For the Record - Brief Article

National Review, Feb 19, 2001

Alan Greenspan: "Should current economic weakness spread beyond what now appears likely, having a tax cut in place may, in fact, do noticeable good." . . . "Greenspan probably has more impact on the fate of a tax cut than the president of the United States," says Mark A. Bloomfield of American Council for Capital Formation, in New York Times. . . . Sen. Zell Miller (D., Ga.): "I agree with President Bush that the taxpayers are better judges of how to spend their own money than we are." . . . House Speaker Dennis Hastert: "Fiscal discipline combined with tax relief will keep our economy growing." . . . Bush removes District of Columbia license plates bearing slogan "Taxation Without Representation" from presidential limos. . . . OfficeMax donates 500 W keys and 100 keyboards to White House, following vandalism in last hours of Clinton administration, reports Fox News. . . . Bush taps NR contributor John J. DiIulio Jr. to head office of federal financing of faith-based charities. . . . Ralph Reed announces candidacy for chairman of Georgia GOP. . . . On second Sunday as president, Bush attends service at black church.

GOP strategist Dan Schnur, in Los Angeles Times: "Whether he wants to be or not, Gray Davis is the electricity governor. If he tames this challenge, he's a national candidate. If the crisis tames him, it's all gone." . . . Sen. Paul Wellstone (D., Minn.) says he will run for reelection next year, breaking term-limit pledge. Paul Jacob of U.S. Term Limits labels him a "partisan political hack you can't trust." . . . Former Rep. Pat Schroeder, on whether Hillary Clinton will run for president in 2004, in Chattanooga Times Free Press: "I doubt she'll run out and do anything risky." . . . Sen. Clinton presides over chamber for one hour, earning title "Madame President." . . . New York mayor Rudy Giuliani cancels meeting with Hillary over pardon of Marc Rich: "I think what the president did was an outrage." . . . West Virginia governor Bob Wise (D.), on pardon, in Associated Press interview: "This is terrible, and I totally disagree with the president's actions."

ABC's Peter Jennings, on independent counsel Robert Ray's deal with Clinton: "It's a very sad, almost tragic way for the president to spend his last day in office." . . . Rep. Henry Hyde (R., Ill.): "The action taken today vindicates the House impeachment proceedings and reaffirms that our actions were in defense of the rule of law rather than merely a political initiative." . . . Chicago mayor Richard M. Daley suggests offering vouchers to parents for after-school programs: "My theory is that anything you do to help educate your child should be something that the government helps you with financially." . . . In American Spectator, R. Emmett Tyrrell Jr. comes out against the death penalty. As a result, Tom Bethell gives him this year's Strange New Respect award.

Ex-President Clinton, at Andrews Air Force Base following Bush inauguration: "When you leave the White House, you wonder if you'll ever draw a crowd again." . . . Madeleine Albright, on stepping down as secretary of state: "I will have to learn how to drive." . . . Former energy secretary Bill Richardson says he will probably run for governor of New Mexico next year. . . . Al Gore, in New York Times: "I'm not considering anything political right now, but I haven't ruled out thinking about such things later on." . . . Will Marshall of Progressive Policy Institute, on Gore campaign: "Mondale with a surplus." . . . Sidney Blumenthal plans to write White House memoir. . . . Los Angeles Times deletes line from George Will column on Clinton: "It is reasonable to believe that he was a rapist 15 years before becoming president."

Despite $40 million ad campaign, banks, stores, and consumers don't care for Sacajawea dollar coin. U.S. Mint director Jay W. Johnson refuses to admit failure: "I think it's a success because people love the dollar coin," he tells Washington Post. "They love it to death because when they find it, they keep it." . . . Chief Justice William Rehnquist discusses disputed presidential election of 1876, in which special commission including Supreme Court justices delivered victory to Rutherford B. Hayes: "Hayes was a better president than some of his detractors predicted, and the nation as a whole settled down to a more normal existence. . . . The political processes of the country had worked, admittedly in a rather unusual way, to avoid a serious crisis." . . . Air Force's Space Warfare Center holds military's first major war game focused on space, using conflict between United States and China in 2017 as scenario.

Fidel Castro, on Bush: "Someone very strange, with very little promise, has taken charge of the leadership of the great empire that we have as a neighbor." . . . Pakistan asks banks to freeze assets tied to at-large terrorist Osama bin Laden. . . . Liberia invites United Nations to monitor diamond sales, following charges Liberian diamond smuggling has financed civil war in Sierra Leone. . . . Russian Mir spacecraft will crash in ocean halfway between New Zealand and Chile. . . . Pope John Paul II picks 44 new cardinals in January.