Word: beltway
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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WASHINGTON: Pay attention, America: This may be the last you see of William Weld for a while. The former Massachusetts governor announced Monday he has conceded to Jesse Helms in the battle for Mexico. TIME Washington contributor Laurence Barrett believes Weld's attack on Beltway culture had gone as far as it could. "Weld looked a little bored in the governor's chair, and the idea of an ambassadorship must have intrigued him. And once he saw Helms in his way, Weld figured that a fight, whether he won or lost, would raise his national profile...
Even by the standards of beltway largesse, the arrangement was breathtakingly generous. In April the Federal Communications Commission, at the behest of Congress, handed out prized space on public airwaves to the nation's television broadcasters, space that would have fetched the public as much as $70 billion at auction. The broadcasters got better than a good deal on the new frequencies (effectively, a second channel for each of the nation's 1,500 TV stations). They got them for free. "The largest single grant of public property to a single industry in this generation," grumbles FCC chairman Reed Hundt...
Weld's frustration comes in part from knowing that if his nomination were to get past Helms, he would win confirmation handily. But he's applying outside-the-Beltway thinking to a purely inside-the-Beltway situation. He underestimates Washington's willingness to negotiate with terrorists who happen to run committees, the clubbiness of the Senate, and majority leader Trent Lott's reluctance to buck Helms...
...Jefferson Smith come at last? With all that bipartisan grinning over the budget deal, it's almost as if there were suddenly a functioning democracy in Washington. Of course, there's still Jesse Helms. Confused? Get to the guts of the Beltway, Hollywood-style. Follow Jimmy Stewart to town with 1939's Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, Frank Capra's valiant paen to all that's great about this country of ours. Back that up with Born Yesterday, the 1950 Holden/Holliday original, and you'll be running for city councilman by the time the tape's rewound. So be sure...
...bikini line vs. the bottom line. It's the underpinnings of an inside-the-Beltway underwear war. It's HANES vs. FRUIT OF THE LOOM, a high-stakes trade battle over who's going to wear the underpants in the family. At issue: a $200 million provision attached to the budget bill that would allow briefs and other goods manufactured in the Caribbean to enter the U.S. at dramatically lower tariffs. Fearing that the provision would help competitors munch into its market, FRUIT OF THE LOOM has hired former Senate majority leader turned lobbyist BOB DOLE to oppose the measure...