It is time to thank Ross Perot. Though bedecked with his customary flowers and frills, President Clinton's speech on Monday night owed its strength to the core of realism that the Texas billionaire has injected into American politics.

The president came out and said it Monday night: taxes on the middle class will go up. Clinton quickly coated this bitter pill with the fact that 70 percent of new revenues will come from those earning more than $100,000. But the indisputable call for middle class tax increases, along with the persistent rumors of a planned energy tax, signal that reality has sunk in at the White House.

The president would now have us believe that throughout the campaign he fully expected to be able to cut the deficit while offering the middle class a tax break. In Monday night's speech Clinton blamed his broken promise on a deficit that "has increased so much beyond my earlier estimates and beyond even the worst official Government estimates from last year."

Yet throughout the campaign, candidate Clinton was told that his numbers didn't add up. He stuck to his plan for political reasons and now he blames his fix on bad estimates.

Clinton's typical cynicism aside though, his proposals are a positive step. It is encouraging that he is going ahead with the politically tough move of a middle class tax increase. But a large part of the credit must go to Ross Perot, the twangy, loony, straight-talkin' Texan.

The presence of Perot made the deficit the central issue of all the presidential debates and much of the campaign. Before his arrival on the scene, the deficit was something neither major party candidate really wanted to attack; neither had a plan.

By putting the deficit so squarely on the national agenda, Perot ensured that whoever the victorious candidate was, he would have to at least make a reasonable attempt to reduce the deficit.

Perhaps Clinton would have focused on the deficit without Perot's constant yapping. The president is a smart man surrounded by smart people. Yet smart people have been known to miss big problems in the past. And it still remains to be seen whether the Clinton administration is attacking the deficit full-force, or merely giving a good imitation.

President Clinton has begun his attempt at deficit reduction by preparing the nation for increased taxes, a decent starting point. But only a starting point. Tonight's speech to Congress must outline sharp overall spending cuts in order for his plan to become a serious one.

If President Clinton's full plan is more than the smoke and mirrors that have been the substance of past "deficit-cutting measures," fiscal responsibility will have moved a step closer to becoming reality.

The president's plan will then be run through the Cuisinart that is Congress. Each member will whack away at specific cuts that will anger his or her constituents. Lobbyists will be wearing holes in the carpets of Congressional hallways fighting to protect the interests of their memberships. And not all of these lobbyists will be the hideous creatures that they are made out to be, many will be representing real Americans with real concerns. This will only make the necessity of denying them money more difficult.

In fact, there is a good chance the new Congress will crack from the intense pressure it will be under. Holding a hard line on spending cuts against dozens of clamoring interests could be an impossible task. Unless, that is, there emerges enough vocal and visible pressure for fiscal responsibility to counteract the pressure to spend.

Groups already exist with the stated goal of making government operate within its funds. Perot's United We Stand and the Concord Coalition founded by former New Hampshire Senator Warren Rudman are two of the most visible. These and other groups must launch a massive, united campaign aimed at Congress and at the general public.

Ross Perot's strong showing in the presidential race even in the face of his self-destructive antics indicates that such a campaign will resonate with the American people.

Congress has not yet gotten serious on the deficit because the American people haven't. With the absence of a strong message from the people as a whole, only the voice of organized interests has been heard.

A strong message will eventually come from the people--either from a mature realization that deficit spending is destructive or from the urgent necessity of an economic catastrophe.