National Journal articles from February 2001

National Journal archives from February 2001

An Overdue Verdict.(New York Supreme Court sues New York State for inadequate public education)(Brief Article)
February 3, 2001... A commentary on public education and other critical issues Several weeks ago, New York State Supreme Court Justice Leland DeGrasse rendered a sweeping decision ordering the state to provide adequate funding for a "sound, basic" education...

CORRECTIONS.(Correction Notice)
February 3, 2001... A recent article about Transportation Secretary Norman Y. Mineta (1/27/01, p. 271) misstated comments by Eric K. Federing. Federing said that Mineta was aware of the challenge of being a Democrat in the Bush Administration, but that he took the...

NIGHTMARE ON DEM STREET: MCCAIN'S BILL BECOMES LAW.(John McCain's Reform Act of 2001)
February 3, 2001... A month ago, I might have described the following as a Democratic dream: The Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2001, now called the McCain-Feingold-Cochran bill but still popularly--very popularly, among Democrats--known as McCain-Feingold,...

THE RISK IS NOT ESTABLISHING RELIGION, BUT DEGRADING IT.(religion and the George W. Bush Administration)
February 3, 2001... The folks who see incipient theocracy in every crucifix hanging on a federally financed soup-kitchen wall are in a lather about the sayings, prayings, and doings of Ayatollah George W. Bush. They have legitimate grounds for complaint. Consider...

SO MANY GREENSPANS, AND ALL OF THEM HUMAN.(Alan Greenspan's tax policies)
February 3, 2001... Alan Greenspan is so busy driving down interest rates, ruling on the nation's budgetary priorities, and generally running the country, that it is difficult at the moment to pay much attention to less important parts of the government, such as...

Tax Cut Fever.(high technology businesses seeks tax cuts)
February 3, 2001... THE BUSINESS COMMUNITY'S PENT-UP DEMAND FOR TAX CUTS THREATENS TO OVERWHELM GEORGE W. BUSH'S PLAN TO CUT RATES FOR INDIVIDUAL TAXPAYERS. 1981, ANYONE? Tucked away in the dimly lit basement of the Commerce Department is one of Washington's...

TAXING QUESTIONS ABOUT LIFE AFTER DEBT.(tax policies of the George W. Bush Administration)
February 3, 2001... In 1996, when Bob Dole was running for President on a platform of cutting income tax rates across the board, his top economic adviser, Stanford University's John Taylor, argued that a 15 percent rate cut was needed to "raise the economic growth...

MINING FOR DEMOCRATIC VOTES ON THE HILL.(George W. Bush's management of bipartisan politics)
February 3, 2001... Rep. Collin C. Peterson, an affable conservative Democrat from Minnesota, says his few forays to the Clinton White House weren't all that memorable. But Peterson is gushing about his recent meeting with the new President. The Jan. 23...

IT'S ALL ABOUT CHOICES.(business taxes and government spending statistics)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
February 3, 2001... Business groups are pushing a growing list of tax cuts this year, in addition to the cuts in personal income tax rates advocated by President Bush. Here is a roster of the biggest business breaks in the offing, an with it another list of what...

GRIDLOCK, BY THE NUMBERS.(evaluation of senators and representatives)(Statistical Data Included)
February 3, 2001... When George W. Bush vowed during his presidential campaign to remove bipartisanship from Washington's list of dirty words, congressional insiders snickered that he was setting a daunting task for himself. Now, National Journal's annual...

PIVOTAL EVENTS IN CONGRESS.(education, seniors' Medicare, farmers' assistance, budget surplus, confirmation of John Ashcroft)
February 3, 2001... JANUARY 29-FEBRUARY 1 Senate Approves Ashcroft Nomination In the end, the battle over the nomination of former Sen. John Ashcroft, R-Mo., for Attorney General was not over whether he would be confirmed--which was not in doubt as the...

