Vitriol in The Rose Garden

Bork is not the only battle between Reagan and Congress

Bill-signing ceremonies in the White House Rose Garden are usually harmonious occasions: as cameras click and whir, the President flashes a broad smile, tosses off a few quips and hands out pens to congressional sponsors. Not so last week. The sponsors squirmed and an unsmiling Ronald Reagan groused as he signed the revised Gramm-Rudman bill, requiring the Federal Government to slash $23 billion from the deficit this fiscal year and to balance the budget by fiscal 1993. Reagan fired salvo after salvo at Capitol Hill's "big spenders" -- read liberal Democrats -- even though the Republicans standing behind him had also...

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