The White House called the cuts "a blueprint for chaos" and threatened vetoes -- but the GOP will be lightning-quick in pointing out that the White House agreed to those spending caps too. Some lawmakers predicted a very ugly negotiating season; others mentioned the magic word, "shutdown." But that would take real conviction -- and, in fact, after only one day, the caps are already on the endangered list. "There's hardly a member of Congress that doesn't realize that the caps will be lifted," said GOP representative John Porter, one of the 13 appropriations subcommittee heads who'll be fighting over the $268 billion in scraps. So if money's so tight, how did the House, in the very same evening, manage to shower Clinton with $15 billion worth of Kosovo bomb money, hurricane relief and local pork? Because it was an "emergency" measure, exempt from the 1997 caps. Expect the number of emergencies in Washington to increase dramatically this summer.
Beltway Budgeteers Like Discipline -- Sort Of
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The $100 billion surplus sits there, like a pot of gold behind bulletproof glass, taunting them. But two years ago, the Republicans made a promise -- spending caps that helped bring that surplus into being -- and, by gum, they're going to stick to it. "We all knew this was going to be painful," said House Majority Leader Dick Armey on Tuesday after GOPers agreed to domestic spending cuts of 11 percent, or $26 billion, that are really going to hurt. The unkindest cuts won't be from mandatory programs like Medicare, or the new big untouchable, defense. But the $268 billion that's left is going to have to go a long, long way.