Clinton Budget Plan Called $69 Billion Short

The Congressional Budget Office declared Monday that President Clinton’s budget, if approved, would fail to achieve the White House’s stated goal of balancing the budget in five years, and would instead leave a deficit of $69 billion in 2002.

The report prompted some Republicans in Congress to demand that the White House submit a new budget that makes good on its promise to eliminate the deficit.

“They’re getting the rhetoric right but they ought to come back with the reality,” said House Budget Committee Chairman John Kasich, R-Ohio.

An administration spokesman immediately rejected the call for a new budget. Larry Haas, spokesman for the Office of Management and Budget, said the president’s plan was based on “reasonable and prudent” deficit projections.