On February 6, 1997, a confident President Clinton presented a $1.69 trillion budget
proposal to Congress for the 1998 fiscal year, a 3 percent increase over the
previous year. He said that his proposal-which included substantial spending
increases for welfare, health care, and education, as well as tax cuts for
middle-class families-would result in a balanced budget by the year 2002. Republican
leaders appeared to be more receptive to this budget than they had been to the one
proposed for the previous year, having realized that the public largely blamed the
GOP for the fierce budget battle in 1995 and 1996 which forced two government
shutdowns.
|
[Budget Shell Game]
February 10,1997 Ink and white out over pencil on paper
Swann Fund Purchase (53)
|
Influence
September 19, 1997
Ink and white out over pencil on paper
Swann Fund Purchase (52)
|
The Washington Post and The Los Angeles Times reported in August and September 1997
that major Democratic campaign donors were gaining the ear of President Clinton in
return for their money. During this period, videotapes were released under subpoena
by the White House which showed Clinton and Gore socializing there with major
campaign donors. The tapes confirmed the allegations by the newspapers that some of
these donors were Asian-born or leaders of major companies doing business in Asia.
Clinton and Gore are shown dressed as Buddhist monks in reference to a fundraiser
attended by Gore at a Buddhist temple in California, whose legality was questioned.
The message on the wall refers to alleged intercedings with the White House by a CIA
official identified only as Bob, on behalf of a donor with questionable motives.
|
Vice President Al Gore's fundraising telephone calls were top news during the week
of August 24, 1997. A Washington Post article on August 27 reported that the
forty-six people contacted by Gore contributed, directly or through their companies,
almost $3.7 million in unregulated ‘soft money' to the Democratic National
Committee. At a news conference called to answer the allegations that he had broken
federal law by making fundraising phone calls from federal property, Gore asserted
that there was "no controlling legal authority" to decide the issue of campaign
phone calls. In April, Gore had attended a fundraiser at a Buddhist temple in
California, where it was alleged that at least one illegal donation had been made.
|
[Hear the amazing Al Gore explanation machine]
August 28, 1997
Ink and white out over pencil on paper
Swann Fund Purchase (51)
|
[Mir Missionkontrol]
August 20, 1997
Ink and white out over pencil on paper (50)
|
On August 19, 1997, Russian space agency officials announced that Mir's damaged main
computer, which had failed the previous Monday, was back in operation, allowing
Mir's guidance system to keep the station in a stable position. An old computer part
had needed to be replaced. One official said, "We used to change Mir's computer
parts after its technical life expectancy would run out, say after five years. But
now, due to financing problems, we have to use them till they die."
|
Exhibitions Home Page - Library of Congress Home Page
Library of Congress
Contact Us
(02/18/99)
|