–Senate Budget Chief Conrad: Dems ‘Very Close’ To an Accord On A Budget
–Will ‘Defer’ Mark-Up Until Budget Deliberations Unfold
–Any Bipartisan Budget Accord May Be Placed On Dem Budget

By John Shaw

WASHINGTON (MNI) – Senate Budget Committee Chairman Kent Conrad
said Thursday that the Democrats on his panel are “very close” to
reaching an agreement on a fiscal-year 2012 budget resolution, but will
not move ahead right away with their plan.

“We will have a budget,” Conrad said in a statement.

But he added the he has decided to “defer” marking up his plan
until later in the process because there are “high level bipartisan
leadership negotiations that are currently underway.”

Conrad said that in the event there is a bipartisan budget
agreement it may be necessary for procedural reasons to put that
agreement on the Democratic budget resolution.

Conrad said in 1990 and 1997 budget resolutions were used as a
vehicle to advance broader bipartisan budget agreements.

Conrad has said he wants to offer a plan that cuts the deficit by
about $4 trillion over the next decade. But to pass any plan through the
Senate Budget Committee with only a 12 to 11 Democratic majority, Conrad
must win support of all the Democrats.

One version of Conrad’s budget is in circulation and it would cut
the deficit by about $4 trillion over a decade. It would do so by
raising taxes by about $2 trillion and cutting spending by $1.5
trillion. The additional savings of about $600 billion would come from
reduced interest payments.

Several moderate Democrats have offered only muted praise for
Conrad’s plan and stopped well short of supporting it.

Conrad has also explored an FY’12 budget alternative that would be
much heavier on spending cuts and lighter on tax hikes. But liberal
Democratic senators indicated they would be unlikely to support that
kind of budget.

Last week, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said that he is urging
Senate Democrats to withhold supporting any budget alternative until the
fiscal endgame becomes clearer.

** Market News International Washington Bureau: (202) 371-2121 **

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