Bush Govt. faces domestic, foreign policy challenges

By Sridhar Krishnaswami

WASHINGTON, MAY 6. The coming weeks pose domestic and foreign policy challenges for the Bush administration; and one of the first things that law makers will be taking up in the passage of the $ 1.95-trillion Budget for 2002. The Republicans on Capitol Hill were stung by the embarrassment of the ``missing'' two pages in the Budget papers that forced a postponement of the vote last week. The Republicans argued that the mess was as a result of a mechanical fault, but the Democrats did not pass up the opportunity to score political points.

The expectation now is that the House of Representatives will have passed the Budget on Tuesday which will be followed by the Senate on Wednesday. It is indeed a test of strength on the floor for the Budget proposals include a large tax cut package along with slowed growth in the Federal programmes.

What is also being pointed out is that the passage of the Budget this week does not mean that the last word has been said on the subject. One certainty is that while Republicans will keep pushing for larger and additional tax cuts, the Democrats - joined by some in the Grand Old Party - will try to make some headway for additional spending on agriculture and defence.

If the President, Mr. George W. Bush, found something very early on in Washington, it is that he would have to compromise on his tax cut numbers. After hanging tough with his $ 1.6-trillion package, the White House found the going tough in the Senate with Democrats and moderate Republicans unwilling to go along. Finally, the President had to agree for a $ 1.35- trillion cut and over an 11-year period.

One aspect that is being talked about is that the Budget is merely a guide for the law makers and that the numbers are not binding in any fashion. For instance, the planned Budget for 2002 does not include the additional funding for the Pentagon - a request for which is going to come from the Defence Secretary, Mr. Donald Rumsfeld. Add to this the fact that law makers routinely push for more money for farmers, education and other projects keeping their respective constituencies in mind.

The Democrats have been clearly unenthusiastic about the President's first 100 days in office; and aside from sharpening the stance on the budget and tax cut proposals they are now turning their attention to yet another critical area where the Bush administration is trying to leave its Conservative stamp, and for a long time to come.

Democrats have made it known in blunt terms that the President's nominees to the courts are going to get some ``special'' attention. While the Bush White House is keen on having the ``Reagan touch'' to the judicial appointments to the Federal Bench, the Democrats on Capitol Hill are equally determined not to let this happen. If the nomination process of Mr. John Ashcroft to the Attorney General's post is any indication, a bitter fight is on the cards, and one in which neither side will give in easily.

On the foreign policy front, the White House has its task cut out as well; and this goes well beyond Washington's trying to ``reach out'' to allies and friends on strategic affairs including the nuclear arsenal and the controversial National Missile Defence system. The throwing out of the United States from the membership of the United Nations Human Rights Commission is a critical reminder of the kind of perceptions the world at large has about the Bush administration's foreign policy.

The setback to the U.S. at the Human Rights Commission goes much beyond the unhappiness among nations of Washington's constant lecturing and pontifications on human rights and religious freedom. More importantly, it is a reminder to the White House that even allies and friends are perturbed at the unilateralism in American foreign policy, be it with respect to the National Missile Defence system or walking away from the Kyoto Protocol.

The real danger to the Republican administration is the temptation to dance to the tunes of some on Capitol Hill who have threatened to make a linkage between being thrown out of the Human Rights Commission and holding up the agreed funding of U.S. dues to the United Nations.

The sooner the Bush administration works to dispel this notion, the better it would be for the longer range objectives of American foreign policy. Playing along with a handful of law makers who, as it is, have little use for the world body risks further alienation of the U.S. in the international system.

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