Unfinished Business

Just before coming to California, President Reagan issued an upbeat update of the State of the Union in a two-minute statement to reporters at the White House. The economy is good and America is at peace, he said. The Soviet tide of expansion has been turned. In the fall the Administration will attack the few remaining problems by pushing for more domestic spending cuts, tax reform, more defense buildup, arms concessions from the Soviets and aid for Nicaragua’s “freedom fighters.”

It was a tidy package that reflects the world through a unique prism. The light focuses primarily on the happy side of reality and deflects the troubled and less-fortunate facets of the world. Oh, that things were that simple.

Perhaps during the quiet hours of deserved rest and recuperation at Rancho del Cielo, the President will reflect on the opportunity that he has to address neglected needs and lingering afflictions of American life. A few adjustments in his own personal agenda might transform a retrenched lame-duck presidency into a robust, rejuvenated Administration that sets America moving again:

--A plan to reduce the budget deficit to manageable proportions. It will take more than more domestic budget cuts. The President needs to tell Americans just how grim the deficit problem is, and ask them to sacrifice. This will require substantial new revenue, such as an oil-import fee. Without action, the Reagan legacy is likely to be that of an economy in shambles, with future generations saddled with runaway debt.

--A substantial effort to lessen tensions with the Soviets. There is no real peace so long as the world faces potential nuclear destruction. The President’s tough talk about communism has won him substantial political capital in the United States and a historic defense buildup. Ten more MX missiles or a “Star Wars” defense plan will not deter the nuclear tragedy that could happen tomorrow. The President now can bargain from strength, but he also can make concessions if necessary without appearing to be weak. At stake is security for the planet.

--A strong national television address demanding that South Africa eliminate the stain of apartheid--now. We cannot speak with credibility on human conditions anywhere so long as we remain timid in the face of repression and denial of the most fundamental rights.

--An acknowledgement and addressing of the needs of the poor and the minorities in our own country. The failure of supply-side economics to help the poor is documented. The human aspect of poverty and neglect was dramatized in last Sunday’s Times by staff writer Ron Harris through his personal experience of living in Watts 20 years after the riots. The rising tide of prosperity, which itself may be illusory, has left many boats stuck on the mudflats of despair and hopelessness.

--An environmental program that matches the 1984 campaign rhetoric about America the Beautiful. America oozes with killer toxics while Congress debates whether to have a strong new Superfund law. We have gone five years with an elapsed Clean Air Act. Other laws are expiring on clean waterways and safe drinking water because of Administration opposition. A nod of the head from the White House would make the difference.

That is only the start of the unfinished American agenda. There is the alarming trade deficit, farmers are going bankrupt, the financial world totters under foreign debt and domestic savings-and-loans fail, heavy industries go under, unemployment is stuck at 7.5%. And so on.

Most Americans would be willing to pitch in and join the attack on these problems. They only need the leader to roll up his sleeves and say, “Here’s what really needs to be done. Let’s get started.”