Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, October 26, 1995 TAG: 9510260053
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press WASHINGTON
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
He declared at a news conference that he would not cave in to a Republican threat to force the nation to the brink of an unprecedented default on its debt obligations if he didn't accept what he termed extreme GOP budget cuts.
``If the Republicans plunge ahead and pass this budget, I will veto it and demand a budget that reflects our values,'' Clinton told reporters.
Clinton took obvious pride in the deficit figures, noting that it was the first time since President Truman was in office in the 1950s that the federal deficit has declined for three straight years.
This achievement, he said, reflected the tough budget decisions he pushed through Congress during his first year in office. He said his plan had worked ``better than we though it would.''
Clinton termed what the Republicans were doing ``economic blackmail, pure and simple.''
He said they essentially were telling him that he had to accept their sharp reductions in the growth of Medicare and other government social programs or ``we will just stop America from honoring its obligations for the first time in its history.''
A default would occur if Congress does not agree to raise the national debt ceiling, currently at $4.9 trillion. If the ceiling is not raised, the government cannot pay its debts to holders of U.S. Treasury securities.
The president's veto threat underscored his previous statements that the Republican budget plan must be changed. Clinton has argued that it would devastate the government's education and training programs, ruin health benefits for the poor and elderly and hurt the nation's future economic growth.
by CNB