Word: iran-contra
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Even before the Iran-contra affair, Americans had a suspicion that Reaganism had gone too far in trying to rescind the more generous work of Government: cutting Aid to Families with Dependent Children, for example, and federal funds for housing while running up the military budget from $134 billion in 1980 to $266 billion in 1986. (Although as a percentage of the gross national product, non-defense spending has declined very slightly and is still more than double defense spending.) The dream of salvation -- "Get the Government off the backs of the American people and release the energies of free...
...American press can hardly be blamed for the Iran-contra scandal, since it deserves so little credit for unearthing it. It found the Iran story in a Beirut paper, while it had all but ignored Lieut. Colonel Oliver North's gallivanting around gathering arms and money for the contras. Yet after the big story broke, the press fell out of public favor, even if not as steeply as did Ronald Reagan. Dan Rather, for example, was rated high for believability by 40% of those questioned in June 1985 and by only 28% in a January Gallup poll...
...been standard practice to downplay rebel attacks, so as not to enhance the contras' standing inside Nicaragua. The admissions that contra disruptions are taking place suggest the comandantes no longer feel intimidated either by the rebels or, for that matter, by the Reagan Administration. For years the comandantes steadfastly denied that they paid attention to Washington's every move. Now they are less bashful. President Ortega, for instance, candidly admits that he watches U.S. television newscasts daily, and has followed the Iran-contra scandal closely...
Since the Iran-contra scandal was exposed last November, it has been clear that two men are crucial to unraveling the tangled scheme: former National Security Adviser Admiral John Poindexter and his deputy, Lieut. Colonel Oliver North. But the two have stubbornly refused to discuss their roles in the weapons sales to Iran and the secret funding of the Nicaraguan contras, invoking their Fifth Amendment protection against self-incrimination. Last week the arrangements for forcing the silent partners to talk led to a clash between the Senate Select Committee and Independent Counsel Lawrence Walsh...
...Iran-Contra affair has mushroomed into a full-fledged scandal in the intervening months, with the president's popularity plummeting in the polls to the lowest level of his presidency. On the personal side, Reagan underwent prostate surgery on Jan. 5, and spent several weeks working on a reduced schedule...