Government Spending

More than 500 people gathered in Griffith Park on Sunday to demand less government spending and voice their opposition to any government-run healthcare plan. The rally was the latest stop on a national tour -- dubbed the Tea Party Express II -- that began Sunday morning in San Diego and plans to visit 38 cities in 19 days. Organizers are calling the tour a "Countdown to Judgment Day" for elected officials, timing it to one year before the 2010 congressional elections. Sal Russo, chief strategist for the Tea Party Express II, said that his group is calling on politicians to "clean up their act" and stop voting for deficit-increasing measures.

? U.S. Sen. Tom Coburn's bitter opposition to government spending appears to be striking a chord with Oklahoma voters, who reelected the Republican to what he says will be his last term. The Muskogee physician beat an underfunded Democratic candidate and two independents Tuesday. Coburn rode a Republican wave into the U.S. House in 1994, then served six years in Congress before returning to his medical practice. He has described himself as a "part-time lawmaker" and has promised to serve only two terms in the Senate.

The White House and congressional Republicans finally ended their long budget impasse Wednesday as President Clinton agreed to GOP demands for a small across-the-board cut in proposed government spending. The accord swept aside the last major obstacle to the final budget agreement that has eluded the White House and Congress through almost two fitful months of wrangling, and GOP leaders planned to bring the measure to a vote in the House today.

California voters are increasingly downcast about the direction of the country, but -- like their leaders in Washington -- many would rather adhere to party orthodoxy than compromise to address the current economic problems, a new poll shows. The findings offer little guidance for President Obama, who will unveil a jobs package this week that he hopes to push through a polarized Congress. Further troubling for the president: The survey results suggest that Republicans, even in deep-blue California, are winning the rhetorical war of words over how to frame the country's economic troubles, and how to get out of them.

Trying quickly to regain control of the campaign debate, Democratic presidential nominee Bill Clinton on Friday accused President Bush of being "personally untrustworthy" and a "fear monger" attempting to distort the truth to distract attention from his economic record.

President Clinton on Monday unveiled the first balanced-budget proposal in 30 years, sending Congress a $1.7-trillion federal spending plan that projects a decade's worth of surpluses. Declaring an end to "an era of exploding deficits," Clinton forecast a $9.5-billion budget surplus for fiscal 1999, which begins Oct. 1, and steadily growing surpluses that would add up to $1.1 trillion 10 years from now.

LONDON — Irish voters approved a European treaty to keep government spending in check, offering a small victory Friday to the region's leaders as they battle a worsening debt and banking crisis that has raised fear for the survival of the euro. A referendum to adopt the fiscal pact won by a strong margin, 60.3% to 39.7%, though only about half of Ireland's voters cast ballots Thursday. Prime Minister Enda Kenny, who campaigned hard for the "yes" side, hailed the result as a signal that his bailed-out nation "is serious about overcoming its economic challenges.

Rep. Darrell Issa, the California congressman who has promised to closely scrutinize the Obama administration, will become chairman of the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform in the new GOP-controlled House of Representatives in January, it was announced on Wednesday. The appointment had been expected. Issa (R-Vista) is the ranking minority member of the committee in the current Congress. As chairman, Issa will be the leading voice in choosing what to investigate. A frequent Republican critic in the current Congress, Issa has said he wanted to seek new subpoena powers for dozens of federal agency watchdogs as part of a campaign to downsize government spending.

"I am an American," Pat Boone belted out the other day to an adoring crowd. "Born to be a rootin', tootin', flag-waving citizen. " Boone looked young and fit at 76, with his perpetual tan and stay-press hairdo. As I approached the stage, he was singing the song he'd written for the occasion ? the first-ever "Beverly Hills Tea Party" rally. "I love the Pledge of Allegiance, one nation under God," Boone sang. "If you can't say it with me, you're free to leave, by God. Cuz I am an American.

Not content to drive most members of the Assembly and state Senate out of their jobs by 1996, backers of Proposition 140 want lawmakers to feel the bite of a dissatisfied electorate even more quickly. One of two term-limit initiatives on the Nov. 6 ballot, Proposition 140 would immediately remove lawmakers from a retirement system that proponents describe as "overly generous" and "extravagant."