Get the full text of Starr's supporting evidence. T A B L E+T A L K Is it possible anymore for a couple or family to get by on just one salary? Join the discussion in the Work Life area of Table Talk R E C E N T L Y The fixer By Murray Waas How Kenneth Starr's law partner covertly worked for six years to trap President Clinton in a sex scandal (10/06/98) Mistakes were made By Gene Lyons What Ken Starr Forgot: the Law (10/05/98) Sex scandals can be contagious By Aisiah Abdullah Letter from Kuala Lumpur (10/02/98) Scaife tells why he cut off Spectator's funding By Murray Waas Why Scaife cut off funds to the Arkansas Project: Reclusive billionaire points the finger at fellow Arkansas Project conspirators in testimony before the grand jury (10/01/98) Protected witness, Part Two By Murray Waas Law enforcement records obtained by Salon reveal a two-year effort by Kenneth Starr to impede the Arkansas prosecution of David Hale (09/30/98) - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Browse the Newsreal Archives - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - S A L O N E M P O R I U M FREE! 12-ounce bag of Salon Blend with a purchase of $30 or more. While supplies last.
		Meanwhile, back on Capitol Hill ... USING THE IMPEACHMENT DRAMA AS A DIVERSIONARY TACTIC, ANTI-ENVIRONMENTAL FORCES ATTACH A SERIES OF DANGEROUS "RIDERS" TO LAST-MINUTE FUNDING BILLS. BY MARK HERTSGAARD WASHINGTON -- Who says the Lewinsky scandal has paralyzed Washington? The media's nonstop scandal coverage may give the impression that Congress is doing nothing but preparing to hold impeachment hearings. But don't believe it. Behind the scenes, it's business as usual here in the nation's capital -- which is to say that lawmakers of both parties are busy trying to sneak into law dozens of special favors for the special interests who shower them with campaign contributions. Some of the most disturbing giveaways concern the environment and public health, issues with such middle-of-the-road electoral appeal that even the scandal-weakened White House has pledged to block the maneuvering. Since most of the favors are attached to spending bills that must pass by this Friday, Oct. 9, in order to keep the government running, the result may be a repeat of the Clinton-Congress stand-off that produced the government shutdown of 1995. "It's a very clever technique, trying to divert the nation with the bimbo business while they're busy doing the polluters' business," says Philip Clapp, president of National Environmental Trust, a Washington advocacy group. "There's three times as many anti-environmental amendments being pushed this year as in 1995, but the difference is that in 1995 the media was covering the issue, so Republicans backed off for fear of a voter backlash." Most of the giveaways come in the form of amendments known as "riders" because they ride on larger spending bills. Because the spending bills must be passed to keep the government working, they effectively give cover to riders too controversial to pass on their own. Among the estimated 49 anti-environmental riders are measures that would: allow electric utilities to keep emitting mercury into the air, despite indisputable evidence that mercury damages human health, especially among children and pregnant women; prohibit the executive branch from even discussing how to implement the international treaty on global warming signed last year in Kyoto; discourage the Environmental Protection Agency from ordering the General Electric Corporation to dredge New York's Hudson River to clean up the highly toxic PCBs that GE factories have emitted there (and in numerous other sites across the United States); blast roads through supposedly sacrosanct national wilderness areas. "I'm afraid I've fallen off the pedestal for you guys," Rhode Island Republican Sen. John Chafee told environmental lobbyists last week after voting to build a road through the Izembek National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska. Chafee is often a friend of the environment, and his staff had met with environmentalists in February to plot a strategy to block the road, which would establish a precedent violating a basic principle of wilderness protection -- no human activity. But this month, Chafee joined in the Senate's 59-38 approval of the road after receiving strong pressure from Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens, whose position as Appropriations Committee chairman gives him enormous power to grant or withhold favors to lawmakers eager to include their own pet projects in the end-of-year spending rush. N E X T+P A G E+| Big GE contributions, favorable GE treatment