The Nation - News from Oct. 28, 1985

Sen. Warren B. Rudman (R-N.H.), calling the budget deficit the “most enormous” problem in U.S. history, defended his controversial mandatory deficit-cutting plan on an ABC television interview program, but Sen. Bill Bradley (D-N.J.) called it “a gimmick.” Budget Director James C. Miller III said he expects President Reagan to sign the measure if it passes Congress. The topic of controversy was the plan proposed by Rudman and Sen. Phil Gramm (R-Tex.) that would require Congress to pass a budget to reduce the deficit by a set amount each year until it disappears in the fall of 1990. If Congress failed to do so, the President would have the power to make spending cuts--excluding Social Security--to get the budget in line.