CLINTON SAYS NO TO GOP MEDICARE CONCESSIONS.

Byline: Sonya Ross Associated Press 

President Clinton turned down a new Republican offer to seek smaller savings from Medicare, Medicaid and welfare at budget talks Monday, GOP officials said, even though one Republican called it "essentially a last offer."

Clinton also offered to sweeten slightly his latest proposal for savings in the three categories, but by an unspecified amount, a Democratic source said. Monday's session, held despite a snowstorm that paralyzed much of the capital, lasted more than four hours and left many participants believing that a meeting scheduled for today could be a pivotal one.

White House spokesman Mike McCurry said the talks were "at a point where they're either going to get an agreement or they're not. It's not going to drag on for another number of weeks."

Congressional Republicans, led by Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole and House Speaker Newt Gingrich, arrived Monday at the White House with a plan that would scale back $72 billion from their proposed savings on Medicare, Medicaid and welfare over seven years.

They even offered to let the president shift savings among the three programs, as long as the total reductions from them remained the same, said GOP congressional sources speaking on condition of anonymity.

Dole, R-Kan., said negotiators should know by tonight whether a deal was possible.