Politics

Clinton, Congress Make Progress

By CBSNews.com staff CBSNews.com staff

February 21, 1999 / 1:32 PM EST / CBS

President Clinton held his first post-impeachment meeting with congressional leaders from both parties Tuesday, reports CBS White House Correspondent Bill Plante.

Congressional leaders call the meeting a "positive step" toward post-impeachment healing.

Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle and House Minority Leader Richard Gephardt said after the meeting that they agreed with the president's plan for managing the budget surplus, reports CBS White House Correspondent Mark Knoller.

Daschle said it was a good meeting with good discussion on foreign policy and domestic issues.

"We want reform in [Social Security and Medicare], but not without the surplus," Daschle said.

Gephardt said, "I think the president is very clear that saving 77% of the surplus for Social Security and Medicare is a threshold decision. But if we can't do that in a bipartisan way, then we are faced with a more severe situation."

Gephardt and Daschle were joined at the meeting by White House Chief of Staff John Podesta, House Majority Leader Dick Armey and Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott.

Lott emerged from the meeting vowing to work with Clinton and Democrats to do the people's business.

Lott declared, "We must find common ground."

The president and congressmen talked about the crisis in Kosovo, Social Security and the budget surplus.

Republicans are pushing for a substantial tax cut, which the president opposes.

Two years ago, when Clinton met with Republican congressional leaders, the players were different.

While the new GOP leadership may be less confrontational, the differences over policy remain.

The Republicans want a 10% across the board tax cut.

The Republicans, like Clinton, want more money for education, but they would spend it differently. They also want to save Social Security and Medicare, but not the same way.

Republican hostility toward the president goes beyond impeachment to the government shutdown in 1995 and the campaign in 1996.

Both sides need accomplishments to bring to the voters in the year 2000.

Congress got back to business Monday, ready to discuss taxes, Social Security and education funding after months of nothing but impeachment.

So far, there are few areas of agreement. Republicans donÂ't like the way the president would invest up to one-quarter of the money in the Social Security trust fund in the stock market to boost the fund's returns.

While Republicans want to give more education funding to states and local communities, Democrats say the GOP plan would eliminate critical federal education programs and divert money away from cash-strapped public schools to private and religious schools.

Republicans are also trying to remake their image, identified with Clinton's unpopular impeachment, as the party of legislative accomplishments.