THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, April 27, 1996 TAG: 9604270015
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A10 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Editorial
LENGTH: Short : 36 lines
The Coming of Wisdom with Time is a phrase from Irish poet W.B. Yeats. He might have been talking about Washington in 1996.
It has taken a long time for a Republican Congress and a Democratic president to agree to a budget. In fact, in five more months a new fiscal year will require a new plan. But both sides have finally reached an agreement.
It required the wisdom to compromise. The Republican revolutionaries elected in 1994 seemed to feel they could reduce the deficit and balance the budget according to their own lights without regard to the other party. They apparently believed Clinton would simply roll over.
But Democrats in the Senate in particular had enough votes to prevent legislation from moving, and Clinton possessed the veto and proved willing to use it. The government ground to a halt twice. Its operations have been conducted under one cobbled-together continuing resolution after another. Finally, both sides have given a little to get a deal.
It is hard not to regard the Republicans as big winners. They have emerged with a budget $23 billion below original plans. Democrats are crowing about getting some of the money they wanted for education, the environment and jobs restored, and it is certainly true that the public turned out to favor a more moderate approach than the Republicans began with.
But the big picture is clear enough. The public wants a path charted that leads to a balanced budget, a curb on out-of-control entitlements, moderate regulatory reform. By compromising, both parties can claim they've delivered. by CNB