European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - January 20, 1993, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Wednesday january 20, 1993 commentary the stars and stripes Page 15 Andrew j. Glass Daniel Patrick mqyn1han, who chairs the Senate finance committee hears Quot the Clatter of Campaign promises being tossed out the  could the honeymoon with Congress be Over even before Bill Clinton takes his vows Well soon see. But its still a Good bet that Well hear the Din of a political factory shipping out Laws at a Pace unknown since Lyndon b. Johnson forged the great society in 1965. A a it a Plain to anybody who has been Here for four or five years that something must now be done a said sen. Bih Bradley d-n.j., a Friend of the incoming president and a fellow Rhodes scholar. A you tend to take As much flak a he added a for thinking Small As for acting big a much of what has been done Here for the last decade Wasny to Worth a letter Home. It All goes Back to what took place in 1981. President Reagan then new in the Job and Congress pole axed the tax base. They also jacked up the Bill for the military while leaving Middle class subsidies such As medicare in place. The Federal deficit began to soar. The Kitty became too Bare to do anything truly innovative which was just Dandy with Reagan. That Cycle is ending. Clinton thinks 50 is too Early an age at which to retire As a one term president. For its part Congress stocked with More than 100 newcomers seeks to regain its Good name. Here a what people close to Clinton say he could do ask Congress to approve spending a a plea with tax hikes would carve upwards of $200 billion a cuts that when Cour i ear from the deficit by 1996. The forum a however would be Bac loaded to act now and pay later. Advocates say that would Send the right signal to the financial markets. That in turn would keep interest rates Low. But it would not swamp the Economy just As it shows signs of buoyancy. A shift a Swath of the Federal revenues to consumption taxes while easing the Levy on investments that yield jobs. One approach slash social Security taxes on employers giving them an incentive to hire new workers. The Money lost in this Way would then be made up by a direct tax on the Sale of goods and services earmarked for the same Trust funds. A offer All americans Basic health insurance. The run up in costs would be held in Check by steering Federal health dollars to managed car providers. That would halt support for hospitals and doctors who work on a fee lors vice sys Tern. Such a plan could disconnect Cash registers from medical wards raising standards of care while capping costs a create one joint military service. If the marines Are seen As a Sci free Branch there arc now 3w. One finance Arm would pay one quartermaster would outfit. Weapons would be bought on a centralized basis ending rivalries while saving billions. None of this of course can be done by edict. Even after Clinton frames a special message to Congress in late february it will take Many More months of Tough talks to sort it All out. The real Point is not whether Clinton will ask for a National sales tax or for an Energy tax or to compel people who get Federal Aid to have twin purses. While any of these avenues May be taken what has truly changed or is about to is the Way a president and the Congress View these key issues. For once both of them will be thinking big. C con nows service More attention to the topic for the first Day of the convention in san Diego was building a strategy for the Pacific. Traditionally that has been a simple task take whatever bits and pieces Are left Over from the . Fascination with Europe and do the Best you can. The Pacific has always been Given Short shrift. We fought world War ii with a a Europe first strategy. Five years later we did the same thing again. During the War in Korea More troops were actually sent to reinforce nato in Europe than were sent to fight the War in Korea. And we did the same thing yet again in Vietnam. One of the several causes of our defeat there is that throughout the entire War our primary focus remained on Europe and the soviets rather than on the War at hand. A ,.,a a some believe the destructive potential of the soviet nuclear Arsenal justified that distraction. Be that As it May the soviet Union is no More and the threat of nuclear War has greatly diminished. Its time to reconsider our strategic priorities. A in the Pacific a said the commander of the . Pacific come adm. Charles r. Larson in his keynote address a the strategic environment is marked by several special considerations. The first of these is the sheer size of the Asia Pacific Region. If the North koreans crash across the Border tonight As they Are prepared to do on a few hours notice seaborne reinforcements from the states must have left san Diego two weeks ago if they Are going to influence the first critical hours of the conflict. T a obviously if we Are going to respond in the timely fashion that deters aggression and keeps Brush fires Small we have to maintain adequate forces close to the scene of the action. That a Why our Forward presence ashore in Northeast Asia and afloat in the Western Pacific and Indian Ocean is so important a Larson pointed out that five of our seven Mutual defense treaties link us to asian nations a Japan South Korea Australia Thailand and the Philippines. A additionally a he said a under the East asian strategy initiative published in 1990 and supported by a bipartisan Congress the United states publicly announced a plan or the continued Forward stationing of forces in the Pacific a he said. . Bilateral ties arc critical for unlike nato in Europe there is no asian multilateral defense organization. For better or worse the United states is the a honest broker in the Region the Only nation around which the area can coalesce. With these realities in mind Larson based his strategy of a cooperative engagement on three strategic concepts. A first is Forward presence. A your forces permanently stationed and temporarily deployed in theater reach out to More than 40 nations a he said. A the key Point is that Forward presence sends an unmistakable message about american commitment. It says we Are serious about protecting our interests  a second is military alliances a we have turned our efforts to a series of staff and computer assisted War games and joint training exercises that prepare us to. Fight alongside our allies on Short  a third is readiness for crisis response. A a handful of combat commanders and their Headquarters have been specially trained to control a joint task Force act Harry g. Summers rated Only in time of crisis tailored with exactly the forces needed for the situation and reporting directly  a this concept works a he said. A in fact the entire strategy works. Our Forward presence is appreciated and influential. Our friends and allies arc picking up an increasing portion of our collective Security in places like Korea Singapore and Japan. As a result everyone in the theater seems to understand that the . Is committed to protecting its interests in the . A finally one of the strongest arguments for cooperative engagement aside from the fact that it works is that its relatively inexpensive a he said. Quot we claim just 20 percent of . Active duty forces to cover half the worlds  a my greatest concern a Larson concluded a is that to duct cutlers will Overlook the linkage Between our interests the unique Pacific environment our military objectives and the strategy and resources we require i worry that unbalanced precipitous cuts could upset the delicate balance of Power in this theater undermine the credibility of our forces and maybe even destabilize the Region a producing exactly the future we Are working so hard to prevent.�?�. Given the past american record in the Pacific he has Good reason to worry. C tha los Angolo Tiri Uja. The opinion Arpra Aad in the column and cartoon on the Page or it Thoa of the author and a in no Way to Fet Cona Danad a up ratan King the Slawa of the Star and strip or the United state government