Congress Takes Charge

Compared with the struggle of last year, the 1987 budget has been almost a non-issue. There are a number of reasons for this, including the diversion of national attention on events such as the Challenger, Libya and Chernobyl.

Anxiety about budget deficits is lower this year. Reduced interest rates and oil prices relieve some of the pressure. And the people know that something will be done about deficits because of Public Law 99-177, the Gramm-Rudman deficit-reduction act. It dictates that this year’s deficit, estimated at $209 billion, be cut to $144 billion.

Further, Congress has taken firm control of the budget process. Both houses have dismissed President Reagan’s original budget as basically irrelevant. No one took seriously the White House request for a $320 billion defense budget authority, elimination of more than 40 domestic programs and adamant refusal to consider a tax increase.

With House Budget Committee action Thursday, the two houses are relatively agreed on substantial defense cuts, very restrained domestic spending and new revenues of more than $13 billion. The major difference is that the House committee would trim defense by an additional $16 billion and set aside $4.7 billion of that for deficit reduction below the $144 billion lid set by Gramm-Rudman.

The White House reaction was the predictable and shopworn outrage. The military would be decimated, claimed Defense Secretary Caspar W. Weinberger. But the figures are deceiving. Even the House version would provide Defense with a $6.7 billion increase over this year in actual spending. Most of the cutbacks would come in future-year commitments to new weapons systems and related programs, areas where the Reagan budget sought an unrealistic 22% increase.

The differences over defense authority most likely will be reconciled somewhere between the $285 billion and $301 billion. This will provide a prudent, if not overly-enthusiastic, response to the deficit problem in this election year. Congress should get the deficit below $144 billion if at all possible to offset unexpected declines in revenue and/or unavoidabled increases in spending.

The President cannot expect more. He has failed to provide a specific, compelling case for ever-higher military commitments. He has declined to use his political muscle to force more domestic cuts through Congress. And he should realize, at last, that the deficit cannot be wished away without some new tax revenues.