National Journal articles from August 1999

National Journal archives from August 1999

WASHINGTON'S OTHER SEX SCANDAL.(condemnation of a report on pedophilia)
August 7, 1999... On July 12, in an action that seems to have been without precedent, the House voted, 355-0, to condemn a scientific article. Granted, this was not an article about magnetic induction in supercooled fluids. It was about sexual abuse of children....

THE BOOK ON BUSH.(Gov. George W. Bush)
August 7, 1999... HIS RECORD, VIEWS, AIDES AND ADVISERS, FINANCIAL BACKERS, AND GOVERNING STYLE HIS MIND In the Reagan years, hard-liners on the Republican Right applied a succinct slur to White House aides they deemed insufficiently conservative....

Bush, In His Own Words.(includes related article about economic social factors in Texas during 1994 and 1999)(Interview)
August 7, 1999... HE TALKS ABOUT HEROES, FAITH, LEADERSHIP, AND WHAT HE WOULD DO IN WASHINGTON. AN INTERVIEW Texas Gov. George W. Bush sat down on July 22 for an interview with National Journal correspondent James A. Barnes. That morning in...

Issues of the Day: Where Bush Stands.
August 7, 1999... HIS VIEWS There's a joke making the rounds in Democratic circles: What's the difference between the wooden Al Gore and the glib George W. Bush? Answer: At least you know where a tree stands. Indeed, Bush critics charge that no one...

The Company He Keeps.(presidential candidate George W. Bush)
August 7, 1999... BUSH'S CHOICE OF ADVISERS AND HIS OPERATING STYLE IN TEXAS REFLECT HIS PRAGMATISM. HIS STYLE Texas Gov. George W. Bush may have the conscience of a "compassionate conservative," but a look at the teams of advisers he's assembled for...

Tax Cuts, Big and Small.(presidential candidate George W. Bush's economic policy)
August 7, 1999... ECONOMICS As he works up a tax cut plan for unveiling after Labor Day, the greatest challenge for Texas Gov. George W. Bush could be what to do if Congress and President Clinton agree this year on a package of their own. Any deal is widely...

A Few Hints of Green.(presidential candidate George W. Bush's environmental policy)
August 7, 1999... ENVIRONMENT It was the kind of moment policy wonks live for: a chance to whisper into the ear of a man who would be President. In May, a group of conservative environmental-policy experts got that opportunity when they were invited to help...

Periphery Is Out; Russia and China, In.(presidential candidate George W. Bush's national security policy)
August 7, 1999... FOREIGN POLICY As a Southern Governor running for the White House in 1992, Bill Clinton chastised President George Bush for "coddling dictators" in China. In one of the ironies of next year's presidential campaign, Bush's son, Texas Gov....

How Much Emphasis On Health Reform?(presidential candidate George W. Bush's health care policy)
August 7, 1999... HEALTH CARE Making health insurance more available to Americans who are not now covered is an issue that Democrats have traditionally championed. But Texas Gov. George W. Bush suggests that he, too, might make it a priority--by giving the...

Bush's Lesson Plan.(presidential candidate George W. Bush's educational policy)
August 7, 1999... EDUCATION Howard Fuller, a black independent and a former superintendent of the Milwaukee Public Schools, was a little skeptical when he heard that Texas Gov. George W. Bush wanted to talk to him about education policy last March. Fuller,...

Inside Bush's Campaign Shop.(presidential candidate George W. Bush)
August 7, 1999... CAMPAIGN TEAM Think of the bumper sticker "Don't Mess With Texas" in assessing the campaign organization of Republican White House hopeful, Texas Gov. George W. Bush. The operation is run largely by Texans fiercely loyal to Bush. And while...

The Thriving D.C.--Austin Axis.(Washington D.C., Austin, Texas; Presidential candidate George W. Bush's fund raising operations)
August 7, 1999... PIONEERS Washington and K Street are represented by a small but important crew on the list of Gov. George W. Bush's Pioneers, the 115 fund-raisers who have corralled at least $100,000 each for the Texan's presidential campaign. All told,...

