Notable Quotables - 11/22/1993
The Reagan Years Oppressed Me
"I don't shield my
politics in this book, as I do in much of my journalism, as I've been
disciplined to do. The Reagan years oppressed me because of the callousness
and the greed and the hard-hearted attitude toward people who have very little
in this society, so all of that came together at around age 40 for me."
- New York Times editorial page editor and former Washington bureau
chief Howell Raines in an interview discussing his book Fly Fishing
Through the Midlife Crisis, on the PBS talk show Charlie Rose,
November 17.
NAFTA: Conservative Extremists vs. Consumer Campaigners
"Here...is the
conservative, highly partisan, Clinton-bashing House Republican whip Newt
Gingrich. Hates NAFTA, right? No. On this issue, bedfellow Gingrich is with
his President, for NAFTA. Conservative activist Paul Weyrich and consumers'
rights campaigner Ralph Nader have disagreed on just about everything over the
years."
- Bruce Morton on CNN's Inside Politics, November 4.
"Bill Clinton found
a most unlikely ally in archconservative Newt Gingrich."
- NBC reporter Jim Miklaszewski reporting on NAFTA, November 4 Today.
How Many More Employed?
US adds 177,000 new jobs
in Oct.
- Boston Globe, November 6
471,000 Were Added To
Work Force in Oct.
- Washington Post, same day
More Republican Dirty Tricks
"Getting out the
vote is a little different from suppressing the vote and I think that's the
line that was crossed here...The Republican Party opposed motor-voter for a
long time, which is a grand way of suppressing the minority vote. So what this
does is taint Whitman's victory and the attempts of the Republican Party now
to reach out."
- Newsweek reporter Eleanor Clift on Ed Rollins' claim that the GOP
paid black ministers to refrain from urging blacks to vote in New Jersey,
November 13 McLaughlin Group.
Virginia: Republicans, Racism Return
"Although no one
seriously suggests that Gov.-elect George F. Allen is a racist, there is
nonetheless potent symbolism in Democrat L. Douglas Wilder's being succeeded
by a Republican rebel. Some say Allen's election marks a sharp reversal from
12 years of progressive governors in Virginia, leaders who were clear about
their desire to move the state beyond what they viewed as a discredited past.
Others say it should come as no surprise, because Virginia had never changed
all that much."
- Washington Post reporters John F. Harris and Donald P. Baker,
November 7 news story.
The Bush Recession: Reagan's Fault
"Simply put, Bush
was in office when the economy had to pay the price for the excesses of the
1980s, especially the buildup of debt."
- Boston Globe reporter Charles Stein, October 31.
"Growth shouldn't
be slower than that because many of the major economic problems that built up
in the 1980s are finally becoming less daunting...Overall, economists say, the
nation has had four years to work off much of the excess of the 1980s."
- USA Today reporter Mark Memmott, November 3.
Abolish the Insurance Industry
"But Hillary was
smart to rip their heads off....After all, she's right substantively: the
industry has `brought us to the brink of bankruptcy,' it does `like being able
to exclude people from coverage, because the more they exclude, the more money
they can make.' No other industrialized country puts up with useless paper
shufflers taking such a large cut of their health budgets...And she's right
tactically: if health-care reform is to live, the companies backing Harry and
Louise must die. If 90 percent of those 1,500 insurers don't die - if someone
lifts the DO NOT RESUSCITATE sign off them - then the entire reform
contraption will collapse."
- Newsweek media critic Jonathan Alter on the insurance industry's
"Harry and Louise" ads, November 15.
Florio Will Win - Whoops
"I think we're
going to find out that taxes are okay. I think the Congress should look at the
race in New Jersey and see that Florio has come back from the dead and vote,
and vote for Clinton's plan."
- Time White House reporter Margaret Carlson, June 14 Fox
Morning News.
Republicans Win, Reporters Complain
"Proposing big tax
cuts may be good politics, but it's lousy governing, and let's watch and see
if she can deliver. Many of the people who voted for her are skeptical that
she can deliver. They were voting against Florio."
- Newsweek reporter Eleanor Clift on New Jersey Governor-Elect
Christine Whitman, November 6 McLaughlin Group.
"The voters are not
just anti-incumbent, they're sort of anti-community spirit at the moment.
They're looking at government as something that doesn't serve them, so they
don't want to pay for it. That's going to make it hard for Clinton to put
through a positive agenda."
- Washington Post "Outlook" section editor Jodie Allen on
Inside Washington, November 6.
"In some ways, the
reaction of voters in New Jersey was a testament to the fact that there's a
belief, at least in New Jersey, my home state, that there is still a free
lunch, and you can demand these services, but attack the guy who tried to
raise taxes to pay for them."
- U.S. News & World Report Senior Writer Steven Roberts on Washington
Week in Review, November 5.
"The economy was
still very important, but crime is always a wonderful issue for demagoguery,
and the Senate went for it and the voters went for it. Stacking them up like
cord wood is really not going to solve the crime problem, nor is refusing to
pass gun control legislation."
- Time Washington reporter Elaine Shannon on the PBS talk show To
The Contrary, November 6.
Fires: The Great Class Equalizer
"The wildfires
appear, at first glance, to be an economic leveler in a place where social
disparities resemble those of the Third World...Not many years ago, the place
seemed uniquely blessed. But Prop 13 and the tax revolt chewed holes in bare
public parks and the superb state university system."
- Newsweek Los Angeles reporter Stryker McGuire, November 8 story on
the impact of the California fires.
Violence? Blame the 1980s
"There's more to
the issue of violence than TV and movies. Others point to urban crowding, a
stagnant standard of living, and in the go-go 1980s, a Wall Street,
get-it-while-you-can ethos that eroded civic virtue."
- ABC reporter Jack Smith on This Week with David Brinkley, November
7.
Who Assumes They Are Wrong?
"The religious
right is not always wrong. That may be a bitter pill for some to swallow, but
it's the way things are."
- Ted Koppel on Nightline, November 4.
- L. Brent Bozell III; Publisher;
- Brent H. Baker, Tim Graham; Editors
- Andrew Gabron, Mark Honig, Kristin Johnson, Steve Kaminski, Mark Rogers; Media Analysts - Kathleen Ruff, Circulation Manager;
- David Muska, Clay Waters; Interns
