The Palm Beach Post from West Palm Beach, Florida • Page 72

2E THE PALM BEACH POST SUNDAY, OCTOBER 20, 1996 The Palm Beach Post TOM GlUFFRIDA, Publisher EDWARD SEARS, Editor LON DANIELSON, General Manager TOM OHARA, Managing Editor SCHULTZ, Editor of the Editorial Page JAN TUCKWOOD, Associate Editor ALAN FERGUSON, VP Advertising LARRY SIEDUK, VP 6 Treasurer GALE HOWDEN, Director, Community Relations TOM HIGHFIELD, VP Circulati LINDA MURPHY, Director, Human Resources KEN WALTERS, Director, Marketing and Research Clinton has been lucky, but he's also been good The Post's Endorsements PRESIDENT Mr. Dole has done blatant favors for other donors, such as securing multi million-dollar tax breaks for the Gallo winemaking family and agribusiness gi ant Archer Daniels Midland. He also et household income is up for 1 the first time in six years. The deficit will be as low as $109 billion, less than half what it was four years ago, when Bill Clinton's motto was, "It's the economy, stupid." Bob Dole's motto, "It's Clinton's character," doesn't play any better than it did for George Bush. At this point, legitimate ethical questions don't outweigh the good things Mr.

Clinton has done and can do. The Post recommends President Clinton and Vice President Al Gore in the Nov. 5 election. A strong economy has helped cut the deficit. But the deficit would be higher without Mr.

Clinton's 1993 budget plan, which raised taxes for most people earning more than $100,000 a year. Low-income families got a tax break. Tax rates for most middle-class families weren't affected. President Clinton didn't deliver the middle class tax cut he promised in 1992, but the president who passed the budget can be guilty of appalling political hypoc Turner will keep kids Home Safe risy. After advocating and then blessing President Bush's 1992 pardon of Caspar Weinberger for his role in the Iran- Contra scandal, Mr.

Dole is trying to State Attorney Barry Krischer, she create make an issue of pardons President Clinton hvfiothetically could grant to They laughed when I suggested it might have been a difficult decision. "Hey, more money, less hassle a rapid-response team of professionals to! investigate child homicides more quickly. She wouldn't claim it's possible to Whitewater defendants. All that puts what's to decide?" But when Suzanne Turner became di Mr. Dole in a poor position to attack President Clinton on character issues.

Republicans have botched the character issue by promoting lunatic-fringe rector of Home Safe last week, I suspect it was with a poignant backward glance at the many public agencies she has served. theories about Bill Home Safe is a wonderful concept. It without a single and Hillary Clin will deal more sensitively with abused ton, such as the idea that Vincent Foster was murdered to cover up Whitewater. Wild tales of contract killings and Swiss bank accounts made responsible people tune out. children by coordinating all law enforcement and social services in one place.

The nonprofit group's homelike $1.6 million facility is nearing completion in Lake Worth. It's the first agency of its kind in Florida, and Ms. Turner, county administrator of Florida's Department of Health and Rehabilitative Ser Republican vote correctly decided that reducing the deficit was more important. Mr. Dole would reverse that progress.

I lis proposed 15 percent tax cut, which disproportionately benefits the wealthy, would swell the deficit. Even many GOP leaders deplore Mr. Dole's change from deficit hawk to cuckoo. Mr. Clinton's emphasis on the if tig.

prevent all child-abuse deaths, especiaDy when, as in these cases, children are killed by their parents or stepparents. But she is quick to defend those in her agency who try. "It's a crime the way the press has portrayed HRS," she says. "There are many wonderful people striving every day to do what's best for clients." Raising morale at HRS has been one of her contributions. Another has been getting social service agencies to work more with each other.

She's worked with scores of community groups, from business leaders involved in work force development to the Weed Seed program in one of Riviera Beach's most needy neighborhoods. She'll miss that variety. It's marked her whole career. She was also a director in the Indiana Division of Family and Children, the Missouri Division of Family Services, and the Kentucky Department of Social Services. Such government jobs present big challenges when there's such social turmoil.

But they also offer special rewards. At Home Safe, she will deal with the same pathology. But she may be able to fashion new solutions. It's too bad Suzanne Turner is leaving HRS. It's good that she's staying in Palm Beach County.

She's leaving HRS with more opportunity and determination to fight abuse and neglect. sometimes intractable problem. When Ms. Turner came to Palm Beach County in August 1993, client records were on 3-by-5 cards rather than computer disks. She faced a $4 million to $5 million budget deficit, and that was just the first of the budget cuts.

This year, the Legislature split HRS into a Department of Health and a separate Department of Children and Families. Ms. Turner would have run a smaller agency with the added responsibility of implementing welfare reform. A good time to bail out? A pause. "The term 'bail out' implies you're in trouble and need to get out," Ms.

