European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - October 27, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Sunday october 27, 1991 the stars and stripes a Page 13 commentary Thomas Ferrar stumbling Economy is Bush s Achilles Heel kid sups cwt a Wora it \ sow�,win6 8our 0jtt1m6 Tift defense Boneer Ani it spem�n6 mors on the d0m6si1c saw amp noes Bunto Abse it Cwm. The nagging recession could become president Bush a Vietnam. Just like the War that  fade away and drove Lyndon Johnson from office the recession that refuses to end might derail Bush a bid for a second term. While Bush a Overall approval rating still hovers at nearly 70 percent Only one in three americans says he likes the Way he has handled the Economy. Moreover polls show just one in two says he is inclined to vote for Bush next year and 30 percent say they will definitely vote for him against any foe. All this causes jitters at the White House which had figured the 1992 election would be a cakewalk. Now that walk could be on a political Tightrope each step depending on bouncing economic indicators. In recent months Bush stalk of pending economic recovery has been reminiscent of lbs a a predictions of military Victory. Bush has insisted that the country is coming out of the recession just As Johnson told the nation that there was Light at the end of the Tunnel. In 1964, Johnson scored a landslide Victory Over Barry Goldwater Only to be stalked the next four years by an escalating War that prompted him not to seek another term. Bush May Well be re elected but lie could face a worsening Economy underscored by More bankruptcies More layoffs and More Plant shutdowns that forever stain his record. The president is concerned. On oct. 4, he seized a slight dip in the unemployment rate to insist that a the Economy is moving in Tiwi right  he added however a let me be the first to say All is not  indeed. Economic growth since Bush took office averaged 1.6 percent a year the worst since the Truman years. In the past year 2 million More americans fell below the poverty level. The number of discouraged workers those who have quit looking for jobs and Are no longer counted among the unemployed Rose in the third Quarter by 100,000, to 1.1 million. In the second Quarter of this year real income fell by 1.7 percent for the average family. Bush had tentatively planned to make a Campaign style visit to Detroit on oct. 17. But he backed off after the big three automakers reported a $2 billion loss for the third Quarter and concerns of even More layoffs loomed. The president has struggled to find a fiscal remedy. At one Point he even suggested that overzealous Bank examiners have made Banks reluctant to approve Loans thus creating the credit crunch. This presidential finding came after lax examinations contributed to the savings and loan crisis. Lbs and Bush Are political Mirror images of each other. Johnson a strength was Domestic policy a the 1964 civil rights act the 1965 voting rights act his War on poverty. He was frustrated and dogged by foreign policy problems though in the form of the Vietnam War. Bush relishes foreign affairs. He Defeated iraqi president Saddam Hussein reigned Over the collapse of communism imposed deep cuts in nuclear arms and is pushing for a Middle East peace conference. But Domestic policy chiefly the Economy remains his Achilles Heel. On oct. 11, Bush vetoed legislation to extend jobless benefits saying the measure would bust last years deficit cutting Bud get. As anticipated National democratic party chairman Ronald Brown promptly teed off on Bush saying the president a has no economic policy and nothing to offer men and women thrown out of work by this Republican  surprisingly though. Dick Thornburgh who resigned As Bush s attorney general last August to run for the Senate from Pennsylvania also expressed disappointment. A i think. The human needs outweigh the fiscal needs a Thornburgh said. A there arc Many unemployed pennsylvanians right now who need help and i think they deserve  c United press International Tom Teepe backers know Duke has t changed his spots Louisiana a David Duke has not overcome a Long history of klan activism and flirtation with Neo nazism in order to succeed in politics. He is succeeding because of that background. Duke s voters understand him perfectly Well. They understand that in order to play in mainstream politics he had to disavow his overt racist past. But they understand equally from his barely encoded racism that his relentless attacks on welfare recipients and on affirmative action and quotas signal that he has changed Only the manner of his politics not its intent. Duke is a genuine menace in american politics especially As recession lingers chewing away at the living standards of Many and growling a threat to the standards of All. In such times the emotional temptation to look for a Scapegoat is Strong and Duke has cornered the usual american one Black folks. He is All the More dangerous for being pleasant and reasonable sounding. He does not rant and froth a the stereotype we expect. He disarms but Duke is no less nor any less keenly a lit match throwing himself into the gasoline can. Stripped of its thin cover his message a file David Duke gives the thumbs up sign after voting for himself in Louisiana a gubernatorial primary. Is that taxpayers Money is being wasted on Black layabout who throw it away on lottery tickets and that affirmative action has left White men floundering at a fatal disadvantage As Black folks Romp to unearned Prosperity. The cliche of this sort of demagoguery used to be that welfare recipients spent the Money on liquor not lottery tickets but even demagogues have to keep up with the times. It does not bother the Duke voters that As with so much racism this construction is at Odds with itself. Blacks arc portrayed simultaneously As laying around in subsidized poverty and running away with All the jobs. But logic has nothing to do with what Duke is up to. Neither does reality. Duke talks absurdly about the unfair advantage Blacks have. Some advantage. Here Are just a few typical figures from 1989 a the aggregate Black income was 58.7 percent of White aggregate income. It had slipped a Point from the year before. A the median income of Blacks was Only 60.4 percent of Whites. A a ten percent of Whites lived in poverty 30.7 percent of Blacks. A Whites were More than twice As Likely As Blacks to be executives administrators managers or professionals. Blacks were More than twice As Likely As Whites to be handlers cleaners helpers or labourers. A the mean net Worth of Black men was $24,168. Of White men $103,081. And of course the current unemployment pattern is Standard though additionally strained for both groups by the economic Funk Whites 6.1 percent Blacks 12.3 percent. Dukes language is less grotesque now than it once was indeed it owes much to the slightly refracted race baiting of George Bush. But As a Klansman Duke miscast Black lives and leads Whites to mock and despise the caricature. Dukes history is not his Burden. It is his validation. C the new York tunes 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