Clinton’s Budget Figures Disputed

The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office said Thursday that President Clinton’s budget plan would leave the federal government with a deficit of at least $49 billion in 2002 instead of the $17 billion surplus the White House projects.

The budget office’s estimate was in line with those issued by Republicans last week, and illustrates the size of the gap between what the White House says must be done to balance the budget and what Republicans insist is necessary.

June O’Neill, the budget office’s director, said its deficit estimate was based on a comparison of the administration’s projected savings in 2002, from spending cuts and revenue increases, against the budget office’s projection of what the deficit would be if current spending and taxation policies continued unchanged.