European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - April 21, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Sunday april 21, 1991 the stars and stripes Karen Hosler Page 13 commentary Bush s return to the Domestic stage painful even for George Bush the presidents delivery of a speech to a group of businessmen the other Day was remarkably bad. He stumbled Over words lost his place and registered so Little enthusiasm he seemed bored with his own remarks. It must have been at least the Hundredth time that Bush had made the argument for cutting the Federal tax on capital gains a 1988 Campaign relic he refuses to abandon although its chances of enactment have diminished to the Point that democratic congressional leaders relish the Prospect of killing it. His listlessness was palpable. So goes the return of a stunningly successful world Lead to the More mundane duties of his office. After a fewer Heady months on the Heights of Power As a wartime commander in chief Bush is Back to grappling with Congress Over Domestic policy and partisan politics. Described by aides As a president keen on instant gratification and Short on patience Bush seems to be finding the transition painful. During the persian Gulf War he could make a decision give an order arid his will would be carried out. Those who disagreed largely kept silent. Now he is Back to the More Normal White House routine where the president Hakes a decision offers a proposal and Congress retorts a thanks but we prefer to do it our Way in our own time a or something Ruder. A a he a called indecisive or uninterested on Domestic issues but that a not really the problem a a Bush aide contended. A on Domestic issues you done to get a Chance to  a How do we keep an Energy Bill from turning into an environmental measure a the aide continued. A How do we keep a crime Bill aimed at fighting drug pushers from turning into a welfare measure How do we keep Congress from supporting every veterans benefits measure that there is on every single Issue we Tun into  the obstacles Bush faces As he fully re engages on the Domestic front Are not limited to those set up by a wilful Congress. / his More extensive backs Lourid and greater Confidence on foreign policy have some Impact on his leadership Success there other White House aides say. For example Bush made the decision almost immediately after iraqis invasion of Kuwait last August that he would not allow the takeover to stand. It was a personal judgment based on years of geopolitical experience and one on which he never wavered. Partly in deference to his office but also because of the strength of his conviction the country backed him up. Bush has not taken such a Clear Cut unequivocal position on a Domestic Issue and in Many cases has delegated great authority to his Cabinet secretaries and top aides  s. Broder this Raissez Faire management approach is said to work Well in Many instances but has also led to Bush s most embarrassing moments in office when his aides clashed. For example the White House went Wacky during budget negotiations with Congress last year because of a disagree sent Between Sununu and budget chief Richard g. Darman on what would be an acceptable Trade off Between a capital gains Cut and an income tax increase. Bush appeared to flip Flop on the Issue almost hourly and finally became so exasperated that he pointed to his behind and told reporters to a a read my  some argue that if former president Reagan whose strength was Domestic rather than foreign policy had undertaken the liberation of Kuwait with his similarly sniping Secretary of state George Shultz and Secretary of defense Caspar w. Weinberger there might be a lot More Joy in Baghdad today. Even so a Large measure of Bush a frustration and failure on the Domestic front is built into the american system of checks and balances that puts Congress and the executive on equal footing in making policy and thus in near constant conflict. A Congress actually has a Little bit of an Edge on us because they have to initiate things a a White House lobbyist said. A if they done to do something you can to make  Bush tends to blame his troubles on the fact that the opposition democrats control both houses of Congress by Large majorities but there is More to it than that. Jimmy Carter was a democratic president with a democratic Congress and he did not have any better Luck. A president needs a Clear mandate or National consensus to drive a Domestic proposal through a Balky legislature most students of the process say. President Reagan had such a mandate for his income tax and spending cuts of the Early 1980s. A the rolled through us like a knife through butter a a senior House democratic leadership aide recalled. There has been no such National clamor for Bush a capital gains tax Cut which he says will stimulate the Economy. In fact the president lamented the other Day that the democrats had been extremely successful at promoting the notion that the proposal would Only help the Rich. Bush has not been without some victories at Home. In the midst of the persian Gulf crisis last fall he signed into Law in an updated clean air act a child care proposal and a budget agreement that at least made a new Start on bringing the huge Federal deficit under control a All passed at his urging. But they were enacted Only after months or years of arduous negotiation with Congress. Former president Truman anticipated Bush a