Does Gold Always Glitter?(campaign financing)
August 7, 1999... MEGABUCKS Former Tennessee Gov. Lamar Alexander has blasted George W. Bush as "the Texas tornado sucking away money." Multi-millionaire Steve Forbes has cast Bush as a lackey to "lobbyists" and "establishment" figures who want to preserve...

On the Hill, Unusual Unity.(support for presidential candidate George W. Bush)
August 7, 1999... George W. Bush has unified congressional Republicans more effectively than any political force has since the party took control of the House and Senate in 1995. The enthusiastic support that the Texas Governor enjoys among the often-unruly GOP...

A LOSE-LOSE SITUATION ON CAMPAIGN REFORM?(Senators John McCain and Russell Feingold's campaign finance reform bill)
August 7, 1999... In theory, advocates of changing the nation's campaign finance laws should be pleased with the recent signs of movement in the Senate. Spurred on by Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., an election-reform crusader, Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott,...

People.(political and corporate personalities)
August 7, 1999... At the White House With a nod to the politics of inclusiveness, Vice President Al Gore has named Janet Murguia his deputy campaign manager and director of public liaison for Gore 2000. Gore swiped his new recruit from the boss: Murguia,...

GENERATION NEXT ON K STREET.(transferring lobbying business from one generation to the next)
August 7, 1999... A quarter-century ago, the Washington lobbying world was populated with such colorful characters as the irrepressible Horace Godfrey, a sugar industry lobbyist who strutted around town with a diamond stickpin in his lapel. Deals were lubricated...

READ 'EM, DON'T WEEP.(media coverage of presidential candidates)
August 7, 1999... These are trying times for the conscientious media consumer, still clueless about how he or she will vote on an Election Day that seems far, far away. It's not yet clear who will be on the ballot, and already there are so many facts to keep...

POLLING ON A DEEPER LEVEL.(the art of public opinion polls)
August 7, 1999... It's your daughter's wedding day, and five generations of the family have gathered for the celebration. As everyone crowds together for the family portrait, the expensive photographer you have hired pulls out a Polaroid instant camera, shrugs,...

MODERATE THE FOOD FIGHT.(exporting genetically altered food)
August 7, 1999... In preparing Bill Clinton for the summit of the Group of Seven industrial nations this past June in Cologne, Germany, aides were careful to make sure he was up to speed on growing European resistance to imports of U.S. corn and soybeans, much...

Hotline Extra.(political and media news)
August 7, 1999... Delaware, Not the First State One of the more prolonged yet entertaining presidential primary subplots was resolved on Aug. 2, when Delaware Republican state Chairman Basil Battaglia announced that the party "is exercising its prerogative...

A BIT OF GOOD NEWS FOR HOUSE DEMOCRATS.
August 7, 1999... The recent switch by Rep. Michael P. Forbes of New York from the Republican to the Democratic Party serves as a reminder that the 2000 election will be measured not in yards but in inches. In 1994, Republicans needed a tidal wave to win the 40...

WHY LABOR'S NOT EMBRACING GORE.(Vice President Al Gore)
August 7, 1999... As a practical matter, Vice President Al Gore doesn't need the endorsement of the AFL-CIO at this stage of his campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination. Union manpower will be more valuable when the caucus and primary campaigns begin...

PROP 187's BACKLASH: IT'S STILL FEROCIOUS.(illegal immigration)
August 7, 1999... LOS ANGELES--Proposition 187 transformed California politics more than any single ballot measure since Proposition 13. And like Proposition 13, which held down property taxes, its effect spilled over into national politics. In 1994,...

BOY SCOUTS SHOULD ADMIT GAYS--BUT NOT BY FIAT.
August 14, 1999... To the New Jersey Supreme Court and The New York Times editorial page, the refusal of the Boy Scouts of America to accept avowed homosexuals as Scouts or Scout leaders is a simple matter of "bigotry"--and illegal bigotry at that. To other...

