Dole Hints at New Budget
Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole hinted today that he may propose a new deficit-reducing budget to replace the unpopular one negotiated last month with the White House, but he said “the drafting hasn’t started yet.”
At the same time, the Kansas Republican challenged Democrats to propose their own alternatives, saying, “They get a lot of ink, but I don’t think they’d get a lot of votes” in the GOP-controlled Senate.
With Senate debate on the 1986 budget entering the third and perhaps final week, Dole made no formal declaration of his intention to propose an alternative to the plan to trim $295 billion over three years that President Reagan endorsed several weeks ago.
Less Defense Funds Expected
But Republicans and Democrats alike have said they expect him to come back with a proposal that includes less for defense spending than the original White House-backed plan, and some change in Social Security benefits, perhaps including a one-year cancellation of cost-of-living increases.
And Dole said, “I’d rather have 52 votes (a Senate majority) for $48 billion (in spending cuts) than have 48 votes for $52 billion.”
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