Hill Democrats Deplore Budget Priorities: News Analysis Hill...
At times in last year's campaign, Jimmy Carter came on like a true-believing Hubert Humphrey Democrat on economic questions. If elected, he would pump up the economy; drive down unemployment; rewrite the lax laws to-help the little man; overhaul</br></br>At times in last year's campaign, Jimmy Carter came on like a true-believing Hubert Humphrey Democrat on economic questions. If elected, he would pump up the economy; drive down unemployment; rewrite the lax laws to-help the little man; overhaul the welfare system and raise the federal share of welfare costs; lead the United States toward national health insurance.</br></br>But there were also occasions last year when a different Jimmy Carter appeared, sounding almost word for word like his opponent, Gerald Furd. If elected, he would balance the federal budget before the end of his first term; would defer welfare reform and health insurance and other new spending programs if he had to, to achieve a balanced budget; and in any case would not let government spending grow any faster than the economy as a whole, so that taxes would not rise as a percentage of income.</br></br>Jody Powell, CarterÛªs press secretary, insists that ÛÏlast summer and fall we . \ . tried to tell you he is a fiscal conservative.Û But that is not how many Democrats remember it Some, including the partyÛªs leaders in Congress, think the President may be deserting them on the economyÛÓ and led by Speaker Thomas P. (Tip) OÛªNeill (Mass.) they told him so in no uncertain terms in a blunt-spoken session last Tuesday at the White House.</br></br>Republicans, meanwhile, are gleeful at the DemocratsÛª discomfiture. If the President switches sides on economic issues, ÛÏheÛªll be welcome,ÛªÛª House Mi-