Word: strengthen
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What is at stake here, finally, is a shifting-perhaps profound-in roles and missions of government between Washington and the states and cities. Rather than increasing dependence on Washington, the Nixon plan is designed to strengthen the muscle of statehouses and city halls in dealing with a wide range of problems. As it stands now, never has so much been spent by Washington for so little. By quitclaiming a small percentage of federal tax revenues, Nixon hopes to restore some important sovereignty to the governments closest to the people. But can money alone make local governments effective and honest...
...Senator saw just ten minutes of the ballet, for word came that Foreign Minister Andrei Gromyko would receive him. Muskie and Gromyko talked for nearly three hours over a "wide range" of subjects. The next day came the coup of the trip for a presidential candidate seeking to strengthen his foreign policy credentials: a 3-hr. 45-min. interview on "bilateral interests" with Aleksei Kosygin. It was the longest discussion that the Soviet Premier has held with an American visitor since coming to power. Once again came word that the talks had been "cordial." Muskie would not elaborate beyond that...
About politicians, Townsend is both bitter and occasionally shrewd. He presents well-researched episodes from the 1920s and 1930s, when air force commanders in both England and Germany struggled to strengthen their young units against the opposition of shortsighted, budget-obsessed political bosses. Even Churchill, as early as 1919 when he was Secretary of War, is described as having a "tendency to wobble when attacked." Townsend's sole hero on the ground is "Stuffy" Dowding, commander in chief of Britain's Fighter Command...
Redrawing the Rules. Taken together, last year's congressional actions strengthen the ties that bind Government and business together. With securities insurance added to long-existing mortgage and bank deposit insurance, Washington's total financial liability in a serious economic slump could conceivably reach an astronomical figure. Still, despite its controversial habit of subsidizing transportation, housing, farming and shipping, Congress so far shows little inclination to rescue individual companies except to preserve vital national services. Lawmakers last year made no move to bail out film makers, conglomerates or airlines...
...Government? For a start, Congress could investigate-as the Symington subcommittee recommends-the present use of the Espionage Act, various presidential directives and the "executive privilege," all invoked at times to justify unnecessary secrecy classification practices. Congress could beef up its pathetically weak investigatory and budget analysis staffs and strengthen the General Accounting Office-its agency for the policing of disbursement and use of appropriated funds. It could also cut back substantially on discretionary funds granted to the President for use abroad as he sees...