European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - August 20, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Tuesday August 20, 1991 the stars and stripes a Page 13 commentary Tom . Needs some old fashioned big spending when will president Bush Stop telling us ally a Well with the Economy when anyone with Bills to pay knows better when if Ever will he get on with the real task before him a putting americans Back to work and restoring their Prosperity the recessions Over the White House insists. Baloney. Jobs Are disappearing layoffs Are up consumption is Down unemployment is nearly 7 percent retail sales Are lagging real estate is a disaster area Banks Are failing credit is tight and wages Are stagnant. And among 16 to 19-year-Olds, Only half a the lowest level in two decades a holds or is even looking for jobs. Last years budget agreement with Congress it says Here got a grip on the Federal deficit. More baloney. The congressional budget office has just announced that despite stringent spending limits new taxes and the alleged end of the recession the deficit will Rise from $279 billion in fiscal 1991 to $362 billion next year. Even the presidents Oton budget director concedes the deficit will reach $348 billion. And in that neighbourhood that a a distinction without much difference. So the Prospect is that the geniuses who gave you the recession and the deficit will now raise your taxes and Cut spending again both deflationary Steps in holy Pursuit of that elusive grail a balanced budget. From new England to. California moreover states and cities have been hard hit on one Side by recession depleted revenues and smashed on the other by drastically reduced Federal Aid. The result is a triple disaster a rising state and local taxes declining state and local services and extensive layoffs. Does anyone believe that this combination will not have further depressing Impact on an Economy already gasping for breath the Federal Reserve another source of fatuous reassurance periodically belies its own words with minor and inadequate cuts in interest rates which May or May not make it slightly easier for main Street to get Loans a which do Little to restore the necessary economic conf �7n� i Captain accu66p of leading passenger on sinking shop Dence of those who Are now afraid to Start or expand a business even if they could get a loan. And where did the myth come from that conservatives handle the Economy More capably than liberals Jeff Madrick a business correspondent for Abc news recently pointed out in an article for the new York times that during the 11 years since Ronald Reagan selection real Gross National product is up Only about 30 percent. During the terms of presidents Kennedy and Johnson and the first three years of Richard Nixon the 11-year gain in real in a was almost 50 percent. So Here s an unorthodox program to renew american Prosperity a one that can hardly produce worse results than the pious economic orthodoxies the nation has followed right out the window a lets Stop worrying so much about the deficit a vastly overrated threat and invest for a change in America and the american people. A lets Stop fretting about  imminent return of inflation and see what the combination of sharply reduced interest rates and increased Public spending can do. A specifically let s invest a or prime the  if you insist a by pouring billions into infrastructure building and repairing roads Bridges sewers City streets Public works of All kind. This is not Only a needed program in itself but it also will put people to work As nothing has done since the construction of the interstate Highway system in the 1950s. And not incidentally it will train thousands of Idle mostly hopeless americans in essential marketable skills. A lets also Start returning More Federal Money to states and localities earmarked As far As possible for putting people to work at essential services rather than throwing them on the unemployment Rolls while the garbage goes  before anyone shouts a deficit spending a remember that for every Point the unemployment rate declines $30 billion to $40 billion can be Cut from the deficit owing to additional revenues and reduced outlays for the jobless. Thus unemployment reduced in Sayi five years from 7 to 4 percent would Cut the deficit by perhaps $90 billion to $120 billion not counting the larger effects of a revived Economy. Old fashioned big spending liberalism maybe so but weren to you better off when that was the Rule and what has this trickle Down crowd in Washington done for you lately c the now York times William f. Buckley  could take lesson from Cable to Lowell Weicker governor of Connecticut is having a Tough time devising the Means to balance the budget of a state wallowing in self indulgence after years under a democratic governor whose Mentor was gov. Michael Dukakis the gentleman who Laboured so successfully to make Massachusetts uninhabitable. Giving Weicker advice is very easy to do almost any suggestion you make is going to be an improvement Over what he comes up with. But herewith a modest Little suggestion one available to every state in the Union privatize the department of motor vehicles. But i build on a paradigm which is Connecticut Cable to. As recently As six months ago in order to sign up a forthcoming attraction on television a the Hunt for red october at 8 p.m., lets say a you would need to dial a number. And wait and wait and wait. Eventually a voice would come on. What is your name what is your address what is your phone number what is the number on your monthly Catalon gradually the number of questions decreased. Every month the process became More and More automated. It is now Worth an exhibit at a worlds fair. You dial if you live in Stamford Conn 348-9211. Voice a if you wish to order a scheduled feature press 1.�?� that a what you want to do so you press 1. Voice a if you wish to order the next regular feature which is the Hunt for red october at 8 p.m., press 2. If you wish to order Bye Bye blues at 9 p.m., press 3. If you wish to order another feature press 4. It s red october you want so you press 2. A voice a please press your Telephone  dutifully you dial 1234567. Voice a you have dialled 1234567. If that is Correct press 1.�?� you press 1. There san Ever so slight delay maybe half a second. A thank you for your o order. Be sure to tune in on Channel 44. If you wish further information press 3. Otherwise press 4.�?� that Sall you want so you press 4. Voice a thank you and Good  when your Telephone Bill comes in at the end of the month it will show a charge of $4, which is cheap for How Tom Clancy outwitted the whole soviet Navy in 1985. I took a trip to the Stamford department of motor vehicles. I counted four lines of men and women of All Ages two or three of them with walking Sticks or crutches. The line to take your picture takes i would say 45 minutes. The line to file your application of maybe an hour. The line in front of the information Booth 15 minutes. Anyone arriving at that department intending to walk away with let us say a fresh Drivers License replacing one that had been stolen with her purse my wife a problem would do Well to think in terms of two to three hours. Not two to three hours sitting on a chair Reading gone with the wind. Of no. Two or three hours measured in two minute intervals during which you nudge Forward 3 or 4 inches 30 times per hour. There is nothing so time efficient As arriving and receiving a number. If you had a number a 187, say a All you would need to do is look up at the screen every now and then and when the number showing Rose from 112, which it is now to 180, you get up and move Over toward the photographer. In Between 112 and 180, you might figure you can do your Days grocery shopping. On the other hand Why not come in with a photograph As with a passport photo and let the License dispenser please himself that it is not a forgery. Why do you need to Start at the end of a Brand new line after having made your Way to the head of the photographic line for that matter if you Jose your License to a thief or fire or flood Why can to they Issue you another one through a computer after you have established your identity Why come to think of it can to you make an appointment but of course All these variables would be tried out by a private organization dispensing Drivers licenses. Voice a please dial your full name. Now your Date of birth. Than you that checks with our voter registration computer. And yes you passed your driving test according to our computer in november 1941. Your driving License will be available at the department of motor vehicles on monday aug. 19. Bring a passport picture not older than six months. Good  Connecticut Cable to should come to the Rescue of the Connecticut department of motor vehicles. And any old retirement Community should come to the Aid of gov. Weicker. C Universal Pruss Syndicate the opinions expressed in the columns and cartoons on this Page represent those of the authors and Are in no Way to be considered As representing the views of the stars and stripes or the United states government