Edition: U.S. / Global


By STEVEN V. ROBERTS, Special to the New York Times
Published: December 14, 1988

Summing up the domestic achievements of his Administration, President Reagan today angrily blamed an ''iron triangle'' of Congressmen, lobbyists and journalists for the huge deficits that accumulated in his Presidency.

In a tone reflecting bitterness and frustration, Mr. Reagan took no responsibility for the deficits, which he called ''one of my great disappointments as I leave office.''

He told an enthusiastic audience of Administration officials the problem was that ''special interest groups,'' bolstered by campaign contributions, pressure lawmakers into creating and defending spending programs while the press failed to report the Administration's criticism of such practices. Balance Held Skewed

The President contended that as a result the ''constitutional balance'' had become skewed, with Congress enjoying too much power at the expense of the White House.

While many economists say that Mr. Reagan's program of income tax reductions contributed heavily to the deficits, the President argued that those cuts stimulated economic growth and increased revenue. He maintained that the vast growth in the military budget in his Presidency accounted for only about one-third of the spending increases of the last eight years.

Mr. Reagan's speech grew out of a rising sense of alarm within the White House that the President's legacy was being blackened by a deficit that exceeded $155 billion in the fiscal year ending last Sept. 30.

The White House has sought to counter this image in order to end the Reagan Presidency on a wave of good feelings, but the deficit keeps spoiling their plans. One senior White House official noted that last week, after the President's triumphant meeting in New York with Mikhail S. Gorbachev, the Soviet leader, the first question he received at his news conference the next day referred to the deficit.

''The President has been very frustrated that he hasn't been able to make his case better,'' the official said.

In discussing other unfinished parts of his agenda, Mr. Reagan expressed the hope that the Federal courts, stocked with his appointments, would eventually ban abortions and legalize organized prayer in the public schools. Light-Hearted Moment

For much of his speech, Mr. Reagan sounded good-natured and positive, even poking fun at his own work habits. ''As soon as I get home to California, I plan to lean back, kick up my feet and take a long nap,'' Mr. Reagan said. ''Ah, come to think of it, things won't be all that different after all.''

The President proudly detailed a long list of accomplishments in the domestic area, from revised welfare rules and greater protection against catastrophic illness to tougher judges and longer criminal sentences. And he praised the results of his economic policies, saying, ''We're in the middle of the greatest boom in entrepreneurship in our history.''

But while he was quick to claim credit for successes, Mr. Reagan insisted that the budget deficits were caused by others, residents of a ''Washington colony'' that in his view, failed to understand the values and priorities of the American people.

Even at the end of his term, Mr. Reagan refuses to define himself as part of the Federal establishment. ''He's always been outside of Washington,'' said one White House official. ''That's how he came in, and that's how he's leaving.''

In contrast, the President said that the ''iron triangle's'' power comes from its permanence. Noting the high rate of re-election in Congress, he cracked that ''there is less turnover in the House than in the Supreme Soviet.''

He criticized liberal members of Congress, saying they depended on the contributions of lobbying organizations that push one narrow cause and ''focus all of their resources and members on this line or that in the budget.''

Mr. Reagan did not mention conservative groups that lobby for causes he endorses, like a ban on abortion.