Democrat Sees Reagan Economic Plans Altering Balance of Power

A Democratic spokesman argued Saturday that the priorities in President Reagan’s “Economic Bill of Rights” are misplaced and charged that two of his proposals would “fundamentally alter” the balance of legislative-executive power set forth in the Constitution.

The criticisms came from Rep. Thomas M. Foglietta (D-Pa.), in the Democratic response to Reagan’s weekly radio talk, which included a renewed plea for the economic proposals the President outlined Friday in an Independence Day address.

Marshaling Forces

Foglietta’s tone suggested that the Democrats, who control both houses of Congress, are marshaling forces to beat back the economic initiative Reagan has advanced to renew his Administration’s flagging momentum.

As Reagan put forward his plan to make the government “live within its means and balance its budget,” he renewed requests for a constitutional amendment requiring a balanced budget and for legislation permitting presidents to veto individual items in money bills.

Foglietta said that the proposals “. . . are, in reality, a thinly disguised attempt to fundamentally alter the balance of power so carefully laid out in the Constitution--that tenuous balance between the President and the Congress.”

Reagan’s proposed reform “would dramatically limit the power of elected representatives to craft a national budget according to the wishes of the people,” Foglietta said. It “is exactly the sort of abuse of power that the framers of the Constitution sought to prevent,” he added, noting that the framers “put the Congress first in the order of government.”

“It is true that we need an Economic Bill of Rights,” Foglietta said, but it is not the one put forward by Reagan, which emphasizes curbs on taxes and spending at the expense of the social programs favored by Democrats.

Record Defense Budget

While the national budget this year is expected to run a $170-billion deficit, the largest in U.S. history, a $300-billion Pentagon budget is setting an all-time record, Foglietta said. At the same time, he noted, “social programs continue to bear the brunt of spending cuts” that affect higher education, medical care for the elderly, mass transportation and job training. Such programs, he said, “improve the basic quality of life for “the vast middle class,” as well as for the poor.

“We need an Economic Bill of Rights, but one that will ensure the opportunity for an individual to have a useful job and to earn a living wage, to own a home, to work in a safe and healthy environment, to receive a college education,” Foglietta said.