Clinton Has Key To End Gridlock Anti-Compromise President Not Feeling Our Pain, He Causes It.

We’re not experiencing government as usual. Fortunately.

Rather, we finally have principled lawmakers - the House Republican freshmen - who are demanding that a flip-flopping president and their queasy congressional leaders abandon rhetoric and balance the budget.

President Clinton says he wants a balanced budget. But then he says many things. Remember, Clinton originally ran for office promising a middle-class tax cut and then imposed the Mother of All Tax Increases on us.

It’s hard to reopen government temporarily on the word of a president who condemns his foes’ budget plan but doesn’t have his own and who shamelessly used so-called Medicare cuts as an excuse in November to veto a continuing budget resolution. Even the liberal New York Times saw the veto as “purely political.” (For the record, Republicans are proposing to slow down the increase in Medicare benefits - not cut them.)

Unfortunately, federal employees are caught in the middle of this political train crash (and should be paid in full when the government restarts). But changing 40 years of tax-and-spend government isn’t easy. This bare-knuckles fight is our best hope to check federal spending.

In the short run, a balanced budget won’t help much. In fact, according to a Heritage Foundation report, it initially could cause slightly higher unemployment, due to the loss of public-sector jobs and lower government demand for goods and services.

Over seven years, however, the conservative think tank predicts that Congress’s budget plan “would lead to greater business investment, higher earnings per hour and faster economic growth.” The conclusions were based on a model used by Clinton’s Council of Economic Advisors.

A balanced budget means higher household spending, lower interest rates, increased productivity, greater capital investment and less inflation.

President Clinton claims he feels our pain. But, in reality, he cares only for what the polls say. As long as he can scare gullible Americans with lies about Medicare, Medicaid, education and welfare, we’ll have gridlock.

For the sake of our kids and grandkids, conservatives have to hold Clinton’s feet to the fire - even if it means keeping the government closed.

, DataTimes MEMO: For opposing view, see “There’s no room for high horses”

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