Bush to Veto Extension of Unemployment Aid : Legislation: He calls Democratic bill a budget buster and a burden on taxpayers. Votes sought for override.

President Bush announced Wednesday that he will veto a $6.4-billion bill that would extend jobless benefits for about 3 million Americans, declaring that he was elected to “protect the taxpayers as well those who are unemployed.”

Bush, insisting that he had no option, charged during a political speech here that congressional Democrats are “trying to ram down my throat a budget-busting bill.”

“Every taxpayer in the country will be burdened by their approach,” Bush said in denouncing the legislation, which was approved by an overwhelming majority in the House and a smaller margin in the Senate.

The President’s refusal to budge from his opposition to the plan injected new bitterness into a confrontation with legislative leaders on Capitol Hill over unemployment. Congressional leaders have sought for months to find a means to extend the federal safety net.

Bush accused Democrats of trying to create an issue to use against Republicans in next year’s presidential campaign and said earlier in the day that such “constant political pressure” had left him “a little annoyed.”

In calling again for a compromise, Bush urged Congress to support a Republican-backed $1.9-billion package that would extend some benefits for up to 10 weeks but would not add to the federal budget deficit.

But, Democratic leaders insisted that such a plan is too meager at a time when the unemployment rate is approaching 7%, and supporters of the bill attempted Wednesday to assemble a coalition that might override a veto for the first time since Bush took office.

Sen. Lloyd Bentsen (D-Tex.) suggested that an updated unemployment report to be released by the government Friday could provide new impetus for the Democratic plan. He said that the Republican alternative is not “viable,” in part because it fails to provide special benefits for thousands of Persian Gulf War veterans who were unable to find jobs when they returned home.

The 65-35 margin by which the Senate approved the Democratic legislation is two votes short of the two-thirds majority required to overturn a veto. But congressional aides said the bill’s sponsors hope that Sen. John Seymour (R-Calif.) and others facing voters in 1992 might be persuaded to reverse what could be a politically unpopular stand.

Both plans would extend benefits to the jobless on a sliding scale based on the severity of the problem in each state. Under the Democratic bill, those states hardest hit would get 20 additional weeks beyond the 26 weeks available under current law, and those in the best shape would get seven additional weeks. Californians would get 13 more weeks of benefits. The Republican plan would offer Californians a six-week extension.

The $1.9-billion Republican alternative, introduced by Senate Minority Leader Bob Dole (R-Kan.) and others, would be financed through student loan reforms and the auctioning of new radio frequencies. The $6.4-billion Democratic bill would be funded through new federal borrowing.

The rancorous differences between the two parties on unemployment have made clear the extent to which the sluggish economy has caused both sides to regard joblessness as politically sensitive.

And, as Bush began a three-state political trip intended to focus attention on domestic issues, he declared once again: “I want to help those whose benefits have run out.”

But he said the legislation approved by Congress would unwisely “burden every taxpayer--those who pay taxes and aren’t working, those who pay taxes and are working.”

Bush, speaking on the day after he used a Washington, D.C., high school classroom as a setting for a televised speech on education, expressed sensitivity to a new round of criticism suggesting that he was using his office for partisan gain.

“You try to go out and express yourself . . . and all of a sudden everybody says it’s purely political,” Bush said. But, as the President traveled later in the day to Pittsburgh and Lousville to speak out on domestic issues at Republican fund-raising events, it appeared likely that such accusations would become more frequent.

In Washington, Dole urged Democrats to “take a serious look” at the Republican jobless aid plan that is backed by Bush.

“Instead of debating politics on the floor and in the media, we should be debating how to get relief to those who, through no fault of their own, are out of work,” he said. “That way, checks can be in the mail and, for the unemployed, food can be on the table.”

Bentsen, a key Democratic leader, conceded at a breakfast session with reporters that it would be “awfully tough” to override a veto. He said that White House intransigence on the issue is likely to make it difficult for the two sides “to work out a compromise.”

But he suggested that even a defeat could ultimately serve a political end by distinguishing a Democratic approach from that of Republicans. “It may just wind up just as an issue showing the difference in the two parties,” Bentsen said.

When pressed on whether the Democrats can let the impasse go on if the economy continues to slide, he said: “If that happens, we’ll damn sure try to figure out something else. But it will be our party that will have pushed it.”

Staff writer Paul Houston contributed to this story from Washington.