a arge number of military installations arc in democratic controlled states. A California gets about a third of the defense budget. Texas has a Large number of bases. It s really not political Quot he said. Top commando laments proposal to khl$27 billion Osprey program by Susanne m. Sci a military writer Washington a defense so arc tary Dick Cheney s decision to cancel the Lill Rotor v-22 Osprey aircraft in the new military budget will leave the nation s commando forces a struggling Quot to find an aircraft for High risk High Speed missions their commander said tuesday. A if the v-22 is finally cancelled in be got to have something else Quot said army Gen. James Lindsay who is in charge of the special operations come. �?o1 had my Day in court More than once and 1 lost said Lindsay whose special forces include the army Green berets and such super Justet units As the Navy seals. For the second consecutive year Cheney has proposed cancelling the proposed s21 Bini Ufort Quot program to produce 602 ospreys a helicopter that can also Fly like a plane. Despite Cheney s recommendation. Congress insisted on keeping the pro Gram alive last year approving 1255 million in research funding. Lindsay fused to directly criticize Cheney a Leah Jpn saying he was not an expert Quot in meet matters and in Cheney a is in a very different position than in a in. He has to make Pratt Tough Derisi Prysi butt Lindsay Argurio that even of inc v-22 is cancelled he would Lindsay still need a High Speed Craft Hurt can drop troops into position in hostile environments and return to pick them up. Lindsay cited the failed operation to Rescue . Hostages in Iran As the Type of Case where a fast moving revue Laboc transport plane could be used on a Long Range Mission. Lindsay said he d lost the argument for the Osprey to Pentagon and of helicopters and the so Causer system a method of re Umetin which a flying c-130 la0pm plane plucks troops Frigm amp a found. Quot rom Lhing better than that. A something reasonably fast Quot a and it can t be a helicopter. 1 need More  Lindsay said he did not have another vehicle to do the Job. And did not know where he was going to get one if he v-22 is cancelled. We this Point in time we Are Strug Gli Ngwiri  he said adding that even thevis Prcy did not meet the Speed or  he would like. Asked if he Coul tume missions where the v-22 was Abs Huely necessary Lindsay said he Coulam Cilc a specific Case. A but 1 can Tell you i just know we re going to be faced with situations where if we can go deep and go fast and not be tied to Airfield that is a distinct  he said. Greenspan says recession unlikely Washington apr Federal Reserve Board chairman Alan Greenspan said tuesday the nation probably will avoid a recession this year but cautioned a i would t want to bet the ranch Quot on it. At the same time he told the congressional joint economic committee the current inflation rate of about 4.5 percent while stable is unacceptably High. A new statistical analysis of the Commerce department s Index of leading indicators Quot suggests that the probability of a recession developing in the next six months. Has declined to about 20 percent Quot from almost 30 percent last Spring. Greenspan said. However he added a i would t want to bet the ranch on such statistical  he cautioned that some unforeseen economic Shock on lop of current weakness in housing and manufacturing Quot might. Lead to a More widespread downturn in  his seemingly mild comments roiled financial markets with traders interpreting them As a sign the Central Bank will not lower i merest rates anytime soon. In the hours after his testimony Stock and Bond prices fell sharply. Quot whal he s really saying is. If you want to gel Infra lion Down it May be you have to live with Crummy co nomic growth not for a few quarters but for a few years Quot said economist Brace Steinberg of Merrill Lynch. That s bad news for president Bush who is counting on relatively Strong growth and lower interest rates to help trim the Federal budget deficit. Earlier Greenspan this month in a speech in Atlanta to Home builders. Bush pressed the Federal Reserve Board to lower interest rates. The last casing step from the Central Bank came before Christmas when it nudged a key Bank lending rate Down by a Quarter of a percentage Point. Since june the fed had been trying to stimulate the Economy by lowering Short lorm rates. Before that the Central Bank had emphasized fighting inflation Over battling a recession and had pushed rates up. Now in an apparent signal of a policy shift. Greenspan said "4.5 percent inflation is unacceptable. Because it is very difficult in that Type of environment to prevent it from  the risk of a recession has subsided somewhat since last Spring when the fed began to Case credit even though the Economy As measured by the Gross National product grew Only 0.5 percent in the last three months of 1989, he said