National Journal articles from May 2000

National Journal archives from May 2000

Correction.
May 6, 2000... An article on Radio Marti (4/29/2000, p. 1356) incorrectly reported that the station is part of the State Department. Radio Marti is a unit of the International Broadcasting Bureau, an independent agency.

ELIAN: AN EXCESS OF CERTITUDE AND IDEOLOGY, ON ALL SIDES.
May 6, 2000... Am I the only person in Washington who is not sure--absolutely, unequivocally sure--of the answers to all the big questions raised by the Elian Gonzalez drama? The only one who isn't certain that the boy should go back to Cuba with his...

WHOM ARE THE CRITICS OF CAPITALISM REALLY TRYING TO HELP?
May 6, 2000... May Day, a big date in the old socialist calendar, was marked by new flurries of anti-capitalist protest around Europe and much of the world. In Moscow, the communist regime once marked the occasion by organizing vast parades of workers and...

Gephardt's Long March.
May 6, 2000... House Minority Leader Richard A. Gephardt, D-Mo., is behaving an awful lot these days like another well-known political figure. Gephardt probably wouldn't welcome comparisons to this much-lampooned and now somewhat discredited character. But as...

A Republican Resurgence.
May 6, 2000... HOUSE REPUBLICANS HAVE NEWFOUND OPTIMISM THAT THEY WILL BE ABLE TO RETAIN THEIR MAJORITY IN NOVEMBER. House Republicans kicked off 2000 by holding a news conference that was supposed to celebrate their sixth year in power. But the event was...

The Senate Shuffle.
May 6, 2000... AS THE ELECTION APPROACHES, SEVERAL SENATE REPUBLICANS ELECTED IN 1994 ARE MOVING TOWARD THE CENTER. Five years ago, when he first took his seat in the Senate, Republican Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania wore the kind of look that said, "Get...

THE MONEY TRAIN.
May 6, 2000... An explosion of political money that has shattered all records may leave this year's House and Senate candidates with more in their pockets than they even know what to do with. The amount spent on campaigns increases with each election, of...

WHERE ARE THE CHALLENGERS?
May 6, 2000... By all rights, Randy Miller, the president pro tem of Oregon's Senate, should have been a strong challenger for that state's 5th Congressional District seat, which is held by Rep. Darlene Hooley, a two-term Democrat. After all, the 5th has been...

A LOOK AT KEY RACES IN THE HOUSE AND SENATE.
May 6, 2000... When all is said and done, control of the House isn't likely to be won or lost by the strategic political decisions being made in Washington these days or the issues being highlighted by Republican and Democratic leaders. More likely, the fate...

PIVOTAL EVENTS IN CONGRESS.
May 6, 2000... MAY 1-14 Africa-Caribbean Bill Nears Completion The House on May 4 approved, 309-110, the conference report on legislation that would significantly expand trade with African and Caribbean countries, and Senate action is expected to...

HOUSE-SENATE COMMITTEE ACTION.
May 6, 2000... * OVERVIEW House and Senate authorizing committees went into battle with the Clinton Administration over defense policy, but made peace with military retirees by offering them new prescription drug benefits. Meanwhile, as the appropriators...

Hot Bills.
May 6, 2000... Here is the status of major legislation on the congressional front burner: PATIENTS' RIGHTS House: Approved a bipartisan patients' rights bill (H.R. 2723) on Oct. 7, 1999, 275-151, and then merged it with an insurance access bill...

Hill People.
May 6, 2000... House Brian E. Branton, the new senior legislative assistant for Rep. Rush Holt, D-NJ, says working on Capitol Hill is not unlike being back in college. "Here's my theory," he said. "You work on a `campus,' you go to these hearings, which...

WHEN HEALTH GOALS COLLIDE.
May 6, 2000... A branch of the Department of Health and Human Services has threatened to withhold millions of dollars in substance abuse treatment funds from several states if they don't improve their enforcement of laws prohibiting tobacco sales to minors....

COMPETE WITH AMERICA? US?
May 6, 2000... Now that the Justice Department has gone a few rounds with Microsoft Corp., the not-so-gentle giant from the Northwest, it's time for Assistant Attorney General Joel Klein and his band of trustbusters to take on really big problems--namely,...

THE PERMANENT PROTESTERS.
May 6, 2000... The tear gas is gone, the barricades have been dismantled, and the jeering crowds have dispersed. After the days of protests in April, Washington has returned to normal. The bureaucrats, lawyers, trade group executives, and tourists have...

FROM THE K STREET CORRIDOR.
May 6, 2000... The Doctors Against the Nurses On June 1, the Clinton Administration is expected to issue a regulation that would permit nurses to administer anesthesia to patients without supervision from doctors. But the American Society of...

BYE-BYE, AMERICAN PIE.
May 6, 2000... On his latest album's title track, pop star Don Henley performs a remarkable feat--he makes copyright law the stuff of rock `n' roll. From the title to lyrics as published in Billboard, "Inside Job" delivers a withering message about Washington...

People.
May 6, 2000... Image-Makers During his 18 years as a contributing correspondent for CBS News and a national correspondent for Washington's WUSA-TV, Kent W. Jarrell was the "disaster guy." He covered everything from earthquakes and hurricanes to the...

Hotline Extra.
May 6, 2000... Hastert, Will Travel What did you do over your spring break? House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., spent his spring recess "crisscrossing the country in small airplanes, swooping into far-flung competitive House districts, and helping...

Veep Watch.
May 6, 2000... A weekly review of Campaign 2000 Adding their two cents on the much-talked-about GOP vice presidential possibilities, young Republicans from across the country chose Rep. John R. Kasich (above) of Ohio in a straw poll to be George W....

SPOT CHECK: AD OF THE WEEK.
May 6, 2000... Keeping It Green The Sierra Club Produced by Haddow Communications 16 30-second ads Hoping to keep the green interest growing after Earth Day, the Sierra Club in late April launched an $8 million national television, radio, and print...

Issue Spotlight.
May 6, 2000... WILL HEALTH CARE HEAT UP THE HILL? Although health care issues haven't caught fire on the presidential campaign trail, the results of a recent Harris Poll suggest that the Democratic Party could exploit a powerful public perception that...

Poll Track.
May 6, 2000... Views on policy and politics Congressional Record TIED UP The Republican advantage in a generic congressional matchup has dwindled. (Gallup for CNN-USA Today) IF THE ELECTION WERE HELD TODAY, WHICH PARTY'S CANDIDATE WOULD YOU...

WHATEVER HAPPENED TO THE CAMPAIGN?
May 6, 2000... Early in World War II, as Adolf Hitler's armies marked time for six months between Germany's blitzkrieg conquest of Poland and its invasions of Denmark and Norway, the hiatus became known as the "twilight war" by some, "the phony war" by...

A RACE ROILED BY UNKNOWNS.
May 6, 2000... Upon hearing the news that Elvis had died, a Hollywood cynic is reported to have said, "Good career move." Well, New York and Washington are full of cynics. And sure enough, upon hearing the news that New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani has...

A BLANK CHECK.(Brief Article)
May 13, 2000... People in Hartford, Connecticut, have good reason to be proud and pleased. For a number of years, students in this poor, urban school district ranked academically lowest in the state, but now things are changing. A new superintendent, working...

HOW THE EMBARGO HURTS CUBANS AND HELPS CASTRO.
May 13, 2000... In the early 1960s, the CIA plotted to poison Fidel Castro's cigars, to send Mafia hit men after him, and to make his beard fall out by dusting his shoes with a depilatory. These were not good ideas. Now the centerpiece of U.S. policy is the...

FORGET ABOUT CHINA--CAN TRADE BE SAVED FROM THE WTO?
May 13, 2000... As Congress braces itself to debate China's entry into the World Trade Organization, now may be a good moment to remember, nostalgically, the most successful international organization that ever was. The United Nations? Get serious. The Bretton...

Siblings Fat and Sassy.
May 13, 2000... NOW THAT FANNIE MAE AND FREDDIE MAC HAVE BALLONED INTO MULTIBILLION-DOLLAR PLAYERS IN THE NATION'S FINANCIAL MARKETS, CRITICS SAY THESE GOVERNMENT-CREATED COMPANIES ARE TOO BIG AND TOO POWERFUL. On a ravishing April afternoon, Fannie Mae...

Humanity's Court.
May 13, 2000... THE HAGUE, Netherlands--Each workday on the outskirts of this wind-swept city on Holland's North Sea coast, in a nondescript building that was once an insurance agency, the cumbersome bureaucracy of international justice confronts the banality...

ALL ABOARD THE REFORM BUS.
May 13, 2000... Just like the summer tourists who predictably clog the Capitol's corridors every year, campaign finance reform is back yet again. This time, reform legislation has returned to the Senate's agenda, propelled by the attention-grabbing (if...

PIVOTAL EVENTS IN CONGRESS.
May 13, 2000... Land Conservation Bill Clears House The House approved a massive natural resources conservation bill on May 11 after logrolling two of the Republican majority's most faithful constituencies--fiscal conservatives and property-rights...

HOUSE-SENATE COMMITTEE ACTION.
May 13, 2000... Social Programs Squeezed In House, Senate Bills * APPROPRIATIONS Call it Rep. John Edward Porter's last stand. On May 10, the retiring Illinois Republican chaired his last markup by the House Appropriations Labor, Health and Human Services,...

Hot Bills.(Brief Article)
May 13, 2000... Here is the status of major legislation on the congressional front burner: PATIENTS' RIGHTS House: Approved a bipartisan patients' rights bill (H.R. 2723) on Oct. 7, 1999, 275-151, then merged it with an insurance access bill (H.R....

Hill People.(Brief Article)
May 13, 2000... House The House Commerce Committee is losing two health care experts. Majority Counsel Jason Lee, 42, a lead staffer on managed care, is joining the Academy for Health Services Research and Health Policy as a senior research manager. Lee,...

A CRITICAL FENCE-SITTER.
May 13, 2000... Where's Charlie? That has been the question on many minds in the Capitol's hallways and the White House war room during the final, intensive maneuvering over President Clinton's request to permanently normalize trade relations with China. ...

IMPROVING THE WHITE HOUSE MEMORY.
May 13, 2000... White House Chief of Staff John Podesta recalls being jazzed his first day in the Clinton Administration--until he saw his workstation. There wasn't a single piece of paper on his desk, and not so much as a diagram telling him where the men's...

LESS IS MORE ON TORT REFORM.
May 13, 2000... Business lobbyists pushing for curbs on civil litigation boast that a new legislative strategy is starting to pay dividends. For more than a decade, the lobbyists promoted a massive overhaul of product liability laws. The bigger the bill, the...

The Unions' New Seniors Group.(Brief Article)
May 13, 2000... AFL-CIO leaders have announced the creation of an advocacy group for union retirees that would replace the independent--but union-backed--National Council of Senior Citizens. The AFL-CIO plans to launch the Alliance for Retired Americans on...

LUXURY GOODS.(Brief Article)
May 13, 2000... Ernst & Young hit the jackpot. On May 8, the international accounting and tax services firm morphed into an instant lobbying powerhouse by acquiring Washington Counsel and its roster of tax all-stars. No price was disclosed, but K Street...

HOW ONE SCHOOL SYSTEM MAKES THE GRADE.
May 13, 2000... OWENSBORO, Ky.--Twenty-two likenesses of President Clinton are in the making in Sonya Beyke's class at Whitesville Elementary School on the day before the President's visit to this rural, blue-collar area in western Kentucky. Beyke uses this...

