European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - January 11, 1994, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Tuesday january 11, 1994 commentary the stars and stripes Page 13 Davids. Broder soon after Congress returns at the end of this month president Clinton will face a major Challenge when he tries to Block approval of a balanced budget amendment to the Constitution. Whatever the outcome a and it will probably be very close a the debate poses a real threat to Clinton a fiscal policy reputation. The president weighed in against the amendment last november when he thought it would be called up for a vote. He said it a would promote political gridlock and. Endanger our economic  but the amendment slated for Senate consideration in february has come very close be fore and could easily pass this time. It fell nine votes Short of the required two thirds majority in the House in 1992, and 10 More republicans Are there today. It passed the Senate in 1982 and fell Only one vote Short in 1986. The amendment is particularly Strong among the Large class of freshman republicans and democrats Many of whom pledged in their campaigns to chop Down the budget deficit. A senior administration official has remarked that a you can to beat something with nothing a and the search is on for a counteroffer that would give Congress an alternative to support. Office of management and budget director Leon e. Panetta understands the need. As House budget committee chairman in the last Congress he helped speaker Thomas s. Foley d-wash., beat Back the balanced budget amendment by offering legislation that he said could actually eliminate the deficit in five years. It was never enacted. One possibility that has been discussed in the administration is a proposal that would separate the a investment budget for Long term projects from the a operating budget for current expenditures a and then require that the latter be balanced. Similar proposals have been made before and have failed to gain enthusiastic support. It will probably be seen As a weak alternative to the balanced budget amendment. That amendment has Many flaws. The largest is that it would give a minority in the Congress permanent veto Power Over fiscal policy by requiring a three fifths vote for a deficit budget. But Many of the democrats who voted reluctantly for the Clinton budget in 1993, with its tax increases and nervously against the $90 billion Penny Kasich spending Cut proposal at the end of the last session fear that conservative interest groups will hit them with the slogan a three times and out if they vote against the balanced budget amendment. The problem Clinton faces in persuading them to vote a a not is that he has no plausible plan of his own for Ever getting to a balanced budget. Last years five year budget plan is on track indeed a bit ahead of schedule. But that budget was so modest in its Aims a More to budget timid than the one Congress actually adopted a that it does not do the Job of eliminating the deficit. The next budget that Clinton will submit to Congress is expected to show annual deficits declining to about $200 billion in the next few years a but no further. The Hope held out in 1993 that health care Reform would get deficits Down the rest of the Way is no longer plausible. A a a. A. A a a. That is Why some in the administration have begun to talk publicly about Steps to curb entitlement spending. Treasury Secretary Lloyd Bentsen proposed recently on no cd a meet the press that a higher retirement age for social Security benefits a he suggested 68 a be phased in. His Deputy Roger Altman has talked about reducing the billions in health and retirement payments that go to people Well Able to pay their own Way. Peter g. Peterson the former Commerce Secretary who has been on a crusade for cutting entitlements says that one Quarter of the government benefits in 1091 went to families with incomes of Over $50,000. The official word from the White House is that the president does not want to go beyond the Steps already taken or proposed in his health care Reform to curb this huge and fast growing chunk of the budget. But in the absence of a plausible administration plan for eliminating the budget deficit the balanced budget amendment May Well pass a and conservative minorities will find it forever easier to Block the kind of Domestic investments Clinton is rightly convinced the nation needs. Even now those investments arc being badly squeezed by runaway entitlement spending. After All his sweating and straining Clinton will succeed at Best in increasing Domestic investments in roads schools and technology about $10 billion Over the figure president Bush had projected. That is less than a Penny per Dollar in a budget of $1.5 trillion. At the same time Clinton is planning to borrow at least $200 billion each year in the future draining the Pool of investment capital and adding to the debt of the next generation. He has to do better than that. C Tho Washington Poston it has to be said about Bill Clinton a first presidential immersion in Europe that he a thinking big. He a addressing the peace and stability of the continent the advancement of democracy and Reform the future of nato. These rate among the big ticket items of International diplomacy and notwithstanding his Secretary of states casual lament that America had gotten too a eurocentric a he is right to engage himself in a part of the world still of Central american geopolitical economic and sentimental concern. The Post cold War euphoria has faded. Across much of Europe political As Well As economic life is grim again. Ethnic tensions rumble. The earlier View of Post communist Russia As drawn to an internal focus on regeneration now shares Pride of place with a View of Russia As a potential Applier of nationalistic muscle. We Are Back at the Century a single most persisting foreign policy question. What part of our destiny is tied to a continent to which most americans can still Trace their forebears the United states has been accustomed to a trans Atlantic role of managing conflict and tension Between friends and adversaries. How should it now Man age what Are by historical standards the lesser but still troubling tensions Between friends newly liberated from Moscow a Rule and friends in Moscow itself the Centrepiece of the Clinton response is an offer of a partnership for peace a peacetime preparation plus threat time consultation but no guarantee of wartime support a Between nato and those willing states that meet Alliance standards for Fuller ties. Less than full political membership but More than the status quo this arrangement for a controlled transition to Alliance end a a a a a a argement is intended by Washington to Calm edgy europeans without arousing nationalistic russians. Understandably to Eastern europeans this proposal Falls Short. In the breakup of Yugoslavia they could see that american involvement unfolds Only within a context of Alliance political commitment which was dismally lacking. Stephens. Rosenfeld they have studied the Balkan debris. Since nato would not much extend itself a out of area beyond its members territory Poland and company seek to get into the area a to join nato. The Clinton team thinks that for nato to take in some new members too quickly but to put Russia on hold is to draw a new line in a Europe whose unification triumphantly signalled the end of the cold War. But the proposal itself draws a line a Between the Westerly nato democracies enjoying the full comforts of the Alliance and the Easterly non nato democracies impatient for those comforts. The Clinton team says its Best to hold Back on new members until the Alliance fastens on a Post cold w a Mission Clear and important enough to make strategic sense and to rally Western Public. But its hesitation May vet undercut the Best Prospect for a new nato Mission which is to fortify the shaky new democracies and Anchor them in a greater Europe. What other Mission for nato can there possibly be without a timely Advance on this track Washington risks erosion of Public support for any american military presence in Europe at All. The Alliance could take in Eastern Europe later if Russia turns ugly says Clinton a a if things go bust in Russia a others say. But the example of Yugoslavia suggests that if things turn ugly nato could Well Avert its gaze and say As Clinton says now sorry there a no nato consensus. Anyway the constituency of Vladinir v. A Mirinovsky in Russia already is turning ugly and even the Boris n. Yeltsin constituency is taking a harder line though no Eastern european country faces a direct external threat. Rather than getting tougher nato just warns that a Mirinovsky should not be Given new fodder. Clinton seconds Yeltsin in saying that a move toward settling natos privileges upon Eastern Europe would Only confirm  a charges of Western conspiracy. The Challenge for american policy is to distinguish Between fair russian claim and russian paranoia. The United states is doing a lot to assist Russia in the strategic As Well As in the economic and political spheres and it should be. But it cannot allow itself to be caught in a Corner where reasonable support of other Friendly countries is subordinated to the play of politics in Moscow. We Are russians partner not its therapist. Our broader interests must be our guide. C the a Ash ton Post