Cohen, Snowe line up with moderates

WASHINGTON — Maine Sens. William Cohen and Olympia Snowe joined in a last-ditch attempt Tuesday at forging a balanced budget deal with Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole, saying compromise is needed now before presidential politics swallow up the year’s congressional agenda.

Cohen and Snowe, both Republicans, were part of a group of 22 moderate Senators from both parties that tried to push Dole toward a budget compromise, after a similar meeting with President Clinton last Thursday.

“I think this is our last, best hope,” Snowe said after an hour-long meeting with Dole.

Neither Dole nor Clinton signed on to the budget plan pushed by the moderate group, dubbed the Centrist Coalition, but the group said it plans to force a vote on the budget, possibly next week.

“Senator Dole said he would look forward to working with the bipartisan group as deliberations move forward and would discuss the issues with other members of the Republican leadership,” Cohen said.

The centrist budget plan could win a large number of votes in the Senate — it virtually splits the difference between the most recent seven-year plans offered by Clinton and Dole.

But, Snowe said, blocking any progress toward a compromise is the looming presidential battle between Clinton and Dole.

“That’s the unknown question,” she said.

Analysts say neither candidate wants to look weak and give in to a deal, and it is uncertain how many senators would vote for the centrist plan without the support of their party leadership.

“The campaign and election decisions are defining the policy for the moment,” said Stuart Rothenberg, an independent political analyst in Washington, adding, “I don’t know very many people in this town who expect some big breakthrough.

But Snowe said, “We think it’s well worth trying,” adding that the momentum for balancing the budget might die out after the elections.

Key elements of the seven-year centrist plan include: $154 billion in savings from cutting the growth rate of Medicare (Clinton offered $100 billion; Dole, $201 billion); about $50 billion in savings from giving states control over welfare programs (Clinton, $41 billion; Dole, $84 billion); and $130 billion in tax cuts (Clinton, $63 billion; Dole, $243 billion).

Sens. John Chaffee, R-R.I., and John Breaux, D-La., the leaders of the Centrist Coalition, said they will offer their seven-year plan as an amendment to the 1997 budget, which is being worked on and could come to the Senate floor next week.

Approving the plan would be one small step toward restoring some credibility to Congress, particularly after the two lengthy government shutdowns last winter, Snowe said. And, she added, it might not hurt Clinton or Dole to compromise.

“We think it would be advantageous to both,” Snowe said.

But Dole recently has been trying to stress how he differs from Clinton on policy issues, not his ability to compromise, according to CNN pollster Bill Schneider.

“That’s what he’s been trying to do — draw distinctions between himself and President Clinton,” he said.

And Rothenberg’s polling data indicates that Clinton should win re-election and the Republicans should remain in control of Congress — meaning more gridlock for four more years.

“That shouldn’t make anybody particularly optimistic that there’s going to be a balanced budget any time soon,” he said.