Bush Upsets Democrats by Blaming Congress for Deficit

President Bush said Thursday that the Democratic-controlled Congress bears a greater responsibility than he does for reducing the soaring federal deficit, touching off angry denials from Democrats and renewed demands that Bush show greater leadership.

Bush reiterated that he will not address the American people on the deficit until he can endorse a negotiated bipartisan solution, such as may emerge from the budget meetings now under way between congressional leaders and the White House.

“If I outlined the problem now, I’d rely on some of the fact that the Congress appropriates all the money and raises all the revenues,” the President said. “That’s their obligation . . . . People understand that the Congress bears a greater responsibility for this.”

Democrats instantly disagreed.

Bush “should recommend what he believes is needed now,” House Speaker Thomas S. Foley (D-Wash.) said minutes after the President spoke.

The partisan exchange occurred as participants in the budget talks concluded their last meeting before a two-week break without reaching agreement even on how much red-ink spending they must eliminate to balance the federal books.

But the participants agreed to conduct two daylong sessions when Congress reconvenes in the first week of June in hopes of moving beyond fact-finding into possible remedies for the budget problem.

Meanwhile, Rep. Leon E. Panetta (D-Carmel Valley), chairman of the House Budget Committee, said that the talks have only a 50-50 chance of resulting in a bipartisan solution to reduce the deficit.

He said the participants should set a 30-day deadline for negotiations and break off the talks if no agreement is reached in that time.

“Both political parties agree it’s far better to try and get a major agreement early on than let it drag out,” Panetta said. “I think you could get that kind of package adopted (by Congress) if we act soon enough.”

Despite continuing conflict, the President said at a news conference that he is satisfied with the way the process is going. He even complimented his old antagonist, House Majority Leader Richard A. Gephardt (D-Mo.), for the way he is presiding over the budget talks.

But then he added, in effect, that Congress should do more than the Administration to deal with a deficit now estimated at almost $200 billion for the year starting next Oct. 1--a deficit that the Administration had forecast last January would be about $100 billion.

The President quickly added: “I’m not trying to assign blame . . . . If I go out now and say what I think without . . . keeping in mind the need to get some progress, I might say something like I just said, and I don’t want to do that.”

However, his remarks triggered sharp rebuttals from leading Democrats, who pointed out that the chief executive is required by law to submit a budget and can use his veto power to reject spending and tax legislation he does not want.

“It’s more of a 50-50 responsibility,” Gephardt said. “The only way we’re going to solve these problems is if the President leads.”

Sen. Jim Sasser (D-Tenn.), chairman of the Senate Budget Committee, said that Bush’s comments about Congress’ responsibility “soured the attitude of some of the negotiators.” He added that the President cannot sit on the sidelines during the budget talks.

Even before the first meeting on May 15, political sharpshooting by both Republicans and Democrats had dimmed hopes for quick agreement on a deficit-cutting package, because neither side wants to be the first to advocate unpopular spending cuts or tax increases.

Participants in the talks were jolted by the latest Administration estimates that the cost of bailing out failed savings and loan associations has climbed by about $59 billion to an estimated $132 billion.

“It went up $11 billion in one week,” said Sen. Wyche Fowler Jr. (D-Ga.). “It’s triple the (Administration’s) January estimate.”

When asked about the eventual cost to the government, Bush said: “We don’t know the impact on the taxpayer yet. We do know that we are going to protect the depositors, and that’s what this is all about.”