American Notes Congress

On Capitol Hill, the latest lapel button bears the query WHERE'S THE BUDGET? The short answer is: Nowhere. Last week Congress missed the April 15 deadline for passing a budget resolution for fiscal 1987. While President Reagan refused to compromise on the unpopular budget he proposed last February, Congress continued squabbling over the mix of domestic and military spending and whether to raise taxes, ignoring the timetable, set by the Gramm-Rudman Act, which it considered so urgent last year. Shrugged House Speaker Tip O'Neill: "We miss all kinds of deadlines around here."