2 - The Michigan Daily - Tuesday, October 29, 1996 NATION/WORLD Clinton takes credit for large deficit drop * ~. r. ,, ; . ;: { ' ' ': Los Angeles Times UNIVERSITY CITY, Mo. - President Clinton claimed credit for another drop in the federal budget .deficit yesterday as he mocked GOP ,opponent Bob Dole's warnings about voter apathy in a final swing through three Midwestern states. Whirling through a- battleground where polls show he clearly holds the upper hand, Clinton hailed newly released figures showing that the feder- al budget deficit will close 1996 at $107.3 billion, a decline of 63 percent from its 1992 level and the lowest fig- ure in 15 years. ."America has heard a lot of calls in .the last several days. I would say this proves that America is awake - and moving in the right direction," Clinton told the crowd in this St. Louis suburb, referring to Dole's demand that voters "wake up" to the dangers of re-electing the president. Clinton spoke before the town's city hall tower, where his campaign had draped a huge banner showing the deficit's plunge since 1992. Republican leaders quickly disputed Clinton's claim of credit for the shrinking deficit, issuing a news release announc- ing a slightly different figure even before ,the president spoke yesterday. Sen. Pete Domenici (R-N.M.) and Rep. John Kasich (R-Ohio), respective chairs of the Senate and House budget committees, said that the GOP led the way to lower deficits and Clinton reluc- tantly followed. The lawmakers said the 1996 deficit would be $109 billion and called it "a tribute to the common-sense belt-tight- ening of the Republican 104th Congress." They added the deficit decline "vindicates our willingness to stand up to Bill Clinton and the big- spending Democrats who used to be the majority in Congress." Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin, however, said that Clinton deserved "at least" 75 percent of the credit for falling deficits because of the 1993 budget he squeezed through Congress that con- sisted of a combination of tax increases and spending cuts. Since then, financial markets have responded favorably with low interest rates, rising stock prices and consistent, if modest, economic growth. The deficit figure is the lowest since 1981. As a percentage of the gross domestic product, the $107.3 billion is the smallest since 1974, White House officials said, adding that it is also the lowest deficit as a fraction of GDP of any of the major industrialized economies. Franklin Raines, director of the Office of Management and Budget, ' , fi+..:i : '[r' ?" r.._,.r.i z ^r:+:=tt ae: rr:s.a >:. 'ti:.... _.z.b. :! . ,.r: . ..: :.. :x..r,__....a ::. , rr.:r :.. NJxa .;_.. Jewell describes his 'nightmare' ATLANTA - Richard Jewell, the man who went from hero to suspect to inno- cent in the Olympic Park bombing, stood still yesterday before the cameras that have relentlessly pursued him for last three months and described "a nightmare,"a life "lived every waking minute of those 88 days afraid that I would be arrested and charged with a horrible crime - a crime I did not commit." His voice several times quavering on the verge of tears, the burly, form* Olympics security guard who on Saturday received a letter from the Justice Department clearing him as a target of the investigation, told a packed press con- ference, "I thank God that it has now ended, and that you now know what I have known all along. I am an innocent man." He thanked his mother and friends for standing by him as the FBI and media pre- sented him as the person responsible for the July 28 Olympic bombing, in which two people were killed and more than 100 injured. "I felt like a hunted animal, fol- lowed constantly, waiting to be killed," he said. Hailed as a savior when he pointed out a pipebomb minutes before it exploded, Jewell, 33, quickly became the FBI's only named suspect in the bombing, based on largely circumstantial evidence, according to an affadavit released yesterday, an psychological profile of a hero "wannabe," which his attorneys yesterday deridW as "psycho-nonsense." President Clinton reacts to the crowd yesterday at the Target Center in Minneapolis. Clinton brought his message of opportunity, responsibility and community to the crowd. which compiles the figure, said the drop reflected higher tax revenues from stronger-than-expected growth, as well as efforts to restrain federal spending. "About half is from the increase in economic growth and about half is from holding down spending," he told reporters in St. Louis. This year's unexpectedly large decline in the deficit came because the government collected $26 billion more than anticipated in personal income taxes, and $5 billion more than predict- ed in corporate taxes, Raines said. Also, the government spent $20 billion less than expected, including $12 billion less .in entitlement spending from the Department of Health and Human Services. Still, analysts note that the deficit should begin to rise again after the year 2000 if Congress and the president do not work out an agreement to scale back entitlement spending, an effort poten- tially fraught with political peril. Raines acknowledged that the administration projects the 1997 deficit at $125 mil- lion, a 17-percent increase over 1996, largely because of projected growth