IN THE CHEAP SEATS

The budget impasse apparently is payback time for a snub on the Air Force One flight to Yitzhak Rabin's funeral last week. An agitated Newt Gingrich told reporters today that he and Bob Dole have been simmering ever since President Clinton refused to discuss the looming budget problem during their 25 hours in the air together. In fact, Gingrich said, Clinton flatly avoided them. "Both of us got on that airplane expecting to spend several hours talking about the budget and how do we avoid the shutdown," Gingrich said. "Every president we had ever flown with had us up front. Every president we had every flown with had talked to us at length." To add insult to injury, the House Speaker and Majority Leader were eventually herded out through the plane's rear exit. "You just wonder where is their sense of manners, where is their sense of courtesy," Gingrich fumed. "Was it just a sign of utter incompetence or lack of consideration, or was it a deliberate strategy of insult? I don't know which it was."