DO KATYDIDS REALLY SING? IT'S EASY TO DELUDE OURSELVES TO MISSOURI'S ANSWERS

Like the incessant chirping of katydids on a warm summer's evening, the sound of political candidates repeating their pat answers to the problems of government fills this year's campaign season. State and federal candidates alike broadcast well-rehearsed speeches that capsule their easy answers to difficult problems, and the utter simplicity of their message, like the sound of the katydid, lulls us into believing the candidates have uncovered solutions that somehow managed to elude the rest of us. The candidates' repetitive refrains eventually serve to convince us of their knowledge and insightful views of government.

This season's katydids, like their forebears, have adopted their easy solutions to the problems that trouble us the most at this particular moment in time. One of the pleasures of being an office seeker in the summer of 1992 is that America has so many problems it is not difficult to select a few that can be easily handled in a 30-second TV commercial.

At the risk of oversimplifying the problems of governance in both Washington, D.C., and Jefferson City, it is possible to arrive at the most troubling dilemma in each of the two cities. In our nation's capital, the principal problem of the season is unquestionably the inability of our elected and appointed officials to stop spending more than the Internal Revenue Service can possibly collect in a 12-month time span. so pervasive has this illness become that, over the~ years, we have actually had leaders patiently explain to us that this malady was actually beneficial, particularly when it was devoted to overcoming enemies that seemed powerful enough to do us in.

In Missouri's state capital, the problem has been that our officials could not borrow large amounts of money without having to replenish these funds within a 12-month period. This inability to rob future generations of their inalienable right to be free of fiscal slavery has placed certain limitations on essential public services that, over the long run, will cause far more damage than all the foreign conspiracies ever imagined or suspected. In other words, Jefferson City has had to face the reality of lagging revenue when the times demanded greater investment in the most valuable resource we have: our children. That so many have been willing to shortchange the citizens of tomorrow with underfunded educational opportunities speaks not at all well for those who loudly boast of their concern for others and their splendid sense of citizenship.

The political answer in this summer of 1992 to the problems in Washington is a simple one: we must pass laws to force ourselves to balance the budget. Now why didn't the rest of us think of this easy answer? We simply find the missing $400 billion from this year's budget through the involuntary process of a constitutional amendment that requires it. See, there's really nothing complicated about solving difficult problems when you set your mind to it.

Except, dear voters, there is something terribly complicated about reducing the programs we have come to expect and demand from our governments. Shall we cut farm subsidies and bankrupt not only our farmers but the small communities that exist because of them? Shall we reduce welfare so that those among us least able to cope in society simply die of starvation? Or maybe we can reduce the degree of medical care, even now deemed inadequate, that keeps alive millions of our senior citizens?

Where do we make the reductions and how do we find the hundreds of billions that are needed to maintain our national solvency? Easy: pass a constitutional amendment to balance the budget. The katydids are very, very noisy this summer.

In Jefferson City, the answers to state problems are coming fast and furious, and the best one thus far in the season has been the proposal of one gubernatorial candidate to eliminate 7,000 state employees. If we do, we are told, we can spend an extra $175 million on public schools. Now why didn't everyone else think of this?

Could it have been that at least some realize that if 7,000 employees are discharged, the three agencies that have the bulk of workers corrections, mental health and social services would have to shut down entire prisons, hospitals and assistance programs? Does any responsible Missourian want to shut down an entire prison to save 1,000 jobs? Is there a rational citizen around who wants to lock out hundreds of mentally retarded children to save another 500 or 750 jobs?

The chirping of the katydid is so incessant we may sometimes delude ourselves into believing it is music. When we really think about it, we know the song is flat and off key.