Domenici Calls Clinton Budget A 'Contradiction'

WASHINGTON (AllPolitics, Feb. 1) -- The chairman of the Senate Budget Committee calls the president's fiscal 1999 budget a "magnificent contradiction."

President Bill Clinton will send his budget to Congress on Monday.

"The president has been promising us certain things, and the American people certain things, and this budget does the exact opposite," Sen. Pete Domenici (R-N.M.) told "Fox News Sunday."

Domenici says the budget raises taxes and fees "almost $100 billion."

"That would mean that taxes would be at the highest level in 50 years," Domenici said. The Republican also said the budget will "create dozens of new government programs running Washington, and it chooses bigger government instead of smaller government."

The director of the Office of Management and Budget, Franklin Raines, insists the budget calls for less spending in terms of the percentage of the economy.

"It will be about 20 percent," Raines told Fox News. "Down substantially from the level that the president inherited when he came to office. The government is shrinking, as a percentage of our economy, not growing."

Clinton says his proposals to ease access to Medicare and child care and boost education, biomedical research and other programs are all paid for. The plan claims a $9.5 billion surplus next year and a huge $218.7 billion in surpluses through 2003, according to Democrats who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Sunday Feb. 1, 1998

• Clinton's Approval Rating Hits New High
• Domenici Accuses President Of Contradictory Budget
• Lewinsky Attorney Says 'Media Blitz' Over