MISSED SENATE DEADLINE UPSETS U.S. BUDGET CHIEF
White House Budget Chief James Miller
said he was irritated by the Senate Budget Committee's failure
to meet an April 1 deadline for completing action on its budget
blueprint for the coming fiscal year.
    "I'm terribly upset that they've missed their deadline," he
told reporters after a speech commemorating the 100th
anniversary of the Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC).
    Senate Budget Chairman Lawton Chiles (D-Fla.) "is obviously
having trouble getting a majority (of his committee) to agree
to his budget," Miller said. The panel late Wednesday defeated
Chiles' budget plan and will try again next week.
    The House Budget Committee, meanwhile, approved Wednesday a
trillion-dlr spending plan for the government's year beginning
Oct. 1, paving the way for a House vote.
    Miller also told reporters President Regan remains opposed
to any tax increases other than those he himself has proposed.
"We're not going to go along with a tax increase," he said.
    Miller told a few hundred current and former ICC officials
attending the birthday party that he was an unusual choice to
speak at the event as he favored the agency's abolition.
    "Let it die with dignity--and then we'll all get together
again for a fantastic wake," he said to mild applause.
 Reuter