Hill People.(personnel changes)(Brief Article)
February 3, 2001... House Booth S. Jameson, 54, a former legislative director for Rep. Michael N. Castle, R-Del., has joined the Washington office of the global information technology company EDS. Jameson, who spent more than eight years on Castle's staff, is...

FANCY FOOTWORK REQUIRED.(Democratic leader Thomas A. Daschle)(Brief Article)
February 3, 2001... It has been a strange couple of months for Senate Democrats. The jubilation over wiping out their five-seat disadvantage from a year ago has dissipated a tad. Reality has set in. The 50-50 Senate and the early days of George W. Bush's...

BUSH'S NEW GREEN TOOLBOX.(environmental policies)
February 3, 2001... Last April, George W. Bush made the first environmental speech of his presidential campaign at a former Superfund site in Pittsburgh. Bush's handlers chose the location to spotlight the Pennsylvania state program under which the abandoned...

A DIFFERENT TACK WITH CONGRESS.(George W. Bush)(Brief Article)
February 3, 2001... When Bill Clinton took office in 1993, he quickly went to work on a signature issue of his presidential campaign--health care reform. He tapped first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton and White House adviser Ira Magaziner to head a 500-person task...

TESTING HIS BRIEFING-ROOM BALANCE.(L. Ari Fleischer, White House press secretary)(Brief Article)
February 3, 2001... It is, without a doubt, one of the toughest jobs anywhere. It takes only a session or two of standing at the White House briefing-room podium to test a new press secretary's balance. "I think what's surprising is the intensity of it," said...

BIOTECH GROUP GOES FOR AN UPGRADE.(Biotechnology Industry Organization hires new staff)(Brief Article)
February 3, 2001... Can a niche association persuade Congress to give a tax break to companies that don't earn profits and don't pay taxes? Carl Feldbaum, president of the Biotechnology Industry Organization, and the new lobbyists he has hired at the...

EL TORO YIELDS BIG FEES.(El Toro Marine Corps Air Station airport plan lobbyists)(Brief Article)
February 3, 2001... In the latest high-stakes battle over the future of a shuttered military base, Washington lobbyists are earning huge fees by representing both supporters and opponents of a commercial airport that has been proposed for the site of the former El...

FROM THE K STREET CORRIDOR.(lobbying news)(Brief Article)
February 3, 2001... `Sen. Pothole' Still Bringing Home the Bacon Republican Alfonse D'Amato (aka Sen. Pothole during his 18-year career in the World s Most Deliberative Body) is back in Washington and still working hard to funnel money to New York. The former...

TILL DEATH (OR UNCLE SAM) DO US PART.(welfare program focusing on marriage)(Brief Article)
February 3, 2001... No one expects the new Republican President to make government bigger by launching vast new federal agencies. But an analyst from the conservative Heritage Foundation says the federal government could do with one new bureau, and it's one that...

THE NEW JAZZ.(press conference with the George W. Bush Administration)(Brief Article)
February 3, 2001... It was almost showtime. We slipped through the crowd to our usual seats up front, right below the stage. We were joking around, laughing real loud like we owned the place. Low expectations are the greatest tranquilizer. They loosen you up, make...

MISSING: HILL EXPERTISE.(international trade policy planning)(Brief Article)
February 3, 2001... After years of political maneuvering and patient waiting, Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, and Rep. Bill Thomas, R-Calif., have finally ascended to the powerful chairmanships of the Senate Finance and House Ways and Means committees,...

Hotline Extra.(news on various topics and issues)
February 3, 2001... A First? A Senator With No Opinion: Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., is learning that even as a Senator, she can't always control the agenda. At her first press conference, she "wanted to talk about her upcoming Senate votes. [but] she was...

BEWARE OF ONE-SIDED, SELF-SERVING ANALYSIS.(evaluation of Al Gore's presidential campaign strategies)
February 3, 2001... To hear the Democratic Leadership Council tell it, Al Gore lost last year's presidential race because he moved too far to the left and, in the process, gave short shrift to suburban voters, white males, and workers in the new economy. At a DLC...

