Word: bentsen
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...early meetings, most of Bill Clinton's Cabinet members addressed one another as Chris or Les or Donna. But Lloyd Bentsen they called "Mr. Secretary." It was an appropriate gesture of respect for the Treasury chief's age -- at 72, he is old enough to be the grandfather of some of Clinton's younger aides -- and experience. Bentsen began attending insiders' meetings more than 40 years ago; as a young Congressman, he sat in on some "board of education" gatherings at which "Mr. Sam" Rayburn and House colleagues shaped legislative strategy over belts of bourbon...
...Clinton, however, has been less deferential to Bentsen's policy views. And so the Texan has been less of a prime mover on economic strategy than had been expected. For example, the stress on tax increases over spending reductions in the Administration's deficit-cutting program reflects Clinton's preferences far more than Bentsen's. So far, too, the compromises pushing that program through Congress have been concocted by Capitol Hill powers -- currently Daniel Patrick Moynihan, who succeeded Bentsen as chairman of the Senate Finance Committee -- dealing directly with Clinton...
...though, the battle is shifting into the area where Bentsen is at his best: lining up votes. Just before a crucial House ballot late last month, the Secretary persuaded two Texas Congressmen to switch and support the budget -- which then passed by three votes more than the minimum needed. From Moscow and Paris last week, where he had gone to confer with Boris Yeltsin and other top foreign leaders, Bentsen spent about 2 1/2 hours every day phoning White House officials, Moynihan and others to begin working out the details of a deal that might be acceptable to the Administration...
...play golf with three different Congressmen sometime this summer. The numbers kept moving, right down to the last 30 seconds. When it was over, Clinton and his aides looked around the Oval Office with a mixture of relief and astonishment. "That was the closest vote of my life," remarked Bentsen, who spent 28 years in Congress...
...Bentsen and McLarty worked steadily behind the scenes last week to keep Louisiana Senator John Breaux quiet about his objections to the energy tax until the House vote was safely over. But eventually they realized they might do better enlisting the Senator to help broker a compromise to lessen the BTU tax's impact. Officials said House members' reservations would be taken into account when the Senate marks up its measure...