Balancing The Budget

WASHINGTON -- With much of the federal government still shut down by a political stalemate, President Clinton yesterday ordered Social Security and Veterans Administration offices to reopen to avoid a backlog in benefit applications that could otherwise last for months.The president's action means that 1,700 Veterans Affairs workers and 54,000 Social Security employees will return to work Monday. The recalled Social Security employees include 6,400 in the Baltimore area.An additional 7,000 Baltimore-area Social Security employees will remain on furlough.

So, you thought that you could breathe a sigh of relief . . . the General Assembly had adjourned and your pocketbook was safe for anotheryear.Now you learn all is not well, your pocketbook is not safe . . . the General Assembly is reconvening for a special session June 26. The issue to be discussed is how to solve the major budget deficits facing Maryland. What else is new? And why didn't the members act during the regular 90-day session?A one-day special session will cost the taxpayers $8,000 to $10,000.

THE MONEY problems on Maryland's ship of state are still a bit below the water line, so only the green-eyeshade guys are sending out an SOS. It's real bad, one of them said last week. Maybe the worst ever. An emergency, said another. A spokesman for Gov.-elect Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. responded by throwing the life preservers overboard. Tax increases are a non-starter, he said. Cuts in aid to local government? Off the table. Aid to public education? Public safety? Health care? Floating out there along with the rest.

Bombs kill doctors, children in Afghanistan KABUL, Afghanistan: A suicide bomber struck a United Nations convoy yesterday in southern Afghanistan, killing two Afghan doctors on their way to provide polio vaccinations to children, together with their driver. Separately, at least six children were killed while playing with what Afghan authorities said was a roadside bomb planted by the Taliban and aimed at foreign troops. Abdul Rahim Daisiwal, the chief of Andar district, said more than a dozen other children were injured by the blast.

THOSE WITH memories not dulled by too much television viewing will recall the "threat" to the Republic during the 1980s because of the close association of conservative religious leaders with Ronald Reagan.The holy doctrine of church-state separation was said to be in danger of defilement because too many evangelical and fundamental clergymen were blessing the Reagan agenda. The National Council of Churches and other liberal clergy, who had been involved in anti-war, nuclear freeze, civil rights and environmental legislation, criticized conservatives and lamented the nation's future.

Legislative analysts warned yesterday that Gov. Parris N. Glendening's proposed budget significantly underestimates the future cost of state programs and predicted Maryland will face a major shortfall in a year if it's approved. While Glendening has boasted that his spending plan will lead to balanced budgets for the next five years, the General Assembly's chief fiscal analyst said the budget is so overly optimistic that the state is likely to find itself in a $350 million deficit by next year.

Congress' recent efforts to balance the federal budget give new meaning to "women and children first. " The $500 million cut to the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC) that President Barack Obama and congressional Republicans agreed to as part of last month's budget deal pushes the nation's fiscal concerns onto the shoulders of babies. Because WIC actually reduces health care costs, it is not clear why it has been targeted for cuts. Economic analysis from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)

A Republican proposal for another two-week extension of the federal budget, floated on Friday, at least delays the prospect of a government shutdown. But it does nothing to resolve the underlying stalemate between President Barack Obama and House Republicans over their effort to cut $61 billion from the current year's budget. What makes matters worse is that even if the Republicans succeed in enacting all those cuts, it won't come close to eliminating the budget deficit, which for fiscal 2011 is estimated at $1.5 trillion.

You don't have to be a Harvard economist to maintain a budget. Most people have one. Some use a simple notebook. Others punch numbers into a home computer. And there are those who keep the figures in their heads.Whatever method used, it's a simple enough process. You look at your paycheck, and it tells you how much is coming in.Then you total your expenses, which tell you how much is going out.You subtract the expenses from the paycheck. If anything remains, you're ahead of the game, and you can buy something, save, invest or whoop it up.If you break even, you've kept the wolf from the door for another week.

The Howard County Chapter of the Concord Coalition will hold a "Debtbusters" game from 9 a.m. to noon Nov. 11 at Centennial High School, 4300 Centennial Lane in Ellicott City.The game, created by the coalition, simulates the federal budget process. Players work in teams of eight and evenly divided between Democrats and Republicans. The goal is to produce a balanced budget.The coalition, a nonpartisan grass roots organization, was founded by former U.S. Sens. Paul E. Tsongas and Warren B. Rudman to deal with federal deficit spending and debt accumulation.