Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott, who had signaled a willingness to alter the CPI, cried foul. Then, fighting broke out in Republican ranks. House Speaker Newt Gingrich said the GOP should shelve its plans to cut taxes until the budget is balanced. Clinton expressed delight, but many Republican conservatives accused Gingrich of abandoning a GOP core principle. For now, Clinton and the Republicans have very different plans for the budget, and there is no easy way to reconcile them.
All bets are off at least until after spring break.
The Army's sex scandal nabs a captain Army prosecutors have won their first jail term in the sex scandal at Aberdeen Proving Ground in Maryland, but the guilty soldier may be free before others come to trial. Derrick Robertson last week admitted violating the Army's rules against sex with direct subordinates, but he was cleared of rape and other serious charges. He'll spend four months in jail and be bounced from the service without benefits. Two others accused of violations at Aberdeen have been discharged in lieu of courts-martial, and at least a dozen cases remain. The main attraction should be the trial set for next month of Staff Sgt.