BUDGET OR BUST

TheGOP compromise plan to balance the budget within seven yearsdrew widespread support in the Republican ranks today but, predictably, criticism from the White House. President Clinton derided the proposal, which trims Medicare and Medicaid and offers $245 billion in tax cuts, as "still too extreme."TIME's James Carneyreports that White House aides, meanwhile, still can't agree on how -- or when --the President should fight for his own, 10-year plan. "The proposal represents a break from the past," Carney says. "What has remained the same is his failure to follow through when he's made major proposals. He's made a big speech, and there's no follow-through in sight." Since Clinton can't veto the GOP budget agreement, Carney adds, the battle now moves to the congressional appropriations committees that craft the actual spending bills.