Poll Track.(survey on various topics)(Brief Article)
February 3, 2001... Views on policy and politics Rolling-Blackout Review THE LIGHT THAT FAILED As Californians coped with rolling blackouts imposed to reduce electricity shortages brought on by ill-considered utility deregulation, 46 percent of those...

People.(new private sector positions of former public employees)
February 3, 2001... Image-Makers Proving that there's life after Al Gore's defeat, Paul Thornell has joined Hill and Knowlton in the public affairs firm's Washington office as a senior account supervisor. Since 1998, he had served as Gore's deputy director of...

READIN', WRITIN', AND COMPETITIVENESS.(educational policy of George W. Bush)(Brief Article)
February 3, 2001... Now we have a Republican President talking about expanding the federal government's role in education with a program aimed at helping poor children and minorities. Is this the Great Society, Part Two? Not quite. Whenever the federal...

THE FLIRTY JOCK AND THE LOVE-STARVED BOOKWORMS.(George W. Bush's strategy for managing bipartisan politics)
February 10, 2001... Everyone keeps gushing about what an incredible honeymoon President Bush is having, but to me, the current era of good feeling does not feel like a honeymoon at all. Rather, it feels much more as if Washington has just begun going out with W....

TOBACCO LAWYERS AND THE CASE FOR COVER-UP REFORM.
February 10, 2001... Two decades ago, when Big Tobacco still seemed invincible, a top Brown & Williamson attorney named Ernest Pepples laid out in stark terms what might be called the honesty option: "If we admit that smoking is harmful to heavy smokers, do we not...

ARE YOU A LEARJET LIBERAL? TAKE THIS SIMPLE TEST.(campaign finance of legislators for the 2000 elections)
February 10, 2001... Like many people, I gasped when I read that Jon Corzine, a former investment banker who is reportedly worth almost $400 million on a good day, spent $60 million of his own money last year to win a U.S. Senate seat from New Jersey. I thought, at...

Shock Politics.(California power crisis and utilities deregulation)
February 10, 2001... THE CALIFORNIA POWER CRISIS HAS SPARKED A NATIONAL DEBATE ON DEREGULATION. In December, when electricity supplies in California became desperately low, Ellen Garvey began negotiating a pact to keep 12 San Francisco-area power plants...

A Tale of Two Allies.(Europe's relationship with the United States)(Interview)
February 10, 2001... AS EUROPE BECOMES INCREASINGLY INTEGRATED, FRANCE AND GERMANY LOOK MORE TOWARD BRUSSELS AND LESS TOWARD WASHINGTON. THIS COULD BE TROUBLE. BERLIN--In a smoky gasthaus near Potsdamer Platz, German and American diplomats, journalists, and...

On the Brink, Again.(Japan's economic situation)
February 10, 2001... JAPAN, WHICH MAY BE SLIDING INTO A RECESSION, PROMISES TO BE A HEADACHE FOR PRESIDENT BUSH. SIMPLY CALLING FOR GREATER `PRICE COMPETITION'--AS TREASURY SECRETARY O'NEILL DID THIS WEEK--MIGHT NOT BE A CURE. TOKYO -- The cramped,...

BEHIND THE BROWN PAPER BAG.(Republican Representative Jim Nussle)
February 10, 2001... Rep. Jim Nussle, R-Iowa, probably doesn't get recognized much when he walks down the street. After all, the most famous picture of Nussle shows him with a brown paper bag over his head. Back in October 1991, he was the maverick freshman...

A DATE WITH DEADLOCK?(Senate budget planning)(Brief Article)
February 10, 2001... The Senate Budget Committee is split evenly along party lines, with a membership that spans a broad ideological spectrum ranging from Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., on the left to Sen. Phil Gramm, R-Texas, on the right. The sharp...

