THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, December 16, 1995 TAG: 9512160262
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: STAFF AND WIRE REPORT
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: Medium: 79 lines
Budget talks between congressional Republicans and the White House collapsed once again Friday, forcing another partial government shutdown this weekend and raising doubts about whether a deal can be struck to balance the budget by 2002.
Both sides said they hoped to return to the negotiating table and were willing to do so at any time over the weekend. But neither side said when that might be, and each blamed the other for the impasse.
The Republicans said the White House did not present a balanced budget, and the Democrats said the Republicans were demanding cuts in Medicare and Medicaid as a condition of the talks.
Both sides took to the microphones to unleash a war of words. On the floor of the Senate, there was angry partisan sniping, with several Republicans coming close to calling President Clinton a liar and Democrats leaping to their feet to defend him.
``Right now, rifles are cocked and everybody's pointing at each other,'' said Sen. Frank Lautenberg, D-N.J.
A weekend shutdown has little practical effect, because most government offices are closed anyway. But if it continues into Monday, an estimated 280,000 federal employees will be furloughed. Government services deemed essential will continue.
Though the mid-November shutdown put thousands of Hampton Roads residents out of work, the current impasse is expected to have less effect. Defense workers, the overwhelming majority of the federal workforce in the area, will continue on the job because the defense appropriations budget for 1996 has become law.
But at NASA Langley Research Center in Hampton, the partial shutdown will idle nearly 2,700 civil servants. According to Langley spokesman Michael Finneran, only a skeleton staff of 10 full-time and 33 part-time government workers will be allowed on the grounds of the research complex, providing security, overseeing the operation of heating and plumbing systems, and monitoring key aerospace experiments.
Because funding has already been approved for some construction projects, some fraction of Langley's roughly 1,800 independent contractors will continue working, but NASA officials weren't able to say how many.
``Everybody wants to continue working,'' Finneran said. ``They have families to support and houses to pay for. There are also a lot of research projects out here that need to be seen through.
``We all like to take a vacation. But not a vacation like this.''
If the talks do not get back on track, a balanced-budget plan will not be enacted. There would be no tax cuts, either. The government would stumble along, perhaps with a series of mini-shutdowns. The debate over how to balance the budget would spill over into the 1996 election.
And the deficit would go up.
The talks ran into trouble after the White House refused to put forward any additional reductions in Medicare and Medicaid, and Republicans offered to trim their seven-year, $218 billion tax cut by only $5 billion.
``We are right back where we started,'' said Senate Budget Committee Chairman Pete Domenici. MEMO: This story was compiled from reports by Knight-Ridder News Service, The
Washington Post, The New York Times and staff writers Dale Eisman and
James Schultz.
ILLUSTRATION: Affected services
Parks: Park Service's historic homes, monuments and national
parks would close. National Zoo and Smithsonian museums would
close.
Passports: Offices would be closed Monday.
Social Security: Some support staff would be furloughed. Offices
open to help people apply for retirement and other benefits.
Benefits checks mailed as usual.
Veterans: VA offices will be staffed.
KEYWORDS: BUDGET by CNB