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Show _TheSalt LakeTribune NATION Sunday, December 31, 1995 Rookies Threw Their thority — something Reagan had sought unsuccessfully for all eight years he was in the White Weight Around 30s or early 40s. They werejust college and Byany measure, this was a year of extraordinarilylarge change — A Historic Mission: The first- the realization of a vision to its architects and a nightmareto its pretation of the Reagan experience that shapes their view of themselves and their mission. @ Continued from D-4 finishing House — for Feb. 6, his birthday. termers share a particular inter- starting their workinglives at the very moment Reagan becamepresident. To them, Nixon and Ford, let alone Eisenhower, are historybook figures. Reagan is a living presence. That is why they scheduled passageofthe bill granting the president line-item veto au- They see Reagan as a man whose vision was correct — but unfulfilled. His greatest success came in routing communism. But he was thwarted by Congress, the bureaucracy and the liberal establishmentin his other great objective dismantling the “overgrown welfare state’ and shifting powerout of Washington, its corrupted headquarterscity provided middle-class tax relief, passed a seven-year balanced budgetand bannedall gifts of any kind to members of Congress — ‘That, the first-termers believed, was their historic mission. all in one year. Chrysler was an optimist. The accomplishments of which he spoke were notyet in the statute books. But if enacted, they would critics. “This is an entrepreneur's dream,” said Dick Chrysler, a first-termer from Michigan and a businessman whohadto run twice to win. “We're in the right place at the right time with the right product,” he said in early December. “We're goingto be ableto tell our constituents, ‘Promises made, promises kept. " Barring an endof-session impasse with the White House, “we will have reformed welfare, Medicare and Medicaid, certainly loom large when placed in historical context. Bill Archer of Texas, now chairman of the Ways and Means Committee,said: “When I ran for Congressthefirst time in 1970. I said my main goal wasto relieve future generations from the burden of ever-bigger debts. The first bill I introduced was to mandate a balanced budget. This year, finally, I have been able to vote for one.” D5 Pulling Up Deep Roots: But it wasn't easy. Many Republicans were furious when columnist George Will derided Gingrichlast February for saying that balanc- ing the budget in seven years would be “hard work.” Will said that “tendinglivestock in Nebras- ka in Februaryis hard work. Being a hod carrier in New Orleans in Augustis hard work.” The only thing that makes budget-balancing difficult, he said, is the curse of “careerism’’ in Congress. The first-termers demur. They have found nothing easy about uprooting and changing programs and agencies that have deep roots. For 30 years, Medicare has meant a federal guarantee of health services for seniorcitizens, and Medicaid has provided a simi lar guarantee for indigent youn sters, parents and old people. R publicans voted a fundamental restructuring of Medicare, chang ing it froma defined benefits plar for the individual to one where the government sets its maximum contribution and leaves it to the individual to buy with it as much care as the market will provide Republicans voted to abolish Medicaid and instead contribute a smaller sum to the states fi whatever programthey choose to run. Theeffect wouldbe to let the states and the market. far more than Washington. determine what medical services these popul: tions receive — andto save the federal government almost half a trillion dollars over sevenyears in the process. Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) is a 60-year-old federal guarantee of incomesupport for poor kids andtheir mothers. Republicans voted to endit, and instead to sendthe states a predetermined and smaller sum for themto use as they seefit to help those folks, as long as the money lasts Commerce Barely Hangs On: The Interstate Commerce Commission(1887) is the oldest of the regulatory agencies. Republicans voted to abolishit. The Commerce Department has been around since 1903. Getting rid of it was Dick Chrysler's pet project for the first-termers. That meant getting the appropriate pieces of legislation through 11 different committees. The House actually passed it twice. Chrysler and two others worked the Senate and were told it was too radical a step So they took a chunk out of Commerce this year and vowed to come back for more It was the special determination — critics rigidity — of the first-termersthat made all the textbook maxims about large- scale political changeirrelevant They did not hesitate to flout authority. A number of times, they refused to cooperate with Ging- FORT UNION 7220 South Union Park Ave just off 13th East rich and Armeywhenthe leaders tried to call up appropriations bills that the first-termers thought werehalfhearted in their spending cuts. The first timeit happened, said Sue Myrick, she wastold that ‘‘as part