THE PUBLIC MIND: SACRIFICES AT THE TOP NOTHING MORE THAN SLEIGHT OF HAND

To the Editor:

Keeping up with the Arkies in the White House:

* Clinton demonstrates the sacrifices to come by starting at the top. He announces he's cutting the bloated Bush White House staff of 2,000 by 500 jobs. Sounds great until we learn most of those staffers were on loan from other departments. Now they're going back to loaf at their old departments.

Savings to the taxpayer? Zilch.

Oh, Clinton's people say they are saving $10 million in the White House budget. But National Public Radio reports there is no savings there either: All the $10 million will be spent to enhance allegedly out-dated White House phone and computer systems.

Such sacrifice. This is nothing but more sleight of hand by people who apparently think the rest of us are as naive, or stupid, as the folks back home.

Oh, Clinton did fire three chauffeurs. Or did they go to some other department?

* Clinton names his wife to lead health care reform. The last thing he put Hillary in charge of was education reform in Arkansas. That was when Arkansas's educational system ranked 50th in the nation. Now, years and millions of dollars later, it ranks 49th.

* Clinton announces he's cutting the federal payroll by 100,000 jobs. But the small print says he's firing no one, this will be done by attrition, when they quit or retire they won't be replaced (we are told). And when will this take place? Well, it must be finished by 1997. When Clinton will no longer be president, unless he wins a second term.

That's analogous to Bush proposing a balanced budget after the end of his second term, if he had won re-election. Great idea, as long as he didn't have to do it.

More sleight of hand by the magicians at the top.

* Americans finally catch on to the fact that foreign aid is a waste, that our foreign policy is as bankrupt as our treasury; finally they say come home, we don't want to police the world. So Clinton announces plans to send his charismatic secretary of state, the dour Warren Christopher, on a nationwide tour, trying to sell us once again on the expensive idea that we ought to be everywhere, doing all things for all people.

There will be, granted, some anticipated savings apparently in better-run government cafeterias, shutting down Dan Quayle's equestrian center, etc. More show than substance, however.

* Clinton lifts the Bush ban against the immigration of AIDS- or HIV-infected persons. The chief immediate beneficiaries are more than 200 Haitians now housed in the refugee camp at our military base in Cuba.

Nice humanitarian gesture, assuming our over-burdened AIDS treatment system can handle them. And assuming the 200 are arriving with a boat-load of money. Most Haitian immigrants are wealthy, last I heard, and can pay for their costly AIDS treatment.

It's going to be a fun four years.

Bill Zellmer

Cape Girardeau