Word: money
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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...reform coalition is a fragile one, which may be tested by several proposed compromises. One would ban soft money but drop the other main provision of the bills, restrictions on "issue ads." These ads, run by the parties and by outside groups, usually stop just shy of telling voters to support or oppose a candidate, thus escaping most election-law oversight. This week, for instance, the conservative Americans for Tax Reform is running a $4.2 million televised ad campaign touting the Republicans' tax bill in seven states with vulnerable G.O.P. Senators, and other groups are running ads targeting legislators...
...companies have already closed their vaults. General Motors, Monsanto, AlliedSignal and Ameritech swore off soft money in 1997 and have largely stuck to their decision. Wall Street buyout pioneer Jerome Kohlberg has formed an advocacy group that backs candidates who favor campaign-finance reform, and has assembled a cadre of retired corporate chieftains, plus mega-investor Warren Buffett, in support of the effort. "This is the first time a significant number of people in the business community have said enough is enough," says Charles Kolb, president of the Committee for Economic Development...
Still, the mere chance that Congress might turn off the soft-money spigot has made G.O.P. operatives extremely edgy. Though the legislation is intended to favor neither party, they fear it will fall hardest on Republicans, who consistently raise more in soft money. In July the party delivered computer presentations headlined "Soft Dollars: What It Means for Our Party" to each Republican member of Congress. Party chairman Jim Nicholson pressed his case at an Aug. 4 meeting of House Republicans, and party finance-staff members were dispatched recently to give members "education" sessions. And while the Republican National Committee strongly...
Even if Congress moves to restrict the money flow, some experts say, the effect might not be what the reformers hope for. "Almost exactly the same amount would be spent but in different ways," predicts University of Virginia veteran campaign-finance watcher Larry Sabato. Companies, trade groups and unions would fund more grassroots organizing, phone banks, voter-registration drives and ads, among other things, he asserts. Assuming that ever creative political pros will always find--or make--a hole in the dike through which more money can pour, some argue that trying to limit contributions isn't the best approach...
...households own stocks of some form or another, whether in investment accounts, mutual funds or retirement plans, up from 12% just 10 years ago. While an ongoing bull market has lulled us into a sense of security about investing, the reality is we are taking greater risks with our money than any other generation in American history. Many of us even take this a step further, buying "speculative growth," i.e., highly risky Internet and technology stocks, breezily ignoring the potentially precipitous downside...