Bush Signs Controversial Budget Plan in Nick of Time

President Bush signed at almost the last possible moment Monday night the budget package that has become a campaign albatross for both parties, but particularly for Republicans.

The Administration presumably would have preferred not to draw attention to the controversial package on the eve of elections. However, the stopgap spending measure which has kept the government running was due to expire at midnight. If Bush had not signed the budget Monday, the government would have ground to a halt.

The paperwork waiting Bush’s signature was flown to Houston, where the President was campaigning for fellow party members. He stopped for dinner in a Mexican restaurant before signing the papers.

In a written statement, Bush said: “No one got everything he or she wanted. But the end product is a compromise that merits enactment.” The massive legislation passed by Congress on Oct. 27 cuts spending by $326 billion and increases taxes by $164 billion over five years. It includes a highly unpopular 5-cent-a-gallon increase in gasoline taxes and substantial tax hikes for upper-middle-income Americans.

Bush, who was winding up a campaign trip in his home state of Texas, was met with protests as he made his way back from the hustings.

Families in Tyler, Tex., greeted Bush’s motorcade Monday with signs reading “Mr. Bush: Think before you sign the dotted line” and “Read My Lips--No More Taxes.”

Bush had pledged not to raise taxes during the 1988 presidential campaign, frequently repeating the slogan, “Read my lips--no new taxes.”

Although the package Bush signed fell short of the $500-billion deficit-reduction goal that the White House set earlier, it nevertheless will hit some groups of taxpayers hard--particularly upper-middle-income Americans.

The budget package followed five months of White House-congressional budget talks that ended in failure after the House voted down an early budget accord; weeks of wrangling between Bush and congressional Democrats; and a forced shutdown of the government for lack of funds.

THE NEW BUDGET ACCORD: WHAT IT HAS CHANGED

Tax renenues

Before the accord: 1,123.2

After the accord: 1,143.8

$20.6 billion change Outlays

Before the accord: 1,349.4

After the accord: 1,327.6

-$21.8 billion change Deficit

Before the accord: 226.4

After the accord: 183.8

-$42.6 billion change

HOW THE BUDGET ALTERS SPENDING PATTERNS

Defense

Before the accord: 306.2

After the accord: 296.4

-$9.8 billion change Domestic

Before the accord: 216.2

After the accord: 216.2

$0 billion change Benefit Programs

Before the accord: 690

After the accord: 679.6

-$10.4 billion change Interest on Government Borrowing

Before the accord: 196

After the accord: 194.4

-$1.6 billion change