CHENEY ASSAILS PRESIDENT'S DIRECTION; BUDGET PACKAGE JUST REDISTRIBUTION OF WEALTH, HE SAYS

Former secretary of defense Dick Cheney assailed President Bill Clinton over economics and national security in an appearance Tuesday at Cape Girardeau.

Cheney was the featured speaker at a $50-a-plate breakfast at the Drury Lodge. The event benefited the Missouri Futures Fund of the Republican Party.

Cheney said the Clinton administration's programs consistently contradict the president's campaign assurances that he was a "new Democrat" and a political "centrist."

Although the president campaigned for middle-class tax relief, Cheney said he now has proposed the "biggest tax increase in history in the guise of deficit reduction."

Clinton has proposed spending cuts, but 77 percent of the cuts won't take effect until after the 1996 election, Cheney said. And the ax falls mostly on defense spending without touching domestic programs.

Cheney called Clinton's budget package a "massive redistribution of wealth."

He said higher corporate tax rates and a new income tax for those who gross more than $250,000 will particularly hurt small businesses that have enjoyed the most rapid economic growth during the past 10 years.

"They are going to get absolutely hammered in the Clinton package," Cheney said.

Added to that will be a proposed energy tax and a yet unannounced tax to fund nationalized health care. Cheney said officials in Washington have reported the administration will propose a 9- to 12-percent payroll tax to finance health care.

"It's hard to conclude that this party got elected by honestly portraying what their programs would be," he said.

Cheney said one of the most appalling aspects of Clinton's budget proposal is the hit that defense will suffer. He warned that abandonment of a strong defense will make the United States, and the world, vulnerable.

"It's very hard to predict when the next war is and where it's going to come from," he said.

Cheney said that as of last December, the cuts had already closed 800 military bases nationwide, affecting 400,000 employees. Also, $322 billion has been slashed from the defense budget. "If the rest of the budget had been cut as much as defense, we wouldn't have a budget deficit," he said.

The former defense secretary, who oversaw Desert Storm in the Persian Gulf in 1991, said similarly excessive defense cuts were made during the Carter administration with disastrous results.

He referred to the failed attempt in 1980 to rescue American hostages from Iran. Helicopters used in the rescue effort crashed after malfunctioning.

"Ten years later in Desert Storm, when the president said go, 14 hours later we had aircraft on the ground in Saudi Arabia and ready to go to battle," Cheney said.

He said that in 1980 the same air wing failed its operational exam with 47 out of the 72 aircraft grounded because of a lack of spare parts.

Cheney said if Clinton persists in dismantling the defense budget the United States could find itself in the same situation.

"There's only one reason to have a military, and that's to fight and win wars," he said. "It's not a social welfare organ; it's not about social engineering."

Cheney was asked about Clinton's proposal to lift the ban on gays in the military. Cheney said he studied the issue while at the Pentagon, but thought such a move would be detrimental to an effective fighting force.

Critics of the ban have said it's discriminatory against homosexuals, but Cheney said the military discriminates against people all the time based on age, gender, health, and physical condition.

Cheney wasn't the only one taking shots at the Clinton White House. U.S. Rep. Bill Emerson and U.S. Sen. Christopher "Kit" Bond also took advantage of an indulgent audience to level their criticism.

"(Republicans) have every reason to prosper with this administration," said Bond.

He told of how his colleague, Sen. Lauch Faircloth of North Carolina, called Clinton's budget package a "North Carolina June bug."

If a man's driving a motorcycle 60 mph down the highway and a June bug hits him in the teeth, "he'll probably swallow it," Bond said.

"But if he catches one, takes it home and puts it in a jar, and looks at it for two weeks, there's no way he could get it down."

The senator said the American people should take a close look at Clinton's budget proposal. "It's an ugly package," he said.

Both Emerson and Bond touted Cheney as a prime GOP candidate for the 1996 presidential race. Cheney said he's considering the prospect, but has yet to make a decision.

"I'm going to spend a lot of time fishing this summer in Wyoming," he said. "I think better with a fly rod in my hand."

About 200 people attended the fund-raiser. The futures fund was organized by the Missouri Republican State Committee and Bond to raise money for GOP legislative races in 1994.

Prior to his appointment as defense secretary by former President George Bush, Cheney served as a member of Congress from Wyoming. Before that he served as chief of staff to former President Gerald Ford.