BEATING THE BUSHES FOR EARMARKS.(George W. Bush's budget policies)(Brief Article)
February 10, 2001... When he was arguing along the campaign trail for tax cuts, George W. Bush liked to say that as the budget surplus piled up, Congress--especially "the appropriators"--would sooner spend it than pay down the federal debt. As the Bush team...

PIVOTAL EVENTS IN CONGRESS.(congress and George W. Bush's economic policies)
February 10, 2001... FEBRUARY 5-8 Bush Sticks to His Script on Tax Cuts... "That's my story, and I'm sticking to it," was the White House theme of the week as President Bush unveiled a $1.6 trillion, 10-year tax cut plan that he and his aides insisted...

Hill People.(Brief Article)
February 10, 2001... House The government relations company Cassidy & Associates is powering up with the addition of three Capitol Hill veterans skilled in legislation, policy, and regulation. Scott MacConomy, 42, worked for now-retired Sen. Daniel Patrick...

WHEN THE DOT-COM BUBBLE BURST.(failure of high-technology industries)(Brief Article)(Industry Overview)
February 10, 2001... Long before Internet stocks, the "Great Die-Up" of 1886-87 wrecked one of the hot industries of the period: open-range cattle ranching. Following a brutal winter, one witness to the spring thaw saw "countless carcasses of cattle going down with...

LARRY LINDSEY PULLS NO PUNCHES.(tax cut planner interviewed)(Interview)
February 10, 2001... The architect of President Bush's $1.6 billion tax cut plan is Larry Lindsey, a former Federal Reserve governor who will head up a revamped National Economic Council within the White House. Fresh from a meeting with business executives (where...

MERGERS ON THE RADAR.(John Ashcroft to deal with Trans World Airlines/American Airlines merger)(Brief Article)
February 10, 2001... On the same day that John Ashcroft won his hard-fought confirmation battle and was sworn in as Attorney General, approximately 100 Trans World Airlines pilots and flight attendants rallied outside the Capitol in support of American Airlines'...

NEW ADVOCATE ON THE RELIGIOUS RIGHT.(Kenneth L. Connor profiled)
February 10, 2001... Kenneth L. Connor laughs as he recalls the moment in August 1992, when he--a trial lawyer--was sitting in the second row of Houston's Astrodome watching President George H.W. Bush pound the podium. "My opponent's campaign is being backed by...

From the K Street Corridor.(appointments, cases)(Brief Article)
February 10, 2001... Drug Lobbyist Leaves Over `Differences' The Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America is undergoing high-level changes. James Christy, PhRMA's top lobbyist who joined the group about a year ago, is leaving because of differences...

IMMIGRANTS WITHOUT IMMIGRATION.(Phil Gramm's plan for Mexican illegal immigrants)
February 10, 2001... When President Bush and his Mexican counterpart, Vicente Fox, put their cowboy boots up on the table and chat on Feb. 16 at Fox's ranch in San Cristobal, Mexico, a likely topic will be the millions of Mexican unskilled laborers in the United...

ANOTHER FRONT IN THE ABORTION WARS.(abortion legislation of the new government)
February 10, 2001... On the 28th anniversary of the landmark Roe vs. Wade decision, thousands of abortion-rights foes marched down Washington's Constitution Avenue en route to the Supreme Court. Energized by the inauguration of a new President who was an...

THE WRONG MEDICINE.(the decline of CNN)(Brief Article)
February 10, 2001... Tuning in to CNN these days feels like visiting the hospital room of an old friend dying a slow, painful death. You linger for a bit, motivated by both a vague sense of loyalty and--let's face it--a sick fascination at the horror of it all. ...

OLD SOLDIERS DON'T FADE AWAY.(Army contract award investigation)(Brief Article)
February 10, 2001... Squads of lawyers will square off next week inside the General Accounting Office over whether the Army acted improperly when it awarded a $4.3 billion contract for armored troop carriers to the high bidder--a team made up of defense contractors...

