Word: congress
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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Last year Congress nudged the program in the right direction, but the steps were meek: four-year-olds who know 10 letters of the alphabet, for example, are felt to be on track. Bush would require lessons that stress prereading and math, teachers who can teach this and evaluations to make sure it is done well. If existing centers don't deliver, Bush would sensibly make them compete with others for their federal contract...
...Great American Budget Battle, Washington's answer to professional wrestling, has officially begun, all roars and growls and theatrical blows to the head. This week Congress will send the President a $792 billion tax-cut bill; he has promised to stomp on it. Clinton has pushed a $300 billion spending program, including a new prescription-drug program for Medicare; congressional fists are already clenched. There is talk of grand ideological warfare, of reckless spendthrift Democrats and reckless plutocrat-loving Republicans fighting over how to divvy up the glorious $3 trillion surplus. In this season's budget politics, much...
...nastiest battles, where real blood may spill, are occurring in the committees of Congress that have to pass 13 spending bills by the end of the month to keep the government running. So far, only two have been sent to Clinton to sign; he has threatened to veto others if they gouge spending too deeply. But, if a $3 trillion surplus is expected over the next 10 years, why would lawmakers be forced to gut programs like air-traffic control and food inspection and counterterrorism? Because two years ago, they promised they would. The problem is the famous 1997 Balanced...
...that leaves the immediate problem of the spending bills. Republicans who were around in 1995 are still spooked by Clinton's ability to put the blame on Congress if the government shuts down. So they are finding even more creative ways to slip programs over, under or around the caps. The census, which under the Constitution has occurred every 10 years since 1790, has been classified for 2000 as an emergency, along with at least $25 billion in other programs, because the 1997 caps exempted emergency spending. That exemption was supposed to cover things like floods and hurricanes, but floods...
...actually gets what it wants: the President has to wait for new spending; the Republicans have to put off their tax cuts; and as the months roll by, any surplus that actually materializes goes into paying down the debt. It's enough to make the title "The Do-Nothing Congress" a badge of honor...