At 03:53 PM 5/26/97 -0700, you wrote: >deficit hysteria, I'm saying that relying too much on the alternative budget >as strategy assumes that deficit hysteria can be countered by rational >argument alone. Perhaps a subtle difference, but I'll bet a lot of the >people who've said they're "concerned about the deficit" wouldn't know a >deficit from a left-handed sky hook. That's certainly true this side of the border. If you asked most folks in the U.S. whether Clinton has reduced the deficit, they'd probably say no--at least, that's what I recollect from polls and from talking to ex-Perotistas. Here, the balanced budget is obviously a symbol for a larger disenchantment with government (and, often, for racist feelings about welfare, as Greenberg's work demonstrated). Anders Schneiderman Progressive Communications