DON'T CAVE IN ON FEDERAL BUDGET COMPROMISE

The Yuletide is upon us, and the federal budget, which was supposed to have been put to bed for the start of the new fiscal year that began Oct. 1, isn't finished.

This past week saw some division among congressional Republicans on how to proceed with this year's budget end-game. Some want to strike a budget deal with President Clinton, while others would delay decisions on spending for schools and other programs for the next president, whom these GOP legislators expect will be George W. Bush.

Of the 11 spending bills that make up the federal budget, all but four are finished and signed into law. Remaining are the four unfinished bills along with three other issues: an increase in the minimum wage, worker safety rules and immigration.

At issue are gigantic increases in spending for schools, health and labor programs that negotiators tentatively agreed to last month. The increases amount to a record $18 billion. House majority leader Dick Armey said this huge an increase would have to be scaled back by at least $5 billion in order to pass the House.

Clinton has offered to cut the package by up to $2 billion, according to Democratic aides. Some GOP leaders, weary of eight years of clintonian double-crosses on the budget, are pressing to defer all this to next year, preferring to pass continuing resolutions that would keep the government operating until they can do business with the new president.

This may not be the best course of action, but if you had been lied to as consistently as congressional Republicans have been by this most shameless of chief executives, you would be considering some pretty drastic steps, too. We hope Congress doesn't cave into the president and the spending lobbies -- again.