Agreement Among Allies

The President and G.O.P. lawmakers trim the untrimmable

The task was not easy. But with a slash here and a snip there, negotiators from Capitol Hill worked out with the White House a compromise budget plan that would eventually cut projected deficits by more than half. President Reagan agreed to scale back on two sacred programs: defense and Social Security. Yet there was one catch amid the hype about what Donald Regan, the White House chief of staff, hailed as "the most ambitious budget-reduction plan in postwar history." The celebrated agreement was not with the Democratic House, which will have to approve it. It was with leaders of Reagan's...

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