Senate Passes Budget Plan, Extending Bush Tax Breaks

By Lori Montgomery
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, March 24, 2007; Page A08

The Senate yesterday approved a $2.9 trillion budget blueprint that calls for raising the federal cigarette tax to pay for a massive expansion of the nation's health insurance program for children. It also authorizes big boosts in spending next year for public education and veterans' services.

The Democratic spending plan would extend some of President Bush's signature tax breaks for middle-class families past their 2010 expiration date, a modification pushed by moderate Democrats. It also promises to erase the federal deficit within five years, though Democratic leaders acknowledge that difficult decisions about tax policy still stand in the way of that goal.

"I don't assert that this is a perfect budget. If I had a totally free hand, I am certain it would be different," said the plan's chief author, Senate Budget Committee Chairman Kent Conrad (D-N.D.) "But at the end of the day . . . it is our obligation and our responsibility to put a budget in place to begin the difficult task of balancing the books while meeting the priority needs of our nation."

The two Maine Republicans, Olympia J. Snowe and Susan Collins, broke ranks to join Democrats and independent Joseph I. Lieberman (Conn.) in supporting the plan, which passed 52 to 47. A similar spending proposal is to be debated in the House next week.

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