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House passes GOP budget with Bush tax cut MARY
DALRYMPLE WASHINGTON, D.C. - The House passed a $2.2 trillion budget that endorses President Bush's plan to cut taxes by $726 billion over the coming decade. The vote moves the president closer to winning one of his top domestic goals. Bush could grab another victory on Friday in the Republican-led Senate, where Democrats and moderate GOP lawmakers were waging an increasingly desperate bid to cut the package in half. Praising the House action, Bush said in a statement Friday: "As we engage in action to ensure freedom and security, it is imperative that we stay focused on important domestic priorities, including creating jobs and strengthening growth at home." In the early hours of Friday morning, the GOP-run House passed a $2.2 trillion budget for next year by 215-212 that embraces the president's entire $726 billion tax package. The budget drafts broad outlines in tax and spending policies for other committees to follow, and there is no guarantee the final tax bill will give Bush the combination of accelerated income tax cuts and lower dividend taxes that he seeks. A vote on the budget in the Senate seemed likely later in the day. But first, a vote was expected on the effort to trim the tax cut to $350 billion. Moderates leading the fight made a long-shot plea to lawmakers opposed to all tax cuts, arguing their plan offered the best opportunity to stop the president's momentum. "I would prefer no tax cut at this time, but that is not politically popular," said Sen. John B. Breaux, D-La., who is leading the effort to halve the president's tax plan. Senators worried about paying for the war in Iraq, protecting the nation against terrorist attacks and reversing a growing deficit remained unconvinced. "This is playing for the needs of the campaign next year. And I'm for the needs of the country," said Sen. Ernest Hollings, D-S.C. Hollings and the fence-sitters hold pivotal votes in the narrowly divided Senate. Republicans control the chamber by 51-48, plus a Democratic-leaning independent. The effort to slice the tax cut could succeed only if every Democrat but Bush supporter Zell Miller of Georgia voted 'yes.' Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., planned to vote against all tax cuts, and Sen. Lincoln Chafee, R-R.I., said he might vote against the amendment if it appeared doomed. In the House, GOP leaders cemented the last few votes in favor of their budget when they made a late-night concession and matched the Senate's spending on veterans' programs, exempting automatic benefits payments from cuts and adding $1.8 billion to the president's budget for next year. "It will allow us to fully meet our commitments to more than 2.6 million disabled veterans and widows who rely on VA benefit checks every month," said House Veterans' Affairs Committee Chairman Christopher H. Smith, R-N.J. "It's a major win." GOP leaders also overcame opposition from moderates who disliked their budget's tax reductions and cuts in programs like Medicaid and agriculture. The centrists closed ranks and voted for the budget blueprint only after intensive lobbying by Vice President Dick Cheney, Treasury Secretary John Snow and other administration officials. The wavering centrists heeded the orders delivered by the White House and Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., to support the president while he waged war in Iraq. They, however, made it clear they voted for the budget only because they expect a more acceptable version to emerge from negotiations between the House and Senate. House Appropriations Committee Chairman Bill Young, R-Fla., said he will have to cut billions from the president's spending plan if the numbers do not change. "This budget would be very difficult for us to work with," he said. House leaders also won the allegiance of some grumbling conservatives, who wanted to see more tax cuts and less spending. The House rejected alternative budgets presented by GOP conservatives and Democrats by wide margins. Democrats complained that the blueprint orders lawmakers find $255
billion in savings over the next decade, and holds spending to a low
0.4 increase next year. Republicans countered the proposed 1 percent
cut in spending can be painlessly accommodated by weeding out waste,
fraud and abuse. |