Hispanics: Beyond the Myths.
August 14, 1999... THEY WILL SOON BE AMERICA'S LARGEST MINORITY, HOLDING THE KEYS TO PROGRESS AND POWER IN THE NEW CENTURY. The immigrants beep coming, not only to the Southwest but up the eastern seaboard to New York and Boston and west to Chicago and the...

The Economics of Being Hispanic.
August 14, 1999... PROGRESS, YES, BUT LATINO INCOME STILL LAGS BEHIND THAT OF WHITES AND BLACKS, AND EDUCATION MAKES THE DIFFERENCE. Are Hispanics the new underclass of a prosperous America? Broad and detailed statistics on the economic status of Hispanics...

Boomers, Say Hola.(Social Security costs)
August 14, 1999... HISPANIC WORKERS IN THE NEXT CENTURY WILL BE CRUCIAL TO PAYING THE RETIREMENT COSTS OF BABY BOOMERS. At the same time that America is getting browner, it is also getting grayer. This may not be a happy convergence. Here's why: The...

The Education Challenge.
August 14, 1999... ONE TEXAS SCHOOL IS MAKING PROGRESS DESPITE LONG ODDS, BUT HISPANIC CHILDREN CONTINUE TO LAG IN SCHOOL ACHIEVEMENT. The half-paved road that leads up to Kelly Elementary School is lined with single-bedroom, wood-frame houses that sleep...

Not Enough GI Joses.(military careers)
August 14, 1999... HISPANICS COULD FILL THE MILITARY'S RECRUITMENT GAP, IF THEY COULD FINISH HIGH SCHOOL IN GREATER NUMBERS. Look at the names on the Wall at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. Or the names of the three soldiers captured by the Serbs during the...

YET AGAIN, THE MOST LABORIOUS OF BILLS.(Education, Labor and Health and Human Services)
August 14, 1999... Even in the best of times, the measure covering the Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education departments is the most difficult of the 13 annual appropriations bills to pass in Congress. The bill is filled with programs that...

LONG-WINDED, BUT SHORT ON RESULTS.(congressional pre-recess statements)
August 14, 1999... As lawmakers prepared to leave town for their recess last week, party leaders deluged Capitol Hill with press conferences and press releases designed to help stir the folks back home during the otherwise listless month of August. But the...

THE HACKING OF AN ANTI-HACKER PLAN.
August 14, 1999... In the argot of computer experts, the verb "to hack" means to manipulate complex things--software, people, organizations--so that they will do your bidding. The term is typically applied to software, often in lurid press accounts of...

TAX-CUT POLITICS: THE WHITE HOUSE VIEW.
August 14, 1999... White House budget aides are pondering the possibility that GOP congressional leaders might be deliberately orchestrating one last head-on collision with President Clinton. Republican leaders have been making such noises for weeks, of course,...

CONFUSING CHARISMA WITH LEADERSHIP.
August 14, 1999... The following should be a journalistic decree: The word "charismatic" may appear only once in any article or television piece on George W. Bush, or in any political analysis, for that matter. Ditto for the words "charming" and "likable." And...

MR. GORE'S AND MR. BRADLEY'S NEIGHBORHOOD.(Albert Gore, Jr., Bill Bradley, New York City)(Statistical Data Included)
August 14, 1999... Harvard provides the Democrats with brainy talent. Hollywood delivers the glamour. But for money, there's no place like New York City's Upper East Side, especially ZIP code 10021, a Golconda of campaign cash for Democratic candidates. Six...

From the K Street Corridor.
August 14, 1999... Another Drug War Two health care coalitions whose members include many of the nation's largest pharmaceutical companies are expanding their lobbying and public relations efforts to block Clinton Administration and legislative proposals...

Views on the American Scene.(Polling Data)(Statistical Data Included)
August 14, 1999... VIEWS ON THE AMERICAN SCENE Big Problems What do you think is the single most important problem that the President and Congress should address in the coming year? (margin of error [+ or -] 3 percentage points; CBS News-The New York...

