Mullings A Political Cyber Column By Rich Galen

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Ed. Plan and Greenspan

Monday, January 29, 2001

The Gephardt for President campaign kicked off on Saturday with the Missouri Congressman presenting the Democratic answer to the President's weekly radio address.

While almost every breathing politician in Your Nation's Capital was praising President Bush for the way he has approached his education initiative, Gephardt, according to the AP, "attacked [Bush's] plan to allow parents to use federal money to pay for private schooling."

Mr. Gephardt, who's greatest fear is becoming known as "The Minority Leader for Life," will likely take the Congressional lead in attacking Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan's testimony last week in which he suggested that the combination of a severely slowing economy and a larger than expected surplus might make the Bush tax plan look like a good idea.

According to Caren Bohan's Reuters reporting: "Greenspan not only said that tax cuts were affordable, he added that given the size of government surpluses, there was an economic need to reduce them since paying off the government debt too quickly might disrupt capital markets�"

Note to reporters: Ask The MSS Hillary what her position is on the Greenspan approach to tax reductions. On the one hand her husband re-appointed him to be Fed Chairman, on the other she wants to stay on the good side of the AFL-CIO which has long been on record opposing him. Dilemma. Horns. Hillary.

Other than a few whiny columns, almost everyone has given the Administration high marks for its First Week. The passage of time is being marked the way astrophysicists track the Big Bang. In the first millisecond, George W.'s eyes misted up in the rain. In the first minute, he gave the inaugural address. And hugged his dad. In the first hour, he lunched with Congressional Leaders. On the first weekend, he attended the parade, balls, and church. In the first week he outlined his education plan and whipped support for his tax initiative.

It's like listening to parents tell you how old their kid is: 13 weeks, two days; 16-and-a-half months; four years; um, twenty-something.

According to one accounting, the President has, in his first week, hosted 90 members of Congress at the White House, one-third of them Democrats, and held an informal discussion with Democratic elders from past administrations.

This won't last forever. Liberals will begin to demand their allies in the Congress begin to move past the John Ashcroft nomination and actively oppose the President on policy matters, which would not be such a bad thing.

A healthy debate on these and other complex issues will force each side to defend its position and, if the Bush Doctrine ["If anyone has a better idea, I hope they bring it forward"] continues to gain currency then people on both sides of the aisle will be slower to condemn knowing they have a legitimate shot at modifying a major policy initiative to include their "better idea."

The Marc Rich controversy continues. Two articles, one in Sunday's LA Times by Jonathan Peterson and Lisa Getter, "Timing of Final Clinton Pardons Raises Questions" and one by James Grimaldi and Robert O'Harrow, Jr. in today's International Herald Tribune, "How Fugitive Trader's 17-Year Effort Won a Pardon From Clinton" keep the story alive.

For links to these articles and the Catchy Caption of the Day, check out the Secret Decoder Ring.

Fairfax County, Virginia just west of Washington, DC, has been permitted to adopt a rule which restricts sleeping to bedrooms only. It is designed to prohibit, as one legislator put it, "27 illegal aliens" from living in the same house. Thank God I live in the People's Republic of Alexandria where they have adopted a much more liberal attitude toward who can sleep where in their home.

Not only did I fall asleep on my couch during the 73-hour pre-game show yesterday. But I had previously torn the tags off the cushions. If I am in Fairfax County, I am already a two-time loser. Get me Jack Quinn on the phone.

No word on whether sofa-beds will be outlawed, or whether they'll just have to be registered with the county sheriff's office. "Just how many futons do you NEED in your house, sir?"

How about those blow-up beds you can order from late-night television? That's how it starts, you know. First it's a bed-in-a-bag at 2 AM. Next thing you know you've got the population of Northern New Jersey sleeping in your den.
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Copyright © 2001 Richard A. Galen

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