House Leader May Delay Budget Vote
By ANDREW TAYLOR, Associated Press Writer
Tuesday, December 13, 2005
(12-13) 11:45 PST WASHINGTON, (AP) --
As negotiators toil in attempts to seal agreement on a sweeping budget cut bill, the second-ranking Republican in the House acknowledged Tuesday that it's possible the matter may be kicked over into new year.
House Majority Leader Roy Blunt, R-Mo., said he'd rather wait until next year to wrap up the budget bill if completing it this year would mean making too many concessions to the Senate, which passed a significantly milder version of the bill than the House last month.
Asked if it was essential to wrap up the budget cut bill, Blunt said: "Not so essential that we'd have to give up our negotiating position on a number of issues. I think it's better to get that right than to get that quickly."
The House passed a bill trimming $50 billion over five years from myriad federal programs including Medicaid, food stamps, student loan subsidies, and farm subsidies. The Senate's $35 billion version made milder cuts to Medicaid and found savings from the Medicare program as well.
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