Congress ready to fight Budget

Press, 9 February 1982, Page 8

Congress ready to fight Budget

NZPA-Reuter Washington President Reagan yesterday asked Congress to approve his 1983 Budget and authorise spending $L’5757.6 billion, cutting more deeply into social programmes, and increasing defence spending. The proposals for the financial year beginning on October 1. released at the week-end, have already met strong opposition from congressmen who doubt that Mr Reagan's Budget will be passed. The prospect of successive deficits of almost SUSIOO billion and of another SUS 27 billion worth of cuts in politically sensitive welfare programmes has even drawn a less than enthusiastic response from Mr Reagan’s own Republican Party. ■The President is also asking congressional, authorisation for SUS 263 billion in defence spending, a jump of SUS 44 billion over' the current year. Democrats called the Bud-

get horrendous, unworkable, and unfair, while the White House and Republicans conceded that winning approval for the plan would be tough, especially since all 435 members of the House of Representatives and a third of the Senate face election battles in November. Senator Robert Dole, a Republican, suggested the President would have to be prepared to accept reductions in his vast defence spending plans if he is to persuade members of Congress to make the cuts he wants in social programmes. So far. Mr Reagan has refused to entertain proposals that would pare back the plan he says is needed to rebuild the American military and put it on what he calls a par. with Soviet forces.

The social spending cuts together with the increase in the defence budget are expected to prove unpalatable to many congressmen seek-

ing re-election. Programmes such as education, transport, health care, food assistance, and housing were; drastically reduced by Congress last year. But the Budget Director (Mr David Stockman) and a White House counsellor. Edwin Meese. predicted that the President's skills as a communicator would win over legislators and the public. They noted Mr Reagan pushed through the largest tax and spending cuts in history last year despite predictions he would fail. “I would never underestimate the ability of this President to mobilise the American people behind his policies." Mr Meese added. Mr Reagan said in his Budget message that deficits would be large. because of the current American, recession and “because it is impossible in a short period of time to correct tjie mistakes of decades." '