PRESIDENT CLINTON HAS FLUMMOXED the Republicans again. Believing Clinton was ready to deal in good faith this year on spending and taxes, GOP congressional leaders made a magnanimous display of bipartisanship: They agreed to use Clinton’s budget as the working document from which a compromise would be fashioned. The president appeared grateful. Then within weeks, the White House accused Republicans of failing to produce a budget of their own. Clinton encouraged Senate majority leader Trent Lott, in their frequent chats, to propose a commission to cut the consumer price index (CPI) as a catalyst for a budget deal. But when House liberals, led by Richard Gephardt, complained, Clinton sheepishly backed away from the commission. He abandoned principle to protect his base. In response to Clinton’s retreat, House speaker Newt Gingrich proposed to drop tax cuts, a top priority for most congressional Republicans, from the budget talks. Gingrich abandoned principle and divided his base.
As a performance artist, Clinton is dazzling to watch. He uses Republicans as a foil. He’s the Roadrunner, they’re Wile E. Coyote. But to what end is the president performing? He desperately wants to adjust the CPI, agree on a balanced budget, and move toward fixing Social Security and Medicare. In a conservative era, that’s the best a moderate-to-liberal Democrat can hope for as a historic achievement. Yet he won’t take the tiniest step to make this happen. The CPI commission would only have been a commission, after all. Clinton would have been free to reject its findings, arguing, say, that the Bureau of Labor Statistics is better equipped to calculate the CPI.