Turner says evenly. "Actually, welfare reform has been pretty exciting. But Home Safe will give me a chance to concentrate on an area I've probably had the most concern about the abuse and neglect of kids." She was thinking, I'm sure, of 10-year-old A.J. Schwarz and 7-year-old Christina Holt and 2-year-old Pauline Cone the failures, the times when abuse was not prevented. After the deaths of these Palm Beach County children in 1994, Ms.

Turner appointed and vigorously led a Special Task Force on Child Protective Services. With "Legitimate" investigations weren't much bet Fran Hathaway ter. Whitewater hearings were chaired by Sen. Al D'Amato, a key vices, is exceptionally well-qualified to run it. Dole ally.

Ken neth Starr, the But was the lure mainly money? She rmminimimiB irmmi 1 i -1 special President Bill Clinton Whitewater pros will earn $100,000, compared with nearly $83,000. But she hesitated, she told me, because state benefit packages tend to be richer than nonprofits'. At 53, one looks more closely at pensions. ecutor, is a GOP propagandist who got his job when two Republican senators intervened after the original prosecutor, Robert riske, Was it less hassle? That depends on didn't decide immediately that Mr. Clin how one defines "hassle." To those of us familiar with HRS' responsibilities, running the agency seems a hellish job, even with a ton should be impeached.

$144 million budget and 2,000 employees. Fran Hathaway is an editorial writer for The Palm Beach Post. Every client represents a complicated, Serious, fair investigations would have given GOP allegations more credibility. In particular, Americans should know more about why in 1993 the White House obtained and examined hundreds of confidential FBI files on Hispanic march was out of step political adversaries. Many of the Clintons' alleged misdeeds occurred before Mr.

Clinton be came president. The Clintons might have taken small-scale improper tax deductions on the Whitewater land 7 4 1 a deal, but no other improprieties have been proved on their part. In office, the Clintons too often have been arrogant. They have misused power as when they fired the Travel Compared to the Million Man March, this event was sparsely attended, and its leaders avoided the theme of personal responsibility. Office employees to give business to a.

if tU hen historians review the most memorable demonstrations of the 1990s, the Million Man 1 economy extends overseas. He has made trade, rather than just military strength, the basis of America's post-Cold War foreign policy. Trading partners are reluctant to become enemies. In his public life and demeanor, President Clinton has become more and more presidential. After last year's Oklahoma City bombing, he became like President Reagan before him a national healer.

President Clinton also reaches out to the poor and to minorities. His message that America is inclusive contrasts with the GOP's attitude that programs for the poor never work. The contrast extends to social issues. President Clinton signed the Family and Medical Leave Act, which President Bush vetoed and Mr. Dole still opposes.

Mr. Clinton supports increased opportunities for parents to send their children to college. He supports greater access to health care. Mr. Dole's sad record on these issues accounts for his unpopularity with a majority of women, as does the certainty that his Supreme Court appointees would oppose abortion rights.

Social issues sometimes get the president into political trouble. The issue of gays in the military sidetracked him early. His decision to sign the flawed welfare bill deservedly cost him support from those who think it will cut off payments to parents who honestly can't find work. Still, the basic difference between Mr. Clinton and Republicans is that he believes government can work.

He has the instincts of a reformer. With Mr. Gore's help, he has started some good programs and made others belter. He reformed the Federal Emergency Management Agency, once a patronage dumping ground. More student loans are made without banker middlemen who siphon off a percentage.

Federal programs pay for more local police (though only 44,000, not the 100,000 the president promised). Mr. Clinton's biggest failure was his inability to pass a health care program with universal coverage. He made many mistakes, including a penchant for secret hearings and too much willingness to compromise with insurance companies. But Mr.

Clinton took on a problem that needed fixing. Mr. Dole never will. Though the comprehensive bill failed, President Clinton created the impetus to pass smaller reforms. Last month, he signed a law that lets people transfer health insurance between jobs without losing coverage for pre-existing conditions.

As Senate majority leader, Mr. Dole delayed the bill, even though it was co-written by Sen. Nancy Kassc-baum, his fellow Kansan. Sen. Dole insisted that the bill allow wealthy people to set up tax-exempt medical savings accounts.

Those accounts are of fered by Golden Rule Insurance which has given $1.5 million to the GOP over the last five years, including "$30,000 to Sen Vole. 5 THE ASSOCIATED PRESSFILE PHOTO Liliana Jiminez, a Puerto Rican student (left), and Antonio Leon of El Salvador were among the estimated 30,000 who marched in Washington on Oct. 12." their friends. But nothing aside from the FBI files is an abuse of power that could result in removal from office. A better alternative than Bob Dole might make Americans more willing to doubt Mr.