DEFENSE MARKUPS EARN A FALLING GRADE.
May 13, 2000... The Senate Armed Services Committee acted as if it were spending its own money rather than the taxpayers' when it apportioned the Pentagon's $310 billion budget last week behind locked doors. Although reporters and the people they try to...

AND IF THE CHINA DEAL PASSES?(Brief Article)
May 13, 2000... Hope springs eternal, it seems, in the hearts of U.S. trade negotiators and of White House legacy draftsmen. Guardedly optimistic that the House will approve permanent normal trade relations with China by the end of May, Clinton Administration...

SHOWDOWN IN SILICON VALLEY.
May 13, 2000... SAN JOSE, Calif.--Voters in other congressional districts around the country might want to know where candidates stand on health care and taxes. But here, in California's 15th Congressional District, they're just as likely to ask about H-1B...

Campaign Circuit.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
May 13, 2000... Going for the Gold Fund-raiser Terry McAuliffe, who is coordinating the money chase for the Democratic National Committee's gala at the MCI Center on May 24, is keeping relatively quiet about just how much he expects to rake in, but some...

WARNING SIGNS FOR LABOUR.(Brief Article)
May 13, 2000... OXFORD, England--"Pathetic" is how the Labour Party poll teller described the voter turnout on May 4 at the Wesleyan Chapel in West Ward 2. Indeed, by 6:15 p.m., only 295 residents of this historic university town had bothered to cast paper...

Verbatim.(Brief Article)(Interview)
May 13, 2000... Excerpts from a May 9 interview with Gov. Jesse Ventura of Minnesota (above) on CNN's Crossfire. Bill Press: You said you didn't oppose this endorsement today by John McCain, but didn't it disappoint you? You did urge him to run as an...

At the Races A weekly review of Campaign 2000.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
May 13, 2000... Campaign Coffers Business interests are pouring a significant chunk of change into this year's House races, but they're hedging their bets by donating to both Republicans and Democrats. A May 8 report by the Center for Responsive...

HOTLINE EXTRA.
May 13, 2000... Opening the Cabinet Discussion Sen. John McCain's long-awaited endorsement of Texas Gov. George W. Bush immediately sparked speculation about what role the Arizona Senator might play in a Bush Administration. NBC's Tim Russert: "They'll...

ENOUGH, ALREADY! STOP THE SLOBBERING.(Statistical Data Included)
May 13, 2000... From all appearances, Tuesday's meeting between Texas Gov. George W. Bush and Sen. John McCain of Arizona took on the importance of a first summit between the heads of two world powers. News articles and television pieces set the stage for the...

'I LOVE YOU, MAN!' UH-HUH.(Brief Article)
May 13, 2000... PITTSBURGH--As political "summits" go, the one here the other day between Texas Gov. George W. Bush and Sen. John McCain of Arizona was a match for the usual diplomatic gatherings, in which world leaders stand before reporters and brief them,...

Issue Spotlight.(Statistical Data Included)
May 13, 2000... A PROHIBITIVE PRICE TAG? By a narrow 53 percent to 44 percent majority, Americans say that a proposed land- and space-based limited missile defense system is too expensive, and fear that it could trigger a new arms race says an ABCNews.com...

Views on policy and politics.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)(Polling Data)
May 13, 2000... * Satisfied Customers HIGH GRADES FOR HIGH TECH Even though the antitrust suit against Microsoft Corp. has dominated the news for months, consumers still gave computer software manufacturers the highest rating for customer service,...

People.
May 13, 2000... Media People USA Today has gone courting, and loan Biskupic has said yes. The Washington Post's Supreme Court reporter is leaving the city paper to take advantage of the 2 million readers that USA Today can offer nationally. She'll...

RATCHET BACK A BIT, AL.(Brief Article)
May 13, 2000... Here are the two most familiar themes in American politics: 1) You've never had it so good, and 2) It's time for a change. They rarely coexist in an election, which is what's odd about 2000. Both seem to be important this year. Americans always...

