Dole Presses Balanced-Budget Amendment Clinton Responds With Challenge To Return To Budget Negotiations

The war of words between Sen. Bob Dole and President Clinton continued Monday as Dole challenged Clinton to round up the votes necessary to pass a balanced-budget amendment to the Constitution as early as this week.

But before Dole had even delivered his speech to a lunchtime crowd of business people in suburban Detroit, Clinton retorted from the White House: “You ought to come back to the budget negotiations, and let’s balance the budget.”

Dole also used his speech at Macomb Community College in this blue-collar Republican stronghold to signal his seriousness about cutting taxes. Dole has been meeting with a group of economic advisers to fashion a proposal - which may include cutting taxes by as much as 15 percent across the board - for boosting the economy.

“I believe we can cut taxes, reform the tax code and balance the budget,” Dole said. “In fact, we must, if we want to restore our nation to its full economic potential with faster growth, greater opportunity and a rising standard of living for our people.”

On the tax issue, White House officials said Monday that Clinton may use a speech at Princeton University today to unveil some tax ideas of his own.

Dole, in his last days as a senator and as majority leader, said he plans to bring the balanced-budget amendment up for a vote either Thursday or Tuesday, even though he expects to lose. Last year, Dole lost by one vote. Many Democrats oppose the measure. Dole needs all of the Senate’s 53 Republicans, plus 14 Democrats, for the two-thirds vote needed to pass a constitutional amendment.

The Dole campaign calls this another example of Clinton’s willingness to say one thing while doing another: that he preaches the virtues of a balanced budget even while he vetoed two sent to him by Republicans.

“If you are serious about balancing the federal budget, if you have had a real change of heart, if you truly want to stand with the American people, tell your Democratic colleagues in the Senate to vote for the balanced-budget amendment,” Dole said.

“And Mr. President, do it in public. And do it now. No winks. No nods. No behind the scenes maneuvers. No excuses,” Dole said. “And do it loudly and do it clearly. As they say in the commercial, just do it. Just do it.”

Asked why he opposes a constitutional amendment, Clinton said: “It just puts off the decision. Why don’t we do it right now? We’ve got all the money we need. We can balance the budget tomorrow. All he has to do is come back to the negotiations.”

White House officials said Clinton had cut the annual deficit in half since taking office and that he vetoed Republican budgets because they would have raised taxes on the poor.