Clinton Moves Vacation South

ST. THOMAS, Virgin Islands (AP) President Clinton moved his winter vacation some 1,200 miles south and established his family and their new dog, Buddy, in a beach house near the emerald waters of the Caribbean.

Flying out of Hilton Head Island, S.C., where he put in his 14th annual appearance at the Renaissance Weekend of seminars and talk, Air Force One flew out of the cold belt Thursday afternoon and into steamy summer temperatures.

The president, his wife, Hillary, and daughter, Chelsea, planned to spend four days out on the water, walking on the beach and sampling local restaurants, just as they did on their first visit here a year ago. For the president, there will be golf, of course.

But Clinton also brought along some work a "fat little notebook" of ideas he will sift through as he works on his Jan. 27 State of the Union address. He will use the speech to set the tone for what is being framed as a decisive year.

The president and his economic team have prepared a stay-the-course blueprint for the next budget year. Disregarding Republican calls for major tax reforms, Clinton will propose limited tax breaks on pet items including pollution control and child care. Aides say he will ask for more federal spending on education, food safety, AIDS treatment and other programs that he also tried to bolster last year.

A health care "bill of rights" for HMO members that Clinton unveiled last year to Republican opposition also will be back.

One new but politically explosive issue Clinton says he will tackle is entitlement reform. An administration official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Clinton likely would ask congressional Republicans for a bipartisan commission to make the tough calls on saving Social Security from bankruptcy.

While they are here, the Clintons are staying at the Sand Dollar, a private villa on the Peterborg Peninsula.

The Virgin Islands have been owned by the United States since they were purchased form Denmark for $25 million in gold in 1917. They are near the center of the long chain of islands that stretches across the Caribbean from just south of Florida to the northeastern coast of South America.

The Clintons planned to return to the White House on Sunday.

(02 Jan 1998 04:33 EST)

Friday Jan. 2, 1997

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• Kennedy's Private Wake Is Friday
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• Gingrich To Outline Political Agenda
• Clinton Moves Vacation South
• Wash. D.C. Lost Population In 1997
• New Year Brings Medicare Change