WHY YOU CAN'T SUE YOUR RAPIST IN FEDERAL COURT.(Brief Article)
May 20, 2000... The 1994 Violence Against Women Act provided (among other things) that victims of rape, domestic abuse, and other "crimes of violence motivated by gender" could file federal civil rights lawsuits against their alleged assailants. The measure...

FREE TRADE AND FREE CHINA: GOOD CAUSES, MUDDLED CHAMPIONS.
May 20, 2000... Political and business leaders who see themselves as champions of free trade have served the cause poorly. For years, admittedly, the institutions they built to promote open markets worked regardless of the designers' deeply muddled logic, and...

Art of the Deal.(Brief Article)
May 20, 2000... Seven years ago, the fight to pass the North American Free Trade Agreement was one of the first big tests of the Clinton presidency, and in some ways it was a prelude for things to come. For the first time, Clinton joined forces with...

Door-to-Door Diplomacy.(Brief Article)
May 20, 2000... CHINA HAS DONE LITTLE LOBBYING ON THE TRADE MEASURE, BUT ITS CORPORATE FRIENDS HAVE TAKEN UP THE SLACK. LOBBYING The China Mission Few Chinese officials are knocking on Capitol Hill doors to plead their nation's case for granting...

What's Driving the Teamsters?
May 20, 2000... HOFFA'S HARD-LINE STANCE AGAINST PNTR REFLECTS PRAGMATISM AND UNION POLITICS. LABOR The China Mission Most unions are actively opposing making normal trade relations with China permanent. But no union is doing so with as much...

The Next Revolution.
May 20, 2000... THE CHALLENGE FOR BEIJING AND THE WEST IS TO MODERNIZE CHINA WITHOUT INVITING INSTABILITY AND UPHEAVAL. ANALYSIS The China Mission Even as Congress debates granting China permanent normal trade relations, Beijing is in the midst...

Medicare's Challenge.(Brief Article)
May 20, 2000... NOTWITHSTANDING A ROSY FORECAST FROM ITS TRUSTEES, MEDICARE FACES SERIOUS PROBLEMS. HMOS ARE LEAVING, HOSPITALS ARE SCREAMING, AND ITS DAYS IN THE BLACK ARE NUMBERED. Medicare's trustees in March delivered the rosiest financial assessment...

FULL STEAM AHEAD TO DERAILMENT.
May 20, 2000... Imagine running a train service and not trying to avoid derailments, but instead simply trying to schedule them for convenient times. Welcome to the fiscal 2001 appropriations season in Congress. Republicans in recent weeks have written...

PIVOTAL EVENTS IN CONGRESS.(Brief Article)
May 20, 2000... MAY 15-18 China Trade Bill Gets a Boost Advocates of granting permanent normal trade relations to China were somewhat more optimistic this week that they will prevail, although both sides said they are fighting for every vote in the...

HOUSE-SENATE COMMITTEE ACTION.
May 20, 2000... BY NATIONAL JOURNAL NEWS SERVICE MAY 15-18 China Trade Package Sails Through Committees TRADE The debate over enhanced trade ties between the United States and China was surprisingly subdued in two key congressional committees...

Hot Bills.(Brief Article)
May 20, 2000... Here is the status of major legislation on the congressional front burner: EDUCATION House: Floor action is pending on the last of four parts of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act reauthorization (H.R. 4141). Senate: Began...

Hill People.
May 20, 2000... House James A. John has left Capitol Hill to go where the money is: He'll be a policy analyst in the Treasury Department's Office of International Monetary Policy. John, 28, was a research analyst on policy and public opinion in the...

IT'S JUST ONE SEAT.
May 20, 2000... The irrepressible James Carville, the mile-a-minute talker who gained fame as Bill Clinton's campaign guru in 1992, says he has a favorite question for audiences when he crisscrosses the country on a speaking tour. Assume that it's Oct. 5,...

CAUTIOUS COURSE ON INTERNET TAXES.
May 20, 2000... The White House is stepping gingerly through the contentious Internet tax debate, as both Republicans and Democrats claim victory in the wake of a May 10 House vote extending for five years a moratorium on taxation of monthly Internet access...

