GOP PROPOSES DRASTIC BUDGET CUTS

House GOP leadersthis afternoon unveiled theirlong-promised planto balance the budget. It sharply curbs Medicare and Medicaid spending and eliminates three Cabinet departments (Education, Energy and Commerce), the General Services Administration and scores of government programs. The package also calls for large cuts in foreign aid, a five-year moratorium on new federal buildings, and limits on cost-of-living increases for military pensions. "Support for passing a balanced budget the week after next is overwhelming," House Speaker Newt Gingrich said today. But "people have already started screaming and yelling," one Republican told TIME congressional correspondent Karen Tumulty, adding that House members have been asked to look at the list and "categorize the top three they'll get blasted for." Already, Tumulty says, "rump groups" of disgruntled members are forming -- most notably, within the House Agriculture Committee, whose programs would suffer deep cuts. The true test of Republican commitment to their revolution, Tumulty notes, is whether they can really eradicate entire bureaucracies.