European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - August 29, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Thursday August 29, 1991 the stars and stripes Page 13 commentary Terence Hunt coup May have made a bed of roses for . In retrospect the Bush administration sees the botched coup against Mikhail s. Gorbachev almost As a Blessing in disguise offering unexpected opportunities Fel action on a bogged Down Agenda of Reform and a Yiew Era of democratic Freedom. The sudden Shock and despair that accompanied the announcement of the coup a week ago gave Way 63 hours later to a deep sigh of Relief with the collapse of the plot. R now there is a palpable sense of optimism that things that once seemed unlikely have a distinctly better Chance of being achieved. Those possibilities were dramatically underlined by news that Gorbachev had resigned As communist party chief calling for the breakup of the party that has ruled since 1917. The Bush administration has viewed the party As a bankrupt institution that impeded change. A i see nothing in Here but Good news in terms of speeding up the Pace a president Bush observed. Deputy Secretary of state Lawrence Eagleburger went even further. A while 1  want to Ever Praise a coup i think the fact of the matter is that in the aftermath of that coup the United states is better off in the relationship with the soviet Union than it would have been before that a Eagleburger said on can. As Bush sees it everything is breaking his Way. The soviet hard liners who tried to Block reforms have been stripped from Power replaced by a generation of vigorous reformers. One of the chief opponents of dramatic Steps to overhaul the Economy was Premier _ Valentin Pavlov a coup plotter who is in jail. The communist party is in a spiral of decline and the Kab and military have been weakened. Soviet citizens who turned out by the hundreds of Marilyn Geewax new lbs on the Eastern Block thousands in Defiance of the authorities registered a Strong mandate to move ahead on a course of change. That will be hard for Gorbachev to ignore. Freed of constraints against bold action Gorbachev has been thrown into a Power sharing Alliance with Boris n. Yeltsin the Reform minded russian president who stood up to the coup plotters and spearheaded their downfall. There Are no More excuses for Gorbachev to stall reforms the administration believes. A the very fact that this coup has taken place in my View removes some of the roadblocks to economic Reform a Bush said. Putting aside his usual caution on major a questions of foreign policy Bush said All of the changes in the soviet Union a appear to be working in favor of the United  in recent months Gorbachev has played conservatives against liberals to justify his plodding Steps toward economic and political freedoms. A the Gorbachev can t Point to the conservatives and say hey we can to do any More than we Are Quot a senior administration official said. A we May in a sense see the True Gorbachev coming out  amid the air of startling change the administration is drawing up a wish list it would like to see fulfilled. At the top is the granting of Independence to the Baltic republics of Lithuania Estonia and Latvia. Once considered a Distant goal some administration officials believe Independence will occur within six months. A in my View a Bush said a that would do More to enhance Good will in the United states than almost any other single thing that could be  the administration also wants Moscow to reduce its military spending and Cut off Aid to Cuba. A shift of Power from the Central government to the republics appears inevitable particularly because of the enormously enhanced Power and prestige of Yeltsin the administration believes. Bush himself once sceptical of the outspoken yell sin has gained a deep respect for the soviet Leader. When he Speaks of Gorbachev Bush usually includes Yeltsin in the same sentence. Bush a advice to Gorbachev was to a stand shoulder to shoulder with  despite the sweeping changes of Power in the Kremlin sinner Circle the administration continues to resist pressure to provide direct financial assistance to the soviet Union. Bush said he feels no need to change his position that the soviet Union must first enact sweeping economic reforms before receiving a big bundle of Cash. C the associated pros Bond manipulators sell out . For own gain another Wall Street scandal Breaks. Most americans glance at the headlines and move on. Who can understand All that gobbledygook about Bonds besides it just affects Rich people.  please done to shrug off stories about this latest scandal involving Salomon Brothers inc. This is a sordid tale about hotshots who enriched their own egos and wallets while taking risks with your country a financial system. Salomon is an 81-year-old Wall Street company that buys and Sells stocks and Bonds. The firms specially is buying government Bonds directly and then reselling them to earn profits. This business of trading government securities affects you in More ways than you might think. Here show the system works the Treasury must borrow Money to run the government and cover budget de a fits. To do so it issues Bonds notes and Bills and tries to sell them at the lowest interest rates possible. The less Uncle Sam pays in interest the More we taxpayers save. So to help keep rates Down the Treasury holds an auction. Salomon is one of Only 40 firms allowed to bid directly. With bidders haggling Over Price the government ought to be Able to get a Good Deal. Setting Low rates matters to you not Only As a taxpayer but As a Borrower. That a because Many lending rates Are tied to interest rates set at the Treasury auction. For example the interest on an adjustable rate mortgage May be based on the average annual rate of one year Treasury Bills plus two percentage Points. So if to Bills go up so does your Home mortgage. Indirectly Many Loans Are linked to Treasury securities. Interest on your car or Home equity Loans May Rise and fall with the government auctions. Given How important interest rates Are to the entire Economy you would think 8/19/91 a look Twe Grot White Hunter again the people trading government Bonds would take their jobs seriously. Would it be too much to ask that these traders take just a moment each Day to think a even if i want to act like a Macho Showoff Jerk i will restrain myself because i have a serious Job to do. I am trading the most important securities in the  at Salomon apparently that was too much to ask. The company now admits traders routinely violated bidding rules. No firm is permitted to buy More than 35 percent of a single Issue to avoid Market manipulation but Salomon often exceeded that Cap. The Wall Street journal reports that Many traders say collusion and Price fixing arc routine in the Treasury auctions. How much Cash have these scoundrels squeezed by rigging prices no one knows exactly. But the bigger concern is whether the recent revelations will turn off International investors so much that they decide to put their Money elsewhere. For years big foreign demand for . Securities helped hold Down interest rates. If people lose Faith in the fairness of Treasury auctions they might just say a forget it ill buy  a drop in demand for Treasury securities would Force our government to offer higher interest rates to lure new investors. That increase would be reflected in higher consumer lending rates. In other words some Day you might end up paying More taxes and a bigger mortgage because 28-year-old traders in Manhattan wanted to Wear $2,000 suits. These Market manipulators ought to ask themselves whether they want to be remembered As traders or traitors. A Cox nows service