HIGHWAY ROBBERY.
May 20, 2000... For some Republican lawmakers, cutting fuel taxes looked like a no-brainer. In March, gas and diesel prices had soared to their highest level in years. Outraged truckers had driven their rigs to Washington to vent their anger during a rally on...

A WELL-ARMED ADVOCATE FOR GUN CONTROL.
May 20, 2000... Last month, former Rep. Michael D. Barnes, D-Md., the new president of Handgun Control, accompanied President Clinton to Colorado for a rally in support of a statewide initiative on gun control. During the trip, Barnes used all of his...

From the K Street Corridor.(Brief Article)
May 20, 2000... Lobbying Etouffee When it comes to funeral home regulation, Sen. John Breaux, D-La., and former House Appropriations Committee Chairman Bob Livingston, R-La., may agree to disagree. At an April hearing of the Senate Special Committee on...

FAITH AND FEMINISM FIGHT SEXUAL SLAVERY.
May 20, 2000... Olga, a poor and unemployed woman from Siberia, was pleasantly surprised when, in December 1998, a female acquaintance told her that she could make a lot of money working as a housemaid in Israel, even though she didn't speak a word of Hebrew....

OPRAH WALDO EMERSON.(Brief Article)
May 20, 2000... Now that O magazine, Oprah Winfrey's latest effort, is a gigantic, hair-on-fire success, thoughful people everywhere are confronted with an age-old question: What exactly is the point of Oprah? We media divines know the answer, of course:...

The Cutting Edge.
May 20, 2000... The Working Poor's Tax Break, for All The policy wonks who gathered at the Democratic Leadership Council's offices on Capitol Hill last month aren't known for always seeing eye to eye. Most of them are Democrats, but they stand on...

L.A. GETS ITS ACT TOGETHER.
May 20, 2000... There will be a party for Al Gore and the Democrats in Los Angeles this August after all. After a shaky start, LA Convention 2000, the host committee for the party's presidential nominating conclave, has gotten its financial house in order. ...

Campaign Circuit.(Brief Article)
May 20, 2000... Spending Hard Dollars... A recent court ruling could dramatically alter the money landscape in this year's House and Senate races. This month, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit struck down as unconstitutional federal limits...

DON'T PLACE YOUR BETS ON NOVEMBER JUST YET.
May 20, 2000... Conventional wisdom has always been a potent force in American politics. Conventional wisdom creates that all-important buzz that can either help or hurt candidates and political parties with fund raising, morale building, and momentum, even if...

At the Races.(Brief Article)
May 20, 2000... Dot-Coms Everywhere you turn, a new dot-com is popping up with a catchy slogan, a niche service, a glitzy launch, and a claim to be the "first" in one thing or other. Now this is a first: Convention planners have awarded four...

Poll Track.(Brief Article)(Polling Data)(Statistical Data Included)
May 20, 2000... Gun Control IT'S NOT THE ONLY ISSUE While moms march, giving gun control plenty of media play in recent weeks, the issue remains less important to voters than medical and Social Security matters. Of the voters who were asked by TNS...

Hotline Extra.
May 20, 2000... Risk Management As the classic Tom Cruise movie suggests, there's a time for playing it safe, and there's a time for risky business. So in which category does Texas Gov. George W. Bush's Social Security plan fall? There's no doubt what...

MAKING CHEAP SHOTS LESS ANONYMOUS.(Brief Article)
May 20, 2000... RALEIGH, N.C.--Campaign reformers have long contended that if candidates had to accept responsibility publicly for nasty television commercials, they would quickly clean up their acts. The theory was put to the test in North Carolina earlier...

People.
May 20, 2000... Around the Agencies The past year certainly paid off for A. Victoria Rivas-Vazquez, who has moved up a few notches. After a year as director of special projects in the office of the assistant secretary for public affairs at the Department...