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Politics : Stockman Scott's Political Debate Porch -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: abuelita who wrote (8994)	11/7/2002 6:47:33 PM
From: stockman_scott	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 89467

Fiscal Issues Fall Into GOP's Lap By ALAN FRAM Associated Press Writer 11/7/02 WASHINGTON (AP) - Triumphant Republicans will control Congress' budget and economic agenda next year, but something else comes with it: Stewardship of reborn federal deficits and the ailing economy, plus the lion's share of the blame if anything goes wrong. Having captured House and Senate majorities on Election Day, Republicans will have to show how they would shoehorn new tax cuts and extra spending for defense and other priorities into a budget that ran a $159 billion shortfall last year. Unlike this past year, there won't be a Democratic-run Senate for Republicans to blame should deficits grow, the economy worsen, legislation stall or spending exceed what President Bush (news - web sites) wants. Two of their favorite Senate targets won't even be in their current jobs: Sen. Tom Daschle, D-S.D., won't be majority leader, and Sen. Robert Byrd (news, bio, voting record), D-W.Va., won't chair the Appropriations Committee. "The voters are going to hold Republicans responsible for the budget and the economy," said Brian Riedl, a fellow at the conservative Heritage Foundation. GOP leaders are already mapping their budget priorities for next year. High on the list are an economic stimulus package anchored by fresh tax cuts and a drive to make permanent the 10-year, $1.35 trillion tax reduction enacted in 2001. Many Republicans also want new prescription drug benefits, expanded unemployment insurance, and added spending for the military, domestic security, education, biomedical research and the costs of battling last summer's wildfires and drought. "So much of what we need to do is obvious. Just take the list of what we didn't get done this year, and we need to work on those," said Senate GOP leader Trent Lott of Mississippi. Though GOP proposals are generally less costly than Democrats' alternatives, they're still expensive. The prescription drug package alone that the House approved in June would cost $320 billion over a decade. Extending the 10-year tax cut just two more years — for 2012 and 2013 — would cost $370 billion. Also looming is a possible war with Iraq. It could cost roughly $60 billion if similar in scale to the 1991 Persian Gulf War (news - web sites), though chief White House economic adviser Lawrence Lindsey estimated a $200 billion price tag during the summer. At the same time, the Bush administration and many Republicans insist the best way to afford these priorities is to clamp down on other spending. It's a stance that is unlikely to change following Tuesday's elections, said White House budget chief Mitchell Daniels. The elections "were a vote of confidence in the president's policies, and spending restraint is one important policy," Daniels said in an interview. Yet Democrats aren't the only ones who think White House spending plans are too stringent. The GOP-controlled House has yet to pass most of the routine spending bills for the fiscal year that started Oct. 1 because moderate Republicans say Bush has proposed too little for many health and education programs. Republican leaders hope Congress and the White House will reach a compromise on the 11 remaining spending bills by early next year so they can tackle other business. The bills' combined price tag is roughly $400 billion — about one-fifth of the overall $2.1 trillion budget. The struggle over the economy and budget comes at a sensitive political moment. With the Federal Reserve (news - web sites) having slashed interest rates practically as low as it can, tax cuts and spending boosts seem the best tools the government has left for reviving the economy. Either choice would worsen the federal deficit, which the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (news - web sites) has projected at $145 billion for the new year. Many analysts think it will be worse. This year, voters did not punish politicians for budget deficits because they seemed to blame the red ink on the sagging economy and the cost of fighting terrorism. But if shortfalls continue to grow, they could become a major issue by 2004, when Bush, the House and one-third of the Senate will be seeking re-election. Of course, the economy could be humming and budget deficits could shrink by then. Or a victory over Iraq could outweigh every other political factor of the moment. But perhaps neither will happen. "The bad news for Republicans is they're in charge," Rep. Martin Frost (news, bio, voting record), D-Texas, who is hoping to lead House Democrats next year, said Thursday. "They can't say, 'Oh, it's those terrible Democrats who prevented us from doing something.'"