Democrats, meanwhile, are trying to marshal their forces. About two-thirds of the proposed budget is devoted to interest payments on the national debt and on entitlement programs, such as Social Security and Medicare. That's the amount called for by Mr. Clinton, but the Bush White House says it could further raise Pentagon spending from a contingency fund. Majority Republicans pushed the Bush tax cut through the House Ways and Means Committee on Thursday. But the tax cut faces rougher sledding in the Senate, which is equally divided 50-50 between the two parties and is home to several GOP moderates who say the proposed reduction is too expensive.
New polls show voters leaning slightly in favor of the Democratic plan.
In a sign of how difficult the upcoming congressional battle will be, Democrats on the Senate Budget Committee bluntly told Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill that Mr. Bush's prized tax cut is too large and too heavily weighted to the rich. I don't believe the Bush budget adds up. The Bush administration's argument that a tax cut is needed was buoyed Wednesday by more evidence that the economy needs a jump-start which lower taxes might provide. The Commerce Department reported the economy grew at an annual rate of only 1.1 percent in the final three months of 2000, the weakest performance in more than five years. The one-volume Bush budget outline was formally submitted to Congress on Wednesday morning.