House budget to bow to political realities

As the House Budget Committee prepares for a markup of its fiscal 1999 blueprint as early as next week, Republican budget writers intend to be sensitive to the need to produce a plan that can be implemented through spending bills, House Majority Leader Dick Armey, R-Texas, said today.

"We will be sensitive to the appropriators in this matter," Armey told reporters.

A variety of Republicans--ranging from House Appropriations Chairman Bob Livingston, R-La., to Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott, R-Miss.--have questioned whether the proposal to cut some $150 billion being prepared by House Budget Chairman John Kasich, R-Ohio, actually could be implemented through the 13 appropriations bills.

Armey said Kasich is producing a budget that reflects Republican values for a smaller government and tax cuts. He added, however, that meetings Kasich is holding with members of the House Republican Conference are part of a "vetting" process to make sure Kasich produces a realistic plan.

A Budget Committee aide said the panel will "try very hard" to mark up a plan next week. She said Kasich is meeting with freshman and sophomore Republicans today, and has set aside additional blocks of time to meet with members this week.

"It's a work in progress," she said. "These meetings are truly to build a consensus." Asked if the numbers and proposals in the Kasich plan are likely to change, the aide said, "We would rather that they not, but perhaps."

As the Budget Committee prepares for its markup, moderate House Democrats are vowing to step up their efforts to convince budget writers to produce a plan that reaches balance soon without the use of the Social Security trust fund. An aide to a member of The Coalition--the group of moderate-to-conservative Democrats better known as the "Blue Dogs"--said if the CBO does produce figures showing a $50 billion surplus this year, the surplus could grow within the next few years and be large enough to reach balance without the trust fund being included.

"We've been making that case," the aide said, adding that if the CBO figures are positive: "We'll be much more vocal about it. We'll start to advocate that more aggressively."