European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - February 14, 1992, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Friday february 14, 1992 the stars and stripes Page 13 commentary Walter r. Mear candidates shun numbers but watch polls to y scoff at the numbers game but rival candidates Are nonetheless playing it by their own rules in the Windup week of the new Hampshire presidential primary Campaign. They read the polls like everybody else. Iowa sen. Tom Harkin played it in his Home states democratic presidential caucuses bid High and won the Wager. He garnered a record share of the Iowa caucus vote and he said it should help in new Hampshire. Harkin needs help. He slagged far Back in the five Man Field. Expectations Are up for rival Democrat Paul Tsongas the former Massachusetts senator elevated toward the top in the new Hampshire candidate polls. He a trying to keep them in Check. Tsongas said the surge could tempt him to be passive and protective of his new standing if he paid too much attention to it. A so we have to forget the polls Quot he said. Well maybe not entirely. A it does give you a Little lift a Tsongas said. It lifted him into a virtual tie with Arkansas gov. Bill Clinton who had just emerged As the front runner when he was hit with questions about his personal life. A climb in the polls boosts a candidates fund raising efforts. Not to mention As Tsongas quickly did that the polls also have moved him up the list of National democratic rankings. Its a technique president Bush used to employ in the Days when his approval ratings were at historic peaks a in saying he did no to heed polls he made a Point of noting just How High his numbers were. Now that they be sagged Bush can say he never paid that much attention when they were up. And beyond saying that hell beat conservative challenger Patrick Buchanan in next tuesdays primary the president and his men Are steering Clear of numbers. They Don t want to set a Victory margin As the Standard of Success. That a been costly to candidates before. Harkin battling from behind in the new Hampshire democratic Campaign had no Choice but to aim High in the Iowa caucuses where he ran unchallenged among his own constituents. Quot harking a Victory far surpassed the then record 59.1 percent figure by which president Carter won Over sen. Edward Kennedy in 1980. For 20 years the Iowa caucuses have been a preface to new Hampshire even if its winners often lost in the primary. This time with Harkin unchallenged the Iowa outcome was discounted in Advance. Still Iowa was the first actual voting and Harkin is the Only Winner of 1992 so far. A my polls my numbers keep going up All the time in new Hampshire a he said although there a no evidence of it. A a in a not going to play the numbers game a head said earlier. The Safe Way to play numbers and expectations is Down. A i never expected to emerge As the front runner but it happened a a Clinton said monday As he campaigned to reinforce that status against the Tsongas a a a in off Nebraska sen. Bob Kerrey Harkin and gains and catch up offensives waged by a Hap i keep dreaming of the r35fect candidate. Former California gov. Jerry Brown. Clinton has carefully avoided defining Success but anything Short of a win would be a severe setback for him. A i did not expect to come to new Hampshire and take it by  said Kerrey. He a met that expectation. The surveys rank him third but Well behind the leaders. A a it a a wide open race Quot Kerrey said. He needs to gain ground a he knows the risk otherwise. A when you re Down and out nobody loves you and you run out of Gas a he has said. There a also a wild card to be played a the write in Effort for new York gov. Mario Cuomo. Non candidate Cuomo told the new York Post that he a would no to presume to interfere with the write in Campaign although he a doing nothing to encourage it. He just did of course. C Tho Assoc nod pros James j. Kilpatric pork getting More expensive on Capitol Hill president Bush proposes to spend $1,516,700,000,000 in 1993. I cannot comprehend 1 trillion 516 billion 700 million dollars so i will talk about $11,795 instead. The budget says that is what it costs to support one participant in the Job corps for one year. The lightning calculators of the office of management and budget arrived at that figure by dividing $867.5 million in outlays by 68,000 Young people in the program. Some calculators. They should have come up with $12,757, but everything in the budget gets rounded off including the taxpayers. Whether the Correct figure is $11,795 or $12,757, the figure is ridiculous. For that kind of Money we could Send a Job corps kid to Community College for the next 10 years. What a going on the careful student of government will not be the least amazed by one explanation the Job corps program has not been evaluated a get this a since 1977. Like of Man River it just keeps rolling along. The department of labor promises to evaluate it now. Better late than never. Many other Federal programs Are in for fresh evaluation also. The crop insurance program will get a look. Why is the weather satellite project a More than 100 percent Over budget and Over three years behind schedule How May the shortcomings of the 1990 census be corrected for 2000? evaluation is Good. The president says that for 246 programs termination is even better. He will have a Tough time eliminating even one of the 246. The economic development administration by Way of example spends $200 million a year on 842 ongoing projects. Bush would Cut them off without a dime. He would cancel programs of oceanic and fisheries research to save $80 million. The government spends $3 million a year on a children a television endowment fund. Bush would turn the tube off. Many of the terminations involve substantial sums. The president would a $221 million in student financial assistance $453 million in a Block Grant for Community services and $520 million for new Public housing. The National aeronautics and space administration would lose $311 million toward an advanced solid rocket motor. And so on. By the time Congress dries the tears of mayors and mamas and hears the howls of the halibut lobby none of these terminations will come to pass. We have an election year at hand and ours is a Congress than can to say no. Give Bush some credit. His message on a legislative impediments to sound management says Many things bluntly that conciliators say softly. Congress has fallen into a terrible habit known As  this is the process by which sen. Barbara a. Mikulski d-md., gets a Center for geriatric research in Baltimore even though the veterans medical Center a failed to receive the award  in a word pork. Somebody on the Hill pulled the levers of Power and $6.4 million went to Kellogg Idaho for a bavarian style gondolas Over the Coeur do Alene National  another $20 million is earmarked for a Dock facility in Bay City Mich. Such specific allocations rarely Are made after critical review. They Are just made. You scratch my Back ill scratch yours. Pork takes other forms As Congress becomes a never More deeply involved in the Day to Day operations of Federal  for no apparent reason Congress last year simply cancelled debts of $5.2 million that seven localities owed the government. Among them was the $115,000 debt of a town with the notable name of Soddy Daisy tenn., population 8,240, about 15 Miles North of Chattanooga. Thank you senator Sasser and thank you senator Gore. Because of the clout of Union labor the government must pay Union wages on 20 million Purchase orders of less than $2,000. Federal employees Are still getting High Cost of living supplements for jobs in Hawaii Guam Alaska and puerto Rico Long after the justification for the pay increases has expired. So it goes. There must be a few members of Congress who take a Large View of the National interest As distinguished from a Small View of the local interest. I say there must be such members but offhand i cannot think of a single name. Congress ran up a deficit in 1991 of $268.7 billion. The deficit will come to at least $399.4 billion this year $351.9 billion next year a More than a trillion dollars in three years. How do we get this Way one reason lies in the irresponsible appetite of the hogs of Capitol Hill. Oink oink and again oink oink c Universal Pross Syndicate