On his radio show, Michael Reagan says, “I’m leaving a Republican Party that is rudderless and in full retreat from the conservative values and beliefs my father championed,” adding he would return to GOP “when the Republicans come back to grass-roots America.” . . . The Nation’s Robert Borosage exults, “In Washington, the sands are running out on the conservative era. Republican congressional leadership is an oxymoron… . This Republican Congress’s major accomplishment to date has been passage of renewed funding for international family planning, not exactly a conservative priority.” … Meanwhile, there is progress in the states. Iowa Republicans, with radio-ad assist from Steve Forbes, cut income-tax rates 10 per cent. Georgia Gov. Zell Miller (D.) has signed a ban on partial-birth abortion. . . . Michael Schuyler of Institute for Research on the Economics of Taxation finds that Clinton Administration is proposing roughly fifty tax increases; most would increase marginal rates, especially on funds that are saved and invested in corporate businesses. . . . Washington State Civil Rights Initiative, modeled on California’s, is slated for 1998 if enough signatures are obtained. Donations should be sent to: 10002 Aurora Ave. N. #3346, Seattle, Wash. 98133-9334.
Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D., Calif.) endorses L.A.’s Republican mayor Richard Riordan for re-election over far-left challenger Tom Hayden… . Rep. Jim Bunning (R., Ky.), running for seat of retiring Sen. Wendell Ford (D.), counters charges that he’s too old at 65: “There’s a lot of people much, much older than I am in the U.S. Senate.” As for charges he’s too conservative, “All I can tell you is there are five conservative Republicans in five [of Kentucky’s six] congressional districts.” . . . Tom Schatz’s Citizens Against Government Waste releases 1997 Congressional Pig Book Summary, detailing 241 pork-barrel projects totaling over $1 billion. Sen. Daniel Inouye (D., Hawaii) wins CAGW Hall of Shame Award… . Sen. Mitch McConnell (R., Ky.), on the likely upshot of Democratic campaign-finance reforms: “Pornography and flag-burning would have more protection under the First Amendment than political discourse.” . . . Rep. John Kasich (R., Ohio), whose presidential prospects for 2000 continue to arouse Beltway interest, annoys California GOPers by speaking at fundraiser for his frequent ally, Democratic Rep. Gary Condit (Calif.). . . . David Winston, Heritage Foundation senior fellow, becomes Newt Gingrich’s Director of Planning. . . . After Walter Cronkite attacks Christian Coalition as “genuinely radical movement known as the religious right wing,” Washington Post reports that Cronkite “is coming out of the ideological closet.” In fact, Cronkite has in past endorsed abortion-on-demand, denounced Reagan’s foreign policy. . . . Detroit Free Press reports that anti-immigrationists tried to recruit GOP national committeeman Chuck Yob to run against pro-immigration Sen. Spence Abraham (R., Mich.) in 2000 before settling on Dr. John Tanton. Yob: “Number one, Spencer is my friend. Number two, we’re from Michigan. When we talk about immigration, we’re talking about Canadians. And we really don’t care how many Canadians cross the border.” . . . Sen. Lauch Faircloth (R., N.C.), new chairman of appropriations subcommittee on D.C., mends fences with local activists after telling Washington Post, “It’s time to stop worrying about stepping on toes. There are many privileges of living in the capital of the U.S. Voting for mayor simply won’t be one of them. If that bothers you, then move.” .. . Jeffrey Bell’s activist group Of the People releases analysis showing that while its parental-rights initiative lost in Colorado last fall, it did better than its statewide average in Democratic strongholds. . . . Guy Molinari (R.), Staten Island borough president, and father of N.Y. Rep. Susan Molinari (R.), stirs furor by calling for death penalty for partial-birth abortionists—their skulls would be crushed and their brains extracted.
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