European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - March 18, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse                                The stars and stripes column Walter r. Mears timidity not limited to the Bush White House president bus ii May not believe in his lofty poll ratings but the democrats seem to and that is keeping them cautious a or maybe timid. That s a Label they have tried to affix to Bush who counters that the Correct description of his style is prudent. All it timidity or caution or prudence the tag applies As much on Capitol Hill As at the White House. While democrats complain that Bush is trying to avoid politically risky positions most of them arc doing the same thing. They just Arentt As visible. With Bush Riding High in the popularity polls their challenges usually Are Safe rhetorical and Standard. There Are exceptions. T free leading democrats in Congress have proposed three controversial policy and budget moves so far this year. None has drawn Broad support at the top or among the re election Bent rank and file members of the party that controls both House and Senate. Any or All of the three could serve As High visibility rallying Points for the opposition party. But they got faint Praise and no endorsement from democratic congressional leaders. Hie latest democratic initiative is rep. Dan Rostenkowski a budget balancing proposal a combination of spending Cut and tax increases he called a both bold and  its All of that a Compromise that would compel each party to Swallow some unpleasant Medicine. House speaker Thomas s. Foley warily described the plan by Rostenkowski the Illinois Democrat who Heads the ways and Means committee As very important and interesting. But he Isnit going to risk leading democrats into tax increases that Bush could Block and blame on them. The president said he was prepared to negotiate on the Rostenkowski proposal although he opposes some of its features especially the tax boosts and a years freeze on Cost of living increases in social Security. At the Start of the congressional session sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan d-n.y., proposed a Cut in social Security taxes that would give wage earners an Clec lion year break while drawing Down the Trust fund reserves that mask the True size of the Federal deficit. Quot if we can t get behind an Issue like this in a not sure who needs the democratic party a Moynihan said As his proposal faded for Lack of party support. T hat one dearly worried the White House since the democrats could have used it to Force Bush into vetoing an election year tax Cut. Bush called it a subterfuge for a later tax increase and said it would put future social Security benefits at risk. Early this month rep. Richard a. Gephardt d-mo., the House majority Leader combined a Call for increased Aid to Eastern Europe and direct Aid to the soviet Union with a denunciation of Bush for what he m ntfewc<�$$1wr  % % it 1 said was a Lack of vision and leadership. The White House counterattacked with ridicule. A i done to want to Knock the Man a Bush said last week. A maybe hell come up with a Good idea one of these  Gephardt said proposal was swallowed in the political controversy. Praising All three idea men rep. Bill Richardson d-n.m., told the House last week that a they Are driving the White House and the republicans  a it is the . Congress that is More often than not providing the leadership in today a government a he claimed. Or talking about it. Leadership takes More than proposals and speeches it takes action even if that involves a political risk. The Rostenkowski plan does. He says it asks a for modest sacrifices by All americans to balance the budget beginning in 1993. And each party would have to sacrifice some pet planks in its political platform. Should either balk the Compromise would collapse and budget stalemate would persist. Rostenkowski proposes a real freeze on Federal spending for one year including Cost of living increases in social Security a 3 percent Cut in military spending with the savings to go into deficit reduction and not new programs an increase in top bracket income taxes and in Oil and other consumption taxes. The Trade offs would require each party to yield some pet issues with democrats dropping their refrain that republicans Are a threat to social Security benefits and with the gop dropping its tax and spend charges against the democrats. For the Rostenkowski package to get anywhere the blame would have to be shared. That would take a level of Trust that Isnit showing now. Democrats arc leery seeing the ingredients of a setup in which the White House would negotiate on the plan then reject a tax increase and accuse them again of being the tax and spend party. Foley said Bush must Back off his no new taxes pledge in Advance of any Deal. A the president has an absolute veto on this question a he said. Gephardt and Rostenkowski both said Bush ought to be willing to risk some of his political capital to take the Lead in dealing with budget and deficit stalemate. A i done to live by the polls a Bush replied. He questioned whether there was All that much popularity to be spent anyhow. A i done to believe in it is one thing a he said at a news conference. A i done to believe in polls that much. These things come and  associated press William . Intelligence must think big As never before Why does the hound not bark that is the question being asked by Western espionage agents some of whom have read Sherlock Holmes. Decoded that Means How come we re not getting a wave of High level defectors from what used to be the soviet bloc East Germany a secret police the Stasi has Laid off tens of thousands of its employees and is reducing its spy network from 4,000 to fewer than 300 by june. Stasis a main reconnaissance has Long been the most productive external Arm of the Kremlin a Kab Many of the spies being thrust into the cold were expected to come Over to the Cia to Trade information for Protection and profit. Yet they hold Back. One reason is that these trained communist agents placed in West Germany and throughout the world Hope to make a Deal with the intelligence service of a United German Republic. Another reason is that the Kab unhappy with its onerous internal Security function has been expanding operations abroad. The Best East bloc spies especially in the ., West Germany and Japan have been under direct Moscow supervision for years with the Kab hiring they have no monetary or ideological reason to come Over. What a pity. The East German Stasi set up Moa mar Qadhafi s unique All female personal Security guard and Laid out Protection for the rata Mustard Gas Plant built by not yet indicted West germans. The Stasi May know who took the Plant out and How a intelligence useful to those awarding the Nobel peace prize. Curiously the spook profession is not at All depressed by the West a Victory in the cold War. You might think that As tensions ease and As arms control agreements include on site inspections and open skies spying would be seen As a no growth Industry. On the contrary Kab business has never been better. The a a products is not so much the nato order of Battle but Western Industrial and electronic technology the secrets that sell Best now Are plans for satellites fiber optics advanced computers a to help soviet Industry leapfrog out of its backwardness. What is this new targeting going to do to our own intelligence Community and its $18 billion secret budget that a my guess i could be a billion or so off the soviets spend More on a Gnu less than half of ours we re not even asking the right questions. Rep. Anthony Beilenson chairman of the House intelligence committee considers it a Triumph to have knocked Henry Kissinger off the presidents foreign intelligence advisory Board or if Fiat. The Beverly Hills Democrat is not examining what we As a nation need to know As cold War is replaced by hot Competition. Piff Iab a moribund state is an example of our failure to grapple with tomorrows intelligence needs. This is not the advisory Board that regularly fails to Monitor Agency Misbehaviour that oversight group is now run by gov. Jim Thompson of Illinois but the 15 outsiders called on to observe the Quality of our intelligence work. As a former director of Central intelligence George Bush resented Piff Iab so interference a although it pushed him into a much needed team b competitive analysis that better read the soviet threat. He told friends not Long ago that he had hoped to close Piff Iab Down but the part time appointments were the most coveted patronage in government. Coming a smaller Board possibly headed by the technologist John Foster or self described a equipment Freak Howard Baker but no longer including global thinkers like Zbigniew Brzezinski and Jeane Kirkpatrick. Instead the focus will be on the Agency a use of sophisticated hardware. That a a mistake. Our intelligence operation needs to think big As never before which no bureaucracy can do about Itsell. In the bipolar thaw allies will be spying on us. Should we be spying on them. For example is it in americans interest to know the status of Japan a investment in biotech As Tokyo hires scores of consultants to learn ours a or is this a Lorn of Industrial policy we should declare m a moral and illegal As the ability to project the pm Sci a american values relies More on Trade i a dominance than military muscle it maj that our Cia should turn out More up analyses than secret estimates a More. Sess ments of our competitors scion and educational direction than our my a first strike capability. Bark bark if we fail to take the Lead in the new world of intelligence the a ble defections to come will be o spooks to the germans and japanese. New York times