New spending talk worries GOP whip - Richard B. Cheney, House minority whip

Nation's Business, Feb, 1989 by Donald C. Bacon

New Spending Talk Worries GOP Whip A top Republican leader in the House of Representatives says that proposals for new spending programs should be put aside in the new Congress until the budget-deficit problem has been resolved.

Rep. Richard Cheney, R-Wyo., House minority whip, told a business audience, "I am disturbed by talk of new spending programs in such areas as child care, education, and the environment."

President Bush pledged new initiatives in those areas during his election campaign. While he did not commit himself to large new expenditures, congressional advocates of those programs are expected to use the Bush comments as justification for seeking rapid expansion.

"The reality," Cheney said, "is that we have to deal with the deficit problem.... We have survived for 200 years without a federal child-care program, and another 24 months won't make that much difference."

The House GOP leader gave strong support to the new president's pledge not to increase taxes.

In response to a question, he speculated that if a tax increase did materialize, it would affect excise levies. He ruled out the possibility of increases in income-tax rates, which were reduced substantially by the landmark Tax Reform Act of 1986.

Cheney addressed a meeting of the Breakfast Bunch, a group of Washington-based corporate representatives affiliated with the congressional relations division of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.