Bush Swings Around, Gets With GOP Program

Presidential front-runner George W. Bush, who has taken some swipes recently at his Republican colleagues in Congress, supported them Wednesday, backing GOP legislation to boost the minimum wage and criticizing as inflexible President Clinton’s plan to hire 100,000 more teachers.

The Texas governor, campaigning in South Carolina before flying to New Hampshire, also proposed a way to quiet the “arguing and bickering” on Capitol Hill: making the increasingly noisy federal budget review a two-year process rather than an annual affair.

Though he endorsed the Republicans’ bill to raise the bottom-rung salary by $1 to $6.15 an hour, Bush said “it’s not my first choice” and noted that he would give states the ability to opt out.

Nevertheless, despite his less-than-enthusiastic endorsement, Bush’s words were laudatory compared to the slap he gave Washington Republicans in September, when he accused them of trying to balance the budget on the “backs of the poor” by altering a lower-income tax break.

Then last month Bush said: “Too often, my party has focused on the national economy, to the exclusion of all else, speaking a sterile language of rates and numbers. Too often, my party has confused the need for limited government with a disdain for government itself.” The remarks stung GOP congressional leaders.

Bush refused to say Wednesday whether he agreed with all their positions in the ongoing Washington budget battle, but he praised Republicans for holding their ground against Clinton.

Although many Democrats have advocated raising the minimum wage, they have opposed the Republican plan because it is tied to a slew of tax breaks for business taken straight from the GOP tax-cut plan Clinton recently vetoed. Clinton has vowed to veto this attempt as well.

Bush, a supporter of local control on education issues, also said he supports GOP opposition to a plan by Clinton to spend $1.4 billion on 100,000 new teachers. Republicans favor a smaller proposal to give local governments more say over how the money is spent. “I think the most important thing government can do is provide flexibility for federal monies,” Bush said.

Bush held up his plan for holding federal budget reviews every two years, as Texas, Virginia and other states do, as a way to increase efficiency and reduce partisan fighting. He added that he has discussed his proposal with numerous lawmakers, including the chairman of the Senate Budget Committee, Republican Pete V. Domenici of New Mexico, and has received mixed reviews.

Some budget experts said Bush’s biennial budget proposal would probably lead to more thoughtful analysis by Washington lawmakers but doubted it would lessen squabbling and nastiness.