January 24, 1996
Web posted at: 1:00 p.m EST
From Correspondent Charles Bierbauer
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- House Speaker Newt Gingrich says congressional leaders may start talking Wednesday with the Clinton administration about producing a "down payment on balancing the budget." (196K AIFF sound or 196K WAV sound)
But as President Clinton headed to Kentucky Wednesday to hammer home some of the points he made in Tuesday night's State of the Union message, the White House said Gingrich had misunderstood.
In his speech, Clinton asked Congress to send him a bill that includes budget items on which they already agree, leaving the major spending disputes to be worked out later.
Gingrich said Wednesday he was encouraged by the proposal. "I'm prepared to say let's take what we can get, make it a down payment on balancing the budget, recognize the job can't be done this year, but we'll go ahead and do the best we can," he said. The provisions, which would include spending cuts, would be linked to a bill to extend the debt ceiling.
"I just think that if we did a down payment on the balanced budget, that would justify passing the debt ceiling in a way that people of integrity could feel they had done the right thing," Gingrich said. "What people don't want to do is just give the government and the president a blank check to keep running up more debt on our children and grandchildren."
Gingrich said Republicans and Democrats have agreed on spending cuts that would total about $100 billion over seven years.
But White House Chief of Staff Leon Panetta said the speaker was "misreading the president's comments." He said a clean debt limit extension, free of budget provisions, would be best. However, White House spokesman Michael McCurry said "the president would look very carefully at anything that would result in real budget savings that might be attached to a continuing resolution." (213K AIFF sound or 213K WAV sound)
A continuing resolution would prevent another government shutdown when the current resolution expires at the end of this week. A debt ceiling extension would be needed by March 1 to avoid a possible default by the government.
In Tuesday's speech, the president embraced several traditional Republican themes: ending big government, balancing the budget, cutting taxes, reforming welfare and thwarting illegal immigration.
When Clinton approached the podium, he handed Gingrich a mock copy of his speech that simply said: "State of the Union ... Thank you and good night." Vice President Al Gore, standing next to a laughing Gingrich, noted, "That's a keeper." (1.1 MB QuickTime movie)
During the 61-minute speech, Clinton laid out what he called seven challenges for an "age of possibility," including strengthening the American family, boosting educational opportunities, launching a war on street gangs and curbing violence on television.
Clinton also said there must never be another government shutdown.
Results from early polls show Americans liked the president's speech and message. Panetta called it "a home run." Gingrich called the talk "typically Clinton" -- with messages that supporters and opponents could embrace. (153K AIFF sound or 153K WAV sound)
For instance, Gingrich said, "He said the era of big government is over. Then he listed 14 or 15 new government programs."
Clinton travels to Louisville, Kentucky, Wednesday to participate in a roundtable discussion about community policing, a follow-up to his State of the Union comments on fighting crime. He also is to deliver a speech that the White House said will focus on crime and the importance of the 1994 federal crime bill.
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