Mullings A Political Cyber Column By Rich Galen

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Supplement THIS

Friday, July 21, 2000

The Gore campaign has now officially decided they have to turn negative and stay negative to beat George W. Not a single, original, positive proposal has escaped Gore's lips since - well, since ever.

As an example. Al "Sometimes-The-Facts-And-I-Meet-At-The-Corner-And-Sometimes-We-Don't" Gore went down to Texas to complain about the need for additional money to fund major health and criminal justice programs. The claim is, if there had been no tax cut in 1999, there would be no need to appropriate more money in 2000.

This is a more complicated than I usually like, but a rare episode of real reporting broke out at Mullings HQ yesterday, and it is useful in understanding how the Gore campaign intends to conduct itself.

In Your Nation's Capital, if a program or programs need more money, the Congress and the Administration put their heads together and provide it.

This is called a "Supplemental Appropriation." It is not, generally, called "The End of The World."

Let's set the stage: The Democrats control the Texas State House of Representatives by a handful of seats. The Republicans control the State Senate by one vote. So, this is not a Republican battering ram knocking down any and all opposition.

Gore is whining piteously about the 1999 tax and budget action in Texas which was divided into three bills. One bill passed with a combined vote of 174-1 in the Texas House and Senate; a second bill passed by voice votes in both the House and Senate - it wasn't controversial enough to warrant a recorded vote; and the third passed by voice vote in the State Senate and by 142-0 in the House.

For those who have not been following closely, that would be almost every Republican AND almost every Democrat in the Texas State House and the Texas State Senate voted for these bills which makes this exercise useful in understanding how the Bush Administration will conduct ITself.

The risky tax scheme about which Gore is jumping up and down, first on one leg and then the other, passed by an aggregate 316 to 1. Two, if you count Gore.

Let's take a little gander, now, at the management skills of President of the U.S. Senate, Al Gore.

Since Gore has been in office, the U.S. Congress has had to pass 42 Supplemental Appropriations; Emergency Supplemental Appropriations; and, Continuing Resolutions - more than FIVE PER YEAR - to keep the government operating.

For the breakdown of the break down in fiscal management go here:

Gore, of course, will say the Republicans controlled the Congress. But even when Gore and Clinton controlled the whole ball of wax in 1993 and 1994 - House, Senate AND Administration - they needed SEVEN supplemental appropriations and continuing resolutions to pay the bills.

If Supplemental Appropriations Bills are a sign of poor management, Al Gore is so poor he makes the Mayberrys look like the Clampetts.

Gore is trying hang the Texas budget around Bush's neck the way he tied health care around Bradley's. It will not work.

As you know, Gore and Bush and Buchanan and Nader were all on Sunday talk shows last week. Bush, it turns out, did pretty well on Sam and Cokie's ABC This Week. Gore did somewhat less well sitting opposite Tim Russert on Meet the Press.

Nationally syndicated columnists Bob Novak and Mary McGrory probably haven't agreed on anything other than the day of the week in a couple of decades. But they, in separate columns, agreed that Gore was awful and might find his hoped-for knock-out in the debates harder to come by then he thinks.

First Novak:

[Writing about Gore's refusal to disavow his press secretary's claim that Sen. Arlen Specter was involved in a "crude McCarthy-like cover-up" over the independent counsel thing:] "Why did he [Gore] feel impelled to continue the attack on a once friendly U.S. senator? Is this candidate ready for the presidential debates he seeks so eagerly?"

Then McGrory:

"What do these two Sabbath shows tell us about the debates to come? His partisans contend that Gore, who is a legendary debater, a master of detail, and savagely combative will devour the Texas governor�
"Bush could be a tougher customer for Gore in debate than anyone imagined. If Gore goes for his throat, as is his wont, he could end up hurting himself."

From Ed Henry in his Roll Call column, "Heard on the Hill": "[Oklahoma Congressman] Steve Largent's sore elbow will keep him from pitching in next week's Roll Call Congressional Baseball Game."

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