Views on policy and politics.(public opinion polls)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
February 10, 2001... * White House 2004 DEMOCRATIC CRYSTAL GAZING Democratic National Committee Chairman Terry McAuliffe may have predicted on Meet the Press that Hillary Rodham Clinton will not make a run for the White House in 2004, but some Americans...

Hotline Extra.(political briefs)
February 10, 2001... A Bitter Pill Democratic National Committee Chairman Terry McAuliffe has just been elected to his post, and already he's emerging as a lightning rod for the GOP. Democrats "swallowed reservations about symbolism and elected" McAuliffe,...

A BIT OF UNSOLICITED ADVICE FOR HILLARY.(Hillary Rodham Clinton's political conduct)(Brief Article)
February 10, 2001... "Not since 1962, when the youngest brother of the sitting President of the United States became a Senator, has a freshman member received nearly as much attention as Hillary Rodham Clinton has during her first month in office. Then again, when...

People.
February 10, 2001... Image-Makers "It was not just a roller-coaster ride, it was like taking an F-16 during a hurricane," said Clifford D. May of his four-year stint as communications director for the Republican National Committee. May, 49, is heading to the...

FLORIDA SAVED THE ELECTORAL COLLEGE.(opinions on Electoral College)(Government Activity)(Brief Article)
February 10, 2001... "If Al Gore became President after more people voted for George W. Bush, the Electoral College would be history." Those words were written in this space last fall, a week before the Nov. 7 election. As it happens, the premise turned out to be...

FROM DREADFUL BOREDOM TO PURE FASCINATION.(a day in the life of Eric Cantor, freshman Congressmen)
February 17, 2001... Being extremely new to Washington and its ways, I thought it might be interesting to write about someone else who was new, too: namely, a freshman member of Congress. I picked Eric Cantor. I chose him because he is a Jewish conservative...

GOOD PARDONS, BAD LAWS, AND BUSH'S UNIQUE OPPORTUNITY.(President Bush)
February 17, 2001... The uproar over ex-President Clinton's abuse of his pardon power in some cases has overshadowed his salutary use of it in others--in particular, his commutations of the savagely severe prison terms of more than 20 nonviolent, nondangerous bit...

THE DEFICIT THAT JUST ABOUT EVERYONE OVERLOOKS.(national trade deficit)
February 17, 2001... One of the most startling aspects of America's economic performance in recent years has been one of the least noticed. It affects the outlook for inflation, and hence for interest rates, yet it attracts next to no attention on Wall Street. It...

The Anti-Reformers.(legislators against the campaign finance reforms)
February 17, 2001... When Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., let it slip last month on a television talk show that he didn't plan to filibuster campaign finance reform legislation on the Senate floor this year, the bill's backers couldn't help but gloat. Reform advocates...

Misreading Mexico.(political reform may not succeed in Mexico)
February 17, 2001... Last August, in his first visit to Washington as the president-elect of Mexico, Vicente Fox hosted an exclusive dinner at the Mexican Embassy. Most of President Clinton's Cabinet attended, along with other prominent Americans with an interest...

Block Those Regs!(lobbyists campaign to block ergonomics regulation)
February 17, 2001... The inaugural celebrations were barely over when lobbyists from a wide swath of corporate America gathered on Jan. 24 for a crucial political strategy session at the Washington headquarters of the American Trucking Associations on First Street...

A TICKING TIME BOMB IN THE SENATE.(possible obstacles that may occur over a Supreme Court judge nominee)
February 17, 2001... Cynical or just plain battle-scarred veterans of Washington's ways are chuckling. They know for a certainty that President Bush will soon have to come to grips with the limits of his vaunted charm offensive. Certain issues cut to the bone of...

