New Cooperation Leads To Little Clinton, Congressional Leaders Meet, Fail To Agree On Anything

Trying to prove they can govern despite the political stress of this election year, President Clinton and top congressional leaders agreed Wednesday to try to enact a handful of modest bills rapidly over the next two weeks.

But in a one-hour White House meeting, they failed to make progress on balancing the budget or on other major reforms.

Clinton and top Republican lawmakers said they hope to strike quick deals to raise the federal debt limit to permit more government borrowing, to give presidents new power effective in 1997 to veto individual items in spending bills, and to ease regulations on small business.

And in what would be a major gain for many elderly Americans, they also said they will work to let Social Security pensioners earn more income without incurring offsetting cuts in their benefits.

Under current law, seniors age 65 to 69 lose $1 in benefits for every $3 they earn above the so-called earnings limit - now $11,280. Pending legislation would raise the limit to $30,000 by 2002.

House Republicans included the measure in their 1994 “Contract With America” priorities, and lobbying organizations for the elderly have pushed hard for it.

Clinton agrees that raising the Social Security earnings limit is “important” but is concerned that the measure’s $7 billion cost over seven years might drive up the deficit, said White House spokesman Mike McCurry. Clinton hopes to resolve the cost question in negotiations with Congress, McCurry said.

Congress’s GOP leaders say all those measures will reach the president’s desk before the two-week Easter vacation, starting March 30.

After the Easter break, congressional leaders hope to send Clinton anti-terrorism legislation, a health-care reform bill and legislation revamping immigration rules.

In addition, Congress is moving toward adopting a $166 billion spending bill that would keep nine unfunded federal agencies operating for the remainder of fiscal 1996, which ends Sept 30. Failure to pass such a measure could lead to a third partial shutdown of the government, which all sides are eager to avoid.