Big Business

Republicans fear that the flagrant misconduct by some of their members could cost them control of the House in the November election. Thus, the GOP, which now outnumbers the Democrats 231 seats to 202, has grabbed the immigration issue as a lifeline to preserve the majority it has enjoyed since Newt Gingrich swept the party to power in 1994. Because of the benefits of incumbency - lots of political action committee money, greater name recognition than challengers, continual access to the media and custom-made districts - only about 35 of the 435 seats are usually subject to real contests.

Before he said all those ridiculous and offensive things that defined him for a new generation of Democrats, William Donald Schaefer was the most popular, effective and entertaining public official in Maryland, and those of us who cringed at his behavior in recent years will no doubt remember him that way. I've said it before: It's almost too hard to write about Recent Schaefer because his disparaging remarks were sufficiently self-destructive and because...

Rising interest rates, still-unknowable employee health-care costs, bills in Congress that would ban replacements for striking workers, proposals for tighter safety regulations -- even amid recovery, the view of today's U.S. economy from Main Street can be scary.Or at least the view from Main Street's man in Washington can be."Small businesses in America are more optimistic about the economy right now than they've been in a long time, but it's a guarded optimism because there are so many proposals for government intervention in their operations.

AS THE Democratic Party staggers toward the 1992 presidential election year with no recognized star yet in the running, the lament continues that it doesn't even have an agenda with which to challenge the high-riding Republican incumbent.The argument that President Bush is bringing the victorious troops home from the Persian Gulf to a domestic scene rife with neglect of pressing social needs is sharply hampered by the nation's huge debt squeeze that gives Bush an alibi for domestic inaction.

In the wake of Mitt Romney's loss to President Barack Obama, many in the Republican Party are soul-searching, to determine where their man went wrong in his attempt to attract a majority of voters. Was it because he was stiff and un-relatable or because he seemed willing to take any position to get elected? Or that he should not have attempted to coast over the finish line after a strong first debate performance? One key area being examined is why Republicans nominated a candidate from big business as the nation was trying to recover from a recession that many think was brought on largely by the excesses of big business (i.e.

AUSTIN, Texas -- Look at it this way: The good news is there's at least one thing about which George W. Bush is consistent. He does not believe in doing anything to hurt big business. He especially doesn't believe in letting anyone sue business. He is opposed to a patients' bill of rights for that reason. He tried to keep the lawyers who won a $17 billion case for the state of Texas from getting their fees for that reason. And tort reform, which is another way of saying you can't sue corporations that injure or kill you or your family, is a burning passion with him. So it should come as no surprise that the federal government has decided to settle its case against the tobacco companies.

DOW 10,000? Ignore those headlines."The Economy" is here to tell you that the Dow Jones industrial average has been propped up by shadowy East Coast power brokers who have a big stake in the bull market.No, not the Fed.The Dow was "adjusted" March 17, 1997, by the people who invented it: Dow Jones & Co., publishers of the Wall Street Journal. A committee of green-eyeshade types juiced the lineup, blackballing four down-at-heel Dow members and picking ringers as replacements.Out went Bethlehem Steel, Woolworth, Texaco and Westinghouse.

President Bush's recent trip to Japan, dampened by his bout with the flu and tense discussions with big-business leaders, prompted many small-business owners to wonder whether he might have fared better if he'd taken a group of open-minded entrepreneurs along.Knowing how tough it is for big business to crack the Japanese market, is there any hope for a small business? The answer is yes -- if you are patient, flexible and willing to learn how business is really done in Japan."In the U.S., buyers and sellers are pretty much equal in social status, but in Japan, the customer is God," said Christopher Engholm, author of "When Business East Meets Business West," published by John Wiley & Sons.

Democrats living in Maryland's Sixth Congressional District have a rare opportunity in their upcoming primary. There's a different kind of candidate running for the seat held by longtime Republican incumbent Roscoe Bartlett. His name is Milad Pooran. Dr. Pooran is a 35-year-old Iranian-American physician and veteran of the U.S. Air Force Medical Corps — not the profile of a typical congressional aspirant. He's a long shot to win the nomination; even if he does, and despite the fact the district was gerrymandered last year to make it more favorable for the Democrats, a victory in November is no sure thing.

WASHINGTON -- President Clinton's proposal to have the government pay the health care costs of early retirees is coming under fire from critics as a $5 billion "boondoggle" to gain big business and labor support for health care reform.Mr. Clinton proposes that the government pay 80 percent of the health insurance costs of retired workers from 55 to 64 years of age -- until they are eligible for the Medicare program. Retirees would pay 20 percent.This is a major benefit for retirees who don't receive any company benefits and are struggling with health costs.