PIVOTAL EVENTS IN CONGRESS.
February 17, 2001... Bush Leaves Hill Guessing on Defense President Bush was long on rhetoric and short on numbers during a series of "defense-week" speeches at military installations as he promised to restructure the armed forces for the 21st century....

Hill People.(Brief Article)
February 17, 2001... House "I want to go into public relations," departing Hill staffer Lee J. Alman said, "but it's kind of hard to transition." Now, Alman is on his way: He has joined the government relations practice of Golin/ Harris International in...

FLEXTIME AT THE WHITE HOUSE.(George W. Bush's work day)
February 17, 2001... When Secret Service agents winged a gun-wielding man outside the South Lawn in early February, Americans learned something about their new President: He can be found exercising in the White House residence in the middle of the morning. On a...

THE NOT-IN-MY-STATE OPTION.(Congress' plan to increase minimum wage)(Brief Article)
February 17, 2001... You can't blame Democrats for feeling a little giddy about one of their pet causes: a hike in the federal minimum wage. Just last week, Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., and his congressional allies unveiled a bill that, over the next three years,...

AL GONZALES: DRAWING THE ETHICS LINES.(Office of White House Counsel head)(Interview)
February 17, 2001... One of President Bush's oft-stated objectives is to "restore honor and dignity" to the White House. To this end, he has plucked Alberto R. Gonzales, a Harvard-educated lawyer and former Texas Supreme Court justice, from relative obscurity to...

SOFT MONEY UNLEASHED.(political contributions by big business and big labor)
February 17, 2001... It was the political equivalent of the arms race. During the 1999-2000 election cycle, big business and big labor nearly doubled their "soft-money" contributions to the Republican and Democratic parties from four years earlier. A National...

FROM THE K STREET CORRIDOR.(Brief Article)
February 17, 2001... Lights-Out for TVA "Consultants" The Tennessee Valley Authority--the federally owned electric utility that serves 8 million customers--has pulled the plug on its contracts with Washington lobbyists. Officials at Knoxville-based TVA say the...

SLOVENIA DOES WELL BY DOING GOOD.(funding for land mine clearing)(Brief Article)
February 17, 2001... The inventor of the PROM-1 land mine, one mine-clearance technician has said, "needs his own little special corner in hell." The mine, when tripped, shoots up in the air before blasting lethal shrapnel for 50 yards in all directions. It is so...

BRAND-X DRUGS FIGHT FOR RECOGNITION.(political activities of the generic drug industry)(Brief Article)
February 17, 2001... With fresh leadership and a newfound unity, the manufacturers of generic versions of brand-name prescription drugs are preparing an aggressive offensive on Capitol Hill this year. The industry, which recently merged its three trade associations...

DYING TO BE READ: WHAT OBITS TELL US.(Brief Article)
February 17, 2001... When Dale Evans and Anne Morrow Lindbergh died on the same day last week, obituary junkies everywhere felt that old shiver. Obits come in countless varieties, and each has its thrills. But the most coveted specimens, the ones that give the best...

HOW TO BREAK THE LOGJAM.(management of trade negotiations)(Brief Article)
February 17, 2001... The White House and Congress appear to be gearing up for yet another battle about presidential trade-negotiating authority. At issue is whether future trade agreements with those nations we want as more-significant business partners should...

Poll Track.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
February 17, 2001... * The Administration DON'T MESS WITH TAXES As President Bush works to sell Congress and the nation on his tax-cut plan, a majority of Americans continue to say they'd rather see the budget surplus used for other things. Adults surveyed...

Hotline Extra.
February 17, 2001... Fade to Blackout The political gloves are coming off in California's ongoing energy crisis. Dan Walters of The Sacramento Bee writes: "It's no secret" that Gov. Gray Davis' relationships with his fellow Democrats are "cool at best and...

TAX-CUT POLITICS AND `BLUE DOG' DEMOCRATS.(Brief Article)
February 17, 2001... It's hardly surprising that President Bush's $1.6 trillion tax-cut proposal has triggered political maneuvering by Republicans and Democrats on Capitol Hill. What is surprising is that the maneuvering may serve to keep down the size of the tax...

