Budget Talks Still Stalling

Republican budget negotiators Wednesday provided two decidedly different views on the progress they are making with the Democrats. Senate Budget Chairman Domenici said he believes a deal could be cut next week; House Budget Chairman Kasich said the jury is still out.

"I remain optimistic," Domenici said after the latest round of talks with the Democrats and the Clinton administration. "Come next week, we're apt to get a budget."

Kasich was less optimistic, saying, "I haven't seen an offer" from the administration and he will be able to determine if a deal is possible only "when I see an offer."

"Our position is that we don't want any new programs. We don't want any new spending," Kaisch said. The administration has the opposite view, he said, and "whether those issues can be reconciled is yet to be determined."

Earlier, he told reporters, "They've got to make an offer and then we'll know where we are."

In a sign of exactly how much work they have left to do, OMB Director Raines told reporters after the meeting that the administration is satisfied with its Medicare plan and does not want to come up with additional savings of between $10 billion and $30 billion, as requested by Domenici.

"We have made a proposal that is our proposal," Raines said. The budget negotiators are scheduled to meet again today. But they may not meet on Friday, to allow both sides to assess their positions, and not on Monday and Tuesday, in deference to the Passover holiday.

In an indication that they may not be as far along as they would like, the Republican negotiators said their leaders will not attend a White House meeting this week.

The administration had hoped for a leadership meeting Wednesday or Friday, but Kasich said he and Domenici would not recommend that GOP leaders attend such a meeting until it becomes clear that Republicans can agree to a deal that does not violate their principles.

One source familiar with the talks said negotiators are trying to set the groundwork for a deal through meetings between budget staff and aides from authorizing committees.

During those meetings, the budget staff and the authorizers are discussing possible levels of savings in specific programs, with the recommendations to be sent to the negotiators. The budget staff is "pre-shopping" issues, the source said.

Wednesday's discussions centered on several issues, including the administration's proposal to institute user fees in several areas. Raines said those fees would be used to help increase spending on a variety of discretionary programs.

"Without those fees, we'd have no funds to pay for those very important programs," he said.

Raines said he is pleased with the reception the administration is getting on a variety of issues. "As the process has gone on, [Republicans] have found that the president's budget has some things they can find acceptable," he said.

Raines said the administration is still pushing for $57 billion in savings from non-health entitlement programs; so far, he said, Republicans have agreed to about half of that amount.