GOP leaders call budget a return to big government

House Republican leaders Monday accused President Clinton of being fiscally irresponsible for proposing new spending and debt reduction at the same time, while questioning his commitment to real tax relief.

House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., released a statement calling Clinton's request a "paradox," adding: "How can we pay down the debt with a budget that substantially expands the size and scope of the federal government? How can we address the issue of tax fairness, when his budget does not substantially ease the marriage tax penalty? How can the 'era of big government' be over when his budget would create close to $350 billion in new government programs?"

House Majority Leader Dick Armey, R-Texas, released a statement saying: "This is the 1993 budget all over again: a spending smorgasbord full of special interest handouts ... Like a campaign document, the Clinton/Gore budget tries to have it both ways, increasing spending and trying to pay down the debt." Armey added, "The president's budget would raise taxes on families to grow big government."

Senate Budget Committee Chairman Pete Domenici, R-N.M., said: "The President is proposing the era of big government come back with a vengeance. This is a document designed to help Al Gore win election."

House Budget Committee Chairman John Kasich, R-Ohio, also was unimpressed. "The President has failed to make basic choices, promising more spending on every government program," he said. But House Budget ranking member John Spratt, D-S.C., said Clinton's budget reflects popular American priorities. "This should be a budget on which both parties can build," he said.

The President also took some shots from the left. Rep. Peter DeFazio, D-Ore., chairman of the congressional Progressive Caucus, today called on the administration to shift defense spending to domestic priorities.

"The Cold War is over and Americans are still waiting for their peace dividend," DeFazio said. "Instead, we are locked into a perpetual arms race with ourselves that continues to divert resources from important domestic priorities like education, health care and retirement security."

Business Leaders for Sensible Priorities today staked a 20-foot balloon pie graph into the Capitol lawn to illustrate their call for a 15 percent shift in defense spending to education and child health care.

"We are spending billions and billons of dollars on weapons for a threat that no longer exists," declared retired Adm. John Shanahan, chairman of the nonpartisan group's military advisory committee.