U.S. Senators May Reject House Republican Budget Plan (Bloomberg)

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http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000103&sid=aYy...


U.S. Senators May Reject House Republican Budget Plan (Update1)
Oct. 19 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. House Republican leaders face a tough fight to win passage of a budget-cutting plan targeting programs such as food stamps, Medicaid and student loans that, even if successful, likely will be rejected by the Senate.

House Republican leaders want to increase cuts in federal benefit programs to $50 billion from $35 billion over five years. They say the move is needed to reduce the budget deficit and offset Hurricane Katrina recovery costs. The cuts are part of a 2006 budget plan Congress adopted in April.

The House vote planned for as early as tomorrow may have to wait until next week as leaders work to line up votes. Meanwhile, Senate committees are struggling to identify even $35 billion in cuts, and some Senate Republicans, such as Olympia Snowe of Maine, are expressing concerns about making deeper reductions in programs that help the poor.

``It will be a difficult fight, and not a fight the Republicans have the stomach to win,'' said Stephen Slivinski, director of budget studies at the Cato Institute, a libertarian- oriented policy research group in Washington.

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