Word: packwood
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...Indeed Packwood seemed intent on pulling levers even after his resignation. Friday morning he sauntered onto the Senate floor, behaving as if he planned to play the Finance chairman's role in shepherding wel fare-reform legislation. After word circulated that Packwood, who will keep his pension and health benefits, worth $88,922 annually, had cut a deal to stay on for 90 days-a charge Dole vehemently denied--the majority leader announced that Packwood would leave office on Oct. 1 and surrender his chairmanship immediately. Now, with the less seasoned William Roth of Delaware heading Finance, Dole must manage...
Still, the majority leader must be relieved to have the Packwood mess out of the way. A parade of heavy legislation is headed for the House and Senate. This week Dole's welfare-overhaul bill is expected to come to a vote on the Senate floor. Almost immediately, debate over Medicare follows, along with sweeping tax cuts that will be rolled into a jumbo bill carrying out the G.O.P.'s economic agenda. And on top of all that, Congress has yet to complete 12 of its 13 major spending bills--at least four of which face the prospect...
Meanwhile, the Packwood debacle promises to reverberate for months--perhaps years--to come. In Oregon, state law does not authorize the Governor to appoint an interim Senator, but instead requires a special election. If Governor John Kitzhaber, a Democrat, selects a date within 80 days, the two parties will choose the candidates, who will then face an open election. If Kitzhaber chooses a later date, there will be both a primary and a general election. Oregon has not sent a fresh face to the Senate since Packwood's first election in 1968-when he ran a memorably aggressive campaign that...
...Washington the pundits will long ponder what exactly did Packwood in. His transgressions have not yet proved to be criminal and hardly seem worthy of harsher condemnation than those of others who have stumbled into sex or corruption charges and yet held their seat. Does Packwood's fall reflect a new moral climate in the Capitol, one that mirrors the family values championed by the religious right? Or was Packwood, who turned 63 this week, the fall guy for a bunch of Senators who stood accused of not "getting it" in the wake of the 1991 Anita Hill-Clarence Thomas...
...perhaps it was simply that Bob Packwood, once respected for his intelligence, discipline and formidable deal-making skills, had become too much of an embarrassment in the only place on earth he felt at home: the Senate. Two years ago, shortly after his 26-year marriage and his relationship with his two children had come apart, Packwood's ex-wife Georgie told the New York Times about a marital-counseling session the couple had had in 1989. Georgie recalled her husband's saying, "I don't want a wife. I don't want a home. I only want...