For the Record

Health care vs. welfare. On Meet the Press, Sen. Pat Moynihan agreed with swelling Republican chorus that there is no health crisis. Earlier, Moynihan had threatened to slow Hillary Clinton’s health package if welfare reform landed on back burner. . . . Appointment of left-winger Harold Ickes as point man on health reform worries moderate Democratic Leadership Council’s Al From, Dave McCurdy, and John Breaux. . . . Connecticut Sen. Joe Lieberman, also of DLC, plans to introduce bill authorizing states to follow Charles Murray’s counsel and end welfare immediately. . . . Sign of movement on welfare: Bill Clinton approvingly quoted from a Murray Wall Street Journal op-ed and added: “I think his analysis is essentially right.” . . . Even HHS Secretary Donna Shalala goes along with some elements of Murray’s thesis: “I don’t like to put this in moral terms, but I do believe that having children out of wedlock is just wrong.” … If hopeful signs do not turn into congressional action, Republicans are talking about using discharge petition to flush out Democrats who talk right but secretly vote for status quo. . . . GOP also plans to write letter to Ways & Means Chairman Dan Rostenkowski urging action, say Evans & Novak. . . . Soon-to-be House Minority Leader Newt Gingrich gets right to the point: “You can’t maintain a civilization with 12-year-olds having babies and 15-year-olds killing each other and 17-year-olds dying of AIDS and 18-year-olds getting diplomas they can’t read. . . . The challenge of our generation is to replace the welfare state.” . . . Good sign: NR Senior Editor William Bennett’s tough new Book of Virtues is Number One on January 16 New York Times best-seller list.

Dick and Lynne Cheney don’t want to run for Malcolm Wallop’s Wyoming Senate seat, neither does ex-Reagan Interior Secretary James Watt, opening way for two-term Rep. Craig Thomas. … In Utah, popular Democratic Rep. Bill Orton says he won’t challenge Sen. Orrin Hatch despite favorable polls. . . . Ex.-Sen. Bill Brock (R., Tenn.) contemplating race against Sen. Paul Sarbanes (D., Md.). If successful, Brock would be first man popularly elected to U.S. Senate from two states. . . . Good news, bad news for Virginia Sen. Chuck Robb. Good news is that retired Gov. Doug Wilder won’t challenge him; bad news is that likely GOP challenger, Ollie North, is running strong in polls. Some rumblings among Virginia conservatives against incumbent GOP Sen. John Warner. There’s talk of pitting former Reagan OMB Director Jim Miller against him in 1996, if North beats out Miller for this year’s nomination. . . . Boston U. President John Silber, who lost to William Weld in 1990, plans another run at Massachusetts statehouse, this time as independent. . . . Logorrhea Redivivus: Brouhaha over flamboyant windup of Whitman gubernatorial race in New Jersey has led Ed Rollins back to Catholic Church. But Rollins confesses to Peggy Noonan in Vanity Fair: “The hardest f—ing part about this Catholic thing is I’m gonna have to forgive [longtime Republican rival] Roger Stone.” . . . Among Hollywood elite, political donations ran 10 to 1 in favor of Democrats last year, say strategists Bradley O’Leary and Victor Kamber. Major GOP contributors: Pat Boone, Charlton Heston, Bob Hope, Chuck Norris.

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Health care vs. welfare. On Meet the Press, Sen. Pat Moynihan agreed with swelling Republican chorus that there is no health crisis. Earlier, Moynihan had threatened to slow Hillary Clinton’s health package if welfare reform landed on back burner. . . . Appointment of left-winger Harold Ickes as point man on health reform worries moderate Democratic Leadership Council’s Al From, Dave McCurdy, and John Breaux. . . . Connecticut Sen. Joe Lieberman, also of DLC, plans to introduce bill authorizing states to follow Charles Murray’s counsel and end welfare immediately. . . . Sign of movement on welfare: Bill Clinton approvingly quoted from a Murray Wall Street Journal op-ed and added: “I think his analysis is essentially right.” . . . Even HHS Secretary Donna Shalala goes along with some elements of Murray’s thesis: “I don’t like to put this in moral terms, but I do believe that having children out of wedlock is just wrong.” … If hopeful signs do not turn into congressional action, Republicans are talking about using discharge petition to flush out Democrats who talk right but secretly vote for status quo. . . . GOP also plans to write letter to Ways & Means Chairman Dan Rostenkowski urging action, say Evans & Novak. . . . Soon-to-be House Minority Leader Newt Gingrich gets right to the point: “You can’t maintain a civilization with 12-year-olds having babies and 15-year-olds killing each other and 17-year-olds dying of AIDS and 18-year-olds getting diplomas they can’t read. . . . The challenge of our generation is to replace the welfare state.” . . . Good sign: NR Senior Editor William Bennett’s tough new Book of Virtues is Number One on January 16 New York Times best-seller list.

Dick and Lynne Cheney don’t want to run for Malcolm Wallop’s Wyoming Senate seat, neither does ex-Reagan Interior Secretary James Watt, opening way for two-term Rep. Craig Thomas. … In Utah, popular Democratic Rep. Bill Orton says he won’t challenge Sen. Orrin Hatch despite favorable polls. . . . Ex.-Sen. Bill Brock (R., Tenn.) contemplating race against Sen. Paul Sarbanes (D., Md.). If successful, Brock would be first man popularly elected to U.S. Senate from two states. . . . Good news, bad news for Virginia Sen. Chuck Robb. Good news is that retired Gov. Doug Wilder won’t challenge him; bad news is that likely GOP challenger, Ollie North, is running strong in polls. Some rumblings among Virginia conservatives against incumbent GOP Sen. John Warner. There’s talk of pitting former Reagan OMB Director Jim Miller against him in 1996, if North beats out Miller for this year’s nomination. . . . Boston U. President John Silber, who lost to William Weld in 1990, plans another run at Massachusetts statehouse, this time as independent. . . . Logorrhea Redivivus: Brouhaha over flamboyant windup of Whitman gubernatorial race in New Jersey has led Ed Rollins back to Catholic Church. But Rollins confesses to Peggy Noonan in Vanity Fair: “The hardest f—ing part about this Catholic thing is I’m gonna have to forgive [longtime Republican rival] Roger Stone.” . . . Among Hollywood elite, political donations ran 10 to 1 in favor of Democrats last year, say strategists Bradley O’Leary and Victor Kamber. Major GOP contributors: Pat Boone, Charlton Heston, Bob Hope, Chuck Norris.