Clinton's character. But there's a feeling Mr. Clinton can run government better, and that his personal flaws are not fatal. It is also incorrect to say Mr. Clinton has never done things solely on principle.

He sent troops to Haiti, with no hope of political gain. He pursued peace in Bosnia, despite the risks. He brought Yitzhak Rabin and Yasser Arafat together, and he called Mr. Arafat and Benjamin Netanyahu to a crisis meeting even when the outcome was uncertain. He went after the deficit despite strong opposition.

He tried health care reform, knowing it would enrage special-interest lobbyists. He defied the National Rifle Association. He started Ameri-Corps, a national civilian service program for young people. One of Mr. Clinton's worst flaws is his desire to be liked by everyone.

Still, that's preferable to the wrecking-ball personality of House Speaker Newt Gingrich. The likelihood that Mr. Gingrich will remain speaker is a powerful reason to choose Mr. Clinton. For environmental policy, Mr.

Gingrich relies on polluters. Mr. Clinton relies on Mr. Gore and Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt, who have solid records. Mr.

Clinton refused to sign budgets that included Gingrich-approved attacks on programs that have made the nation's air and water cleaner. Mr. Dole would sign what Mr. Gingrich sends him. President Clinton has been lucky.

The economy picked up, the world's war zones cooled, the GOP overreached. But Mr. Clinton has had the political skill to take advantage of his luck and, sometimes, to make his own. Bob Dole, for all his Senate service, is a technician, not a leader. Jack Kemp, aside from relative youth and an inflated reputation as an idea man, adds nothing.

Given the alternative, voters are lucky to have President Clinton. March held by African-Americans gathered in Washington one year ago will doubtless rank among the most inspiring. While noting concerns over his virulent anti-Semitism and a penchant for consorting with terrorist-loving tyrants, few scholars will question the skill of the march organizer, the Rev. Louis Farrak-han. They will instead conclude that those African-American leaders calling the tune in October 1995 masterfully struck a theme with broad appeal: personal responsibility for individual actions today, along with atonement for wrongs committed in the past.

Richard Estrada But those same experts will doubtless view the Hispanic March in Washington the other day very differently. F'ormally designated as the Latino and Immigrants' Rights March, the demonstration was poorly attended and indifferently received. The event's limited draw was curious because, in addition to their minority group's projected No. 1 ranking by 2010, Hispanic leaders claim Hispan-ics are already a potent political force. "Had the rest of America voted the way Latinos did in last year's midterm elections, Democratic candidates would have won by a landslide," wrote Andy Hernandez, Director of Latino Outreach for the Democratic National Committee in the HISPANIC PAC USA newsletter's spring 1995 issue.

Yet the fact remains, the sprawl on the mall was painfully small. Estimates varied from 20,000 to many reports settled on 30,000. If the Million Man March had been a sellout crowd at Camden Yards, the Hispanic March might have taken up the first few rows behind home plate. Having been rebuked for undercounting the Million Man March, the National Park Service has since stopped counting noses. The organizers have no one but themselves to blame.

Their message was the wrong one at the wrong time. Avoiding the theme of personal responsibility, Hispanic leaders placed heavy demands on government including, most prominently, yet another amnesty for illegal aliens, a $7 an hour minimum wage, free education from grade school to university and a reversal of the trend to cut publicly funded benefits for immigrants. What? No free oil changes? Didn't anyone point out that the 1986 amnesty for illegal aliens was sold to the American people as a onetime-only legalization? Was no one there to note that the appropriate justification for a minimum wage is not to lift people out of poverty, per se, but to ensure that certain unscrupulous employers not undercut market wages just because they can? And as a matter of logic, how is Hispanic poverty reduced by importing more Hispanic poverty a point raised by New York Times writer Steven A. Holmes in his commentary on the march the next day? The march failed on another count, too. More than a few of its organizers and 1 participants have a hard time grasping the difference between ethnic loyalty and civic loyalty.

Some Hispanic commentators waxed lyrical about the flags of 30 other nations having been waved at the event. But is a de facto expression of. loyalty to a foreign land any way to garner support among the majority of Hispanic. Americans, let alone the American peo-. pie at large? Jt was, after all, the waving of the Mexican flag by Mexican immigrants in California on the eve of that state's vote on Proposition 187 that was widely credited with expanding support for the mea- -sure at a critical moment.

One year later, it is clear that the Million Man March was a success because it focused on what the marchers could do for themselves. While it does not follow that government should ignore the challenges facing America's minor- ities, the Hispanic March failed by speaking only to what government could do for Ilispanics. If Hispanic political clout is to be nurtured, their leaders will have to rethink their basic assumption that Hispanic issues are mainly immigrant issues. Richard Estrada is a columnist for The Dallas Morning News. i L-.