European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - April 23, 1992, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Tom Rau Perot s platform beginning to take shape Thesil be easier Ihms amp a think. Tilting at windbag. H. Koss Perot s views done to fit convenient categories and he sometimes bristles when pressed for details. But a prospective Perot platform is starting to emerge As the Texas billionaire sounds More and More like a presidential contender. Electronic a town Hall meetings. A frontal assault on the . Budget deficit. A task Force to make businesses More competitive. Those Are some of the initiatives a Perot presidency might be expected to produce. His views on specific issues Range the political spectrum. He is a Strong supporter of the military but was an outspoken critic of the persian Gulf War. He supports abortion rights and favors some form of gun control. He a a longtime critic of government inefficiency and advocates a constitutional amendment for a balanced Federal budget. Perot is such a mixed bag on issues that both republicans and democrats Are claiming he will Siphon votes from the other party and recent exit polls in primary states suggest they both May be right. Perot Drew support from disaffected voters in both parties. Perot has said he will run for president As an Independent candidate if supporters get his name on the ballot in All 50 states a a process Well under Way. Here Are Perot a views on some key issues the deficit he claims he could wipe out the $400 billion annual deficit by eliminating $180 billion in fraud waste and abuse saving $100 billion through More efficient income tax collections persuading allies to reimburse $100 billion for the Cost of defending Europe and Asia and saving a final $20 billion by taking social Security and medicare away from Rich people who done to need it. The National debt eliminating the annual deficit is a the easy one a he has said. To Chip away at the $4 trillion National debt Quot we be got to stabilize the Job base and then we be got to go to a growing Industrial base in order to have the taxes to cover future needs. Balanced budget he says there should be a new Gramm Rudman Law a with no loopholes to end deficit spending. He would also support a constitutional amendment to require a balanced budget. Taxes Perot says the nation needs a a new tax system fast but he is vague on details. He favors retaining the tax on capital gains but thinks rates should be different for investments in businesses and investments in securities. Electronic town Halls if elected he would set up a presidential Call in show to explain issues on television. Voters could respond by Telephone. Competitiveness he would establish Industry by Industry task forces to be led by chief executive officers to develop plans for making Industry More competitive. Line-1tem veto like president Bush and former president Reagan Perot believes a president should be Given authority to veto specific items in spending Bills. Soviet Aid he favors Aid to the former soviet republics. Gun control he says he wants to get guns out of the hands of violent people but Isnit sure How to go about it. He once advocated that the military and police sweep Homes in a High crime area of Dallas to confiscate firearms. Abortion he supports the right of women to have abortions. Political action committees he would eliminate pics a committees set up to funnel contributions to candidates. He would limit contributions to his own Campaign to $5. Perks he says he would end congressional fringe benefits such As cheap haircuts prescription drugs and gymnasiums. He would propose a Law to specify that a Only the people can give Congress and the White House a pay  education he headed a panel in the 1980s that recommended a number of Radical changes including Merit pay for teachers and a a no pass no play Rule still in effect in Texas that prohibits High school students from participating in extracurricular sports if they have any failing grades. Environment he has not been specific although he has suggested that keeping the Economy moving has the highest priority. A if the financial pump Breaks you done to have any Money to take care of the Gray owl. Everybody understands that. First things first. You work your Way Down the list Quot he said in an interview with a Span. Elections he would end tuesday elections and hold them on weekends so More people could vote. He would prohibit television networks from conducting exit polls. C Tho associated Poss Mary Mcgrory Battle lines drawn in War of the couples the Way things Are shaping up what we May have next fall is history a first Battle of the couples. It wont be just Bill is. George its going to be the Bushes against the Clinton and Katie bar the door. George Bush and Bill Clinton have both established themselves As candidates who will do just about anything to win. Their wives in their different ways Are pretty much the same. Barbara Bush showed in 1984 that if Ca Liness is called for she a ready. She said Geraldine Ferraro reminded her of something that rhymes with  she recovered from this show of claws. She is universally revered As a lady who looks and acts like everyone a dream of a grandmother and also everyone a idea of a first lady. She is in fact the most popular figure in the country. In a season when other political personages including her husband have nit the skids in Public esteem she stands at a shining 75 percent. In tribute to her exceptional hold on the Elk Eto rate. The new yorker ran a cartoon recently showing the White House wrapped around with a Banner that said a keep Barbara Bush in the White  she May be the presidents Best Hope of re election. Hillary Clinton is new to the National scene. She has made a stunning impression both Good and bad. The country met her at the supremely awkward moment of her 60 minutes appearance right after Gennifer Flowers burst All Over the new Hampshire primary Here was this Good looking woman with dark Blue eyes and dark eyebrows and lashes insisting in the most forceful Way that she loved her husband and that the state of their Union is Good. Barbara Bush says that she leaves the government a to my husband and other people who Are elected to  Hillary Clinton does not. She is not just a corporate lawyer a children a advocate until recently chairman of the Board of the children a defense fund and a teacher of Law. She is As committed a policy Freak As her husband and she can discourse just As fluently about the country and its needs for 35 minutes without a note or a pause for breath. Barbara Bush seems to glory in being the wife of a prominent Man. Hillary Clinton fights being identified As a wife  in the new Hampshire primary while other candidates spouses Ruth Harkin and Nikki Tsongas a both of them lawyers too by the Way a made numerous joint appearances Hillary Clinton firmly declined to join in. Some of her feminist Sisters find an idol in Hillary Clinton the traditionalists among them some men have a problem since she made her famous remark Quot i could have stayed Home and baked  housewives Felt insulted and dismissed even though it was fairly easy to see that she Wasny to putting them Down but defending her own Choice. The ease against the Clinton was put by an unhappy primary voter who said on the sidewalks of new York outside his polling place Quot i think he a a liar and i think she makes Nancy Reagan look like Snow White a Nancy Reagan has probably contributed involuntarily to Barbara Bush a runaway approval rating. Hillary Clinton teaches Law school classes along the Campaign Trail. She was a Star graduate of the Yale Law school. Barbara Bush dropped out of College to marry her husband. When Hillary Clinton was being pelted by cookies the first lady graciously came to her Aid stating that Hillary Clinton had meant to say that women should have a the Chance to do that which they choose to  Hillary Clinton who is so Brainy and so political May have made a More serious misstep when she indirectly took on Barbara Bush. In a vanity fair interview which she unaccountably called a a private conversation a she complained about a double Standard in the press. She said of Barbara Bush a husband a i understand he has a Gennifer  what this said is that if the Campaign gets Nasty on the Bush Side a Clinton is ready to fire Back. Notice has been served in the War of the couples As this could turn out to be no Kitty and Michael Dukakis revisited. Its going to be take no prisoners time. C Universal pres3 Syndicate