Tough Talk from Dole

"The time is fast approaching when we will have to decide whether this Congress is a serious deliberative body or not. [The budget deficit] ought to be at the heart of our legislative agenda. Instead it is a sort of a sideshow . . . It seems we are drifting into an aimless stupor."

Harsh words even for sarcastic Robert Dole, perhaps; but the Senate Finance Committee chairman had special reason for annoyance. He had risked the wrath of farmers in his home state of Kansas to sponsor a bill freezing agricultural "target prices," only to see it shunted aside by a filibuster as Congress prepared for its August recess. To Dole that seemed all too symbolic of a refusal by both Congress and the White House to face the danger that $200 billion deficits will lead to an increase in interest rates that could kill off the economic recovery. Dole took the Senate floor to deliver what amounted to a wake-up call for action when Congress reconvenes after Labor Day. "We will have to raise taxes," said Dole bluntly. "But we will have to cut spending first."

The Senator called for "an exercise in domestic summitry": meetings between Ronald Reagan and congressional leaders, and eventually "all decision makers in our economy, including business and labor" to work out tax boosts and spending cuts. Similar ideas have been voiced by House Budget Committee Chairman James Jones and Economist Alan Greenspan. But the White House is opposed. Says White House Communications Director David Gergen: Congress "would use it just to beat the President over the head." This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so viewer discretion is required.