Word: gingrichs
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...pass the Senate, where Democrats want Republicans to detail in advance just where the cuts will fall, and then be approved by at least 38 state legislatures, a more iffy prospect. But whatever the pitfalls ahead, it was the bumpy process of getting it through the House that surprised Gingrich, who had to squash a rebellion among first-termers who don't like the sound of terms like compromise and half a loaf...
...long run, the stress lines in Gingrich's own party may be a bigger problem for Gingrich than whatever opposition is presented by Bill Clinton, who is attempting the neat trick of saying ``Me too'' and ``I'm not Newt'' in the same breath. In his 81-minute State of the Union address, the President endorsed many Republican ideas but portrayed himself as the defender of common sense and the humane American spirit, tacking just to the left of Gingrich and positioning himself as perhaps the most moderate candidate in 1996. But Democrats took some comfort from signs of dissension...
...when majority whip Tom DeLay of Texas did a head count of support for the balanced-budget amendment, he came up as many as 30 votes short. Depending on how the amendment was worded, Republicans would lose either moderates or radicals from their ranks. The freshmen were firmly behind Gingrich in supporting the version that not only mandated a balanced budget by 2002 but also required the three-fifths majority to raise taxes. Told that opposition from Democrats and many moderate Republicans made that provision a sure loser, some freshmen preferred to scrap the budget amendment altogether. With conservative talk...
...hold their support, Gingrich had to sign on to a proposal by Arizona first-termer John Shadegg. At the Thursday-night meeting in his office, the Speaker promised that on April 15 of next year--tax day, and just six months before the election--Republicans will offer the supermajority as a separate constitutional amendment. Though it's not likely to pass then either, a floor vote should provide priceless ammunition for campaign commercials against Democrats who oppose it. Meanwhile, after their preferred version was defeated in an early vote, virtually all the freshmen lined up to pass the budget amendment...
...reason Gingrich needed the budget amendment, which polls show is one of the two most popular provisions of the contract, is that term limits, the other one, is starting to look like a lost cause. While in the last Congress Democrats were the most prominent opponents of limiting service, much of the stately harrumphing this time is coming from figures within the Speaker's own, newly empowered party. Three versions of the proposed constitutional amendment are competing in the House, all of them limiting Senators to only two six-year terms but permitting House members from six to 12 years...