Path: bloom-picayune.mit.edu!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!americast.com!americast.com!americast-post Newsgroups: americast.twt.news From: americast-post@AmeriCast.Com Organization: American Cybercasting Approved: americast-post@AmeriCast.com Subject: Bush to keep it simple in final budget proposal Date: Wed, 11 Nov 92 14:23:38 EST Message-ID: \SE A;NATION \SS (WS) \HD Bush to keep it simple in final budget proposal \BY ASSOCIATED PRESS President Bush will depart from the practice of his recent predecessors and submit a bare-bones federal budget before leaving office that will seek no tax or spending changes, administration and congressional officials said yesterday. Instead, the unusually brief document will summarize what fiscal policy looked like during the Bush administration and simply project what the 1994 budget would look like without any of the changes President-elect Clinton is certain to make. "There's just no reason to make a political statement," said a White House Office of Management and Budget aide who spoke on the condition of anonymity. "We've basically decided to put the numbers together and tee the ball up for Clinton." Despite that disclaimer, the document may be more political than described. By laying out his final measurement of how the economy is performing and how it is affecting federal tax collections and spending, Mr. Bush will be establishing a benchmark with which Mr. Clinton's later spending blueprint can be compared. OMB officials are "hoping to box Clinton in so he can't play games," said one lobbyist who talked with budget office officials and who spoke on the condition of anonymity. The OMB official said Mr. Bush's final budget will probably be about 200 pages long, as opposed to the 1,700-page document that is normally submitted. It will likely be released in early January. It will show that with no additional changes, spending will remain under the caps required by the 1990 budget agreement, said the OMB official. A White House official and a congressional aide, also speaking anonymously, confirmed that the plan would merely list the spending caps. It is also likely to include a brief message from Budget Director Richard Darman defining the problem of the growing federal deficit, which in fiscal 1992 hit a record $290.2 billion. Missing will be proposals to cut the capital gains tax rate, shave the growth of Medicare and other benefit programs, and increase law enforcement spending - proposals that characterized spending plans Mr. Bush submitted in the past. When Presidents Reagan, Carter, and Ford left office, they all submitted lengthy, full-blown budgets that included favorite proposals to make changes in tax and spending policies. But the OMB aide said the administration believed such an exercise would be irrelevant in light of the changes Mr. Clinton wants to make. Mr. Clinton will be sworn in Jan. 20. The law requires the president to submit his budget for the upcoming fiscal year by the first Monday in February, which next year will be Feb. 1. Fiscal 1994 begins next Oct. 1. But the law does not require him to submit a budget if the outgoing president has done so. Mr. Clinton might need an extension from Congress if Mr. Bush's blueprint is so sparse that it is not considered a budget for purposes of meeting the Feb. 1 requirement. Since that date is just 12 days after Mr. Clinton takes office, it would be hard for him to piece together a detailed document encompassing his budget priorities by the deadline. This article is copyright 1992 The Washington Times. Redistribution to other sites is not permitted except by arrangement with American Cybercasting Corporation. For more information, send-email to usa@AmeriCast.COM