Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, May 16, 1990 TAG: 9005160245
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: Medium
At the same time, Bush assured the team of 21 congressional negotiators there was no immediate crisis, participants said.
Lawmakers who attended the one-hour, 40-minute session at the White House said the president did not bring up the possibility of tax increases to cut the deficit nor make any other specific recommendations.
But he promised to share the responsibility with Congress for difficult and unpopular measures to try to slash $50 billion or more from the deficit, the participants said.
"It was pretty clear that we're going to share the heat," said House Budget Committee Chairman Leon Panetta, D-Calif.
Democrats, who approached Tuesday's budget talks with some skepticism, said afterward they were willing to join the Republican administration in a full-scale assault on the nation's deficit problems.
"We're going into these talks in good faith and with an effort to find a constructive solution," said House Speaker Thomas Foley, D-Wash. "We're not going in with any other purpose."
But Senate Majority Leader George Mitchell, D-Maine, said he could not say whether Bush's words to negotiators would diminish Democratic suspicion that the administration might be setting a trap to blame Democrats for tax increases.
"We are going forward . . . because we believe this is a serious problem confronting the nation that we must deal with in a responsible nature," Mitchell said, speaking to reporters outside the White House.
Deficit cuts of the magnitude being discussed by the president likely would require a mix of deep spending cuts and tax increases. But in recent days each side has suggested the other would have to be the first to propose any tax increase.
Senate Budget Committee Chairman James Sasser, D-Tenn., said Budget Director Richard Darman told the congressional negotiators that the deficit for the fiscal year beginning Oct. 1 would be $140 billion to $188 billion if the costs of bailing out the savings and loan industry are counted.
If those expenses are not included, Darman said the deficit would be about $138 billion, said Sasser - still far above the $64 billion target set by the Gramm-Rudman budget balancing law.
The figures were higher than the deficit estimates Darman provided GOP lawmakers with last week. Sasser said Darman did not provide an explanation as to why the numbers had increased.
"The administration has given us no indication of what the components of the solution to the problem should be," Sasser said.
Bush declined to answer questions at a picture-taking session as he and other top administration officials met with the congressional leaders in the Cabinet Room.
But White House spokesman Marlin Fitzwater afterward quoted Bush as telling the negotiators that, while there was no "immediate crisis," fast action was crucial.
"We are fortunate that the economy continues to grow, but it is important to act while the economy is still growing, for growth is not as strong or secure as it should be," Bush was quoted by his spokesman as saying.
Fitzwater said Bush and the negotiators "agreed it was important to reach an agreement as soon as possible."
Bush cited rising interest rates, lower-than-expected receipts and the rising cost of the savings and loan bailout as reasons for extraordinary action.
by CNB