Word: livingstons
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...emboldens the princes to plot, of course, if they think the king has gone mad. Appropriations Committee chairman Bob Livingston, who owed his position to Gingrich, was already calling members, testing out the idea that he might run for Speaker, while others, such as conservative Steve Largent, began sniffing around other leadership seats. Livingston even called Gingrich and suggested in passing that he resign, but Gingrich did not seem alarmed...
...Robert Livingston of Louisiana also has a black belt in Taekwondo and an instinct for the kill. If he's in a better position than his Republican competitors to nab the speakership, it's because Gingrich himself gave him a head start. In February the 55-year-old Livingston told colleagues that should Gingrich run for President in 2000, he wanted to take over. Four years earlier, Gingrich had handpicked Livingston--at the time the fifth-ranking Republican on the Appropriations Committee--to become the panel's chairman. Livingston ultimately used this perch of patronage to knife his benefactor: wielding...
...Livingston is known as an effective legislator, devoted to budget cutting and trading favors. He has on occasion worked into his committee's bills such politically charged measures as curtailing federal funding for abortion and clean-needle distributions. But he has also drawn the line in many cases, arguing that ideological purity shouldn't keep the government from operating. "He'll take a look at our whole agenda and cut the best deals," says New York Representative Peter King, who thinks Livingston can also placate the party's far right. "He's going to be like Reagan was. Reagan agreed...
Whether social conservatives will accept part-time service is another story. And there's an additional weakness: though admired as a straight-up dealmaker, Livingston is given to double-fisted gesticulations that make him look as if he's pulling pistols. He once nearly came to blows with a staff member after reportedly informing him that "some son of a bitch on the staff has been saying bad stuff about my staff in the press, and I'm tired of it." Livingston's temper surfaced notoriously in a floor speech during the 1995 budget battle. "We will stay here until...
Displays like that make some insiders fret about whether he's got the equanimity for the job. Before announcing his challenge for Gingrich's post, Livingston submitted a preposterous 16-point list of demands to Gingrich that would have stripped the Speaker of virtually all his authority. The bottom of the last page read ACKNOWLEDGED AND AGREED TO WITHOUT EXCEPTION above a line for Newt's signature. A few hours later he called Gingrich to tell him to ignore it. Anti-Livingston campaigners plan to use the letter's arrogance as proof that his hotheadedness goes beyond momentary flare...