July 31, 1993

Only hours after the White House declared it a done deal and all wrapped up, House and Senate negotiators plucked at a thread on President Clinton's $500 billion package of spending cuts and tax increases late today, and it seemed to unravel again. After a night of fruitless work, the negotiators quit until Monday. Already lagging in delivering the package to the House and Senate for votes next week, the negotiators have "taken an oath" to finish by next week, said the chairman of the Senate Budget Committee, Jim Sasser of Tennessee.

Administration officials continued to develop plans for air strikes in Bosnia, saying there was broad agreement to prevent the fall of Sarajevo and other enclaves. Page 4.

It had to be a little unnerving for Lynn Schenk, a first-term Democrat elected to Congress from a heavily Republican district in San Diego, land of right-wing talk shows, Navy captains and stressed middle-class taxpayers trudging through recession. For six days recently, radio advertisements placed by the Republican Party took her to task for voting for Mr. Clinton's "tax and spending" package. The ad then gave her phone number in Washington and urged people to call and "tell her that Californians aren't taxed too little -- the Government spends too much."

New Role for Alexander Jane Alexander, now appearing on Broadway in "The Sisters Rosensweig," will be appointed by President Clinton to head the National Endowment for the Arts. Page 11. Demjanjuk to Go to Ukraine One day after his acquittal in Jerusalem, John Demjanjuk applied for a temporary visa to go to his native Ukraine, and he is expected to leave in a matter of days. Page 5. Key Vote on Surgeon General Dr. Joycelyn Elders, President Clinton's nominee for surgeon general, won the endorsement of a key Senate committee today. Page 9. Part of Water Alert Lifted The bacteria in New York City's water supply returned to Chelsea, but the alert was lifted in lower Manhattan after clean test results. Page 24.

From $30,000 Cartier watches to $150,000 stretch limousines, there is a brisk business to be done in Moscow these days catering to the gaudy and gargantuan appetites of Russia's new rich. At the Escada shop on the second floor of the old State Department Store, known as GUM, across Red Square from the Kremlin, young women breeze through racks of $2,000 suits without even a grimace. At the Almaz Jewelry Store on Kutuzovsky Prospekt, less expensive Cartier watches, priced at about $6,000, sell out as fast they are shipped in.