LET'S MAKE A DEAL

By James Carney

If budget talks between the White House and Congress falter this week, don't be quick to blame Republican intransigence. An internal G.O.P. strategy memo prepared for House and Senate budget committee chairmen John Kasich and Pete Domenici shows Republicans were so dispirited by their showdown with Clinton last time around that they are ready to put almost everything on the table this year. Drafted in late March and obtained by TIME last week, the memo states that the G.O.P.'s "minimum requirements" for a budget deal with the President are minimal indeed: modest spending reductions, small tax cuts and "saving" Medicare for the short term. The memo also suggests that G.O.P. leaders are still considering whether to "split off" tax cuts from the rest of the budget process.

--By James Carney