Word: darman
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...fact, Bush's conversion did little to bring the talks out of their coma. Darman thought that the deal might be struck by August. But the Democrats continued to procrastinate, giving away little, particularly on social programs. The Democratic stall obscured the best-kept dirty secret of the budget talks: House Republicans were no more willing than their opponents to support Darman's proposed cuts in health and retirement benefits and other ( federal entitlements. They bombarded Sununu's office with private pleas to protect special programs. They signed joint letters opposing cuts in pork- barrel programs. At one point, senior...
...attempt to jump-start the bargaining in late July, Darman proposed that both parties simultaneously put their offers on the table so that neither could gain a partisan advantage. But that notion fizzled. Two days before the so-called "immaculate conception" was due to take place, Senator Robert Packwood, a garrulous Oregon Republican, disclosed that Darman planned to eliminate income deductions for state and local taxes. Predictably, both Republican and Democratic Governors exploded, complaining that the idea would make it impossible to balance the budgets in their hard-pressed states. Democratic summiteers labeled the new tax a political maneuver. Within...
...heated by the crisis in the Persian Gulf. The threat of war dimmed the prospects for taxes on stock-market trades or energy consumption. Rising oil prices and the specter of new inflation even moved opportunistic House Republicans led by Newt Gingrich to call for new tax cuts. "Everyone," Darman said in mid-August, "is looking for an exit...
Near the end of August, Darman drafted a speech for Bush linking the Persian Gulf crisis with the budget. Darman argued that the economic pressures caused by the Iraqi invasion made getting the deficit under control more important than ever. He envisioned reconvening the negotiators after Labor Day and cutting a deal in time for an announcement on Sept. 12, after Bush returned to Washington from a speedily arranged summit meeting with Mikhail Gorbachev...
With the deadline for the dreaded sequestration 20 days away, Darman's latest scheme proved too optimistic. When the negotiators finally sat down for 11 days at Andrews Air Force Base on Sept. 7, little was accomplished. Byrd, for example, demanded a $50 billion kitty for unspecified domestic spending. Several members -- Senators Robert Dole and Jim Sasser and Representative Silvio Conte -- often refused to work late. Air Force stewards larded buffet tables with so many roasts and desserts that, when asked what Andrews produced, one White House official replied, "expanded waistlines." When Bush gave his nationwide speech, the budget took...