Clinton, GOP seek political traction after budget talks blow up

WASHINGTON - On the brink of next week's elections, President Clinton accused Republicans on Tuesday of blowing up a budget deal on schools and other social programs because of ''excessive sensitivity to the special interests.''

GOP leaders downplayed their remaining differences with Clinton, insisting they were solvable. But they fired back that when Clinton vetoed a bill Monday night financing Congress' operations and opening the door for a $3,800 pay raise for lawmakers, he seemed to be seeking a replay of the budget clashes that produced federal shutdowns in 1995 and 1996.

''Up my way, we follow mileposts,'' said Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, a budget bargainer. ''And I can read mileposts very well. And I'm telling you that mileposts from 1995 and the milepost from the year 2000 look identical to me as I'm going down this trail.''

Both sides' reactions to their intensified budget war seemed aimed at amplifying messages touted daily by candidates in the Nov. 7 elections.

Vice President Al Gore, the Democratic presidential candidate, often says that ''special interests'' influence Republicans, while GOP presidential nominee Gov. George W. Bush touts his ability to work out compromises with the opposition.

Amid the heightened political tensions, there was little or no bargaining on the two sides' budget differences. And it was clear that Congress would almost certainly have to adjourn for the final days of the campaign season and return sometime afterward for a rare lame-duck session.

Officials from both parties said there had been quiet discussions regarding a temporary spending bill that would let Congress adjourn for the elections and return later to wrap up unfinished business. Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott, R-Miss., said he might discuss the matter with the president.

''Maybe the activities of the last 24 hours have sort of agitated people,'' Lott told reporters, adding, ''Maybe we need to take a little time out here and go complete the election and then come back.''

House Majority Whip Tom DeLay, R-Texas, said he is ''more than open'' to a 10-day break because ''the political atmosphere has been poisoned.''

A month after the Oct. 1 start of fiscal 2001, lawmakers still faced disputes over workplace safety, immigration, Medicare reimbursements for health care providers and various tax cuts.

The House on Tuesday voted 361-13 and the Senate voted by voice to keep the government running another 24 hours while negotiations continue. It was the 11th such stopgap measure since Oct. 1.

A day earlier, GOP leaders junked a tentative deal by bipartisan budget bargainers on a $350 billion spending bill containing some of the biggest spending increases ever for schools, health and labor programs.

The major GOP objection was to language letting the Clinton administration complete - but the next president block - a decade-old effort to issue an Occupational Safety and Health Administration regulation aimed at preventing workplace injuries. The provision has been championed by unions and opposed by business.

In retaliation, Clinton vetoed a separate $33 billion measure financing the Treasury Department, White House and Congress. It also would permit a 2.7 percent congressional pay raise to $145,100.

Clinton traveled Tuesday to Louisville, Ky., to campaign for Democrat Eleanor Jordan, whose GOP opponent, Rep. Anne Northup, is the author of legislation that has long blocked the workplace regulations.

Speaking to Kentucky Democrats, Clinton said DeLay scuttled the education agreement because business group lobbyists are ''hysterical'' about the prospect of the regulations. Clinton said a Democratic House takeover will mean ''we don't have to worry about Mr. DeLay anymore running the United States Congress.''

DeLay said GOP leaders opposed the workplace safety language because it was not precise enough and said Clinton's remarks were ''a badge of honor.''

In Washington, the president said he vetoed the Treasury bill because Republicans had not yet agreed to a deal on the education measure.

''We should take care of our children before we take care of ourselves,'' Clinton said. ''That's a fundamental American value, one that all parents strive to fulfill. I hope the congressional leadership will do the same.''

But going a step further, he accused Republicans of heeding ''the lobbyists on K Street'' in moving to kill the education deal.

''It is the leadership of the other party in Congress and its excessive sensitivity to the special interests that has kept so many of these things from passing,'' Clinton said.

In a letter, House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., chided Clinton for deciding that ''political war makes sense.''

The battling added drama to Clinton's final budget confrontation with the GOP-led Congress reminiscent of when Newt Gingrich was speaker and the issues were taming budget deficits, shrinking government, cutting taxes and squeezing savings out of Medicare.

Now Gingrich is gone, federal surpluses are enabling next year's spending to grow dramatically, and proposed tax cuts are smaller. And though they are fighting over how to do it, both parties want to roll back the Medicare cuts enacted in 1997, arguing that they are hurting health-maintenance organizations and other providers.