Bush Accuses Congress of Blocking His Programs; Democrats Say He Is to Blame : Legislation: The President’s ‘honeymoon’ on Capitol Hill seems to be over. His public remarks to the press draw sharp rebuttals from lawmakers.

President Bush on Tuesday leveled his sharpest criticism of Congress since he took office, and Democrats retorted that he is to blame for the problems he tries to lay at their door.

The cross fire indicated that the usual first-year “honeymoon” between the President and Congress was over, although Bush insisted he wanted to hold out the hand of bipartisanship to the Democrats.

In a televised news conference marking the anniversary of his election, Bush vowed to “veto and exhort” Congress until he gets his programs approved. He scolded the Democratic-controlled body for blocking his proposals for clean -air legislation, funds for drug law enforcement and deficit reduction.

Leading Democrats countered that Bush had caused the budget-cutting impasse and denied any foot-dragging on a clean air bill or the anti-drug program that the President first requested two months ago.

On the subject of the federal deficit and $3-trillion national debt, Bush said: “The American people know why this deficit isn’t down. It isn’t down because they see, 4 to 1, that the Congress is to blame.”

House Speaker Thomas S. Foley (D-Wash.) said, however, that a combination of tax reductions, military buildup and economic slowdowns during the Ronald Reagan Administration had made the deficit worse. He added: “Both the President and Congress must share responsibility, but the principal responsibility is the President’s.”

Bush implied that his controversial plan for reducing the capital gains tax rate was part of a White House budget “summit agreement” with bipartisan congressional leaders last April--but that was immediately disputed by Foley.

“Absolutely incorrect!” Foley declared. “The President is misinformed.” Foley said that a cut in the capital gains tax was neither included nor excluded in an agreement on raising $5.3 billion in revenues in order to meet deficit-reduction goals for this year.

As for the President’s complaint about delay on his clean air proposals, Foley said that Congress would approve clean air legislation next year.

“If we hadn’t been involved so long in the capital gains issue, we might have done it earlier,” Foley added.

Bush apparently abandoned his efforts to get Congress to act on the capital gains tax this year, after Senate Democratic leader George J. Mitchell refused to allow the issue to come to a vote unless its supporters could first muster 60 votes to shut off debate.

At the news conference, however, Bush appeared to revive the capital gains issue by saying that Congress deserves “an editorial pounding to get them to do what they ought to do--support the President as he tries to move the country forward . . . and not let them dominate debate by blocking everything I try to do.”

Appealing to reporters present and the television audience, Bush added: “Please, join me in a crusade for the people’s will to be expressed on capital gains.”

On a related issue, Bush said he would not accept a deficit reduction bill “if it’s all loaded up with a lot of special projects,” even if automatic spending cuts had to be continued throughout the fiscal year.

On that subject, Foley said that Congress would pass a stripped-down bill that would meet requirements established by the Gramm-Rudman deficit reduction law, and added: “If he vetoes the bill, it’s not going to be (because of a) failure to meet budget targets.”

The President said that his anti-drug program was launched with strong support from the American people “and yet the legislative pieces of that are languishing up there (on Capitol Hill).” Democrats who insisted on adding $900 million to Bush’s drug plan, however, said the legislation was on the verge of passage and should be sent to the President for his signature within a few days.

In a rapid reaction to Bush’s complaints that Congress was “sitting back and carping” instead of taking action on his clean air proposals, Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman (D-Conn.) said it was the Administration that was balking at taking prompt action to counteract acid rain and global warming trends.

“We were at work in the environment committee at the very time he uttered those words,” Lieberman said in a Senate speech. “The Congress is acting; the Administration is not.”

Bush also said he would veto a foreign aid bill, approved by Senate-House conferees, that would allocate $15 million to a United Nations population fund on grounds that some of the organization’s funds were used to support compulsory abortion in China.

Rep. David R. Obey (D-Wis.), chairman of a House appropriations subcommittee on foreign aid, said the effect of a veto would be to continue spending at fiscal year 1989 levels and thus cut total outlays by $1 billion.

Such a reduction, Obey said, would mean “very painful” cuts for Israel, Egypt and other recipients of U.S. assistance.

Referring to Bush’s objections to the money for the U.N. population fund, Obey said: “If he decides that’s the Alpha and Omega, well, that’s his position.”