Mullings by Rich Galen | Secret Decoder Ring for June 23, 2000

Ind...Indep...Independent Counsel Friday, June 23, 2000

TITLE: "Ind…Indep…Independent Counsel" Nothing special, here just practicing.

"Indiana Jones movie" The first of the Indiana Jones trilogy contained a recurring reference to snakes culminating in that scene in the tomb in which the floor was crawling with live snakes.

"… to get the generic vote." The "generic vote" is the number arrived at by pollsters by asking "would you vote for the Republican or the Democrat" rather than asking about candidates by name. This gives the relative strength of the two parties, not withstanding the strength of the personalities running for a given office.

"will be handled by Leonardo DiCaprio." Leo, remember, did an interview for ABC with President Clinton on environmental matters. The interview caused quite the little stir over at ABC among its news division because an actor, not a trained news professional, did the interview.

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Texas under Governor Bush:

1st in student improvement on test scores, especially for African-American and Hispanic students.

1st in reducing the amount of releases and disposal of toxics - more than all 49 other states combined.

1st in the nation to allow a patient to appeal an HMO's decision to deny care.

1st to create a prison ministry to help offenders reintegrate into society.

1 of only 3 states to require reductions of harmful pollution from older, unpermitted utility plants.

1 of only 10 "highly successful" states in reducing welfare rolls between 1995 and 1998.

4th in growth in total personal income.

9th in teacher pay, when adjusted for cost of living and teacher experience.

$1.8 billion investment in healthcare initiatives.

1.2 million jobs created, representing more than 10 percent of new jobs created nationwide and 48,000 new businesses.

Lowest unemployment rate in twenty years -- 4.7 percent.

Doubled the number of adoptions of abused and neglected children in Texas.

America under Clinton-Gore:

The number of uninsured Americans increased by more than 8 million.

Almost 70 percent of fourth graders in the highest poverty schools cannot read at basic level.

Teachers were victims of 1.8 million crimes at school, including 657,000 violent crimes.

Illegal drug use among high school seniors increased 78 percent.

Federal prosecutions of gun-related offenses decreased by 46 percent.

More than 12,000 U.S. soldiers are on food stamps.

Enacted a $115 billion tax increase on Social Security enefits.

Federal government is the nation's largest polluter, costing taxpayers nearly $400 billion for cleanups.

45 convictions, 72 indictments/misdemeanor charges, and 8 imprisonments related to the 1996 campaign finance scandal, improper conduct by Clinton-Gore cabinet officials, and Whitewater.

What did Arkansas look like when Al Gore joined Bill Clinton in 1992?

50th in environmental policy initiatives.

47th in per capita state spending for education.

43rd in per capita spending for higher education.

41st in citizens living in poverty.

45th in children living in poverty.

47th in children without health insurance.

45th in children living in hunger.

43rd in infants born with low birth weight.

47th in personal income.

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