posed for the beginning of the fiscal year on October 1 could not be met; there was a
danger of a Gramm-Rudman "train wreck" or automatic, across the board sequester of
budget spending authority. On September 30, Bush and the elite Congressional
summiteers appeared in a Rose Garden ceremony to announce a five-year, $500 billion
deficit reduction package, allegedly featuring $40 billion in deficit reduction during the
first year, to be submitted to Congress for rubber-stamping. This plan contained higher
taxes on gasoline, cigarettes, liquor, luxury items, plus savage cuts on defense, Medicare
for the elderly, and farm payments. It was unsweetened by Bush's favorite nostrum for
fatcats, a cut in the capital gains tax. Tax deductions were limited for the most wealthy.
George, squirming under warnings from all sides, but especially the GOP right wing, that
this deal codified his infamous betrayal of June 26, tried to be a little contrite:
Sometimes you don't get it the way you want, and this is such a time for me. And I
suspect it's such a time for everybody standing here. But it's time we put the interests of
the United States of America here and get this deficit under control.
Bush called the package "balanced" and "fair." "Now comes the hard part," said Mitchell,
referring to the irritating formality of Congressional passage. Believing the assurances of
Mitchell and Foley, Dole and Michel that the resulting deal could be passed, Bush signed
a continuing resolution to keep the government going from October 1 until October 5,
while also avoiding the Gramm-Rudman guillotine.
On October 2, at the urging of the Congressional leaders, Bush made one of his rare
televised addresses to the nation from the Oval Office. According to one observer,
"Bush's TV address on the budget was the most listless presidential appeal since Carter's
'malaise' speech." [fn 50] Bush's tones had a pinch of the apocalypse" "If we fail to enact
this agreement, our economy will falter, markets may tumble, and recession will follow.
Tell your congressmen and senators you support this deficit-reduction agreement. If they
are Republicans, urge them to stand with the president. If they are Democrats, urge them
to stand with their Congressional leaders." Bush had now discovered that the deficit,
which he had ignored in 1989, was a "cancer gnawing away at our nation's health." The
plan he recommended, he pointed out with bathos, was a product of "blood, sweat, and
fears-- fears of the economic chaos that would follow if we fail to reduce the deficit." [fn
51] Bush's plan was supported by Alan Greenspan of the Federal Reserve, the voice of
the international central bankers.
Shepherding such a weighty affair of state through the Congress was considered a job for
a team headed by none other than Dan Quayle. Quayle quipped that he was like a friendly
dentist applying a lot of novocain and hoping for a few votes. Despite such boyish good
spirits, it was not to be. Republicans were incensed that Bush had given away the "crown
jewels" of their party just in order to get a deal. Right-wing Republicans lamented that
the package was a "road-map to recession" and a "cave-in to the liberal Democrats." "I
wouldn't vote for it if it cured cancer," said Congressman Trafficant. Democrats were
angered by the new excise tax, which was regressive, and by higher income tax rate
increases for lower income groups. When the plan came up for a vote in the House on the
fateful day of October 5, with the stopgap legislation about to run out, many Democrats