European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - February 21, 1993, Darmstadt, Hesse                                8 the stars and St pcs i . E Clinton audiences hopeful but wary by re it att i. By ski Tow new Vori time chill Rothii Ohio the udi in pcs hearing president Clinton s pitch for his economic package have been Friendly even Awe struck carefully stocked with democrats and eager to be convinced. Yet beneath the ovations and the roars of approval there has been a scepticism expressed by Many who heard Clinton s hard sell firsthand Over the last two Days. I Don t want to Wake up in four years and have him Tell me us of " said Jeri Sexton 30, a Chillicothe homemaker who said she had voted for Clinton. I d like to be behind the program but i Don t want to be the rat following the pied Piper. I want to Trust him but i still need to see the facts and  telling Clinton that Ross Perot spoiled me with flip charts pointers and pos Ter Board Sexton asked him for More such specifics at the president s appear Ance in a Chillicothe High school Friday morning. But As much As she wanted to be a be. Liever she said afterwards she was not convinced by the statistics he gave and still wanted More details. Tom Mckean 49, a Plant manager who heard Clinton in downtown St. Louis on thursday said he had voted for presi Dent Bush last year but added Clinton shows a lot of enthusiasm which is Good. I m not wild about the higher taxes. But if there s a Way to get the pork barrel out of politics i would support it. And i won t be convinced until i Sec the spend ing cuts actually taking  this mix of cynicism and Hope that often surfaced in last year s presidential Campaign emerged again and again in interviews with about so people who at tended the president s question and answer session Friday in this a Gritty Mill town in Southern Ohio or heard his speech at a restored train station now sin taxes Likely to Rise Panetta says Washington a higher taxes on alcohol and cigarettes will probably be needed to pay for president Clinton s health care Reform program White House budget director Leon e. Panetta said Friday. It s a Little bit Early to say but i suspect that some of the sin taxes probably Are going to be used for that Panetta told the Senate budget committee. Panetta s comment came in response to sen. Trent Lott r-miss., who had asked whether tax increases would be needed to finance the package. The term sin taxes refers to those on alcohol and tobacco products. Treasury Secretary Lloyd n. Bentsen said thursday that the Clinton administration was considering raising the levies on alcohol and tobacco to pay for a National health plan. But he did not say whether he believed such increases would be necessary. Higher alcohol and tobacco taxes were not among the $246 billion in Revenue in creases Clinton proposed last week As part of his economic recovery package. A task Force headed by the president s wife Hillary Rodham Clinton Hopes to propose a Reform package later this year. Clinton wants to change the nation s $800 billion a year medical system in Hopes of driving Down its costs which currently Are rising at several times the president Clinton ponders a question from the audience during an economic discussion in Chillicothe Ohio on Friday. Used As a shopping mall in St. Louis. They praised Clinton for As Many put it having the guts to propose tax in creases and then to confront people who would have to pay those new taxes personally. But they also demanded proof that he intended to trim Federal spending enough to justify the tax increases. And some said they feared that the endemic problems of unrestrained spending by Congress and greedy influence pedal ers in the capital were too overwhelming for any one person even a president to tackle. Peg Grimes a homemaker who also works with animals on her family s 100 acre farm near Chillicothe said the on remark by Clinton that encouraged her came when he assured the audience Fri Day that i have no interest in raising a Penny in taxes if we re not going to Dothe  but she said to just uneasy. We reused to tax and spend. He s talking tax and spend and Cut. And he can flip the numbers any Way he wants to make them say anything he wants. Well  Federal Reserve chairman praises Clinton package Lloyd n. Dent sen discusses the presi Dent s economic package at the National press club in Washington on Friday. Rate of Overall inflation. But the president also wants a system that will extend coverage to the 35 Mil lion americans who have no health insurance which is Likely to Cost tens of Bil Lions of dollars annually. Panetta said some of Clinton s advisers believe that the health care Reform pack age will produce enough savings not Only to expand coverage to the uninsured but also to reduce the budget deficit. "1 Don t particularly share that View Panetta said. The budget director said he believed that any savings from health care Reform would largely have to be committed to expansion of coverage of health care  by los Angeles times Washington Federal Reserve Board chairman Alan Greenspan gave a vote of Confidence to president Clinton economic program Friday saying that the Central Bank will tailor policies for Maxi mum sustainable economic growth i Congress enacts a credible deficit reduction plan. It is a serious proposal Greenspan said in an unusually optimistic report. He called the economic assumptions under lying the plan plausible and praised Linton s Effort As a detailed program by program set of recommendations a distinct from general  it is not vague Greenspan said abandoning his own usually oblique style but i think having not yet looked at the extreme details this is a credible Endeavor. Whether it succeeds or fails will depend substantially on the  Greenspan declined however to express opinions about any specific cuts in Federal programs or about the tax in creases sought by Clinton despite being pressed repeatedly to do so by senators during his More than three hours of testimony before the Senate banking housing and Urban affairs committee As chairman of the Independent Cen trial Bank which controls the nation s monetary policy Greenspan has no direct hand in either the construction of the administration s economic policies or a Congress disposition of the presi Dent s recommendations. But his inde pendent role As Well As the Bank s tradition of conservative Money management gives his assessment particular weight. And while in recent weeks he had indicated approval for Clinton s previous statements in favor of deficit reduction he had not addressed himself to the Over All plan. His first Public comments on the program provided the administration s package with a helpful  contributions that monetary policy can make to maximum sustainable economic growth would be complemented by a fiscal policy focused on Long term deficit reduction said Greenspan whose testimony came during his Semian Nual appearance before the committee to report on the state of the Economy and monetary policy in prepared remarks Greenspan said he was not unduly worried that Federal Reserve policies would ignite inflation and was ready to let the Economy run a full Speed for a time to catch up from the recession. He said last year s increase 013.25 percent in consumer prices Excita ing the volatile food and Energy sectors is quite close to the fed s goal of once  potential influence Greenspan has on the Success of Clinton s plan was recognized by the White House on wednes Day night when the president Unver Eaphis proposal to boost taxes by $246 Wuu Over four years and Cut Federal spending by $253 billion. The fed chairman is seated with the distinguished visitors the House of representatives ,f a tween first lady Hillary Rodham Clinzo and Tipper Gore wife of vice president Al Gore