current plight nearly 40 years ago As he contemplated the Quot what p0they mean we have no Pomes pc a66npa?" Prospect of world War ii Gen. Dwight d. Eisenhower taking Over the Oval office As his successor. A a he la sit Here and hell say a do this do that a and nothing will happen a Truman told a reporter. A poor Ike a it wont be a bit like the army. Hell find it very frustrating a so look for George Bush to attend a few More of those Hometown ceremonies to Welcome the troops Back from persian Gulf. A he docs not want the pomp and glory really aides insist. But at such appearances there is a Spring in his step and a gleam in his Eye that rarely appear when he has to tend to Domestic issues. A a a a Baltimore  note Karen Hosier covers the Whito House for the Baltimore Sun a a a a. A a a. A a a a a a  underclass still smothered by racism a in the political precincts of Washington the debate about civil rights is conducted in Nice polite terms. Lawyers argue about the meaning of words in the supreme court decisions restricting suits on discriminatory employment practices. Politicians debate the precise Point at which legislation goes beyond affirmative action and verges into quotas. Hardly anyone wants to Deal with the underlying reality of race and the Way it splits this nation. Only occasionally does the Blunt language of the real world intrude on the ratified and often phony world of Washington. H happened in a briefing at the Brookings institution the 75-year-old dowager of Ashington think tanks on its newly published volume called a the Urban  in the course of the briefing several people referred to one of the papers in the 490-Puge volume and hinted that it might be More straightforward than the rest. Hie authors Joleen Kirschenman and Kathryn m. Neckerman of the University of Chicago wrote a we were overwhelmed by the degree to which Chicago employers Felt comfortable talking with los a in a situation w Here the temptation would be to conceal rather than reveal a in a negative manner about  scholars almost never admit  a a overwhelmed by anything so i called Kirschenman and asked what they meant. During 1988-89, they conducted face to face interviews with 185 Chicago area employers about the Way in which they picked people for jobs. A i was shocked at the open Way they talked about race a she said. A i would have thought at the end of the 1980s that the civil rights movement at least had changed the level of discourse. But we have a Long Way to  the two scholars reported what they heard from a suburban drug store manager among others. A a a it a unfortunate but in my business i think Overall Black men tend to be known to be dishonest a the store manager said. A i think that a too bad but that a the image they have. They re known to  whether they Are or not 1 done to know but its an image that is  he was asked a How do you think that image was developed a a go look in the jails a he said with a laugh. Kirschenman and Neckerman say the racial stereotypes become More virulent when the applicants language style of dress schooling and place of residence place them in the lower class together these factors form a classification system in the minds of these employers that puts inner City Blacks at the Bottom of the list when it comes to hiring decisions. As they put it a your interviews in Chi Cago area businesses show that employers View inner City workers especially Black men As unstable uncooperative dishonest and  its hardly a Surprise then that unemployment rates Are far far higher among inner City Black males than any other population group. Kirschenman told me that she would exonerate most of the employers she interviewed of  a they just happen to be on the frontline of a problem the society has failed to address a she said. Today the prevailing View in the courts and in american society is that employers should not be asked to Bend their hiring policies in order to provide work for such men. But if that is this nations decision then what is our response to the millions in the underclass who live lives of Complete desolation in the hearts of our cities the British weekly the economist raised exactly that question More forcibly than any . Publication has done this year in an april cover Story on a a american a wasted Blacks.�?�. The economists summary a Whites need to recognize that Blacks cannot Hope to Prosper in any numbers of while they Are confined to ghettos of crime poverty and Lousy schools and that it is society a duty to do something about it. A that Means the same Law enforcement in inner cities that the rest of the country expects and receives. It Means gun control which Urban Blacks want but Many Whites illogically hate. It Means treatment not just punishment for drug dealers. It Means expensive policies from governments and companies to lure better teachers and school managers into the cities to build transport links to the suburbs where the jobs Are to train Young people for jobs.�?�. The economist quotes Lyndon Johnson a 1965 words a if we stand passively by while the Center of each City becomes a hive of deprivation crime and hopelessness. If we become two peo. Pie the suburban affluent and the Urban poor each filled with mistrust and fear for the other. Then we shall effectively cripple each generation to  a a generation has passed a the economist rightly says a and. The crippling goes  where is a National Leader who will say it must Stop Washington Post