Word: grassed
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...change the minds of their neighbors and bring the movement home. That also involves tremendous risks. Says Rod Harrington, a gay farmer in northwest Missouri: "The idea in rural America is that gays and lesbians exist -- we just don't want to know about them." And while the grass-roots strategy may win friends and influence neighbors, it can also bring about taunts, threats and injury -- if not worse...
...Lawn sprinklers. The grass in Harvard Yard must be green, no matter how hot it gets. Is it fair for vegetation--mere grass, for goodness sakes--to bathe in the cool sprays of refreshing water while you walk by boiling? Of course...
...grass-roots efforts, however, form a crazy quilt of programs varying widely in generosity and effectiveness. There are companies whose idea of "reform" consists of slashing, or even denying, health benefits to retired employees (companies must now show the estimated cost of those benefits on their balance sheets as a liability, sometimes of embarrassing ; size). Some states have enacted only timid reforms, and others are being forced by a budget squeeze to pare down reforms put on the books in more prosperous times. Massachusetts, to take one prominent example, has delayed until 1995 some important steps in a comprehensive reform...
When the hard legislating begins, the Clintons can point out that much of what they propose is already being tested and proved out by states and companies. Some of the grass-roots programs might continue and grow even after nationwide reforms are enacted too. Clinton's plan is supposed to set federal standards but give states wide freedom in deciding how to meet (or exceed) them. Meanwhile, the states, joined this time by companies and the medical profession, are reclaiming a role they played well in the pre-New Deal era: serving as a laboratory and model for social legislation...
...political party start another political party? The Democratic Party is embarking on a new grass-roots venture that will compete with Ross Perot's populist semiparty, United We Stand America. In about a month, Democratic National Committee chairman David Wilhelm will launch the new community-based organization, and hopes the group -- which will use an 800 number -- will enlist local Democratic sympathizers and eventually have 2 million dues-paying members dedicated to promoting Clinton policies...