in entitlement spending. Medicare spending falls below forecasts WASHINGTON - The financially beleaguered Medicare program got some unexpected good news yesterday as the Treasury Department reported that total spending for the year fell $3.2 billion below previous forecasts. Outlays for doctor bills and hospital outpatient services were less than expected, the Treasury said as it issued final figures for the 1996 fiscal year, which ended Sept. 30. Medicare outlays were $196.6 billion for the year, a 9.2 percent increase from the $180.1 billion spent the year before but lower than the mid-session forecast of $199.8 billion in July. Administration officials welcomed the news but were not sure whether the lower-than-expected spending was a fluke or represented a significant slow- down in inflation for the cost of caring for the 37 million Medicare beneficia- ries. "It will take awhile to crunch the numbers and figure it out," said Victor Zonana, a spokesperson for the A mayor who has been asked by a record number of people to be a part of a special day in their lives. Department of Health and Human Services. "It appears to be good news but you can't do a long-term trend analysis yet." Anesthesiologist ma have mutilated e's genitals BATON ROUGE, La. - Mary Ann Turner thought she was going into the hospital for simple surgery to repair damage from-the birth of her third baby. Instead, she claims in a lawsuit, sur- geons mutilated her genitals at the insti- gation of her anesthesiologist husbapc who was present during the procedure years ago and treated his wife afterward. "He told them she had some sexual problems and this would fix it," said Turner's lawyer, Richard Ducote. The lawsuit against Alan Ostrowe, her ex-husband, goes to trial today after eight years in the courts. It has divided the couple's children -- two of their sons side with their father while the eldest son and their daughter back Turner, F }S AUSTRALIA 0 CANADA 0 CHILE 0 CHINAA Oj-0 I 77, 0 01 I INFORMATION y, MEETING 01 about SSTUDY ABROAD ol TODAY Y Tuesday, October 29, 1996z Academic Year Programs in Beijing, CHINA 1 from 5:00 to 6:00 p.m. 'in14068Mason Hall For more information, contact: ,s The Office of International Programs, G513 Michigan Union, o 764-4311. ' kAVlI 0 UNV31 O VIS3NOaNI 0 ANON H ©X ......... . . . . ... O F I : O N A s ss .:. ; : , , : :,i 'ariw.r rr. ' r {;.u :' F" fir. :..# During the past 3 1/2 years Mayor Ingrid Sheldon has married 179 couples. Ann Arbor mayors performed a total of 91 weddings during the previous 13 years. WITH AIR tFROM DUTIRUL FREE Parties FREE Meals FREE Activities Student Express, inc. 1.800.SURFS.UP Paid for by the Ingrid Sheldon for Mayor Comrnttee Doug F. Ziesemer, treasurer, 122 S. Main, Ann Arbor 4;C104 Rwanda government denies supporting insurgents in Zaire KIGALI, Rwanda - The Rwandan government launched a diplomatic and public-relations offensive yesterday to dispute widespread suspicions that it actively has supported insurgents fight- ing in neighboring Zaire, or that Rwanda's troops attacked two crowded refugee camps last weekend. President Pasteur Bizimungu flatly denied at a news conference that Rwanda had provided weapons, training, sanctu- ary or other direct aid to the increasingly successful rebel Banyamulenge move- ment, which has routed the Zairian mili- tary and forced hundreds of thousands of Hutu refugees to flee their camps. "Morally, I support these people,"the 46- year-old president said. He said the Banyamulenge, ethnic Tutsis whose ancestors first migrated to the area in pre-colonial times, were defending themselves against ethnic persecutionand atrocities in the latest outbreak of the turbulent region's ongo- ing power struggle between ethnic Tutsis and Hutus. "The Zairians want to exterminate the Banyamulenge and the internation- al community is doing nothing Bizimungu complained. "The Banyamulenge must resist or die.' Mideast peace talks hit impasse JERUSALEM - More than three weeks of intensive talks between Israelis and Palestinians foundered yes- terday on mutual indecision and l trust. U.S. special envoy Dennis Ross, dispatched here in the aftermath of gun battles that left more than 70 dead, announced he is flying back to Washington without a deal. Both parties have described the talks, which center on the city of Hebron, as the first important test since Israel changed governments of the three-year-old bar- gaining framework that brought decades of armed conflict to a hesitant close. - Compiled from Daily wire reports. AA SYRACUSE ABROAD IN HONG KONG STUDY- TRAVEL IN CHINA BUSINESS & LIBERAL ARTS COURSES GENEROUS GRANTS & SCHOLARSHIPS STUDY IN ENGLISH The Michigan Daily (ISSN 0745.967) is published Monday through Friday during the fall and winter terms by students at the University of Michigan. Subscriptions for fall term, starting in September. via U.S. mail are $85. Winter term (January through April) is $95, yearlong (September through April) is $165. On-campus sub. scriptions for fall term are $35. Subscriptions must be prepaid. The MichiganDaily is a member of the Associated Press and the Associated Collegiate Press. ADDRESS: The Michigan Daily, 420 Maynard Street, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109-1327. 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