Word: capitol
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 1980-1989
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...anything, these few morality trials do not go nearly far enough. The real scandal in Congress is not what's illegal; it is what's legal: the blatant, shameless greasing of congressional palms that violates good sense, good taste and good government. Capitol Hill is polluted by money -- campaign money, speech-giving money, outside money from investments, and money substitutes like all-expenses-paid vacations and gifts. Fred Wertheimer, president of the public-interest lobby Common Cause, is looked upon these days as an ethics ayatullah, but he is not overstating by much when he says, "Our nation faces...
Oddly enough, though, few legislators voluntarily leave for private life. Congressmen routinely run for re-election; Capitol Hill salaries are no secret to politicians who spend years -- and a great deal of money -- trying to get into the club. What goes unmentioned in all the caterwauling about the sacrifices of public service is the joy it offers. Public officials lead interesting lives: they all have the opportunity to make a difference; some even make history. Compared with underappreciated professions like teaching and nursing, where doing well takes a backseat to doing good, Congressmen are handsomely paid. The days of politicians...
...political gibes are drawing more than just laughs. In Washington the TV jokes are repeated in Capitol cloakrooms and quoted widely in the news media. The Center for Media and Public Affairs, a conservative watchdog group, tapes Carson, Leno and Letterman each night and catalogs their jokes by subject. During the Bush Administration's first 100 days, the most joked-about political figure was Tower (61 jokes), followed by President Bush (52) and Vice President Quayle...
Even though he accuses the Democrats of hiring private detectives to trail him, the Capitol Hill equivalent of America's Most Wanted pronounces himself unperturbed: he is used to close scrutiny. In 1984 the magazine Mother Jones published tawdry details of his 1980 divorce from his first wife, Jackie. Hundreds of copies of the story were distributed to House members and reporters on the Hill...
Despite the poisonous atmosphere on Capitol Hill as House Democrats lose their Speaker, the new attention to speaking fees, lobbyist-paid vacations and pac money is long overdue. -- Republican pit bull Newt Gingrich, whose accusations scuttled Wright, thirsts for more blood. Some Democrats hope it will...