Word: gramm
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...office in 1981, Reagan will insist that it is possible to slash the deficit, increase defense spending (next year by 3% after inflation), and still not raise taxes. Using rosy economic forecasts to lowball the deficit, the White House would lop off the $40 billion or so mandated by Gramm-Rudman by making brutal cuts in domestic spending. Some federal programs, such as the Small Business Administration and the Job Corps, would be wiped out altogether. Others, like Medicare and federal housing subsidies, would be sharply cut. To raise additional revenue, the Government would sell off large chunks of federal...
...Already last week some legislators were pronouncing the Reagan budget "dead before arrival." Still, more realistic Hill leaders were aware that the President's budget cannot be dismissed out of hand, as it has been in the past. Congressional budget writers may differ on how to get there, but Gramm-Rudman requires that Congress and the White House arrive at the same bottom line. "They can't just declare the President's budget to be dead," says a White House aide. "They'll have to at least do a heart transplant...
...increase, perhaps taking advantage of the drop in oil prices to impose an oil-import fee and gasoline tax. The rest of the savings would come from cuts spread more evenly across the board--including defense and even Social Security, which is exempt from the automatic reductions required by Gramm-Rudman...
...deep political peril. Conventional Washington wisdom holds that it is impossible to raise taxes or cut Social Security unless the congressional leaders of both parties, as well as the President, are actively in support. What is more, there is little time to act. Under the rigid timetables set by Gramm-Rudman, Congress cannot afford, in its usual fashion, to dither all year long over the budget. If lawmakers fail to pass a budget, the automatic cuts will kick in on Oct. 1. Says Democratic Senator Don Riegle of Michigan: "Congress has never, ever, met a timetable as swift as this...
...congressional substitute for legislative action. Even so, few Congressmen truly relish the prospect of a search for scapegoats. Most lawmakers know that if there is no sensible budget passed by September, there will be plenty of blame to distribute when the public begins to feel the bite of the Gramm-Rudman cuts just as voting day rolls around...