People.
February 17, 2001... Around the Agencies Laurie Fenton, the new chief of staff to Commerce Secretary Donald L. Evans, is busy helping her boss reorient the department toward the high-tech community. The 39-year-old Fenton has spent more than nine years in a...

SIMPLY `SHOWING STRENGTH' MIGHT NOT DO.(Israel elections for prime minister)(Brief Article)
February 17, 2001... TEL AVIV--Israel's Feb. 6 election set two records: the biggest margin of defeat for any government in the nation's history, and the lowest voter turnout in Israel's history. So what exactly were voters trying to say? Israeli analysts agreed on...

CORRECTION.(Correction Notice)
February 24, 2001... A recent article about the policy implications of advances in neuroscience (2/3/01, p. 338) mischaracterized Stephen Stryyssar's position on Ritalin usage. He is not opposed to the drug. He is opposed to school professionals' pressuring parents...

Letters.
February 24, 2001... KEEP THE FAITH Regarding Stuart Taylor Jr.'s otherwise thought-provoking column on President Bush's faith-based initiative [2/3/01, p. 320]: We take issue with the way he portrays Catholic Charities USA's advocacy role in Washington, D.C....

A CARD CLUB, A CASINO, AND THEATER OF THE ABSURD.(Native American casinos in California)
February 24, 2001... Gale Norton, get a load of this: Last October, before the Omnibus Indian Advancement Act of 2000 came to the House floor, Democratic Rep. George Miller of California slipped the following into the 150-page bill: SEC. 819. LAND TO BE TAKEN...

HOW THE MARC RICH PARDON COULD SPAWN A NEW PROSECUTION.
February 24, 2001... Here we go again. Another criminal-congressional tag-team crew investigating Bill Clinton. This time, it's to determine not whether he lied under oath about sex--which Clinton essentially admitted at long last on Jan. 19--but whether, on the...

FORGET THE MARC RICH PARDON. WORRY ABOUT THE SCANDAL.
February 24, 2001... Even by Washington's standards, the piling on that followed President Clinton's midnight pardon of Marc Rich has been impressive. Well, the pardon was not pretty, but the scandal it triggered exemplifies Rauch's Law: In postmodern,...

The Passionless Public.(the political activity of Americans)
February 24, 2001... EVEN WITH NEW LEADERS IN POWER, THE PUBLIC ISN'T DEMANDING THAT WASHINGTON DO VERY MUCH. BUT LOW EXPECTATIONS SHOULD MAKE POLITICIANS QUEASY. DOING NOTHING IS DANGEROUS, ESPECIALLY IF THE ECONOMY CRUMPLES. Once upon a political time,...

Bush's Big Test.(George W. Bush's education policies)
February 24, 2001... WHEN BUSH SUBMITS HIS EDUCATION PLAN TO CONGRESS, PAY ATTENTION TO WHAT HE SAYS ABOUT SCHOOL TESTING. IT'S THE KEY PART OF HIS INITIATIVE. LANCASTER, Pa.--When the results of last quarter's student reading assessments arrived at Martin...

FedEx Flies High.
February 24, 2001... A HIT MOVIE. A BIG CHINA TRADE DEAL. A BILLION-DOLLAR ALLIANCE WITH A BUSINESS RIVAL. FEDERAL EXPRESS IS ABSOLUTELY, POSITIVELY A COMPANY ON THE MOVE. Chuck Noland, the character played by Tom Hanks in the film Cast Away, is a Federal...

THE RETURN OF CATASTROPHIC.(Medicare policies of the United States Congress)
February 24, 2001... The notion of using Medicare to protect the elderly against catastrophic medical bills--an idea left for dead by Congress a dozen years ago after a revolt by affluent seniors--is back. In 1988, President Reagan and Congress thought they...