of the leadership, voting no on the rule [to Personal shopping only, no dealers, we reserve the right to limit quantities. While we strive for accuracy in our advertising, errors can occur. In such cases, we reserve the right of correction. Items marked “Sale’ are on Sale. All other items re at our everyday regular low prices. Our Lowest Price Guarantee applies to our competitors’ retail pricing. Mail orders, di f erchandise, limited quantity items, items ae ay ee for immediate purchase and special educational software prices do not apply. Lifetime Price Protection covers all audio, appliance chases, all other products are covered by our 30 day price guarantee. voeCtoean TERMS & CONDITIONS; All cellular phone purchases require new activation by Future Shop for minimum 12 months on the same network. Credit card imprint is required. Prices will be $300 higher for analog and $100 morefor digital without activation. call up the bill for debate] was a real no-no. But | looked back at what Newt had done whenhe was a backbencher.” freely defying Republican presidents and House GOPleaders, “and I didn't feel guilty. And we[first-termers] sent a message that we would not be taken for granted.” OmeRe ay Bi HOME APPLIANCES cratic governors, 10022 in anyof those office It ignored the “Ci America,” that paperthat, how everlittle known to the voters. was taken seriously by the win ning legislators and gave them their agenda It did not anticipate the INSTANT PRICE RAM _|HARD DRIVE CD ROM VIDEO CARD MONITOR 14. FAX MODEM strength and skill that Gingrich and Armeyandtherest of the Re publican leaders — all of them untested in positions of authority eee) eli OM GIN e 9 Auto cycles e Extra rinse option ( It underestimated the capacity of those leaders to mobilize the increasing power and sophistica tion of the business lobbies and the conservative ideological cratic opposition through much of the year, a stunning contrast to the fierce resistance that Presi dent Clinton had encountered fromthe defeated Republican mi nority the moment he set foot in e Bleach & fabric softener dispensers e Hand washables cycle Washington in 1993 In the winter and spring of 1995, when a balanced budget DRYER still was an abstraction, everyone saluted the GOP efforts. But when Medicare, Medicaid, aid to educa tion and environmental programs 4 Drying cycles Automatic DRY-MISERcontrol e White on white styling Ch a DTabe Pian — displayed in running the House groups to drive forwarda legis! tive agenda that suited those in terests to a T Andit didnot anticipate the wa vering ineffectuality of the Demi 9 CYCLE .. WASHER “Whitt irlpool \- PROCESSOR turned out to be seriously impli cated in the balancing, opposition LLR924580/LER4634BQ 0254/20951446 mushroomed Thefirst-termers. said Nether PAIR PRICE cutt, “have learned that there are two sides to every story, COREL DRAW 3 © Over 14000 clipart images /o INTEREST“ retail pricing. Mail orders, display merchandise, limited quantity items, items not available for immediate purchase and special educational software prices do not apply. Seein-store for complete details of all ourpolicies. 2On approved credit. Monthly interestis billed butwill be waived if minimum monthly payments are made (where required) and the balance of the purchase is paid off by end of the no interest period 23.15% * All cellular phone purchases require new activation by Future Shop for minimum 12 months on the same network. Credit card is required. Must be activated within 7 days. and we have beenforcedto pay attention to the other side.” MONTHS FOR * Personal shopping only, no dealers, we reservethe right to limit quantities. Items marked Sale are on Sale. All otheritemsat our everyday regular low prices. Our LowestPrice Guarantee applies to our competitor's and feat and not a single Republican compressor model REE MICROWAVE $50 OFF OR. SELECTED 3 PC. APPLIANCE PKG. senators representatives went downto de crushed ice dispenser e Deluxe slide out/spill proof shelves SPECIAL! Super energyefficient (100 MHz| me 850MB [QUAD |1MB PCI! 14" svGA keep those menpressing forward It ignoredtheresultsof theref- ¢ GE'stopof theline side by side « Deluxeice, water & 812E not just allies of Gingrich and Ar meymost of the time, but prods to erendum conducted on Election Day, when 41 incumbent Demo- 22 CU. FT. SIDE BY SIDE 33707880/90609017 The first-termers disregarded conventional wisdom asreadily as theydefied their elders. The con ventional wisdomignoredthefer: vor that made the first-termers On selected audio, computers, appliances & 27” and larger TVs. Brownback, it seems, had the idea last January that the freshmenfirst-termers could demon strate their seriousness about downsizing government if they sold one of the buildings in which House support staff worked. “I got it through the [House Repub: lican] Conference easily,” the Kansansaid, “but that was just Step 1. There were hearings in this committee and that, ques- tions whether it would cost more to lease space than to own, all kinds of things I hadn't foreseen. And at the end ofthe day, we still haven't sold anything.” |