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January 9, 1996
Web posted at: 9:15 p.m. EST
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- President Clinton and Republican congressional leaders Tuesday suspended their budget negotiations for at least a week, once again at odds over achieving an agreement for eliminating the federal deficit by 2002.
Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole, R-Kansas, said that he, House Speaker Newt Gingrich, R-Georgia, and House Majority Leader Dick Armey, R-Texas, have met with Clinton for "some 50 hours" in recent weeks. But a final deal remained elusive, even though Clinton said he offered the Republicans yet another budget compromise at the end of talks Tuesday.
The two sides appeared to interpret the suspension differently.
Despite the apparent deep differences, Clinton exuded optimism at the end of Tuesday's talks, saying a final agreement is "clearly within reach." At a news conference, he said the latest impasse was over the amount of spending reductions.
The president said Republicans want to cut about $100 billion more on social programs, Medicare, Medicaid, aid to poor children, and the earned income tax credit for working families than he and fellow Democrats believe necessary. (230K AIFF sound or 230K WAV sound)
The latest $328 billion GOP offer eases their previous proposed reductions for Medicaid, Medicare, and welfare by $72 billion over seven years. But it still cuts nearly $130 billion more than Clinton's Saturday proposal.
"I want to emphasize that we made progress today," Clinton said. "The atmosphere was good ... we are moving closer together on the spending numbers ... Today we agreed to a recess to last no longer than until next Wednesday."
Republicans were less encouraging. Dole said there were still some fundamental disagreements which had to be ironed out. "They are not narrow differences. They are wide differences," he said.
Dole and Gingrich said the talks would recess for about seven to 10 days and said they would await a new offer from Clinton.
"While the talks are going to be in recess for awhile, we stand ready to continue discussions when the White House has new ideas to present, when they are prepared to move toward bipartisan common ground," Dole said at a news conference.
An unusually circumspect Gingrich said it was a good time to "look at where we're at, and try to figure out on both sides what's the best way to proceed." "That's frankly why we're being careful in not characterizing the negotiations," he said.
What's worrying is that the differences seem to be not only over money, but also over certain politically charged policy issues, including tax cuts and the GOP proposal to transfer control of Medicaid and welfare reform to the states.
"It's not a debate about numbers," said Dole, the GOP presidential front-runner. "It's a debate about policies; promoting a better, more prosperous future than failed policies of the past." (85K AIFF sound or 85K WAV sound)
During the coming recess in the talks, lower-level congressional and White House aides will meet with a bipartisan group of governors to try to narrow differences.
Republicans also sought to turn the pressure on Clinton by pointing out that their latest plan for trimming $328 billion in anticipated growth from Medicare, Medicaid, and welfare over seven years was drawing support from a group of conservative Democrats in Congress.
The group, called the Blue Dogs, is pushing for a deal and has endorsed the latest GOP plans for slashing Medicare and Medicaid, the nation's health-insurance programs for the elderly and poor.
"We may harness up the Blue Dogs to the sled and they may pull us out of this mess," House Budget Committee Chairman John Kasich, R-Ohio, told reporters before Tuesday's bargaining began.
But House Democratic Leader Richard Gephardt, D-Missouri, said it's unlikely the Republicans can find enough conservative and moderate Democrats to force the president's hand.
"I don't think their revised budget would get the president's signature, and I don't think it will get the necessary vote to override the president's veto," Gephardt said.
As they began Tuesday's talks, Republicans had proposed seven-year savings from Medicare of $168 billion, compared with $102 billion under Clinton's proposal; $85 billion from Medicaid to Clinton's $52 billion; and $75 billion from welfare and the earned income tax credit for the working poor, compared with $45 billion by the president.
Republicans also were seeking tax cuts of roughly $200 billion, well above Clinton's $78 billion proposal but a bit below an earlier proposal of $240 billion.
And the GOP was offering reductions for annually approved general government programs -- from environmental protection to education -- of $349 billion, $54 billion deeper than Clinton prefers.
The two sides have been meeting frequently since December 19 in an effort to reconcile their differences over tax cuts and reductions in certain domestic spending.
Late Saturday, Clinton offered a new proposal to balance the budget in seven years using economic data provided by the Congressional Budget Office, numbers the Republicans have insisted must be used in any final plan.
The specter of a third federal partial shutdown looms if the White House and GOP fail to strike a budget deal by January 26, when a temporary spending measures expires, or agree on yet another temporary measure. The last ended over the weekend after a record three-week duration, and a six-day closure was forced in November.
The recess in budget talks will give the three key players an opportunity to pursue other commitments. Clinton is scheduled to fly off to Bosnia this weekend to meet with U.S. troops; Dole intends to head to Iowa and New Hampshire to campaign for the Republican presidential nomination; and Gingrich plans to criss-cross the country promoting his own political vision.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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