Word: argumentative
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...hallmark of García's program has been his vigorous attack on inefficiency and sloth. In recent weeks he has been engaged in a running argument with Peru's civil servants, who have resisted his effort to curb the five-hour workdays that have become traditional during the hot months, from January to March. The new President was even bold enough to attack extravagance in the pampered military, slashing an $800 million deal to purchase 26 French Mirage jet fighters back to twelve...
When Ronald Reagan approvingly cited former U.N. Ambassador Jeane Kirkpatrick's argument that "authoritarian" right-wing regimes were not as insidious as "totalitarian" Communist ones, many observers assumed that he was making the distinction a central tenet of his foreign policy. Authoritarian governments, however repressive, could be tolerated as long as they supported U.S. interests; besides, by their nature they were more susceptible to change than totalitarian governments, as Haiti and the Philippines were to prove. But last week the Administration sought to clarify its views on dictatorships and in the process seemed to depart, albeit slightly, from the Kirkpatrick...
...might have to intervene directly in Nicaragua. Opponents of the Administration have warned for years that the contras are the forerunners of American troops. Now, just in the past few weeks, Reagan, Secretary of Defense Caspar Weinberger and White House Communications Director Patrick Buchanan have turned the argument around, invoking the specter of G.I.s in the jungle as something that no one wants to see but that might be required down the road if the Congress defies the President now. Sooner or later, they say, someone has to do to the Sandinistas what they did to the Somocistas--drive them...
...February a panel of three federal judges rejected that argument but threw out the law anyway on a flipped-over version of the objection. Gramm-Rudman did not infringe upon the authority of Congress, they said, but upon that of the President. The Constitution forbids giving Executive powers to an official who, like the Comptroller, is removable by the legislature. In effect, the judges said, an officer who carries out Executive Branch functions must not be beholden to another branch...
...That argument sits well with the White House, which is also suing to in validate Gramm-Rudman. The Reagan Administration's chief courtroom attorney, Solicitor General Charles Fried, pressed the Administration's view before the Supreme Court last week. The Comptroller's duties under Gramm-Rudman "affect every nook and cranny of the Executive Department," he contended. During two hours of argument, twice the normally allotted time, lawyers for the House, the Senate and the Comptroller came to the law's defense. Steven Ross, representing the bipartisan leadership of the House, rejected the claim that the Comptroller was answerable...