HOLBROOKE KEEPS PAYING HIS DUES.(Richard C. Holbrooke)
August 14, 1999... When the Senate finally confirmed Richard C. Holbrooke as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations earlier this month, he had every reason to breathe a sigh of relief. For 14 months, his appointment had been stalled by a difficult ethics...

A STORM SHELTER FOR YELTSIN.(Boris Yeltsin)
August 14, 1999... MOTHER RUSSIA To survive in the byzantine world of the Kremlin, Russians recommend one thing more highly than the fleeting comfort of status or power--a krysha. The literal translation is "roof," but in the idiom of Russian politics...

ANYBODY NOTICE THE TRADE DEFICIT?
August 14, 1999... The trade deficit is running at record levels and no one seems to care. Maybe they should. In May, the United States imported $21.3 billion more in goods and services than it exported, a record monthly deficit. At this pace, the trade imbalance...

People.
August 14, 1999... In the Tanks Returning to Washington for a year's sabbatical (which conveniently coincides with the 2000 election season) is Alan S. Blinder, the former vice chairman of the Federal Reserve Board. Blinder, 53, has been an economics...

HOW TWO BUSH RIVALS HOPE TO BREAK THROUGH.(George W. Bush)
August 14, 1999... Republican pollster Frederick T. Steeper is just waiting for one more set of numbers before filling in his chart on the outcome of next year's Republican presidential nominating contest. According to Steeper, who conducts survey research for...

WHO'S UP, WHO'S DOWN IN THE RACE FOR DOUGH.(Statistical Data Included)
August 14, 1999... At this stage in the congressional campaign cycle, polls are few and far between, and no terribly useful. The same can't be said about campaign finance reports. They're about the only objective measure of a candidate's status. The recently...

Hotline Extra.
August 14, 1999... Waiting With Beatty Breath While the national political media camped out in Iowa for the Aug. 14 straw poll in Ames on the Republican presidential candidates, blips were detected on the sonar looking for third-party and Independent...

POLLS HAVEN'T REPLACED VOTES--YET.
August 14, 1999... A dirty little secret about opinion polls is that they often present a somewhat distorted view of American politics--it's not nearly as orderly and precise a process as they sometimes make it seem. Responsible poll takers are the first to...

ASIAN-AMERICANS WILL MATTER MORE.
August 14, 1999... Quick: What's the fastest growing minority group in America? Wrong--it isn't Hispanic. It's Asian-Americans. Next year's national census is expected to document 10 million Asian-Americans. Forty percent of them live in California, where they...

Letters.
August 21, 1999... GAMBLING'S NOT A THREAT I very much enjoyed reading Paul Starobin's recent discussion of the decline and fall of governmental paternalism ["A World of Risk," 7/10/99, p. 2006]. This otherwise thoughtful essay identified the growth of Las...

CLINTON'S CRISIS: THE MOST THOUGHTFUL BOOK YET.
August 21, 1999... While the national fixation on President Clinton's impeachment has given way to ennui, Richard A. Posner sees that year-long struggle as "the most riveting chapter of recent American history." And now Posner--who is chief judge of the U.S....

MEET TONY W. BUSH.(similarities between UK Prime Minister Tony Blair and George W. Bush)
August 21, 1999... Having concluded that the Iowa caucuses and the New Hampshire primary are not quite ludicrous enough, in last Saturday's Iowa straw poll the Republican Party decided to go with a circus instead. Whatever its shortcomings as a component of the...

The Bradley Question.(Bill Bradley, presidential candidate)(includes related article about Bradley impressed Senate colleagues)
August 21, 1999... CAN SOMEONE WHO IS DIFFERENT ABOUT POLITICS BE EFFECTIVE IN THE WHITE HOUSE? Derry, N.H.--It's a hot Saturday in late July, and Kathy Pender is standing in front of her well-manicured lawn in her prosperous-looking suburban neighborhood,...

Beyond the GI Bill.(includes related article on motivation to join the Marines)
August 21, 1999... A SHORTFALL IN RECRUITING HAS PROMPTED THE PENTAGON AND CONGRESS TO LOOK AT RADICAL CHANGES DESIGNED TO MAKE THE GI BILL A BETTER DEAL FOR TROOPS. "The GI Bill made America into the best-educated country in the world," military historian...

