Domenici doubtful on budget agreement

Asserting that time is tight and the negotiators far apart, Senate Budget Committee Chairman Pete Domenici, R-N.M. Wednesday said he does not believe House and Senate budget hawks can reach agreement on an fiscal 1999 budget plan and reconciliation bill, although Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott, R-Miss., said he is determined to tackle a tax cut bill this year.

"Thus far, we are very far apart," Domenici said. "I don't know how we're going to bridge that gap."

House Budget Committee Chairman John Kasich, R-Ohio, has proposed $700 billion in tax cuts over the next 10 years, with the same amount set aside for Social Security. Senate Republicans have said the tax cut plan is far too large and have raised questions about whether a sufficient amount is set aside for Social Security. Domenici and other senators are working on a plan that could establish a firewall for Social Security to ensure that it could not be tapped for spending on other federal programs.

Discussing the Kasich plan, Domenici said, "We're further apart than we were," adding that he is "more than willing" to meet with Kasich. He said, however, that "an analysis would say: little time and very far apart."

Without a budget resolution and budget reconciliation process, any tax cut plan would not be protected from a Senate filibuster. However, Lott said he is determined to find a process for setting aside funds for Social Security and a tax cut.

"We're going to have more tax cuts this year," he told reporters. He said the Senate has been on record several times in favor of phasing out the so-called marriage penalty.

"The Senate keeps voting, saying we want to do it," he said. "Now, we have to go ahead and do it." He later told reporters, "Rest assured, there will be a tax bill in the Senate and it will include some issues we feel very strongly about."

Conservative senators, who offered a marriage penalty amendment to the FY99 Treasury-Postal bill and then withdrew it before a point of order could be raised, said momentum is building in support of a plan to phase out the marriage penalty.

"We're going to keep building until we get it done," said Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kan.

Senate Republican Policy Committee Chairman Larry Craig of Idaho, said there still are "a variety of ideas floating around." He said he believes between $40 billion and $60 billion of the surplus could be set aside for Social Security and a tax cut.

Senate Majority Whip Don Nickles, R-Okla., said he believes it still would be possible to pass legislation phasing out the marriage penalty, adding that he is concerned that if a tax cut plan is not passed, Congress will find some way to spend the surplus.

"We don't really trust government, this administration," he said. "This President certainly wants to spend this money."

Keith Koffler contributed to this report.