TACKLE ENTITLEMENTS FIRST

Drastic cuts in popular programs are inevitable if the Clinton administration doesn't join with congressional Republicans in reforming entitlement spending. The point was re-emphasized last weekend on the Sunday TV talk shows in appearances by Senate Budget Committee chairman Pete Domenici, R-New Mexico, and others.

This isn't really news. A bipartisan commission on entitlement spending co-chaired by former Missouri Sen. John Danforth did much to highlight this crucial issue a couple of years ago. The nation's entitlements -- Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security -- are ticking time fiscal bombs that, left unchecked, will detonate early in the next century with dire consequences for us all. In particular, the Medicare trust fund began outflows larger than income last year and will be bankrupt in five short years.

President Clinton, who spent 18 months demagoging the issue prior to last November's elections, should cut the nonsense, recognize that there is a difference between campaigning and governing, and face the fiscal music. Our nation's future depends on it.