POISON PILLS FOR CAMPAIGN REFORM.(legislation that enhances the Federal Election Commission's powers)
August 21, 1999... House members who back campaign finance changes have long endorsed strengthening the Federal Election Commission. But these reform advocates now find themselves in the awkward position of opposing a package of much-sought FEC improvements. The...

WATERGATE-ERA LAWS, R.I.P.
August 21, 1999... Amateur and professional Watergate-wallowers recently commemorated the 25th anniversary of Richard M. Nixon's resignation as President. Far less attention has been paid, however, to the diverse policy changes that Congress made during what has...

WHEN THE BOSS IS AWAY ...(White House staff vacations)
August 21, 1999... "Even Gene is going on vacation," volunteered several White House staffers this week, referring to Gene B. Sperling, President Clinton's famously work-obsessed national economic adviser. When Sperling (who thinks it's an easy workday if he gets...

A NEW FRONT IN THE ABORTION WAR.
August 21, 1999... Michael Lenz wants justice. More than four years ago, his wife, Carrie, five months pregnant with Michael James Lenz III, who would have been the couple's first child, was killed in the Oklahoma City bombing. Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols...

People.
August 21, 1999... Interest Groups The Healthcare Leadership Council will get an infusion of lobbying talent next month, when Mary R. Grealy comes aboard as its new president. Health care expert Grealy spent the past four years as chief counsel for the...

RULING-CLASS HEROES.(popular opinion about journalists)
August 21, 1999... Journalists live in a culturally iffy place these days. Society doesn't know what to think about us anymore. Are we friend or foe? A blessing or a plague? Knowing this, and cursed with terribly shaky egos, we don't know what to think of...

THE POWER OF FLOWERS TO BRING PEACE.(Colombia's cut flower industry)
August 21, 1999... Later this year, when business and world leaders meet in Seattle for the World Trade Organization's next round of global trade talks, they'll hear the din of protesters banging their drums outside hotels and meeting rooms. The protesters are...

GARY BAUER, LIVING OFF THE LAND.(includes related article on Ted Welch)
August 21, 1999... "You've got to use the time you have to cause a good bit of trouble, and I think we can," said Jeffrey Bell, senior consultant to Republican Gary Bauer, a White House hopeful. "That's also known as winning," Bell hastened to add. It's a...

HOW AMES CHANGED THE REPUBLICAN CAMPAIGN.(Republican straw poll in Ames, Iowa)
August 21, 1999... Although much maligned, the Iowa Republican straw poll is one of the most remarkable events in American politics. Where else on a beautiful, 75-degree, August afternoon could you find 20,000 people sitting in a darkened arena listening to...

Hotline Extra.(includes related article on Iowa straw poll resuts)
August 21, 1999... George W. Bush won the Aug. 14 Republican presidential straw poll in Ames, Iowa, with the most votes ever, 7,418. Bush Communications Director Karen Hughes: "It was a convincing win. He exceeded all expectations. He shattered the record, and he...

IT DIDN'T REALLY COUNT, BUT ...
August 21, 1999... AMES, Iowa--True, it was only a straw poll. And George W. Bush, the winner, managed to pull only 31.3 percent of the record turnout of 23,685 Iowans--factors the Texas Governor's rivals quickly (and somewhat desperately) pointed out. But...

VIEWS ON PRESIDENTIAL PERFORMANCE.(Statistical Data Included)
August 21, 1999... VIEWS ON PRESIDENTIAL PERFORMANCE Following the Leader Do you have a generally favorable or unfavorable opinion of Bill Clinton? (margin of error [+ or -] 3 percentage points; Opinion Dynamics Corp. for Fox News Channel) [GRAPH...

SIFTING THROUGH THE IOWA STRAW.
August 21, 1999... Yes, of course, last weekend's Ames straw poll was a meaningless event. But it was the most important meaningless event in modern political history. Ask Lamar Alexander. Look closely at the results and you can see the message Iowa party...