"I do not agree with the notion that the President has failed to put forward dramatic initiatives," Mr. Porter said.

"This tells you that those expecting any dramatic new monetary initiatives from the summit will be disappointed," Mr. Johnson said.

The White House has taken pains to scotch rumors that he would announce some dramatic initiative for jump-starting the economy.

If Mr. Bush gets lucky, and the economy comes around on its own steam, he may win applause for not having reached for more dramatic initiatives.

Few details were available today about the new program, but Pentagon officials said it represented an incremental increase from previous years and did not include dramatic new initiatives.

Probably the most dramatic initiative is an independent authority to rebuild and maintain the city's 2,000 bridges.

Especially compared with Mikhail Gorbachev's dramatic initiatives, it all fell flat.

But in part it is also because the budget law enacted last year basically proscribes dramatic initiatives.

"I remain excited by the prospect of the thousands of jobs that will be created by this dramatic initiative."

Stand on the issues As the front-runner, Mr. Dinkins has tried not to rock the boat by proposing dramatic initiatives.