European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - November 9, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 10 the stars and stripes Friday november 9,1990 column Flora . Voters continue their election Day Nap the question everybody else asks when there Are elections in the United states is Why americans done to vote. It is sad and bitter to acknowledge that most people in the country that trumpets itself As Leader of the democracies can to be bothered to make use of the process. The irony when people so Long deprived of freedoms nights elsewhere have triumphed Over terrible obstacles is not diminished by being familiar to the Point of becoming trite. I done to know Why it happens. All the facile explanations ring with some element of truth. But the United states has not cornered the world Supply of venal it politicians windbag cynics nor of disillusioned citizens. Anything under about three out of four eligible voters taking part in any major election is considered shocking m other democracies. Democracy is much More than an election of course As the hapless countries of Eastern Europe Are discovering. It is about open argument capacity to Compromise tolerance of opposition patience to persevere in defeat and try again to persuade. But there is not another Way beside elections to establish government by con sent. There Are always governments of some kind. Good or bad society can to survive without them. The dutch a provos a the feisty and witty anti establishment Arians of the 1968 generation found out in an unusually painless Way. They ran candidates in an Amsterdam election and some won. A a that a the trouble a said a disgruntled rebel. A no matter who wins the government always gets  governments can make sure they done to have to worry about How people want to vote by repression terror vast corruption. They also lose eventually but in upheavals coups revolutions which often Start the awful Cycle again. Democracies can make bad mistakes like others but they have the unique advantage of a Way to make corrections before its too late. Government by indifference which is the result of some third of the electorate exercising its right not a privilege the privilege is to have inherited the Basic right is not really government by consent. Things can be done to improve the Choice offered if people really want a better Choice. Things can be done to reduce the Power of Money and raise the level of debate if people want a better Way of choosing. The amount of Money spent on this lackadaisical largely ignored midterm Campaign is staggering. The average senator has to raise $12,000 a week every week of his six year term for his re election Campaign fund. Congress has Long been talking about reforming Cam Saign finance. Nothing much happens because the voters generally respond by turning their backs on congressional elections. It. The big spiral in Campaign costs is primarily the expense of to advertising and carefully programmed expertise. A mention children or animals in almost every sentence a a professional consultant was recently quoted As saying. A it does no to matter what else you  nothing much happens because the voters confound the experts. People Are told what the poll takers painstakingly calculate they want to hear. But they Are so fed up with listening that they tune out and let the poll takers shape the decision. People loved Ronald Reagan and his feel Good do nothing unpleasant politics. Now they Are recognizing the legacy but they Are not angry about having swallowed the Snake Oil. They Are angry at being confronted with the Bill and their conclusion is that politics is too dirty to contemplate. This abdication wont ruin America. There is a resilience and underlying vitality that has carried the country through much worse. But it is especially depressing at a time when Large parts of the world Are groping for what America always preached and finds so hard to practice. . Naipaul the Superb writer born of hindu parents in Trinidad and exquisitely educated in England Speaks now of a new a Universal  it is a sense of the individual with Opportunity and responsibility no longer a cog in someone else Sage old scheme. A the idea of the Pursuit of happiness is at the heart of the attractiveness of the civilization to so Many of inside it or on its Periphery. I find it marvelous to contemplate to what an extent. The idea has come to a kind of fruition. It is an elastic idea it fits All men. It implies a certain kind of society a certain kind of awakened  that is happening around the world. What makes americans sleepy a c new York times Tom Wicker America s real deficit Calls for Are you one of those Many americans who regard driving your car As an inalienable right then you should know that the nation needs to double from $13 billion to $26 billion its current annual spending to maintain just those highways already existing and bring them up to minimum standards. That does no to include the $50 billion needed and soon to repair or replace 240,000 Bridges that might come tumbling Down anytime now. Or maybe you prefer to travel in the Friendly skies. If so be warned that about $1 billion a year Over and above another $1 billion of aviation Trust fund expenditures will be needed in each of the next 10 years just to maintain existing flying conditions a which despite glitzy airline advertising arc mostly grim to ghastly a and Only minimally relieve Airport congestion. Even if you Are one of the above chances Are Good that you re also one of the Many who believe the recent a budget deals was necessary a although president Bush and Congress proposed in that Shotgun wedding to reduce Federal spending by $40 billion in this fiscal year and by $500 billion Over the next five the hard truth is that you can to have it both ways. If you think Federal spending has to be Cut transportation and a lot of other genuine National necessities a such As housing and toxic waste disposal a will suffer too. If you want Safe Bridges a decent environment and a Host of other desirable physical and social effects a a better educated work Force for instance and a lower child mortality rate a then the government needs to invest More not less in american society. In fact the Center for Community change reports that additional Federal spending or at least $130 billion annually is needed to Cope with what it cogently Calls a a american a third deficit a the shortfall in the nations investments to solve or Lessen some of its most grievous problems. The centers Cost estimate totalled those of numerous earlier reports by reliable a i it i authorities both private and government tall on National requirements in various Fields. The figures cited for transportation Are from the congressional budget office the general accounting office and the Federal aviation administration. A precise Price tag on National needs was not the purpose. Rather the report seeks to concentrate the National mind on National neglect rather than on the spurious but widespread belief a enshrined in the misguided budget Deal a that the Federal government taxes too much spends too much and borrows too much. The opposite of the first proposition is True despite popular myth. The second raises the wrong question a How much a rather than making the right Point a what for National debt meanwhile is growing at about the same Pace As Gross National product. That a not Only reasonable but permits an annual deficit of about 3 percent of Gnu. Here Are just a few of the yearly unmet needs reported by various reputable studies head Start and Early education $2 billion Ford foundation repair existing Public housing $4 billion housing department and private studies subsidies for very Low income families $11.1 billion co education for a at risk youth $5 billion . Grant foundation subsidies for Long term health care insurance $7.2 billion Ford. If All that a too a a social for your hard nose How about these additional annual costs for neglected physical needs clean up nuclear and non nuclear military waste $11 billion Gao and Energy department compliance with clean water act $2.4 billion environmental Protection Agency clean up non military hazardous waste Sites $3 billion Epa. The report of the Center for Community change disposes of numerous familiar excuses for these failures. This Rich nation Isnit taxed too much for example. Total Federal taxes As a percentage of Gnu Are lower than in 20 other industrialized nations. Nor is All social spending a Money Down a  head Start saves an estimated $4.75 in welfare and prison costs for every tax Dollar spent while funded to reach Only 18 percent of eligible children. The governments supplemental food program saves in reduced health charges about three times its Cost that a Why meeting these and other needs reflected in americans real deficit would not be a wasteful spending but useful investment. Nor is it the Wallet that slacking. Its the will. C new Yorito times