BOXER'S WORRIES TARGET IDLE HILL.Byline: Rick Orlov Daily News Staff Writer With President Clinton mired mire n. 1. An area of wet, soggy, muddy ground; a bog. 2. Deep slimy soil or mud. 3. A disadvantageous or difficult condition or situation: the mire of poverty. v. in a sex and credibility scandal and Congress failing to come to terms on a budget, U.S. Sen. Barbara Boxer Barbara Levy Boxer (born November 11, 1940) is an American politician and the current junior U.S. Senator from the State of California. A member of the Democratic Party, Boxer was first elected to the U.S. voiced fear Friday that the federal government will continue to limp along without dealing with major issues. Boxer, D-Calif., who is up for re-election and is facing a tough challenge from Republican state Controller Matt Fong Matt Fong (Chinese: 鄺傑靈; pinyin: Kuàng Jiélíng) (November 20, 1953–) is a Republican political leader from California and former state treasurer. , said the gridlock Gridlock A government, business or institution's inability to function at a normal level due either to complex or conflicting procedures within the administrative framework or to impending change in the business. could end up in a repeat of the shutdown of the government. ``I'm worried about that because we have such a disconnect between the houses,'' she said at a breakfast with political reporters. ``It's a shame because we have such an opportunity before us to deal with the issues the American public cares about.'' Among those are education, reform of health maintenance organizations and campaign finance reform Campaign finance reform is the common term for the political effort in the United States to change the involvement of money in politics, primarily in political campaigns. , she said. ``We go back Sept. 1, and we're supposed to break Oct. 9, and I don't see us completing much, which makes it much tougher for me to campaign, having to take red-eyes (flights) back and forth,'' Boxer said. Boxer renewed her criticism of President Clinton for his actions with intern Monica Lewinsky Monica Samille Lewinsky (born July 23, 1973) is an American woman with whom the former United States President Bill Clinton admitted (after initially denying) to having had an "inappropriate relationship"[1] while Lewinsky worked at the White House in 1995 and 1996. but said the country should begin to move on to dealing with other issues. ``What he did was unequivocally wrong,'' Boxer said. ``There is no situation in which this can be excused. But it's a personal problem for him. ``What I would like to see is let (Independent Counsel Kenneth) Starr complete his report and let us study it and allow the president to move ahead.'' Boxer said she was pleased with the president's action in the raid on terrorist camps and a factory in Afghanistan and Sudan, and defended the timing of it. ``Would the criticism of him be any different if he did this last week, before he testified (to a federal grand jury)? People then would have said he was trying to divert attention from the case,'' Boxer said. ``He did the right thing at the right time.'' Boxer said she is not sure what the impact will be on her race, with her worst fear being a low voter turnout. ``A low turnout hurts me the most,'' Boxer said. ``The people who are opposed to me - the religious right, the (National Rifle Association National Rifle Association (NRA) Governing organization for the sport of shooting with rifles and pistols. It was founded in Britain in 1860. The U.S. organization, formed in 1871, has a membership of some four million. Both the British and the U.S. ) - always turn out. I need a higher turnout to have a chance.'' |
|
||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion